Page 28 of Kidnapped By The Messy Dragon

He pulls in a long breath and stirs under my hand. I don’t want to wake him. I start to pull back, but he opens his eyes and smiles at me.

I smile back.

“Good morning,” he says, and even his morning breath is sweet. Nothing about that is fair.

All I do is smile at that. I move my hand from his cheek and rest it on his arm.

“How are you feeling?” he asks.

“You’re the one that got shot,” I say. “I just got punched in the face.”

Smoke curls out of his nose. A low growl rumbles out of him. “Burning that asshole’s hand was a courtesy. I wanted to rip his head off.”

I sigh and close my eyes. “I’m fine, Jalen.”

His hand tightens in my nightgown when I say his name.

I open my eyes. He’s already watching me, bright green eyes fixed on mine. My heart flutters.

“I don’t want to get out of this bed,” I tell him. “It’s so comfortable. Puts my rusty apartment to shame.”

“I thought your apartment was nice,” he says. “A cozy space.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “You were in my apartment?”

His laugh comes out too quick. “No. I never snuck in. But I did watch you from the large tree in front of your building.”

I prop my head up on one elbow. “You were the handsome man in the bar. The one my friend Renee was talking about.”

He smiles at me and says nothing.

“That was the night your scent finally hit me,” he says. “You told me you used the hand soap at Stillwater.”

I nod.

He glances down at my hands. “It must have worn off.”

I lie back on my pillow. “I washed my hands again in the bar restroom. The soap was different.”

He nods. “I think all it takes is a little of it getting into your pores. But it wears off.”

“So what are we going to do about it?” I ask.

“First, I’ll take it to Malachi,” he tells me. “He has the legal connects to deal with something like this.”

I nudge his arm for the rest. “And?”

He wiggles his eyebrows at me. “Then I’m going to use my podcast to make sure Shadow Wolf Creek knows to stay away from Stillwater products.”

My mind goes to those wrong-blue eyes in that cold white office. “What about Delilah?”

He shrugs. “What about her? She’s looking for something. No one kicks up this much trouble in our town without a reason.”

Our town.He says it easy. I don’t even know if I’m staying.

He slides his hand off my waist and taps one finger against his chin. “How is it possible for you to be even more beautiful after a good night’s rest?”

My face heats up. “You need to work on your charm or something. I don’t know what to say to that.”