Page 57 of Dragon Charmed

Megan shook her head. “The only picture of Adam you ever saw was the family portrait we took down a year ago. That picture was over ten years old, and he didn’t have a beard. You can’t blame yourself.” They stopped in the foyer. “I’m going to check on Bella. Do you want to come?”

She didn’t think that even Bella’s smiley face could help. “Not right now. I need to sort some things out.”

Megan squeezed her arm before she headed up the stairs, leaving Tessa standing in the middle of the foyer trying to decide next steps. Should she leave? She had already caused enough chaos today, but she couldn’t get herself to walk out the door. To leave without checking on him, even if she was the last person he wanted to see.

Instead she headed up the stairs and down the hall and stood in front of his closed door. Should she knock? Maybe he never wanted to see her again. She wouldn’t blame him.

Before she could decide, the door opened and Lily stood there grinning at her. Had she gone to the wrong room? Lily grabbed her hand and pulled her inside, shutting the door quietly.

Ben was asleep in the bed, and Tessa could see that Lily had taken over the couch with her crayons and sketch pad.

Tessa leaned down and whispered, “Are you watching out for him?”

Lily nodded and directed her over to the couch, and they both sat. From the couch, Tessa could see Ben’s face. He was still pale and had dark circles under his eyes. He had been so upset when he thought Lily’s drawing meant he would hurt her. That had been genuine—everything had been genuine, now that Tessa could think back to their confrontation in the hotel room. But it had been so far-fetched she couldn’t imagine he was telling the truth.

“Can I see your picture of you and him?” she whispered.

She flipped the pages to the drawing of Lily with purple wings and Ben standing next to her with his own set of wings. What would it be like to see him unfurl his wings? With his shirt off, of course? Stop! Bad Tessa!

He probably wouldn’t want her around after the way she’d treated him, but she couldn’t stop the protectiveness she felt for him. She didn’t know him as Adam, great dragon clan leader and business entrepreneur. She knew him as Ben, kind, funny, and oh so protective of a little girl. She wasn’t sure if he was one and the same or, if he got his memory back, if he would revert back to perfect Adam 2.0.

Lily patted her leg and held up a crayon to Tessa, interrupting her thoughts. “Do you want me to help you color?” she asked in a low voice.

Lily flipped to a blank page, and they got to work.

Why did Tessa get the impression the little girl was trying to distract her as well?

Chapter 23

Ben opened his eyes to a ceiling that didn’t match the stained motel ceiling he’d been staying in. Where was he? It took him a moment to remember that he was in the clan house. The house—who was he kidding, mansion—that apparently he owned.

How was that even possible? He was some sort of gazillionaire, which felt like a gut punch, but finding out he was a dragon? That was an uppercut to the face that left him slack-jawed and woozy. Now he needed to slog through his uncertainty.

Remembering he had a little visitor watching over him, he turned and found her conked out on the couch. What he hadn’t expected was that she would be leaning up against Tessa, who was also sleeping.

Something tweaked in his chest. Lily was innocence personified, and Tessa? He was afraid to think too much about what she was to him. After what had happened at the motel, he wasn’t sure if he would see her again. But he was damn happy she was here with him. Too happy, which meant he was thinking about her.

He didn’t know who he was. Sure, he had a name and a family he didn’t recognize and a house now, but that didn’t help him to figure out who Adam Simonson was. Not really. So any ideas of what the gorgeous, smart, sassy woman on the couch meant to him would have to wait.

Tessa stirred. He wasn’t sure if his staring holes into her had woken her, but she blinked slowly and smiled when she saw him watching her.

He held up a finger to his lips, and she looked down at Lily before resting her hand on her head for a gentle caress. She rearranged Lily on the couch and stood slowly before walking over to the bed.

Ben sat up and leaned against the headboard. “Are you two babysitting me?”

Tessa shook her head. “Nope. I think Lily was watching out for both of us. Are you feeling better after your nap?”

He nodded. “A little. Still feel like I was hit by a truck.”

She flinched. “I’m sorry for contributing to that.”

He couldn’t take her guilt on top of everything else. “Don’t. You were protecting your friends and family. There is no need to apologize.”

“Turns out I was protecting our friends and family. I can’t imagine how overwhelmed you must be right now. If I were in your shoes, I would probably be running around screaming.”

He couldn’t picture her cowering for anything. “I doubt that. You were pretty calm when dealing with me at the motel.”

She shrugged. “I was on a mission. I can have tunnel vision. You should have seen me when I found out dragons exist. I threatened to bludgeon Eric with a lamp. Swung it like a baseball bat. I threatened him once with a golf club too when he was misbehaving.”