“That’s very kind of you,” she said, “but I think that you all were doing just fine on Sapphire Island before I came along.”
“That’s not true at all.”
“Dragon shifters are pretty resilient,” Allison smiled. “I know that you all like to pretend to be helpless, but I know you were just fine looking after yourselves before I came along.”
Christopher grinned and shook his head. She was right when she said they were dragon shifters living on Sapphire Island. Their world was a beautiful one, and the dragon brothers did a lot on their own, but they were busy – very busy – and they were constantly scrambling around. Allison had helped streamline their lives in more ways than she’d probably ever know.
“You make my life easier, Allison. You’re a hero in my book.”
“Thanks,” she whispered, smiling softly.
Christopher took another bite of his food. He and his brothers really had been overwhelmingly busy lately. Declan’s life was especially hectic as of late because he was now enamored with his newfound mate. Zoa was sweet and wonderful and completely perfect for him.
Brian and Christopher were both wildly jealous of him, but unlike Brian, Christopher held out hope that he’d find someone to be his mate one day. Brian was just an old grouch who didn’t really believe in love, but Christopher did. One day, he’d find someone who loved him for him. He’d find someone who swept him off his dragon feet.
One day.
“What about you?” Allison asked gently, pulling Christopher back to their conversation.
“What about me?”
“What have you been up to today?”
“Oh,” Christopher smiled at her. Fuck, she was gorgeous. She had soft skin and beautiful hair that bounced when she moved her head. Her lips were parted just the slightest bit, and she looked so damn kissable that it hurt. “Nothing much. I replied to emails. I scheduled appointments. I even handled a couple of minor computer problems.”
“Sounds busy.”
“Annoyingly so,” he sighed.
“You wish you were working on the new software, don’t you?” Allison chuckled, looking up at Christopher.
When she smiled at him like that, it felt like his heart was going to explode. Why-oh-why couldn’t she just be ugly? Or terrible? Why couldn’t she be a mean old witch with nothing good about her?
He sighed. Why did she have to be perfect? It simply wasn’t fair. Christopher didn’t need a relationship. He definitely didn’t need a relationship with someone soft and sweet like Allison. She was charming and cute and...h
e was slightly obsessed. She was off-limits, though.
They both knew it.
Everyone knew it.
“Yeah, I wish I was. It’s almost done, and I want it to be out by Christmas.”
“You don’t have much time to waste, dragon man.”
“Hey, I told you to call me handsome man,” he joked.
“I can call you that, if you like,” Allison’s eyes twinkled. She opened her mouth and whispered the words he’d been longing to hear: “Handsome man.”
It was a good thing he was sitting on the opposite side of the desk. If he’d been on the other side, close to Allison, she would have seen his cock hardening. There would be no way to miss it. As it was, Christopher was relieved that Allison could only imagine his cock. That is, if she wanted to, of course.
“Very nice,” he managed to choke out. He shoved another bite of rice into his mouth to avoid having to speak again for a minute. He needed to collect himself. Why the hell did he always let this happen? Somehow, when he was with Allison, he seemed to completely lose himself. Nothing else mattered. He found himself thinking about her, dreaming about her, and fantasizing about her.
She was just...Allison.
“So, do you have a date for the office party?” Allison looked back up at him. He shoved another bite of rice into his mouth before she’d finished her sentence, so he had a chance to think about what he wanted to say.
Office party?