How to Date a Dragon (8 page)

Forgetting about playing nice with the overconfident so-called psychic, Bliss said, “You’re not telling me anything specific. I can make that true about a few different things in my life right now. What does this have to do with Drake?”

“Earlier, when I looked at you, I had a vision of Drake standing beside you. I knew you two were connected in some way, but I’m guessing the relationship is very new.”

A
vision? The woman has visions?

Without waiting for confirmation, Sadie continued. “I’d say the cards are giving you the go-ahead, but I wouldn’t expect it to be all smooth sailing.”

Bliss smirked. “I’ve never heard of a relationship that was easy-breezy all of the time.”

“Good. Then you won’t presume it to be.”

Bliss didn’t know if she was any better informed now than she had been five minutes ago. What had she really learned? That the owner’s aunt thinks she has visions. She somehow put Drake and Bliss together as a couple, and… and what? Their relationship would have the usual ups and downs of any other relationship? A big, fat “So what?” formed in her mind, but she kept her mouth shut.

“Well, um… thanks for the advice.”

“You’re welcome, but I didn’t give you any advice.”

She
didn’t?
Bliss thought back to what she’d been told. The woman had simply shared what she saw, but she never did tell Bliss what to do about any of it.

“Hmmm… Well, it was interesting, nonetheless. I’d better get back to work. Even
I
can predict a thirsty customer or two will need my help soon.”

“Mother Nature, why didn’t you stop the dragons when you realized they were meeting?” Apollo asked.

“For the same reason we try not interfere in all human matters. It’s important to give them a chance to figure things out for themselves. If Drake didn’t realize Zina was bad news, I may have had to drum a few subtle hints into his thick skull. Fortunately he was smart enough to walk away on his own. Now, he’s interested in someone else.”

“But the female dragon knows he’s here.”

“Yes. And your point is?”

Apollo threw his hands in the air. “Aren’t you afraid she’ll hunt him down and convince him to have sex with her?”

Gaia chuckled. “Oh, she might try, but again we need to give the other dragon an opportunity to handle it.”

“You must have a lot of faith in his ability to make good decisions.”

“Not really. If it comes down to it, I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow their love nest right out of its tree, or something like that.”

“But why sit around and allow them to possibly make mistakes?”

“Because that’s how they learn. Why does Zeus let you make mistakes?”

“What mistakes? Gods don’t make mistakes.”

Gaia laughed. “Oh, you’re precious.”

***

Bliss looked up from the table she was wiping. Drake stood in front of her with a bouquet of flowers in his hand and a smile on his face.

“Hello, beautiful.”

“Well, hello yourself. What brings you here with flowers?”
Are
they
for
me?

“It’s a housewarming present. What time do you get off work?”

Yay, they
are
for
me!
She glanced at the clock. It was almost ten. “Not for another hour. Can you hang around that long?”

“Sure. I’ll sit at the bar so I won’t distract you from your work.”

She set a hand on her hip. “Pretty sure of your shiny self, aren’t you?”

His brows knit. “Uh, no. Did I sound like that?”

She felt like an idiot. Apparently he didn’t get her poke at his male pride. “I was just teasing you. Sit anywhere you like. Maybe I should put the flowers in some water.”

“Sure.”

He handed them to her and she took a hearty whiff. They were really lovely and smelled like spring.

“Now to find a vase…”

Angie pulled a glass vase from somewhere beneath the bar and held it up for her to see. “Will this work?”

“Perfect.”

Her new roomie half-filled the vase with tap water and set it on the bar. Bliss arranged the flowers in the vase and took another big whiff.

“Mmm… they smell heavenly.”

Drake strolled up beside her and sniffed her hair. “You smell better.”

She chuckled. “You like my herbal shampoo more than flowers?”

“What can I say? I’m a guy.”

“That’s for sure.”

“Uh… miss!”

“Oops. I heard my name.” Bliss located the female customer sitting near the door, holding up one finger. “Excuse me, Drake.”

“Sure. Duty calls.” He glanced at the customer and went stiff. His eyes rounded and he muttered, “Shit,” under his breath.

What’s that about?
Sure, the woman looked a bit strange… kind of lethal, but so what? She was just sitting there. Hadn’t he ever seen anyone wearing leather and dreadlocks before? And who was he to judge someone based on weird hair?

Bliss ignored his reaction and hurried over to the waiting customer with her order pad in hand. When she got closer, the woman sported a nasty smile.

“What can I get you?” Bliss asked politely.

The woman narrowed her eyes. “You can get out of my way.”

“Excuse me?”

“You see that guy over there?”

Bliss glanced over at Drake. He quickly looked away.

“Yeah. What about him?”

“We went on a date recently and had a real good time, so I can’t help wondering why my boyfriend is buying you flowers. Are you his sister or something?”

“Uh… no. We’re not related.”
And
never
will
be, if he’s trying to hide another relationship from me.

“I see. So my question stands. Why did he bring you flowers?”

Bliss wasn’t going to let this pushy broad get the best of her. She simply shrugged and said, “Ask him.”

The woman rose. “I will.”

Part of Bliss wanted to follow her and listen to what he had to say. The other part wanted to run for the hills. She opted for a compromise and asked the customers at her other tables if they needed anything.

Over her shoulder she noticed Drake leaving with the horrible woman. The cynical part of her that had been slowly fading away suddenly came back with a vengeance.
It
figures. The minute I think I’ve found someone special, he disappoints me.

Sadie waved her over. Bliss had almost forgotten about the tarot reading.

Crap.
She strolled over to Sadie’s booth. “Did you want another White Russian?”
Or
did
you
want
to
say, “I told you so”?

“Yes, dear. That would be nice, but I also wanted to give you a little more information.”

Bliss was almost afraid to ask. “Another prediction?”

“No. Just a little psychic insight. When I told you to be careful of Drake, I think it had something to do with that woman. And it’s not about protecting your heart. I think you need to protect yourself physically.”

“Shi—I mean, shoot,” Bliss stammered. “Wow. Do you really think she’d hurt me?”

“I was getting some very dark vibes from her. I’d say she’s capable of it. Do you know martial arts?”

Bliss laughed, then she sobered quickly. “Do you think I need to take some classes?”

Sadie nodded. “It wouldn’t hurt.”

“It might. I don’t have time for that right now.”

“Why? What’s so important that it comes before protecting yourself?”

“Only my whole future. Put it this way, if I survive because I learned self-defense, swell, but my quality of life won’t be that great. If I don’t survive but win the brass ring…” Bliss heard her own bizarre rationale and couldn’t finish her thought. “I’m sorry, Sadie. Thank you for your concern. I guess I’ll have to weigh the pros and cons.”

Sadie smiled. “I understand. Exercising your free will is important.”

Bliss had to put this new information on the back burner if she was going to do her job with any kind of competence. “Well, let me go get you your drink.”

“Thank you, dear. Don’t worry about that contest so much. I have a good feeling about your part in it.”

“You know about the contest?”

Sadie shrugged. “Like I tell everyone, I know a lot of things.”

Bliss thought about what else Sadie said she knew or had a feeling about, and her skin started to prickle.

***

Drake followed Zina onto the sidewalk. Charles Street was fairly quiet for a change.

“So, Drake, why are you two-timing me?”

“I just met you! And I met Bliss a couple weeks ago. I’m not committed to anyone yet.”

“I thought we had a good thing going.”

“We had one drink together, and to be honest, I wasn’t planning to call you again.”

“You
what
?” she shrieked. “Why the hell did you take my number if you weren’t going to use it?”

Her eyes glowed and wings pushed at the fabric on her shoulders. He had thought she was wearing leather, but apparently it was something else. Something that stretched.

“I didn’t want to insult you. Besides, I didn’t take it. You practically forced it on me.”

“Well, how do you think I feel now?”

He stared at what must have been her wings, pushing at the fabric again. “Probably lousy, but it would be worse to mislead you anymore than I already have.”

“You bet I feel lousy. And you should know better than to piss off a dragon.”

He focused on her rapidly reddening cheeks. This is what he was afraid of. If he’d refused her number, chances are he’d have seen the same reaction. Who knew what she’d do in a crowded restaurant. She could begin hurling chairs or get so “steamed” she’d shift.

“Look, I’m sorry I upset you, but—”

“But nothing.” She aimed right for a male dragon’s vulnerable spot. His throat. And with two fingers she jabbed him in his Adam’s apple, hard.

Drake collapsed to the ground, choking. While he was down, she gave him a swift kick in the ribs with her steel-toed boot. He heard a crack, and pain shot through his chest. She stepped over him and sauntered off as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

Unable to get enough air in his lungs, Drake felt the world spin and go black.

***

Bliss didn’t think she’d see Drake again so soon, especially in the arms of a large, blond man who was carrying Drake’s unconscious body into the bar.

“What happened?” Bliss wasn’t the only one who shouted and hurried over to them.

The guy shoved one of the booths out of his way with his foot and laid Drake on the padded bench.

A moment later, Angie appeared beside Bliss and asked, “Nick, what happened?”

“Don’t know. I just found him like this.”

Drake groaned and started to writhe. The man Angie had called Nick held him in place and said, “Don’t move, Drake. You’re hurt.”

Drake’s eyes opened slowly. “Nick? Where am I?”

“You’re in Boston Uncommon. Do you remember what happened?”

After a pause, Drake’s expression grew dark. “Yeah, but I’m not telling you.”

Nick straightened and crossed his arms. “Why not?”

“Because I got beat up by a girl.”

Nick reared back and laughed.

Bliss kneeled by Drake’s side. “Don’t laugh. He’s injured. Someone call a doctor.”

“No. I’ll be—” Drake tried to sit up but inhaled a sharp gasp and lay back down again. When his breathing steadied he said, “No, I guess I won’t be all right. I think I broke a rib.”

Bliss turned to her roommate. “Angie, call an ambulance.”

“No.” Drake put a hand on her arm. “Then my EMT buddies will show up and I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Angie jammed her hands on her hips. “Well, you can’t just lie here for a few days.”

“I don’t need days. A few hours at most and—”

He glanced up at Nick. It was almost imperceptible, but Bliss saw Nick give him a quick head shake.

Sadie jumped in. “I have some emergency medical supplies in my bag. Someone can tape his ribs up tight. That’s all they did for a friend of mine when he broke a rib.”

Medical
supplies? Did she know they’d be needed tonight, or is she always this prepared?

Sadie fished around in her oversized satchel and pulled out a roll of gauze bandage and adhesive tape. She handed them to Bliss.

“Look, I don’t live far,” Nick said. “I can carry him to my house and he can stay on my couch.”

“Your couch?” Bliss didn’t mean to raise her voice, but she was concerned about Drake, even if he
was
dating a first-class bitch who’d beaten him up. Bliss wondered what he’d said to cause that reaction. “You don’t have anything better than a couch to offer?”

Nick sighed. “My wife and I just turned the guest room into a nursery.”

Angie patted his arm. “It’s okay. He’d probably be in too much pain if you carried him all the way up Mount Vernon Street. Carry him up to our place.”

Bliss stared at her with raised eyebrows.

“Um… I mean, if it’s okay with you, Bliss. We have that big sectional sofa, and if all he wants to do is lie down for a few hours…”

Now
what?
She’d look like a complete heel if she said no, especially in front of all these people. “But what about the hospital?”

“No hospital,” Drake said, firmly.

“Well, then… Of course. Of course he can stay with us.” Bliss hoped her pause wasn’t too noticeable. “Wendy, will you be okay without me for a few minutes?”

“Yes, absolutely. Just take care of Drake,” she said.

“I’ll go get my keys.” Bliss hurried to the office but remembered that Anthony was in there. She knocked and opened the door without waiting for permission to enter.

Anthony looked up from his desk. “Bliss? Is everything all right?”

Her expression must have given away the fact that all was not okay. “Drake’s been hurt. I’m getting my keys to let him into our apartment upstairs, but I’ll be right back down.”

Anthony rose and buttoned his suit jacket. “Let me see him first.”

Bliss followed Anthony out to the bar and pointed to the tight knot of people crowded around Drake. “He’s over there. He was… mugged.”
That
sounds
a
lot
better
than
“beaten up by a girl.”
“He might have some broken ribs.”

“Jesus,” Anthony muttered and pushed his way through the crowd. When he got to Drake, he scratched his head. “A mugging? Where did this happen?”

“Right in front of the bar. I’m sorry, Anthony.”

“Don’t be sorry. Just be well.” Anthony turned toward Nick and asked, “Can I help?”

“Sure. The two of us can carry him across our arms and he can lie flatter. I don’t want those ribs to puncture a lung.”

Bliss tossed her hands in the air. “Am I the only one who thinks taking him to a hospital might be a good idea?”

Several of the guys who were crowded around glanced at each other. Finally Drake spoke up. “I’m not going to a hospital. If you don’t want me on your couch, I totally understand. I’ll find somewhere else.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m fine with your coming upstairs. I just think you should see a doctor so you don’t heal wrong.”

“He’ll heal fine,” Nick said. “I used to be a cop. Saw injuries like this all the time.”

Bliss was outnumbered. “Okay. If you all think he’ll be all right without medical attention, take him upstairs. But put him in my bedroom, and I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Thanks, Bliss, but I think the sofa will be better for me. Your bed is kind of soft.”

Sadie smirked and waggled her eyebrows at Bliss.
Oh, terrific. Now everyone knows he’s been in my bed, even though we never got to the good part.