How to Date a Dragon
Page 29
Angie was already walking toward the kitchen. “It’s how I show I care.”
Brandee chuckled. “It’s how you support yourself. Besides, I know you care. Otherwise I wouldn’t have told you what I’m going through.”
“Yes you would,” Angie called from the next room. The refrigerator door opened and clunked shut. A few moments later she strolled back into the living room, holding two glasses of white wine. “You tell me everything.”
“Do you ever get tired of it?”
“Tired of what? Your train wreck of a life?”
“Not just mine. Lots of people tell you more than you want to hear. It looked as if someone was talking your ear off when I was getting Nick his beer.”
“Nah. That was just a tourist wanting recommendations for cheap hotels. Like fifty bucks a night.”
Angie handed her a glass of Chardonnay, and Brandee took a welcome sip. “Fifty dollars? In this city?”
“Yeah, that’s a hoot, huh? I tried to recommend the hostel I’d heard about, but they weren’t interested.”
Brandee leaned back against the loose pillows. “So, getting back to me…if you were in my knockoff shoes, would you accept a date with Nick Wolfensen?”
“Not unless he changed his policy.”
“That’s what I was thinking. But how do you tell a guy to completely change his lifestyle?”
“Just come right out and say it. Someone needs to.” Angie sipped her wine.
“I guess so. I’ve got nothing to lose if there’s nothing to gain.”
Angie scratched her head. “I think that made sense.”
Brandee thumped her feet onto the coffee table and crossed them at the ankles. “Okay, I’ll confront him.”
“Good. Do it where I can watch.”
“Pervert.”
***
“Nick, I know this is your first case, but we’re desperate. The mayor’s stepdaughter has been kidnapped.”
“Desperate?” That’s hardly a vote of confidence. “If you’re so desperate, why use a brand-new PI? There are plenty of options for a kidnapping case.” Nick wanted the job, but his cop instincts told him something didn’t sound right. Captain Hunter had arranged this meeting fifteen minutes ago. They met at Boston Uncommon but left the bar immediately so they could talk in private.
“There are paranormal circumstances, and we don’t have time for lengthy explanations.”
“I see. What are these ‘circumstances’?”
“She’s a fire mage.”
Nick’s eyebrows shot up. “Shit.” He stopped at a bench and glanced around. No one was within earshot, so he and Hunter sat down. “Do you think the kidnappers know this?”
“Don’t know. No ransom demands have been made. There’s been no contact at all.”
“Any witnesses?”
“A neighbor thought she heard something like a muffled yelp of surprise, but when she looked out her window she didn’t see anything.”
“Where were her parents?”
“The mayor was at City Hall and her mother was in the house. She didn’t think she needed to supervise a twelve-year-old in her own backyard. Now she’s sick with guilt.”
Nick felt for the poor woman. The best way to help her was to find her daughter. “So they may have kidnapped her for her power.” Nick rubbed his chin. “The criminal who’s not looking for money is usually looking for some kind of power.”
“It gets worse. The girl doesn’t know what she can do yet. A female fire mage won’t realize her power until the first solar eclipse after she hits puberty. Her mother kept putting off telling her.”
“Shit. She’s untrained and unprepared. Her parents must be frantic.”
“To put it mildly.” The captain rested his hand on Nick’s shoulder. “This case could make or break your career. I wouldn’t blame you if you decline, but I hope you won’t. I think you’re our only hope.”
How could he refuse? Not only would he feel responsible if anything happened to the girl, but she could burn the city to the ground if the kidnappers couldn’t teach her how to control the power she didn’t even know she had—the power to set fires with no more than a thought.
“I’ll do my best.”
The captain let out a long breath, as if he’d been holding it for a while. “You’d better do better than your best. The next solar eclipse is in nine days.”
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Strange Neighbors
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He’s looking for peace, quiet, and a little romance…
There’s never a dull moment when hunky all-star pitcher and shapeshifter Jason Falco invests in an old Boston brownstone apartment building full of supernatural creatures. But when Merry MacKenzie moves into the ground floor apartment, the playboy pitcher decides he might just be done playing the field…
A girl just wants to have fun…
Sexy Jason seems like the perfect fling, but newly independent nurse Merry’s not sure she’s ready to trust him with her heart…especially when the tabloids start trumpeting his playboy lifestyle.
Then pandemonium breaks loose and Merry and Jason will never get it together without a little help from the vampire who lives in the basement and the werewolf from upstairs…
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The Werewolf
Upstairs
by Ashlyn Chase
Petty crime never looked so good…
Alpha werewolf Konrad Wolfensen sees it as his duty to protect the citizens of Boston, even if it means breaking into their businesses just to prove their security systems don’t work. But when his unsolicited services land him in trouble with the law, he’ll have to turn to his sexy new neighbor for help.
She should know better…
Attorney Roz Wells is bored. She used to have such a knack for attracting the weird and unexpected, but ever since she took a job as a Boston public defender, the quirky quotient in her life has taken a serious hit. Until her sexy werewolf neighbor starts coming around…
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The Vampire Next Door
by Ashlyn Chase
Room for Rent: Normal need not apply
This old Boston brownstone is not known for quiet living…first the shapeshifter meets his nurse, then the werewolf falls for his sassy lawyer, but now the vampire is looking for love with a witch who’s afraid of the dark…and you thought your neighbors had issues!
Undead Sly is content playing vigilante vampire, keeping the neighborhood safe from human criminals, until Morgaine moves in upstairs. Suddenly he finds himself weak with desire, which isn’t a good place for a vampire to be. And Morgaine isn’t exactly without her own issues—will the two of them be able to get past their deepest fears before their chance at “normal” slips away…
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USA Today Bestselling Author
Jaguar Fever
by Terry Spear
She’s a material girl…
Being the only jaguar shape-shifter in town was getting tiresome for Maya Anderson. She’s finally found a hangout in a nearby city where she can go on the prowl with her own kind—and she intends to make the most of it.
In a feline world…
Wade Patterson knew he could love her the moment he looked into Maya’s piercing eyes, but he thinks she’s in over her head with the big city cats. Wade’s playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with a different sort of predator, and if Maya gets in the middle, they’re all going to find out just how wild a jungle cat can be.
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Tall, Dark, and Vampire
by Sara Humphreys
She always knew Fate was cruel…
The last person Olivia expected to turn up at her club was her one true love. It would normally be great to see him‚ except he’s been dead for centuries. Olivia really thought she had moved on with her immortal life‚ but as soon as she sees Doug Paxton‚ she knows she’d rather die than lose him again. And that’s a real problem…
But this is beyond the pale…
Doug is a no-nonsense cop by day‚ but his nights are tormented by dreams of a gorgeous redhead who’s so much a part of him‚ she seems to be in his blood. When he meets Olivia face-to-face‚ long-buried memories begin to surface. She might be the answer to his prayers…or she might be the death of him.
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About the Author
Ashlyn Chase describes herself as an Almond Joy bar. A little nutty, a little flaky, but basically sweet, wanting only to give her readers a satisfying reading experience.
She holds a degree in behavioral sciences, worked as a psychiatric RN for several years, and spent a few more years working for the American Red Cross. She credits her sense of humor to her former careers since comedy helped preserve whatever was left of her sanity. She is a multipublished, award-winning author of humorous erotic and paranormal romances, represented by the Seymour Agency.
She lives in beautiful New Hampshire with her true-life hot, hero husband (who looks like Hugh Jackman if you squint), and they’re owned by a spoiled brat cat.
Where there’s fire, there’s Ash.
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