by Ashlyn Chase
She’d lost him. Chloe slumped down away from the roof’s edge, and felt a big dragon tear starting at the corner of her eye. Oh, feck no. I am not cryin’ over some two-timin’ bastard.
Yeah. Tell yerself that again. The tear slid down her cheek.
Her grandmother was right. There was no man on this earth for her. No true love in her future. She had just begun to hope the prediction was wrong. But instead, Chloe was wrong to hope.
* * *
Ryan stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked up at the Beacon Street brownstone. Lights shone on the second floor, but nowhere else. He remembered the kitchen and office being on the second floor, so they might be preparing dinner.
If Chloe had gone straight home, he’d have to get past her brother. The guy was big, and he probably wouldn’t like him anymore. Although maybe Chloe didn’t spill her guts to her brother as he pictured. She didn’t seem like the kind who would.
He marched up the steps, determined to at least try to speak to her. If she were as angry as he imagined she must be, he’d be in more danger with her than with her brother. Still, it wasn’t his fault. He had to make her see that.
He rang the bell and waited a few moments. Amber stepped out of a door in the hallway and smiled when she recognized him through the glass.
“Come in, Ryan,” she said as she swung the door open wide.
So far, so good. Chloe had either said nothing or hadn’t come home yet.
Amber shivered, so he stepped inside the foyer and let her close the big wooden door behind him.
“Hi, Amber. Is Chloe home?”
Amber’s brows raised. “Um. I don’t think so. Let me check. Would you like to come upstairs and have a cup of coffee with Rory while you wait?”
What should he do? Have coffee with the big brother who could punch his lights out, or maybe gain sympathy by explaining what happened to her family first? “Uh, sure. If it’s no trouble. Don’t make a fresh pot just for me.”
“No trouble at all. I can whip up coffee or tea in one of those individual cup thingies. It’ll only take a sec.”
“Thanks.” He followed her up the stairs.
In the kitchen, Rory sat at a granite island, sipping a cup of tea. He hopped off the stool and strolled over to Ryan with his hand extended. “Ryan! How’s it goin’?”
Ryan returned the firm handshake, then hung his head. “Not so well, I’m afraid. I need to see Chloe…to explain something.”
“Ah, you’ve had a misunderstandin’. Well, that happens. Have a seat. What can I get you? Coffee? Tea?”
“Uh, Amber offered me some coffee. I hope it’s not too much trouble.”
“No trouble a’tall. I’ll get it.”
“I’m going to see if she’s home,” Amber said. Ryan thought he caught a strange look pass between them before she gave Rory a peck on the lips and went upstairs.
The coffee only took a couple of minutes, and Rory asked him what he took in it. Black was easiest, so that’s how Ryan asked for it. The bitter taste seemed appropriate to his mood.
When Rory set the cup in front of him, he settled on the next stool. There was one other seat, so Amber or Chloe could join them. Hopefully, Chloe.
“What’s happened, if you don’t mind me askin’? You can say it’s none of me business, but where me sister is concerned, I might disagree.”
“It’s a simple misunderstanding, like you thought. Chloe saw something that wasn’t at all what she thought it was. She ran off before I could explain it to her.”
Rory raised one eyebrow. “What did she see? Were you huggin’ or kissin’ another woman?” He narrowed his eyes. “Was it your sister?”
“No. Of course not. I don’t have any sisters.”
Rory snorted. “Consider yerself lucky.” He fell silent and stared at the island.
The silence was killing Ryan, so he figured he could divulge a little more. “I was supposed to have dinner with two of my brothers. That’s all I was told. When I showed up, my sister-in-law was there with one of her female friends and my other brother brought a date. It didn’t take long to figure out I’d been tricked into a blind date. I never would have gone if I had known. Believe me.”
Rory leaned back and scrutinized his face. “So what did Chloe see?”
“Just the six of us sitting at a table in the Atrium restaurant.”
“You weren’t holdin’ hands with the woman, nor putting your arm around her?”
“I wasn’t touching her! Well, not at that moment. She was sitting across the table and I held her hand for a few seconds. That’s all. I don’t know what Chloe saw.”
“Why were you holdin’ the woman’s hand?”
“Because I was apologizing. She looked like she was about to cry when I said I wanted nothing to do with a blind date. It wasn’t personal, but she didn’t know that. I had to explain that my policy was never to go on blind dates, at all. My family tricked me.”
Rory chuckled.
Whew. Maybe he’d escape with his life after all—if Chloe didn’t kill him.
“Did you try goin’ after Chloe?”
“Of course.”
Amber was gone awhile. She’d had plenty of time to check and return if Chloe wasn’t there. Maybe they were having some girl talk. He could only hope that Amber would encourage her to hear him out.
“So, you’re sayin’ me sister jumped to a wrong conclusion and outran you?”
“Uh. Yeah. That about sums it up.”
Rory smirked. “That sounds like Chloe all right.”
Ryan glanced at the empty stairs. The longer he waited the more uncomfortable he became. At least Rory wasn’t pushing for any details about the extent of their personal relationship.
“So, have you told her you love her yet?”
Shit.
Chapter 12
Amber had popped into Chloe’s apartment in the building next door. She heard sniffles coming from the bedroom. Damn. Knowing Chloe as well as she did, she figured the female dragon almost never cried.
She approached the bedroom door with trepidation and knocked softly.
“Go away,” Chloe shouted.
“Chloe, it’s Amber. Talk to me.”
“No. Leave me alone.”
Amber took a deep breath. Being a muse, there wasn’t much the woman could do to her. If she shifted into dragon form and blasted her with fire, Amber could disappear. She might get singed, but she’d heal with a snap of her fingers.
“I want to respect your wishes, but I can’t leave you like this. We have three choices. We can either shout through the door, I can come in without your permission, or you can treat me like a friend and open the door.”
Apparently, Chloe was considering the options, because she didn’t answer right away.
At last, the door opened and a very defeated-looking woman stood there. Her shoulders were sloped, her head angled down, and her hands hung by her sides. Amber barely recognized her boyfriend’s sister.
“Chloe…”
Amber waited until she looked up at her with red-rimmed eyes. “Oh, honey.” She strode forward and grasped her in a big hug. Chloe barely returned the gesture, as if she didn’t have the strength to hug her back. When she finally grasped her, she let the dam burst and sobbed onto Amber’s shoulder.
When her tears finally abated, she mumbled, “It’s my own fault.”
Amber rubbed her back. “Being mad at ourselves is usually worse than being mad at other people. We tend to judge ourselves pretty harshly.” She hoped she was speaking the truth. At least it was true for her, but she and Chloe differed in how they reacted to adversity.
“I’m mad at Ryan and meself, both. We’re both feckin’ idjits.” Then she chuckled.
Was that an inappropriate laugh, or am I not getting the joke? She hoped she was just dense and that Chloe wasn
’t going off her rocker. “Come and sit down. Tell me what happened.”
Chloe allowed herself to be led by the hand to her couch. It was facing the fireplace, so Amber lit the candles there. Fortunately, she didn’t have to leave Chloe’s side and merely pointing her finger took care of it. The firelight seemed to comfort her and she relaxed a bit.
Amber waited until Chloe was ready to share whatever she needed to.
“I slept with Ryan. Last night. Tonight, I saw him with another woman.” She snorted and a curl of smoke exited her nose.
“What did he have to say for himself?”
“I don’t know. I left. He’d probably just tell me a pack of feckin’ lies anyway.”
“Probably? That means he might also tell you the truth.”
“I doubt it.”
Amber didn’t know how much to reveal about Ryan’s visit. Should she tell Chloe he was next door, asking to speak to her? Christ, the woman shouldn’t be lied to…even if only lying by omission. She took a deep breath. “He’s next door, talking to Rory right now.”
Chloe stiffened.
“He wants to speak to you,” Amber added. “It might be better if he did.”
“Shite.” She shot to her feet and squared her shoulders. “I’d rather hear what he has to say firsthand instead of through me well-meanin’ brother, who might try to soften it.”
Amber rose and took her hand. “You’re wise and brave, Chloe. You can do this.”
“Wait a minute. Is there anythin’ you can do about me face? I don’t want him to see me all red and puffy from cryin’.”
Amber smiled and drew an oval in the air, right in front of Chloe’s beautiful face. Her eyes and skin became as clear as they were yesterday. “Ready?”
Chloe nodded. “Let’s go.”
Amber transported the two of them to the third floor of the B and B. Chloe rocked a bit on landing, but that was par for the course. As a former flight attendant, Amber was used to keeping her balance while flying through the air.
She gave Chloe a smile and picked a piece of lint off her green sweater. Doing a quick perusal, she didn’t see anything else to fix. “There. You’re good to go.”
* * *
Chloe marched downstairs, determined to hear this “explanation” from Ryan’s own lips. She trusted Rory had used his horse-shite detector—he would have tossed Ryan onto the sidewalk if he’d tried to lie.
They were still there. Ryan rose immediately and said, “Chloe…”
There was a certain softness in his voice that she hadn’t heard before. Was it remorse?
Rory gazed at Amber and cocked his head toward the stairs. She nodded and the two of them left the others alone.
Ryan stepped toward her and she took a step back.
“Chloe, please hear me out. I think you owe me that.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Owe you?”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Forget I said that. Just listen, okay?”
She folded her arms and waited.
“My brothers caught the slap you gave me on the kiss cam. I didn’t know they saw that, and I certainly didn’t know they felt sorry for me and would try to fix me up with someone. Chloe, I had nothing to do with it.”
“Are you sayin’ you didn’t know you were on a blind date?”
“I knew after a few minutes. I thought it was weird that my sister-in-law was there, and Jayce had brought a date. The extra woman was introduced as a friend of Sandra’s…my sister-in-law.”
“You were smilin’, like this dinner was the best thing that ever happened to you.”
“No, Chloe. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I had to plaster that smile on my face because I was trying not to cause a scene. I wanted to pummel my family for tricking me.”
She wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. Did he say that she was the best thing that had ever happened to him?
“Say something.”
She couldn’t. A lump in her throat prevented her from speaking.
“Okay. I’ll say something. I would never knowingly hurt you. I’m sincerely sorry if this situation caused you any pain. I’ll tell my family about us and let them know that slap was staged. I’ll explain it was because we didn’t want to be split up on different shifts or transferred to different firehouses. I love being with you…even just being around you. I’ll ask them not to say anything, but if they do, I’ll beg the captain to keep us together.”
He took a tentative step toward her. “I’m crazy about you.” This time she didn’t retreat. He took another, then another. When he reached her, he gathered her into his arms.
His warmth and the sincerity of his apology eventually got to her and she melted into him. She tipped up her chin to see his face. His eyes said he meant every word. He leaned in slowly for a kiss, but gave her enough time to stop him.
Stopping him was the last thing on her mind.
His lips touched hers. He applied light pressure and slid them back and forth. She responded and opened her mouth. His tongue slipped into her mouth and found hers. When she curled her tongue around his, he cupped the back of her head and deepened the kiss.
Her hands automatically reached up and slid over his shoulders. She ran her fingers through the dark hair at the nape of his neck. His drugging kiss could erase not only the last two hours, but the last thousand years. All that existed was the two of them.
Rory yelled down from upstairs. “Have you told her you love her yet?”
Ryan broke the kiss and hung his head. Then he looked up the stairway and loudly answered, “I was waiting for a happier moment.”
Chloe startled. He loves me?
“Oh!” Rory shouted. “Sorry.” His snickers said he wasn’t sorry at all.
Ryan turned his gaze back to Chloe, and she stroked his jaw. “Is it true?”
“Yes. Like I said, I was waiting for a happier moment, but yes.”
Tears shimmered in her eyes. “There is no happier moment than this.”
He smiled and captured her lips again.
Then she realized how vulnerable she was. They both were. When love is given, a heart can be broken—especially if betrayal is involved. She pushed his chest and pulled back, just enough so she could speak. “Wait.”
He froze.
“I think it’s only fair that you know what will happen if you ever do cheat on me.”
“You’ll never have to worry—”
She clapped her hand over his mouth. “Like I said. I should warn you.”
He pulled her hand down and kissed her palm. “I know, I know… You’ll kick my arse all the way to the street and leave me in the gutter where I belong.”
She grinned. “Something like that.”
“Consider me warned.” He grinned back at her. “Fortunately, that will never, ever, happen. Just do me a favor…”
“What?”
“If you think you see or hear something suspicious, tell me. Right away. I want a chance to explain before you upset a dinner party with homicidal threats.”
“Ah, you know me well.” She tipped up her chin and they resumed their kiss. Before long, passion took over and grew until she was afraid she might burst into flames.
Ryan broke the kiss and whispered, “Hey, let’s get a room.”
* * *
Rory and Amber were still enjoying their extended vacation, holding off on advertising their B and B. She was sitting on his lap in the large first floor living room while they watched a movie on the big-screen TV.
A knock at the door surprised them.
“Are we expectin’ anyone, luv?” Rory asked.
“Not that I know of.” Amber strolled to the door and smiled, recognizing someone through the glass inset. She opened the door wide and exclaimed, “Aiden! What brings you here? I thought the Chris
tmas season was your busiest.”
“’Tis, but I have somethin’ important to discuss with your Rory, and the others said they could spare me.”
By now Rory was joining them in the foyer. He clasped his cousin’s hand in welcome and drew him into a man-hug, pounding him on the back.
Aiden carried a paper bag in his free hand but did his best to return the friendly gesture.
“What have you there?” Rory asked, eyeing the paper bag.
“A bottle of our finest Ulster Arish whiskey, of course,” Aiden said as he drew the bottle sporting his family’s coat of arms—three gold dragons—from the bag and presented it to his elder cousin.
“Ah! And a welcome guest you are.” Rory winked. “Can you take his coat, Amber? I’ll carry your bags to your room. Same one as last time all right?”
“That will be fine, indeed. But I’ll take me bags and use the lift this time.” He grinned.
Rory chuckled. “Good to know you remember our rules. No shiftin’ and flyin’ around the house.”
Aiden laughed. “Yes. I remember.” He hefted his suitcase from the stoop and headed for the elevator.
“As soon as you’re settled, meet me at the bar. I’ll just open this fine gift now, if I’m not supposed to wait for Christmas.”
“It’s meant to be opened and enjoyed any time you want it, Cousin. And if you want more, I have a whole distillery full of it back at home.”
What could be so important as to take a man away from his whiskey-makin’ business at the busiest time of year? Rory laughed to cover his anxiety. “Let’s hope I don’t need it so.”
He wasn’t alone for long. Amber returned from the hall closet as soon as Aiden was in the elevator.
“What could be so important?” she whispered, knowing that dragons had sensitive hearing.
“I was wonderin’ that meself. We’ll play the gracious host to him, and it will come out in good time.” Rory held out a glass of whiskey, straight up. “Would you like some?”
Amber wrinkled her nose. “No, thanks. Unless there’s ice and sparkling water in it, that’s too strong for me.”
“Ah, but it’s smooth as silk,” he said, encouraging her to take a sip.
