8. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Tan

I absolutely was not distracted by the big dragon man sitting across the room. Nope, not me.

And I definitely wasn't staring at him every time he even twitched. Nope, obviously not me.

I also wasn't basking in the feel of his magic that saturated this room—hell, this whole building, but especially here in his office. In fact, it was just as strong here as it'd been in his home.

Nope, clearly not me.

I sighed to myself.

Who the hell was I kidding? I was doing all of those things and more. It was surprising I'd been able to get any work done at all today.

At least Roman wasn't here to witness me and my… pining or whatever this was. My obsession?

He'd gone off to work earlier—apparently, he had an office across the hall that I previously thought was a closet—and had only come back to Garrick's office when he brought us lunch. And I'd ignored the knowing looks he kept shooting me.

So I found his boss hot? So what? Plenty of people thought he was hot. I wasn't unique.

So I found him intriguing? So what? Dragon shifters were rare, and before now, I'd only ever known the lesser dragon species that were more like animals than humans and didn't have bipedal forms. Plenty of people were intrigued by the dragon shifter king. Anyone in this position would be acting the same.

It had nothing to do with how I felt around him or how much my magic enjoyed mixing with his. Nothing at all.

"Tan?"

I jerked my gaze up to Garrick's when I heard my name and blinked. "Yeah?"

"I'm nearly finished for the day. Are you close to being done, or do you need more time? I can make myself busy while you finish up."

I glanced at the spreadsheet on my laptop and sighed. "I can be done." I closed my laptop since I wasn't even sure what the hell I'd been doing anyway.

"If you have things you need to do, I don't mind waiting—"

"It's fine, Gar-Bear." I shot him a small smile. "I'm done for the day."

He gave a nod, wrote something down on a pad of paper, then looked at me again. "So am I." He seemed to hesitate for a moment before nodding toward the hidden door behind his bookcase. "Roman should be here any minute. Would you like to come up for a drink while we wait?"

I took a second to answer because I was shocked by the invite. From the way he'd acted about his condo, I kinda hadn't thought I'd be asked back, at least not until I had to go up there to guard him overnight. I shrugged and gave him a nod. "Sure."

After giving me a firm nod, he opened his office door and said to his receptionist, "It's after five, Elvira. Why are you still here?"

I heard her say, "I wanted to make sure you didn't need anything else before I left."

"I'm fine, thank you, but what have I been telling you? Whether I'm done at five or not, you need to go home. You shouldn't have to work extra hours just because I'm a workaholic."

She laughed and muttered something I couldn't understand.

Then Garrick said, "See you in the morning. Have a good night." He came back inside, shut and locked his office door, and turned to find me staring at him. "What?"

I opened my mouth and snapped it shut again. What, he asked? What ? How about, he sounded like an actual nice person who could communicate in a friendly way with that woman? How about, where the hell did that guy come from, and how could I get him to talk to me? How about, why are you always such a grump with everyone else but apparently not your receptionist?

But none of that came out. Instead, I said, "Nothing."

He eyed me for a moment before I followed him through the secret passage. He locked the door from the inside, then we went up to his condo. He walked straight into the kitchen, saying, "Would you like water, soda, beer, wine, iced tea? I think I might have some orange juice in there somewhere too."

"Iced tea sounds great."

He went about making our drinks while I walked around his living room, trying to take in every single detail, every single trinket he had on his shelves. I'd spent all day in this man's presence, but I felt awkward about being here alone with him now. Which was stupid. I wasn't an awkward person, at least not usually. And I certainly wasn't shy. I had no problem talking to anyone and everyone, no matter where we were.

But right now, being alone in the dragon king's home, felt… important. Though I didn't know why.

"Here." His voice was a quiet rumble behind me, and I jumped, turned, and offered a sheepish smile for being caught snooping. He didn't seem to notice. He just handed me a glass and pointed to a small statue of a horse with the glass he held in his other hand. "That was given to me, probably… eh, I'd say at least a hundred years ago, probably more like a hundred and twenty. A kind centaur gave it to me when Roman and I were in the Brinnswick Forest. Goofy sense of humor, that one." He wasn't smiling, but there was a lightness in his eyes and his voice.

I glanced at his whole body. In fact, there was a lightness in all of him. Was that because of this stupid centaur, or was it because we were in his home and he was getting ready to relax for the night?

The thought of Garrick having some sort of… romantic relationship with this centaur person made me feel sick to my stomach.

Garrick's gaze snapped over to mine, his brow furrowing. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nothing."

"Tan." He stepped closer and put his free hand on my arm. "I know it's not nothing. What's wrong?"

My gaze shot over to the horse figurine, and his eyes followed the movement. He stared at the horse for a few seconds before looking back at me, his eyes flicking back and forth between mine. He sucked in a sharp breath and whispered, "He was just a friend. Only a friend, I swear it."

This time it was me who sucked in a sharp breath. Mother of All, how had he known that was what I'd needed to hear? How embarrassing. He clearly knew I had some kind of… crush or something on him. Shit.

Before I could respond, the door opened.

Garrick and I jumped back from each other like we were teenagers having been caught making out by their parents. Roman walked in and threw his coat and bag on a dining room chair, saying, "Hey, sorry I'm late." He turned to us, but if he noticed either of us acting weirdly, he was kind enough to pretend he didn't. "I'm really sorry, Tan. I promise it won't happen tomorrow."

I waved him off. "It's no big deal. Don't worry about it." I took a sip of my iced tea. Mm, that was good. "Gave me a chance to drink some of this." I faced Garrick. "Did you make this? It's delicious."

"I did, thanks."

"Garrick can be handy when he puts his mind to it," Roman said as he walked into the kitchen. With ease, he grabbed a glass and made himself a drink. It was clear he was here all the time and felt at home in Garrick's condo.

A strange twist happened in my stomach, and I felt like I was going to puke again. What the hell was happening to me?

"Tan?" Garrick put his hand on my shoulder, and the gross sick feeling instantly went away. Was that dragon magic? "What's wrong, little pretty?"

I ignored the nickname. "Can dragons heal people or something?"

His brow furrowed. "What?"

"Never mind." I took a breath, then gulped down the rest of my iced tea. "Thank you for the drink, Gar-Bear. I think I need to head home. I'm not feeling so hot right now."

"Do you need something? I can get you medicine or water or whatever you need. Why don't you sit down and relax?"

The thought of sitting on his couch while feeling sick wasn't a pleasant one, so I shook my head. "I'll be alright. Thanks, though."

He nodded, but the worried expression didn't change.

I patted the hand he still had on my arm and offered a smile. "I'll be fine. I think I'm just going to head to bed early."

"What about dinner?"

For some reason, his concern was so cute that I sort of laughed a little. "I'll eat dinner like a good boy, don't you fret, Mr. Worrywart."

I didn't know what I'd said that made him relax, but his shoulders sagged in relief at that. "Good. If you're not feeling well in the morning, let me know. Roman and I can handle one day by ourselves if we need to."

I shot him a smile. "Thanks."

"Before I forget…" He trailed off and moved over to his kitchen island, snagging something off it before coming back to hold it out to me. "Keys to my office, the bookcase door, my condo, Roman's office and condo, and to the roof access."

My eyes widened. "You're giving me keys?" To basically everything?

"Yes. I trust you, Tan. I know you're here to help me, and I thought it would be better for you to have keys so you can come and go as you please."

"I… wow, thank you, Gar-Bear." I shot him a big grin, then reached over and gave his hand a squeeze. I let go quickly, but the heat of his skin left me wishing I could give the man a big hug and snuggle down into his chest. I bet it'd be so warm there. Warm and comforting.

"Please lock all the doors on your way out."

"Of course."

We stared at each other for a moment before I cleared my throat and backed away. "See you tomorrow."

"Feel better, Tan."

"Yeah, feel better, Tan."

I almost jolted in surprise at the sound of Roman's voice because I'd totally forgotten he was standing there. He was grinning at me like he thought I was the most amusing thing he'd ever seen. Weirdo.

I nodded. "Thanks. See ya."

I rushed out of there, shutting and locking the door behind me before blowing out a big breath. My chest started to ache, and Orangelica rubbed her cheek against mine in comfort.

First my stomach, now my chest. Maybe I was having acid reflux problems or something. What the hell? Ugh.

At the end of the week, I was tired but surprisingly comfortable in Garrick's office and in his home. I'd put up a new security system in his home and the office, added more wards where I thought they were needed, and made sure everything was running smoothly. The thing we at Magicurity did differently than other security places was combining tech with magic. No one else did that, but it was our specialty and made it nearly impossible to disarm or break through.

I hadn't spent the night there yet, but I was supposed to tonight for the first time. Since it felt weird and awkward, I decided to treat tonight like it was a sleepover.

I brought popcorn and candy with me so I could—hopefully—get Gar-Bear to watch a movie with me. I'd brought a book too, just in case, although I probably could've found something to read at his condo if I needed to. The man had a shit-ton of books.

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if one of the closets in the guest rooms was filled with the books he couldn't fit on bookshelves. Most of the shelves were overflowing with so many books, it looked like the bookcase was going to start spitting them out at any second. The only ones that didn't look like that were in the living room, as if he cared about what the public space looked like. Which was odd considering he didn't have people over—ever.

As soon as five o'clock rolled around, I jumped to my feet with Orangelica on my shoulder and clapped my hands. "Alright, Gar-Bear, time to go upstairs."

He lifted a brow at me. "I need one more minute."

I moaned dramatically but let him finish up while I packed up my laptop. Roman had insisted on taking my bags up to the condo as soon as I got here this morning, so I didn't have anything else to do but wait for Mr. Slowpoke.

Finally, he shut down his computer and stood.

As he packed up, I asked, "Roman's a dragon, right? His magic feels similar to yours, and he looks like a dragon, except for his eyes, but I thought I'd check." Better to know what I was working with than be unprepared if Garrick was attacked again.

"Yes. My eyes are always partially shifted. Dragons can change their eyes to look more like a human's."

"Why do you keep yours like that?" His pupils were slitted like a snake's.

He paused, and when he said, "I can see better this way," I had the feeling that wasn't the whole truth. But I didn't want to call him out on it.

"Gotcha."

As if knowing I could tell he was being dishonest, he added, "Roman's the only other dragon in my territory at the moment."

That surprised me for some reason. "Oh. Well, thanks for telling me. I figured I should know what he is in case we have to work together against an assassin at some point."

It had been quiet since they hired me, but neither of them thought it'd stay that way for long. I was inclined to believe them since they dealt with this all the time.

Garrick nodded, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned back against his desk, crossing one ankle over the other and looking sexy enough to eat. "I suppose I should tell you about our weapons. We both have swords made of dragonscale."

He didn't continue, so I shrugged and started petting Orangelica. "Um, okay."

He stared for a beat, then sighed. "You know what dragonscale does, correct?"

"Repel magic."

"Yes, so our swords do the same."

"Oh. That's actually really cool."

His lips twitched. "Thanks. I also have dragonscale armor made for this form, but I'm not about to start wearing it every day like Roman wants me to."

I couldn't help but chuckle as I continued my pets on my Bonded. "I can totally picture you sitting at your desk in full armor, looking like a knight or something while having a business meeting. Imagine what the people on the other side of the camera would think if they saw you wearing a helmet at your desk?" He usually had video meetings rather than in-person ones.

He shook his head, his lips twitching, and he let out a strange noise that I decided was close to a laugh, although he didn't smile. At the very least, he seemed amused.

"Roman would love that," he said, rolling his eyes. "Apparently, so would you."

"I really, really would."

He shook his head but had a fond expression on his face. "Nonsense." He waved that away. "Anyway, you ready to head up?"

"Yeppers. But do you think we can set up a time to train together? The three of us? I'd like to see what you guys can do so I'm not freaking out in the middle of a fight with some crazy assassin person."

He tilted his head to the side and thought for a few seconds. "I suppose we could find a time for that."

I grinned. "Perfect. Let's do that next week."

Orangelica meowed.

I pointed at her. "See? She thinks it's a great idea too."

"That's because you're two peas in a pod."

I snorted. "Yeah, right. She argues with me every chance she gets."

"I'll believe that when I see it."

I rolled my eyes but had a smile on my face. "Whatever. Ready?"

He gave a nod, and I walked over to the hidden door, opened it, and waved the dragon through. He wasn't smiling, of course, but I had the sense that he was amused by me. Since I had a key, I locked up behind us and followed Garrick up the stairs, and just like I did every time, I stared at his cute behind the whole way up.

Thank the Mother he hadn't noticed me checking him out every time we went upstairs. He'd be mortified if he knew how often I stared at his tush.

Once we were inside, I rushed into the guest room I'd picked out, threw my laptop bag on the desk, and grabbed the snack bag I'd brought with me. Orangelica hopped off my shoulders and onto the bed, then meowed at me. Well, I guess she told me.

"You don't want to watch a movie with us?"

She meowed and jumped off the bed to go explore. I was sure she'd come hang out with us later.

When I came out of the room, I almost walked right into Garrick.

"Oh, um, hi."

He lifted a brow. "Hello. Long time, no see."

I snorted. "Hilarious." I held up my bag. "I brought snacks. Will you watch a movie with me? I figured we can order a pizza. And before you say no, I spoke to the guard last night. He said he can bring it up to your office floor and put it on Elvira's desk so we don't even have to see anyone else. We can make people think we're working late or whatever."

He stared for a beat. "If that's what you want, then fine. We can do that."

I let out a completely inappropriate and ridiculous squeal, and before I could stop myself, I threw my arms around him, bag and all. Both of us froze in shock.

But I didn't let go or move away.

"Fuck," I breathed out because I felt frozen to the spot.

Before I could freak out too much more, Garrick's arms came around me and pulled me into a tight embrace. My stomach fluttered with butterflies, and my heart pounded in my chest. My eyes fell shut as he tightened the hug, and I squeezed my arms back.

I heard him take a deep breath, and I did the same, breathing in his scent and wishing I could bury my nose in his neck and hide away there forever.

The hug went on for a long time, definitely far longer than it should have, definitely too long for a hug between friends. But I didn't want it to end. I honestly couldn't remember the last time I'd felt this… safe before. This cozy and comforted and sheltered by another person.

And I soaked it up as best I could.

By some unspoken agreement, we pulled back at the same time, but I wouldn't meet his eyes. My cheeks flamed; I could feel it, and I was so beyond embarrassed I didn't know what to do. But then Garrick's fingers gently nudged my chin up so I'd meet his gaze, and he sent me a soft look.

"Thank you," he whispered. "I think I maybe needed that." He cleared his throat and dropped his hand. "I'm going to change into something more comfortable before we have our movie night."

He stared at me until I gave him a nod, then he walked down the hall to his room. As soon as his door shut, I slipped back into my room and leaned against the door, closing my eyes. My heart was still beating frantically, but it was more from… excitement? Or something else, I didn't know, but it wasn't from embarrassment anymore.

Garrick thought he'd needed that hug? Yeah, well, so had I.

I had friends, I had my wonderful chosen family, but it had been so long since I'd had anyone hold me like they meant it. That hug had been my most favorite thing.

And I already wanted another one.

Or another hundred—I wasn't too demanding. I could've said a million.

And okay, now I wanted that million too. Sigh .

After collecting myself, I changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt, then headed back out to the living room with my snack bag in tow. Garrick was already there, and when I saw him also wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, I had to swallow hard.

I didn't know what it was about a man in sweatpants and bare feet, but it really did it for me. And seeing Garrick, seeing a mothereffing king , in casual clothes like this when His Majesty was always so prim and proper, it short-circuited my brain.

Holy hell, he was sexy as sin.

And then he turned around, and my eyes widened. Fuck, me, was he… did he… holy shit, there was no way he was wearing underwear under those sweatpants.

I turned away and fanned myself because it was suddenly a million degrees in here, and I was dying. I peeked over my shoulder, just to see if I'd imagined it—and nope. Definitely real. Holy shit.

I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm myself down.

"What kind of pizza do you want?"

"What?" My voice came out like a squeak, and I closed my eyes again, breathing deeply.

"What do you want on your pizza? I'm going to get myself a meat lovers one, and I'll get you your own so you don't have to worry about meat touching your slice or whatever. I know you wouldn't like that." He knew that? How? Just from eating lunch around me for a week?

"Oh." I cleared my throat. "Um, green peppers and onions?"

"Was that a question, or is that what you want?"

"That's what I want, sorry."

"You don't have to say sorry."

"Sorry." I closed my eyes. I was an idiot.

There was a brief pause. "Tan? Are you alright?"

I steeled myself before turning around to face him, willing my eyes to stay on his face. I would not look down, I would not look down—shit, fuck, I looked down.

I felt my face heat again, but I did my best to ignore it and tried to meet Garrick's gaze again. "I'm fine. Sorry, I think I just need some water."

"Oh, let me get you a glass—"

I waved him off. "If you're ordering the pizza, I'll get my drink, but thank you."

"If you're sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Alright. So I heard that Brinnswick witches don't eat meat. Is that true?"

"Correct. None of the witches I know in Brinnswick eat it. And you're right. I don't eat meat at all."

He nodded. "That's what I thought. I probably should've asked you this before, but are you offended if I eat meat in front of you? Or if I cook it while you're here?"

I wrinkled my nose because I didn't really want to be around it, but I wasn't a stupid man. Most people ate it, and I knew that dragons not only ate it, but they needed it to stay strong. It was part of their diet that affected their magic, just like no meat was a part of mine.

Because, of course, I knew that random fact about dragons after researching them. I'd found more about their species and their history in the museums around this city than I'd expected. For as recluse as Garrick was, it seemed like he wanted his citizens to know about his people.

So I said the only thing I could. "I can't guarantee I won't be grossed out, but I don't mind. I know you need to eat meat."

"I can stick to veggies for tonight."

I shook my head. "Don't do that. Your dragon needs the meat."

His eyes seemed to flare again, but all he did was ask quietly, "Are you sure?"

"Positive." I flashed him a smile.

He gave me a nod. "Alright, thank you, Tan. What else do you want? Some cheesy bread? Fries? Mozzarella sticks?"

I glanced at him. "I'll eat anything without meat."

"I'll get one of each then."

"You really don't have to do that, Gar-Bear. I'll be happy with just the pizza."

"I don't order in very often, so when I do, I like to splurge. I'm going to get wings too. Oh, and they have an onion blossom thing that's really good. I'll get that too."

I laughed. "You may as well get one of every appetizer listed."

"I like the sound of that."

"I was joking."

"I know, but now I want to try everything so that's what we're doing. We can have a taste-testing and see which things we like best."

I couldn't help but smile at him. He sort of seemed like a little kid in the middle of a candy shop or something. You'd have thought that ordering a pizza was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He really mustn't do this very often. Whatever the reason, I was here for it. He was always so serious, so seeing him relax and having, dare I say, fun was a wonderful thing to be a part of.

"Don't forget that I have a ton of snacks for later too. And popcorn with a bunch of different toppings."

"Toppings for the popcorn?"

I smiled and leaned back against the counter, water in hand. "Yep. We can make a bunch of bowls and do a popcorn tasting too, if you want."

His eyes lit up with happiness. "I really like the sound of that. This will be a night of eating a million snacks."

I snorted. "At the rate you're going, it's gonna be more like two million."

He let out a strange sound that I could only assume was the dragon version of an amused snort. It only lasted a second, and his facial expression really hadn't changed, but I decided it was progress. I would, one day, make this man smile and laugh.

A little while later, I was filled to the brim with so many appetizers, snacks, and popcorn that I was surprised I didn't pop. Holy shit, we ate so much crap. I ate one of everything, minus the meat items, and Garrick ate at least one bite of every single thing, even my pizza.

And no, I absolutely didn't get a thrill from eating after him and thinking about his mouth being where mine was. Nope, didn't happen.

As the movie played on, I sank back into the comfy sectional sofa in Garrick's living room. When he sat back and our arms brushed against each other, I realized how close we were sitting. We had this huge couch, and somehow, we'd ended up squished together. Not that I was complaining one bit.

I could blame it on the snacks. We were just trying to reach everything on the coffee table.

I wouldn't be blaming it on my attraction to him because it was just a coincidence.

Even as my head tilted to the side and ended up resting against his shoulder, I decided it was just a… friend move. I leaned on my friends like this all the time—not.

But I could.

Ugh. Whatever .

Since Garrick didn't seem to mind, I stayed right where I was.