Deceived by the Shifter

by Juniper Hart

  Daisy’s eyes fell back down to her notebook, as she tried to listen to what they were saying over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. She could feel how hot her cheeks were without even touching them. What in the hell was going on? Was the man really that powerful? Was it just an emotion accompanied by his overwhelming beauty? What in the world was he doing at a company like this?

  After a couple minutes of collecting herself mentally, and diligently notating the meeting, Daisy finally got the courage to look up from her papers. Her eyes immediately went to the white-haired man to find that he was still staring her down, his fingers drumming against the tabletop. A small smile appeared on his face, which Daisy couldn’t help but mirror, butterflies soaring through the pit of her stomach.

  “Shouldn’t I be introduced?” he suddenly announced, speaking over whomever was talking at the moment. His voice was raspy and low, reminding her of the growl of a lion, but it wasn’t a booming voice; it was easy on the ears. Too easy on Daisy’s.

  The suits all looked around at one another before the one closest to him nodded a bit frantically, “Yes sir, so sorry about that. This is Wren Carmichael, Trey Blaine, and Daisy Maddow from Winslow Events. They will be helping us coordinate the Rollins River Clean-up event—of course, it is Paul Rollins’ organization. You remember Paul?” he let out a bout of nervous chuckles before looking over to the event planners. “And Winslow Events, this is Nyle Flamme. He’s the president of La Flamme Foundation.”

  Daisy’s jaw dropped, having to snap her mouth shut before she made a fool of herself. No wonder he seems so powerful, he’s a Flamme, Daisy thought.

  “Nice to meet all of you,” Nyle called over to them, but his eyes never left Daisy. After a bit of a pause, he spoke again, finally peeling his eyes away from her to look at his associates. “From what I’ve heard, it seems like you have all given them plenty of instructions. Let the Winslow team have a little bit of freedom, hmm? I say get to work,” Nyle said, eyes going back to the event planners.

  “Yes, sir. Thank you so much,” Wren nodded excitedly, standing from her chair and collecting her coat and bag.

  Daisy’s eyes went to the foundation’s board members and employees. The men looked rather annoyed with being cut off so suddenly. However, they all followed Wren’s lead and collected their belongings to leave. Daisy stood up and headed to the door behind Trey. Daisy couldn’t resist looking over at Nyle one last time. He had remained in his seat, his eyes fixated forward, glazed over, as the man who came in with him rambled on about something.

  Trey and Wren were already chatting lively about the next steps to plan the gala as they moved through the door. Daisy couldn’t focus on what they were talking about, her head totally clouded by thoughts of the intense, overwhelming Nyle Flamme. How was it possible for someone to have such…such an air of greatness about him? It kind of amazed her that Wren hadn’t said anything about it. Had they not been able to sense it? She contemplated the thought that she had imagined the entire thing. Maybe it had been just a strong reaction to his astounding good looks.

  By the time they got to the elevator, Daisy had convinced herself that was all it had been. Her imagined connection to Nyle was in her head; he wouldn’t pay attention so someone like her. Stepping into the elevator with Wren and Trey, she pressed the ground floor button and then leaned against the wall. As the doors began to close, a shiver ran up her spine, that same feeling came over her that she had in the meeting. Just as the doors began to close, a pale hand darted into the gap.

  The silver doors opened, and Nyle Flamme entered the elevator before the doors finally closed. Daisy’s breath caught in her throat, her eyes wide as she watched him. His golden eyes glanced over at her, a look of mischief burning in them.

  There is no way I’m imagining this, Daisy thought.

  Out of nervous habit, she nibbled on her lower lip and averted her eyes to the floor. She could see him out of the corner of her eye as he shuffled to stand next to her. He had an intoxicating musky aroma, an earthy scent blending well with whatever cologne he was wearing.

  “Is there something we can help you with, sir?” Wren asked him in a cheerful tone, though Daisy knew she was confused as to why he was in the elevator.

  “I’m overseeing the event, aren’t I? I’m coming along to supervise the planning.”

  Daisy’s wide eyes looked up, shocked by what he had just said. He was coming along? The other men in the meeting said they would be left to handle it themselves and that they could hire any help they needed. So why was he coming?

  “Oh… all right. Well, the first thing we plan on doing is scouting out some potential locations for the gala,” Wren informed him.

  “Uh-huh,” was all Nyle let out, his attention clearly on something else.

  The rest of the elevator ride was filled with Wren and Trey debating where to visit first. Daisy stayed in her spot, eyes fixated on the floor. His presence was overpowering, to put it lightly, making her too nervous to look him in the eye.

  As the metal doors opened and they stepped outside, Nyle spoke again, cutting through Wren and Trey’s conversation. “It would be faster to split up and cover two places at once. Why don’t the two of you go to your top choices? Daisy and I can head out to some places she had in mind.” His hand then brushed against Daisy’s arm, a shiver running down her spine. “Does that work for you?”

  Daisy pulled together the courage to look up at him as Nyle’s eyes went over to her coworkers.

  “Whatever you like, sir. This is your function. We’re here to make your vision happen,” Wren assured him with a smile.

  Then, Wren and Trey walked away without a word to Daisy. They were going to leave her like that? They always did everything as a group. Her gaze shifted back to Nyle, who glanced over to her with a grin.

  “Daisy, right?” he asked.

  “Yes, sir,” she replied with a nod, her eyes scanning over his face.

  He was unbelievably handsome, and he had the strangest stark-white hair she had ever seen. Something was different about this man, something incredibly enthralling, but Daisy couldn’t put her finger on it.

  “While it’s quite nice to be called sir, you can call me Nyle,” the man said to her.

  All she could do was nod in response.

  “So, do you have any venues in mind?” he asked.

  Daisy blinked rapidly, having to force herself to be grounded for a moment to come up with an intelligent response.

  “Ah, there are some lovely ballrooms on the upper east side of town. There’s also the art museum. It has a lovely space for events with excellent lighting, and it’s adjacent to the botanical garden.”

  Nyle’s lips pulled into a grin then, “Museum it is, then.”

  He then placed his hand gently on the small of her back as he guided her to a town car. Typically she would have stepped out of reach of a man putting hands on her so soon, but his touch wasn’t possessive or uncomfortable. And it left her wracked with nerves.

  CHAPTER THREE

  After letting her climb into the car first, Nyle slid in after her and shut the door. “Art museum,” was all he called to the driver before they were pulling out onto the road.

  His golden eyes fell back on Daisy. Nyle hated that he had stared at her so much, not wanting to make her uncomfortable, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her beauty was something he knew had to be overlooked in the human world, or else there would have been a ring on her finger. It wasn’t a conventional beauty, Nyle was certain that most men would have found her to be ‘cute.’ Cute was such an understatement, but he wasn’t upset with human ignorance—he was grateful. The last thing he needed was the complication of his soulmate being married.

  It was strange for him to label someone as such, but he knew that’s what she was—his soulmate. He felt her energy before he had even walked into the conference room; it wasn’t until Nyle laid eyes on her that he realized what the feeling meant. She was perfect. Her skin was fa
ir and looked so soft, he already had to fight the urge to reach over and stroke her cheek. Daisy’s facial features were soft with apple cheeks and a sloped nose that turned up ever so slightly at the tip. His eyes were in a constant battle between looking at her plush rosy pink lips or her sparkling blue-gray eyes. They were like globes of stormy water, drawing him ever deeper into their depths. Her locks of wavy mocha hair were perfect, flowing all the way down to her mid-back. And while she was of average height for a female human and had a small frame, she had womanly curves that were accented well in the dress she was wearing. Daisy had only one flaw, and it was glaring: she was human.

  Nyle couldn’t understand how it was physically possible for his soulmate to be a human. For as far back as the history of dragon-shifters went, there had never been a case—at least none that he knew—of a dragon finding a human soulmate. Eventually he would have to get to the bottom of that mystery, but for the time being, he just wanted to get to know her.

  “Daisy, how long have you been with your company?” he asked, noticing she was a little younger than him.

  It was rather impressive for someone her age to be working on such an important event. He knew La Flamme Foundation was a big client for her company.

  Daisy cleared her throat, her stormy eyes flickering over to Nyle before looking back out the window, “About eight months.”

  Impressive. She must have been great at her job to have climbed so high in such a short amount of time. Admittedly, though, Nyle didn’t care much about her career advances. He just wanted to get a better insight on who she was as a person. He knew that if she truly was his soulmate, that event planning would become a distant memory.

  Nyle couldn’t get over the terrible timing of meeting her. His parents would never approve of him dating a human or claiming she was his soulmate. Needing to soothe his thoughts, Nyle reached into the breast pocket of his suit jacket.

  His eyes fell back on Daisy. “You don’t mind if I smoke, do you?” he asked, not wanting to make her sick or offend her.

  “No, not at all,” she replied smoothly.

  Her voice was magnificent and could probably calm Nyle’s woes better than the cigarette he was placing between his lips. It was velvety, quiet, and oh-so-sweet. She sounded like Jackie Kennedy, but not as breathy.

  He waited until she turned her face to look out the window to quickly snap his fingers and light his cigarette. Cracking the window, he blew the smoke outside so he didn’t overpower her with the aroma. It surprised him that he was having such a hard time coming up with conversation. What was he supposed to say to his soulmate that wasn’t a dragon-shifter? Dragons could sense their soulmates, and he had no idea if humans could—or if she could because of him being a shifter. Not to mention, people were always trying to impress him and become his friend, so there was never much silence. But Daisy was different. Knowing he was a Flamme, she knew he had money and lots of it. She didn’t seem to care in the slightest. Daisy sat in her seat with her legs crossed at the ankles. Her eyes casually scanned the scenery passing by from the window, but looked over to him every so often. At the very least, Daisy was attracted to him.

  Finally, they arrived at the museum. When they climbed from the car, Nyle’s hand instinctively rested on the small of her back and guided her into the museum. He was sure that the board members thought he was just chasing a piece of tail since he was actually getting involved in the event planning, but Nyle didn’t care. As long as they didn’t feel compelled to tell his father, then they could think whatever they wanted. Since most of them were human, he didn’t see that being the case. It was his own kind he had to watch.

  Once in the building, Daisy was the one to lead the way over to the information desk. Nyle watched as she put on a polite smile and spoke to an employee with warm eyes. “Hi there, I would like to speak to your events manager.”

  The man behind the counter motioned to another man standing nearby. “That’s our events manager—you can talk to him.”

  The events manager rolled his eyes, annoyed that he was being beckoned. Daisy was undeterred by his unwelcoming manner.

  “I’m Daisy Maddow with Winslow Events, and this is Nyle Flamme. I was wondering if we could take a look at your event space.”

  The events manager, with skin too tan to be natural and a golden name tag that read ‘Richard’, had looked underwhelmed until Nyle’s surname was uttered. Then his dull brown eyes brightened and ripped to Nyle with surprise.

  “Welcome, sir. It’s an honor to have you here. Of course you can see the place. Please, follow me.”

  And there it was—the typical human. They only cared about status and money, which worked out well for his clan, the Royal Dragons. In fact, it was a fundamental belief for the Royal Dragons to climb the social and economic ladders in the human world in order to rule over them in a subtle, but influential way.

  Richard rounded the counter, motioning for them to follow him down a corridor. He glanced back at them with gleaming eyes.

  “So what kind of event are you planning? A wedding?” he asked, his eyes faltering to the hand on Daisy’s back.

  Nyle didn’t bother to respond, the corners of his lips tugging into a smirk. He watched as her fair skin turned scarlet in an instant, making the blues of her eyes stand out even more.

  “No, not a wedding. A fundraiser gala,” she corrected the man.

  “My apologies,” Richard said, looking forward.

  He approached a set of French doors and grabbed the brass handles, pulling the massive, heavy doors open. They all stepped into a huge, open room. The room was beautiful with marble columns that stretched into the sky and the cathedral ceiling painted in a Renaissance style. Between each of the columns on two of the walls were glass doors that opened to the garden. Natural lighting poured into the enormous space, illuminating the white columns and the artwork.

  Richard highlighted the venue’s features as he guided them through the ballroom. “There’s plenty of room to accommodate up to one-thousand guests, while still having enough room for the caterers and the stage. And as long as weather permits, our guests like to keep the doors to the garden open to make the room feel even bigger. Also, it allows guests to filter in and out for fresh air.”

  Daisy expressed her approval and shared her ideas about the decorations she had in mind with Nyle. Her soft voice echoed quietly through the room, but she never made eye contact for more than a couple seconds. Nyle wondered if she was just shy, or perhaps it was evidence that she felt something, too. It was odd that an event planner could be shy, since the job required constant interaction and networking. Then again, the career didn’t seem to match her, at least from what he could sense. It was just a job to her, not a passion.

  Nyle gave her one of his most charming grins. “Well, this didn’t take long at all.”

  “What do you mean?” Daisy asked, her blue-gray eyes finding his.

  “Finding a venue,” Nyle then turned to Richard. “We’ll book it. It’s in a month, right?” he asked Daisy.

  Before she could answer, Richard interrupted, “A month? I’m sorry, sir. We’re booked for the next four months. It’s simply impossible.”

  Nyle resisted the urge to scoff.

  “Price isn’t an issue. Whatever is booked for that weekend, I’ll pay for another venue of their choosing and compensate them for moving the event. Do what you must to make it happen. Now, Miss Maddow, when is the event?”

  When his eyes fell back on her, she was staring at him with a shocked expression on her face. He could practically read her thoughts from the look on her face. She hadn’t been expecting him to spend so much on a venue. Daisy had picked it, and the space was great for a gala, so Nyle thought the venue was perfect. The board of directors wouldn’t dare question him, since the money to fund the event was being provided by the La Flamme Corporation.

  It took her a moment of blinking. “Four weeks from Saturday.”

  “Perfect,” Nyle said and produced a bus
iness card from the pocket of his suit jacket, then handed it to Richard. “Send the paperwork and bills to me. We’ll take care of everything on our end.”

  Richard looked even more shocked than Daisy, his eyes wide and jaw dropped. He nodded spastically, taking the card from him. “Very well. Thank you, sir. I will contact the other group and see if we can work something out.”

  With that settled, Nyle smiled down to Daisy. “Let’s check out the garden.”

  He watched her lips as her teeth nibbled on the lower one for a moment before releasing it and pulling them into a smile, giving him a nod. They paced through the massive room over to one of the doors leading outside. The vast lawn of emerald green grass had hedges in the shape of perfect circles, and circles within the circles, with wild flowers of pastel pinks and purples, soft whites and buttery yellows filling up the centers of the circles. Paved sidewalks weaved through the perimeters of the circles, some having little pathways that led to benches and well-groomed trees. The garden was beautiful, having a serene ambiance to it.

  Daisy’s heels quietly clacked against the pavement as they walked through the garden. They made their way to a bench beneath a cherry tree. A gentle breeze rolled through the garden, carrying scents of the fragrant blossoms and the aroma of the freshly cut grass.

  Nyle leaned back against the wood of the bench, his ankle crossed over his knee and arms sprawled along the bench’s back. His golden eyes took in Daisy. The woman’s sparkling eyes were on the blossoms above them, watching as the branches bowed with each push of the breeze.