Page 50 of Accidentally Engaged
“No. Ye dinnae look like any such thing. Besides... I’d best get used to seeing you wet.”
Minnie stares.
I stare.
I stammer. “I mean, in Florida, there’s going to be swimming at the resort and days on the beach, aren’t there?”
“Oh! Oh, yes.”
Sleaziness be damned, I’ve waited years to get my shot. I don’t care if Minerva Johnson lives the rest of her life seeing me as a hairy bloke instead of an immaculately groomed wulver. “An angel savin’ lives doesnae deserve to cook after all day on her feet. You were saying you’d have to give me the family gossip before we head off on our ‘getaway.’ We’ve got three weeks left. I’ll take you out to the River House tonight and you can spill the tea.”
“That sounds sooo good. If I eat one more Lean Cuisine this month, I might not make it to Florida. But... I really want to lose ten pounds before the wedding. Maybe we shouldn’t...”
“You look perfect right now. And I thought you already got your dress?”
“I did, but it’s a little snug in some spots.” Minnie’s hand travels to her hip in an unconscious gesture.
“As your fictional boyfriend, can I tell you that any man lucky enough to date you would consider you in a snug dress an absolute bonus? A vision?”
“Flatterer...”
“Truth! I speak as a bachelor who would give my right arm to... to actually have a woman like you in my life. You know,” I clear my throat, “confident, beautiful, caring, a leader in your community... Ahem. So? Dinner?”
Minnie hesitates for a moment. The hospital cell phone in her pocket begins to beep, and I know she has to go.
“You’ve got to take care of things, I know. We can always take a raincheck,” I laugh, hoping I sound casual. Not in the slightest desperate.
“Tonight at 8? I know it’s late, but I don’t get off until seven.”
“Eight is great.” Good Lord. I’m rhyming.
Minnie doesn’t mind. She laughs and trots off. “You might want to take notes. I’ve got a lot of relatives.”
“I’ll bring my trusty legal pad.” I kid back, because it’s well known that even though we live in the digital age, I waste too much time taking down case notes by hand and then typing them up.
“It’s one of the things I like about you,” Minnie chuckles, glancing back over her shoulder. “You take the time to do things right.”
I’m so glad when she disappears through the doors to the general admissions ward. I practically collapse on my desk, moaning under my breath. “Oooh. You have no idea just how much time I’d take with you...”
Princess Seeks Dragon
Angela Argento is the stepdaughter of a mafia capo—something she only realizes after her parents' meddling in her dating life turns obvious. They don’t justhopeshe’ll hit it off with good-looking, charming Vincenzo Genovese. They’ve already set their wedding date for early next summer!
Angela tries to protest, especially after Vincenzo makes it clear he’s just following orders to unite two minor crime families to create a more formidable organization. He’s not interested in Angela and he’ll keep his string of lovers on the side.
What do you do when you need to be rescued from the prince of a mafia family? Who do you call when a royal pain threatens an unwitting and unwilling mafia princess?
Look for a dragon, of course— but Angela didn’t expect to find arealone!
Graham Kane loves his only brother. That’s why the dragon shifter agrees to house-sit and oversee the family business, even if the younger dragon really doesn't want to leave his bustling Los Angeles lifestyle to spend a few months in sleepy paranormal Pine Ridge. He's prepared for an uneventful spring—until he agrees to do a favor for an old friend and find someone’s missing daughter.
Graham plans to (eventually) settle down with a female shifter to preserve the family bloodline. But when the missing daughter turns out to be the woman of his dreams, he’s torn between duty and love. Can he prove that sometimes the princess is better off choosing the dragon?
Chapter One: Graham
“Graham. Graham, are you sitting down?”
I roll into a sitting position and push my black tangled mess of hair back from my stubbled cheeks. Usually I pull it back when I go to bed. Must’ve lost the elastic band when I slept. Or maybe I was too smashed to put it in last night. “I’m sitting,” I say, perching on the edge of my rumpled bed.
