by Milly Taiden
Ike had lost his job when a large manufacturing company closed down. Living paycheck to paycheck had been hard enough, the job loss had left the father and son out on the street. They were living in the shelter until Ike found a job. It was one of the things Isaline had been helping him with. Looking for jobs and sending out his resume.
“He’s the one,” her mother said beside her.
8
“Who? What?” Isa frowned, looking around. “Who’s the one?”
“Beast. He’s the one that owns our building and has been trying to get me to move the bakery into another of his locations.”
Isaline gasped and swiftly turned to face her mother. “I’m such a moron. Of course, he is. He’s the owner of The Harte Group.” She swallowed at the dryness in her throat. The knowledge that he was in town to push her mother into a decision she didn’t want fell like a ton of bricks in her stomach.
“He doesn’t understand how close we all are in Full Moon Bay. He’s from New York City. It’s a dog eat dog world out there. Nobody knows anyone and there’s too many people to have a small-town feel.” She took a drink from a water bottle and sighed. “I’m not moving the bakery.”
“Do you know what he wants to do with the building?”
Her mom gave a sad sigh. “He wants to tear it down and build a new hotel in that same area. It’s perfect for him. The traffic is great and now that we have a new hockey stadium opening, the area is becoming more popular for people to visit.”
“But we’re still such a small town. I mean, we don’t have a lot of the sights bigger towns do.”
“Honey, city folk like the country. They like the small town feel and coming to see our dairy farms. We’ve gotten big enough, we’ll have our first town fair next year. Trust me, that will only bring in more visitors.”
She worried her lip and took off the gloves she’d been serving food with. “That’s all great, but you shouldn’t have to move. He can find other locations to build his new hotel.”
Her mom nodded. “I don’t think he knows what his father and I had arranged.”
“When are you going to tell me about the super-secret arrangement, anyway?”
“One of these days.” She patted her cheek. “Go get your dragon, darling. He’s been amazing, but it’s time to feed him. Besides, he’s been staring this way hard. I know he’s dying to be closer to you.”
She shouldn’t allow her mother’s words to get her excited, but she couldn’t help it. She walked over to where he stood as Ike and Christian walked away and smiled at him. “Thanks for your help. Let’s get some food.”
She took his hand and led him back to the kitchen area where she kissed her mother and sister and they put their coats on to get into his car.
“Where to now?” he asked.
“Do you like fish and chips?”
“The British version of fish and chips?”
“Is there another?” She laughed. “Yeah. I went to London a few years back with Zuri and Sage as a birthday gift to ourselves and I fell in love with pub food.”
She gave him directions and sat back, allowing the warm seat to relax her back.
“You’re telling me there’s a pub around here?” Disbelief sounded in his voice.
She met his gaze and nodded. “Yes. Believe it or not, our town librarian has family from England. One of her cousins came to visit, fell in love with Full Moon Bay and decided to move his entire family and open an English pub. His family has a cute little log cabin by the river.”
“Wow. And the food?”
She groaned. “Delicious. The sticky toffee pudding is so good, you can lick the plate. The fish and chips with mushy peas is delicious. The fish is fresh, flaky, and the crunchy batter makes you want to order seconds. The fat fries are my favorites.”
“What else is on the menu that you like?”
She giggled. “Um, everything. I swear I’ve eaten everything on their menu. The Scotch egg, the Yorkshire pudding, which let me tell you Zuri and Sage got a laugh when I was expecting pudding the first time I ordered it only to encounter a yummy airy soufflé-type bread. I call it bread but really it’s not.”
“No bangers and mash?”
“Oh yes,” she sighed. “I love those. And the meat pies and beef pasties, too. Ugh, as you can see, I can talk about food all day. Mom says I have a deep connection with my taste buds.” She laughed. “Thankfully, I started going to a nutritionist, so I learned how to not diet and still eat moderately without binging. I’m a work in progress.”
“We all are,” he said and covered her hand with his, squeezing hers in his grasp.
She sat up, her heart beating twice as fast. “I think I talked the pub owner’s wife into starting an afternoon tea in one of their rooms. We’ve been bugging her about that for a while.”
“You like afternoon tea?” he asked, sounding surprised. “Not a coffee person?”
“I love coffee, don’t get me wrong. But being in London and having afternoon tea with scones and biscuits made the day feel extra special. Mom says she’s going to buy me a fine china tea set when I get married so I can do my own afternoon tea. Until then, I get to use her set that my grandmother gave her. We do afternoon tea a lot at home. It’s something we’ve adapted since coming back from that trip. Mom loves the idea.”
“Your mother is a very lively woman.”
She stared at him for a moment. “She is. She’s very dedicated.”
They arrived at the pub painted in dark green on the outside and trimmed with gold.
“The Prince George?” he asked with a grin as they got out of the car.
She laughed and entered while he held the door. “Hey, they wanted to make sure everyone knew where they were from. Wait till you get inside. It’s like being at a royal wax museum.”
Inside the pub, they were greeted by Richard, the owner, and his wife, Elizabeth. They were taken to a private booth, but only Beast got a menu.
They gave their drink orders, and once the waitress had left, he glanced at her curiously. “Why was I the only one to get a menu?”
Fire crowded her cheeks and she knew she was blushing fiercely. “I have eaten everything they have here in the past two years. They already know I have my favorites.”
He put his menu down and stared at her intently. “Okay. You order for both of us then.”
“Are you sure? What if you don’t like what I get?”
His gaze never wavered from hers. “I trust you. I’ll eat whatever you give me.”
Oh, boy. That was a whole other can of worms. She wanted to fan herself again, but it would make it obvious he was making her think all kinds of inappropriate things instead of deciding what to eat. When the waitress returned with their drinks, she got them both the fish and chips.
“I promise you’ll love it.”
He glanced out the window. “It’s snowing again.”
“Yeah. It should be for the next few days on and off.”
He stared outside, his attention on the falling flakes. “It’s much prettier to watch it fall here.”
“Why’s that?”
He looked at her with that quiet ownership. “Perfect company.”
9
Isaline bit her lip. God. He was good. He didn’t even try to sound romantic and yet he managed to say such lovely things.
“I bet snow is beautiful in New York City. Especially from one of those high-rise buildings or even from a cabin on top of a mountain like where my sister lives.”
“Snow falling is beautiful there. Have you seen snow falling atop a mountain cabin?”
She shook her head. “Maybe next winter. I’d like to go up to my sister and her husband’s ski lodge and check it out. I’m not into skiing. I’m into hot chocolate by the fire and watching the flakes fall.”
“When was the last time you went anywhere?”
She frowned, thinking about his question. Their food arrived, and she was still thinking.
“I guess that London trip
was my last real vacation. I haven’t really traveled much since. My sisters traveled with their work, but I’m more of a homebody.”
“It sounds like you like to travel.”
She nodded as she ate. “I do. I’d love to see the world and explore new places, but the opportunity hasn’t presented itself. What about you? What do you like to do?”
“According to my mother, my sole purpose in life is to make hers difficult. I disagree. I enjoy traveling as well, but not in the same way you might.”
She raised her brows. “What way do you like to travel?”
His eyes flashed gold. “I like to shift, let my dragon roam the skies and spend hours flying.”
A swift grin filled her lips. “I should’ve known. Nature calls to you. Flying is like breathing, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I haven’t done much flying recently. I’ve been cooped up in my office in New York trying to work out a deal.”
Shit. Was he actually going to talk to her about the contract with her mother and what he was trying to do? “Must be an important deal if you’ve stopped flying for it.”
“I have this idea. Actually, my father had it. He told me the perfect place for the Little Rose Hotel would be this particular lot and I want to make his dream a reality. I’m doing everything I can to get it.”
“Oh. It’s your dad’s idea you’re trying to make a reality? Where is he?”
“He died several years ago of an irregular heart condition not even his dragon could fix.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said, squeezing his hand on the table. “I lost my dad a long time ago. I remember it like it was yesterday still. It never gets easier.”
They sat there quietly, sharing a grieving moment before they were interrupted by the waitress bringing their dessert.
“I have to admit,” he started. “This is one of the best pubs I’ve been to on any side of the world.”
She laughed and ate her dessert. “The sticky toffee pudding is amazing. I told you.”
“As I said, I trust you.”
Those words surprised her. He didn’t sound like he was being funny or joking. There was no humor in his features. He was serious. He trusted her, and he didn’t even know her.
After they ate, he drove her back to the bakery and she turned in her seat to look at him. “Thank you for today.”
“Thank you, Isaline. Spending time with you was much better than closing any deal I could have done.”
There he went again, being all sweet and romantic without even trying. The nerve.
“Do you want to see more of the town or are you bored out of your mind being in small town nowhere?”
He leaned forward, his body suddenly larger than the space they had in the car. His warmth caressed her face. She wanted oh, so badly, to run her fingers over his face and trace the serious lines there. He should be on a painting or on a bust with that intense look.
“I’ve never been a fan of small towns, but this one has someone that fascinates me, and is therefore very interesting to me.”
He was talking about her. She fascinated him? No. No. No. He was the tall, sexy one with those dreamy eyes and that smile that made her think of hot nights and silky sheets.
This man, he was the one that made her palms sweat. She swallowed hard and leaned a tiny bit closer to him. “You might be out of your depth here, Beast.”
A slick grin took hold of his face. “Maybe, but I don’t wait around for what I want.”
“Oh?”
He raised a hand and cupped her cheek, gliding his thumb over her bottom lip. “No. I see. I want. I take. I’m not going to change how I do things now.”
He closed the distance between them and kissed her. It was slow and deep, full of promise and hunger.
Before she got a chance to moan into the sudden invasion, he pulled back, his eyes flaming liquid gold. Fucking hell! She’d shoot him for teasing her. Didn’t he know not to mess with a woman who could handle a gun?
“I know you’re unsure about me, but that won’t last long.”
She blinked. “I-what?”
“When you’re sure, you’ll be mine. No questions. No excuses. You’ll come to me and I will show you how much you can trust me.”
“I should go,” she said, turning to open the door. His hand on her wrist stopped her.
“I’d like to do this again.”
She gave a quick nod and licked her lips. “Tomorrow. Noon-ish for lunch.”
He stared at her mouth and nodded. She left the car feeling vulnerable and confused, but also excited and hopeful. Her world had just taken a quick shake and there was no way things were going back to what they used to be.
10
Beast parked his car on the street outside the bakery. Sure, he’d driven through small towns before, but he’d never had a reason to stop. Now that he had to be here, he wondered why people were so taken with them. He’d rather be in a big city any day. His research had shown that most small towns more often than not had nothing to offer.
All his friends and business acquaintances lived in the city. And now he was forced to stay here until Mirabel decided to sign his papers. Still, that gave him a chance to convince Isaline to come back to the city with him. Her beauty in this little town was being wasted. He wanted her with him.
He glanced at his watch—9:45 a.m. Ten o’clock was really early for meeting someone for a lunch date in his opinion. Things in the city were always busy. Especially in New York City. It’s the city that never sleeps. But this was rural America. They did things differently in places like this. So far, he’d noticed a few people were up super early and that the bakery was packed from the moment it opened.
Straightening his tie, he glanced into the rearview mirror. He made a note that he would need to shave later, even though he had the previous night. How dragons could be so hairy in human form when their animal was all scales baffled him.
Movement seen in the corner of his eye brought up his defenses. He whipped around toward the window and Isaline jumped back, slapping a hand over her heart.
He exhaled and hopped out of the car, ready to go around and open her door. She looked adorable all bundled up. Sort of like a snow bunny he’d like to slowly unwrap to see what lie underneath.
“Good morning,” he said, trying to play it cool while he struggled to control his animal. All he’d ever wanted from the first glance into her sexy blue eyes was to claim her and it got harder and harder to control his instinct to do that. Her questioning expression worried him.
“Hi. You’re a little early.”
He shrugged. “I had nothing else to do and hoped you’d be available.”
She nodded, a smile playing her lips. “I see. But you’re like…more than a little early. You gave yourself plenty of time seeing that we’re meeting for lunch in over an hour from now.”
“An hour?” he replied, confused. He knew he’d been distracted by her lips when she’d told him the time, but he had great memory. “Ten a.m., right?”
Isa smiled. “I recall the time set at around noon.”
“What?” he barked more to himself than her. How had he fucked that up so badly?
“Maybe,” Isa started, “you had something else to do at ten and got it confused with being here at the same time? It is a bit early for lunch seeing as I just finished eating an omelet.”
He had thought the same but... Could he have gotten the time wrong? That wasn’t like him. He’d never missed a meeting before or been overly early. Part of his reputation was based on his prompt business professionalism, including not wasting other’s time. He’d have to figure out how he’d made this type of mistake and fix it.
Looking like an idiot in front of her had never been part of the plans. He shoved his hands in his pockets and wondered what to say. He wanted badly to spend more time with her, but he knew pushing her too fast would get him nowhere.
Taking things slow with Isaline was killing him. He knew she’d disliked him and was still wary of hi
m. He needed her to give him a chance and get to know him better or keeping her was never going to work. There was no room for failure. She was his mate.
“Well, since you’re here, would you like to go with me?” she asked, snuggling into her coat.
Yes. He’d go anywhere with her but decided looking desperate wasn’t going to work in his favor. “Where?”
“I’m filling in for a skating coach down at the rink this morning.”
“Skating? I didn’t know you roller skated,” he said, surprised.
She headed for a Jeep away from his rental. “No, silly. Ice skating.”
Even more impressive. He’d tried to ice skate once in the rink the city built each winter at the Rockefeller Center. He took one step onto the ice and next he knew, he was staring up at the skyscrapers from his back.
In fact, that’s where he spent most of that outing. After that, he decided ice skating wasn’t for him. No matter how much Storm’s kids tried to get him to do it.
She gave him a quick smile once they were in her Jeep. “I’d like to drive today.”
Nestled in her old Jeep, seat belts strapped on, they pulled onto the quiet street. In the town, he’d been lucky and kept private parking at the entrance of his hotel. Otherwise, he’d never been able to pull out of a parking garage without waiting for the dense traffic to stop. Or worse yet, wait on someone’s kindness to let him cut into the line.
Before he had a chance make small talk, Isa’s phone rang. She apologized. “It’s my sister. I really need to take this. Do you mind?”
He shook his head. “No, go ahead. Both my mother and sister would kill me if I didn’t answer their call.”
Isaline pressed the button on her steering wheel and an older voice came through the speakers. He wanted to give her as much privacy as he could, so he tuned out and studied the town around him as they drove.
Most of the houses were neat and tidy with small front yards. Many had covered porches with rocking chairs or bench swings and almost everyone had an American flag or Americana displayed in some fashion. How long had it been since he’d seen a flag outside of TV or a ballgame?