Chapter 1

Chapter One

Diana

I let out an exasperated sigh. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea, Brianna.”

“I wouldn’t ask you if it weren’t so important to Jesse and me,” my younger sister, newly married to the man of her dreams—a rising rock star, no less—pleads. “He wants to be close to his rehab place in case he relapses.”

I bite my lip. “He was fine at your wedding. I didn’t see him take a drink at all, and he stood there solidly as Jesse’s best man.”

“Yes, exactly. He wants to stay fine.” Brianna sighs. “There won’t be any band business for the next several months, and he wants to be in Denver, close to his therapist and to the facility.”

I put the phone on speaker and set it on the counter. I rub both sides of my forehead, trying to think this through. I’m not one to turn down a person in need, but this is a lot to ask of anyone. House a recovering addict? A guy I hardly know? Sure, he’s the drummer for my brother-in-law’s band, but he and I have barely said ten words to each other.

Plus, I just moved into my plush penthouse here in downtown Denver. I’m about to begin the job of my dreams. Call me selfish, but I kind of want to focus on me at the moment.

“I’ll think about it. That’s all I’ll say.”

“Think fast, will you? He’s arriving in Denver tomorrow.”

I let out a huff as I say goodbye to my sister and end the call.

Today is Friday, and I begin as an associate architect with Lund & Lopez here in Denver on Monday. I completed an internship at a different firm, and they made me an offer, but the two Ls came in a little bit higher.

But that’s not the reason I went with L & L. I don’t need the money. I have a sizable trust fund from my rich family. I went with L & L because they just got a huge contract to build a new eco-resort on top of one of the highest peaks in the Rockies. It’s a project like no other, and I’m hoping I’ll get to be involved.

To win a spot on that team, I’ll have to show the higher-ups in the firm that I’m someone serious about my architecture career who’s ready to put in the time on this amazing project. That I’m not just some heiress trying to prove a point.

I need to be focused.

Letting a recovering addict live in my penthouse isn’t a good way to stay focused.

I look around. Do I even have the room?

Of course I do. I have three bedrooms, all with en suite bathrooms.

But I only have one kitchen, one common area. One balcony with a view of the Rocky Mountains to the west.

I’ve lived alone since I was twenty-one. I’m nearly twenty-six now, and the thought of taking a roommate—especially one with so much baggage—kind of makes me want to hurl.

Brianna and Jesse offered to pay rent for him. I don’t need the extra income, of course, so I said no. He can pay his own damned rent.

His name is Dragon.

Yes, that’s really his name. Dragon Locke. He’s the drummer for Jesse’s rock band, Dragonlock. They liked his name so much they named the band after him.

I’ve spoken to him a few times at gatherings back home at my family’s ranch on the western slope of Colorado. Usually just small talk. The weather, the wedding decor, what the band’s working on.

He’s rock-star gorgeous, complete with the long hair and stubble and dark sexiness.

But when I say dark, I don’t just mean his hair.

Dragon has a darkness that exudes from his pores, as if there’s something inside him that I don’t fully trust.

Brianna and Jesse would never put me in harm’s way. I trust my sister, and she and Jesse know Dragon better than I ever could, but he’s always seemed a little bit dangerous to me.

And I don’t want him living in my home.

I’m going to have to call Brianna back and tell her I’ve made a decision. That I’m sorry, but he’ll have to stay somewhere else. If they’re willing to pay for his rent, they can easily find another place in Denver. Maybe even one closer to his rehab center. No reason why I need to be involved at all. Why my life needs to be disrupted as I’m starting a new career. Why I even have to be thinking about this.

I pick up my phone to call my sister when a knock on the door startles me. Probably just maintenance or something. Anyone else would have buzzed up.

I walk to the door and look through my peephole.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

It’s him.

Dragon Locke.

His gorgeous hair falls in waves around his broad shoulders, and his long-lashed hazel eyes stare straight at me.

It should be a sin for someone to be so good-looking. I grew up with a rash of handsome brothers and cousins, so I’m no stranger to gorgeous men.

Dragon Locke—even with the darkness that seems to enshroud him—makes them all look like hamburger meat.

How the hell did he even get in here?

“Who is it?” I ask, even though I know very well who it is.

“Dragon. Dragon Locke.”

The rich timbre of his voice makes me shiver. “How did you get in here?”

“I followed an Uber Eats guy in.”

I roll my eyes. Great. That’s the problem with buzzing up. In this day and age of app deliveries, anyone can just waltz right in.

“What do you want?”

“Just to talk, Diana.”

I swallow. “Bree said you weren’t coming into town until tomorrow.”

“Change of plans.”

He’s a man of few words, but I already knew that.

No one really knows much about Dragon. He’s a recovering addict, and he had a relapse about nine months ago when the band was in Europe opening for Emerald Phoenix. He wasn’t able to complete the tour. He returned to Denver, got into a concentrated rehab program, and was well enough to stand up as Jesse’s best man for the wedding a week ago.

That’s all I know—other than the fact that his stare through my thick wooden door has me quivering—and not in a frightened way.

Another thing I don’t need.

“Fine. Come on in.” I open the door.