by Starla Night
He blinked and then growled. She could almost hear his demand to bare herself.
“Your work,” she said quickly. “And mine. I’ve got to finish my portfolio.”
He wavered and then released her abruptly. “Get out. Before I do more to you to waste our time.”
Well, gosh, she wouldn’t go so far as to call making out a waste. But she hurried to the door before he changed his mind. In the doorway, she glanced back.
Mal slumped in his seat and rubbed his face.
He was so passionate about his work. He loved crushing pressure and impossible deadlines. The stress lines around his eyes, which smoothed when they were together, now crimped the shadows around his eyes.
And then he straightened, putting on the weight of the company and everyone on his shoulders, and reached for the top folder.
She peeked out of his office door. The hall was empty, and the elevator closed. She snuck across the carpet, scurried behind her intern desk, and slouched in her office chair with a sigh.
Had it only been three days since she’d sat here? It felt like longer than a holiday weekend.
She logged into the computer and settled in. Time to steal the company internet to read job applications for after she graduated next week—assuming she passed her last class, of course. She navigated to online job boards.
In another tab, her computer auto-logged into Deviant Art and a chat window from DragonLord C popped up. He wanted to set a meeting.
Well, since today was an ordinary day at the office, she could—
“Hello, Cheryl,” Jasper said.
She closed the chat window and greeted her boss.
“How was your final portfolio review?”
“Eh.” She rubbed her forehead. “My professor doesn’t like my art.”
“Oh,” said Jasper.
The silence stretched.
But despite the awkwardness, it was a little easier to talk to him. Apparently, she had a tolerance level for super-hot dragon shifters and immersion exposure to Mal increased her immunity to the others.
“How are you?” She remembered to ask for the first time since starting to work for him.
He didn’t react to the new development. “Busy. We’re trying to decide on the next product to launch. Nothing seems as comfortable as pajamas.”
“You could do hoodies.”
“We did those ages ago when we launched outerwear.”
Her face heated. Had she made a suggestion to her boss? For something they already made? Jeez.
“It was right after you got hired. It was popular.”
At least she hadn’t suggested something that bombed.
He lingered at the edge of her desk, staring at her like he was waiting for her to say something.
She had to set the place for a lunchtime meeting with DragonLord C, but she couldn’t pop up the chat window and slack with her boss standing right in front of her. “Uh, are you waiting for something?”
“No.”
Another beat passed. He was definitely waiting. But for what? Her shyness started up a slow burn, and she toyed with her tablet stylus.
He spoke. “Did you want a tuxedo mocha?”
“Huh?”
“Alex made one for you last week.”
Oh. Yes, he had.
But what was going on?
“I can make you a French vanilla latte, or a peppermint mocha, or a caramel macchiato?” His inflection lifted with the offer.
Although any of those would be delicious, his strange tension made her lose her appetite. She shook her head.
“Anything?” he asked.
She shook her head harder and folded her hands. Something was weird.
Alex approached the desk. “It’s ready.”
“Good,” Jasper said.
At first, she felt relief, because clearly, Alex’s arrival was why Jasper had been waiting. But then the impeccably dressed Alex turned his exotic lavender-and-turquoise eyes on her. “This way.”
She heated everywhere. Without understanding, she fumbled to her feet and followed.
Her boss walked after her, closing off her escape.
Alex led her into the executive suite next to Mal’s. It was the largest, with a more palatial desk, twice as many windows overlooking the scenic parking lot, and a conference table with a giant holograph of their home planet, Draconis, spinning in the middle.
She had a vague notion this office was reserved for the true owner of the corporation: Mal’s mother. The gigantic, golden, aristocratic dragon lady seemed to give them all the shivers; they spoke of her in hushed tones. Even Amber.
In Mal’s mother’s absence, they used the executive office for guests and interviews. Cheryl had had her interview in here. They’d all stared at her without asking a single question. Then they’d brought in Jeanine, who looked at her and said, “What? She’s a college student. Why’d you bring me in here?” And they’d hired her on the spot.
So, now she was kind of, sort of applying to marry Mal, were they going to interview her again?
Oh god. She twisted her fingers in the hem of her hoodie. Please no.
Alex stood beside the grandiose desk. “What do you think?”
It was hard to think anything besides oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.
“I hope you like it. You can change anything to suit your tastes. Color, furnishings. You name it. We can complete the work today. Right, Jasper?”
“Anything but structural changes.” Her boss frowned. “Those require the weekend.”
Wait. What were they saying?
“Only one weekend,” Alex repeated, as though trying to make the best of the delay. “I apologize for our disorganization. Mal’s determination is legendary. However, we did not believe he would succeed in his goal to find a wife so quickly.”
“Yes.” Jasper stood beside the other end of the gigantic desk, forming an elite bookend. “In future, we will have the structural equipment ready and be more responsive.”
Hold the phone.
“Are you saying…” She rubbed her forehead. Her stomach churned. It would be unspeakably embarrassing if she got this wrong. “This office is, um, for… uh…”
“For you?” Alex made the sweeping gesture and smiled with his full charm. “Yes. This is your office now.”
She wavered on her feet. “What?”
“Unless you would like one of ours,” Jasper said.
No. This was crazy. She collapsed on the generous couch, her feet unable to hold her up any longer.
The two dragons stepped forward.
“Are you all right?” Jasper asked with concern.
“Yes. No. I don’t understand.” She stared at the holograph. The red planet rotated like a super-sized Mars. “This office is mine? I’m an intern. Why?”
“You married Mal.”
Okay. Error number one. “But, so, why?”
“You’re now the highest ranked female, so you’re the most important officer in the company.”
“I thought your mom was the matriarch.”
“We’re building her a new office on the next floor. That’s why any structural changes to your office must wait until the weekend.”
“So if she’s still the owner, why am I getting this office?”
“You married Mal.”
Her brain spun so fast she was getting dizzy. “We’re not actually married yet.”
The two dragons looked at each other.
“Aren’t you?” Jasper frowned. “You signed an application.”
“Right. An application. Dragons aren’t married until after the birth of their first kid.”
The two men relaxed.
“You’re married by local laws.” Alex smiled winningly. “That will satisfy our mother until the dragonlet ceremony.”
“Except we’re still not married.” Since Mal had never given her a ring, she barely felt engaged. “We filled out the marriage application. Did anyone turn it in? We still have to speak our vows in front of an offi
ciant.”
“I’ll check on that.” Alex strode from the office so swiftly his impeccable gray coat tails flew behind him.
Jasper remained solemn next to her, giving her the space she needed to process in peace.
So, if she married Mal, then she would shoot above the CEO? She’d be in charge of this corporation and everything in it? The ground lurched beneath her tennis shoes and she rested her head on the plush couch. What a nightmare!
There had to be some mistake. She was just an intern. When she graduated next week, she wouldn’t even have this job anymore, which was why she had to find another one. Preferably in a non-Hallmark, non-greeting card company that paid benefits.
Not that she had anything against Hallmark. She loved Hallmark. They touched people’s hearts and made the world a kinder, happier place. But it was way too competitive for her to land a full-time job with them. Everyone knew that. They might buy one of her designs. Maybe. There was no point in hoping for anything more.
But to go from failing to get a job at Hallmark (which, to her mind, she had already done without ever applying) to running a billionaire-level corporation on an alien planet… oh god. Her stomach lurched again.
She was going to throw up.
Alex returned to the executive office. “I have scheduled an appointment with a Justice of the Peace for twelve o’clock today.”
No.
She straightened, swallowed the acid burning the back of her tongue, and croaked out a protest. “I have plans for lunch.”
He turned. “I will reschedule.”
Thank god. She actually did have plans. So her protest was even true.
Amber, the fire-breathing female dragon, met Alex in the doorway. “Where are you going?”
“I must reschedule Cheryl’s marriage ceremony.”
Her brows darkened.
The males tensed.
“I thought they were already married,” Amber said.
“There is a ritual portion that must be witnessed by a high-ranking member of human society in order for it to be official.”
Her eyes narrowed. Jasper, standing closest to Cheryl, held his breath.
If Cheryl married Mal, then she would rank above all of them, including Amber. How must they feel about losing their places to her? Amber was quiet but clearly the most dangerous. The other males flinched whenever she drew near. She breathed actual fire, and Cheryl had seen her large, frightening dragon form. It was all golden-orange claws and scales and deadly incineration.
How must Amber feel at the prospect of some “rando” intern shoving her out of her proper spot?
Amber started speaking. “See that—”
Cheryl surged to her feet. “Stop.”
“—it is done,” Amber finished.
Alex sucked in a breath to squeeze past his older sister.
“Wait. Please.” Cheryl held up her hands, arresting him. “Don’t reschedule. Just cancel the appointment. I don’t want to marry Mal.”
Chapter Seventeen
She’d said it. I don’t want to marry Mal. There. They should be happy.
The dragons all stared at her. Horror fixed the males’ features.
Amber stepped into the office. Her expression was more inscrutable. “You don’t?”
They ought to be happy she wasn’t taking over their places. But whatever. That didn’t change the truth.
Cheryl shook her head. “No. I don’t.”
Alex clenched his manicured hands. His charming smile looked strained. “We will make the appointment at your convenience. Any time is fine. Please reconsider.”
She shook her head.
Jasper also implored her. “Mal is a very worthy male.”
She hugged herself. Mal wasn’t the problem. Obviously.
Jasper frowned at Alex. Amber stood motionless in the middle of the office, neat as usual in a cute, black woolen dress that Cheryl could never wear, yellow tights, and red Mary Janes.
Jasper tried again. “We will work hard to fix any shortcomings with us, the business, this office...”
“Or Mal,” Alex added.
Oh, now she was torturing them.
Why did Mal ever propose to her? Why did she ever accept? This was so crazy. Of course it was wrong. And it was all her fault.
She shook her head. “It’s not you.”
Amber stepped forward. “Is it Mal?”
Cheryl shook her head again. With all of them staring at her, the office shot up into boiling temperatures. Saliva pooled in the back of her mouth. She was seriously going to be ill.
“Then what is the problem?”
She shook her head a third time.
Jasper’s normally steady voice grew an edge. “Whatever it is, we’ll pool our resources and resolve it.”
“Jasper.” Amber’s voice remained conversational appropriate, but a thread of steel jolted the males and even forced Cheryl’s spine straight. “Alex. Leave us.”
The males departed instantly. The door closed.
Amber remained motionless in the middle of the office. Cheryl kept the huge conference table with the spinning Draconis hologram between them. Was Amber about to transform and destroy her as a rival? Amber’s eyes fixed on Cheryl. Like her name, they were a golden honey color. Their intensity burned like a flame.
“You have worked for us for six months,” Amber said. “Long enough to know us as well as any human. You and I have not spoken often. But you did not strike me as the kind of female to state one intention and then change it at will.”
Ah.
Heat flamed Cheryl’s neck and face. Amber was calling her out for saying she’d marry Mal, then changing her mind.
“What is the reason?”
Okay. So awkward. Wasn’t it obvious?
“Is it Mal?”
“No,” Cheryl said.
Amber focused on her with those honey-pale, opaque eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Mal is… Mal.” He was growly and gorgeous and implacable and undefeatable. He was blunt, honest, and easy to love. The only crazy thing was that he somehow seemed to have latched onto her as if he loved her back.
“Then the problem is us?” Amber queried.
Well, yeah, sort of. Cheryl gestured at the giant office and all it stood for. “I can’t work in here. I can’t run a corporation. I can’t be the boss of you all. Of Mal. This office? I just can’t.” She hugged herself. “No way. Fire me. Right now.”
It was so silent a pin could drop on the roof and it would sound like a gunshot.
“I’d destroy everything,” Cheryl said. “You’d all hate me.”
“That could happen,” Amber told her.
Great. Threats.
“This office was designed for my mother.” The female dragon crossed the floor and stood behind the giant desk. She sat in the executive chair and spread out.
Amber belonged there.
Power radiated from her crackling gold eyes, from her flaming hair, from her presence. “Did you know that on Draconis, only females can run companies?”
No. Cheryl didn’t know that.
“My brothers would have no chance there.” Amber slid her palms across the massive desk. “And I would be forced to occupy this seat. On Earth, my brothers have a chance. On Earth, I have a choice.”
What was Amber saying?
Her gaze fixed on Cheryl. “If my brother marries a female dragon, then she will take this company. She will take the money, the accomplishments, the rankings for her own. She could give it to her family and shut ours out. You, Cheryl, would never take these from Mal.”
True. She would never take this company. No. Hell no. Absolutely no.
Cheryl shook her head.
“That is what I thought.” Amber stood and exited from the desk. “Mal must marry a human now or return to Draconis and join with a female dragon.”
“What? Why?”
“It is our mother’s decree. She is the matriarch.”
“That’s not fair.”
>
Amber didn’t disagree.
Tingling went down Cheryl’s spine and one memory turned bitter.
So that’s why he had suddenly proposed to her. It wasn’t that he fell in love. She had been convenient, available, and obviously in love with him.
God, he had even asked her all those questions. Was she married already? Was she fertile? Did she want dragonlets? It wasn’t a proposal. She knew it at the time but the meaning slammed into her doubly hard now. It was a job interview.
But…
He’d taken his time and made love to her tenderly. Thoroughly. And he got so hurt when she wanted to leave. He’d begged her to return. Even today, facing this new emergency, he’d told her to interrupt his work so he could take her home rather than let her go back to her mom’s. His actions said he needed her. And Mal didn’t need anyone.
He was dangerously blunt. Honest to a fault. Vulnerable in his blustery way.
Mal didn’t choose her only from self-preservation. He loved the company more than anything, and his siblings next, but Cheryl would bet she came in a close third place.
They’d have to work on the order.
“However, the situation has changed.” Amber continued to watch her carefully. “We made a mistake and can no longer sell our products on Draconis. This launch will be our last opportunity to reach the top of the Outer Planets Rank Listing.”
“Why?” Cheryl asked.
“Our mother gave away our port privileges. Port privileges are required to land products on Draconis.”
“But why?”
“She was angry and hurt. We prioritized the company over her.”
Ah.
Cheryl shifted uneasily on the couch. She’d been angry at Mal for prioritizing the company over her just this morning. But she would never sabotage his business.
“So how will you sell your clothes?” Cheryl asked. “If you can’t sell them on Draconis will you switch to other planets in the galaxy? Like the ‘Outer Rim’ where you’re from?”
Amber shook her head. “All products must pass through the capital before distribution to the rest of the Empire. Our next product will be delayed years.”
“Years! Then how will the company survive?”
“It won’t.”
It took a second for the meaning to sink in. “So your mom just killed your company.”
