“So you’re trying to get me drunk? That’s creepy.”
He cocked his head, letting his hair fall to the side. “I hadn’t thought of it that way. Does it make you more comfortable if I do?”
She nodded, so he grabbed a drink, tossed it back, and smiled at her. It was fairly impossible to get a dragon drunk, especially with modern liquor.
She grabbed a drink of her own and sipped it hesitantly, staring at him over it with suspicious eyes.
Somehow, everything his mate did was utterly adorable. Perhaps it was her smallness and chubbiness. Or the way she was so defensive, like a porcupine curling up with its spines out.
Regardless, he wanted to see the softness she was keeping inside.
When she finished her drink, he quietly pushed over a new one, and she drank it, much less hesitant now.
When she’d finished the second drink, she seemed much more relaxed and sank back in the booth with a sigh. She was a lightweight and already seemed slightly buzzed, probably because she didn’t drink very often.
“Thanks,” she said. “I know I can be a real bitch sometimes.”
“You aren’t a bitch,” he retorted, the word sounding ugly in his mouth. “A bit overly independent at times, but that’s all.”
She waved a hand. “I wasn’t always like this. Before my dad died, I was his princess. I loved working in his shop, making friends with the guys there. Everyone liked me more before I was the boss.”
“I’m sorry about your father,” he said. Dragons in his time left their families early to form crews with other dragons and get out and see the world, but he’d seen how close humans generally were to their family units, and he felt bad that something had happened to Lindy’s.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Shit happens. I just… yeah. I used to depend on someone a lot. And then I realized what a mistake that was, because eventually you end up alone.”
“What do you mean?”
“After my dad, there was a guy,” she said. “Someone who’d worked at the shop. I guess I was just out of it. He wanted to take care of me, and I was feeling really alone. My parents divorced when I was really young, and my dad was all I had. Anyway, this guy acted like he was going to make everything all right at a time I was feeling lonely.”
“Did he?” Magnus asked, already knowing the answer and wanting to know the bastard’s name so he could track him down and rid the world of him.
“No,” she said sullenly. “It was my fault, getting carried away and thinking he could really be interested in taking care of someone like me. What he really wanted was control of my dad’s business. I was overwhelmed with it anyway, and…”
“And?”
She flushed, looking as if it were painful to remember it. “He nearly ran the company into the ground. I didn’t notice until I went to withdraw from the company account that he’d been embezzling.” She shook her head. “At first, I thought it was a mistake. No one would do that, right? Not to the woman he was dating or the place he’d worked at for years. But he did.” She sighed. “I guess I look really stupid.”
Magnus was beginning to realize some humans could be more monstrous than shifters. “No. Not stupid. Trusting. I hate that he took that away from you.”
She gave him an embarrassed smile, one that melted his heart so it puddled down around his toes. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this. You’re an employee. No, not even an employee. Just someone working temporarily for me.”
“A friend,” he said. “Come on. I met you before you hired me. You could just call me a friend.”
The food came, and she stared as the waiter had to crowd the entire table with the wide variety of dishes. Magnus pulled one toward him. “I love the fish and chips here, so I ordered two of those in case you want to try it.” He took a bite and grinned. “I highly recommend it.”
She blinked, looking tempted by the food but trying to avoid it. “You’re going to be so bad for me, aren’t you?”
He shook his head, pushing several of the plates toward her. “I don’t get it with you people in the modern world.”
“Modern world?” she asked, tilting her head. “Don’t you mean regular world?” She began to grab things and put them on her plate, which relieved him because it meant she wasn’t too focused on his slip.
“I just mean you—I mean we have so many conveniences, yet you try not to avail yourself of them. This food is extremely delicious, and I’ve already paid for it, and I see no reason for you to hold back.”
“I’m always holding back,” she said, picking up an onion ring and slipping it into her mouth, chewing slowly and closing her eyes. “If I’m not holding back, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
He pushed the last drink toward her, liking how alcohol made her a little more honest. He wasn’t worried about her getting out of control, because he was here to protect her.
And besides, she seemed to like drinks.
She took it and put it down eagerly and went back to eating. She was cute when she was relaxed and gave him a soft smile. “You’re right. This is nice. You know, after Ed ripped me off, I just acknowledged I was going to be alone. I just focused on rebuilding trust with the other employees.” She sighed. “But that wasn’t easy either. I feel like no one trusts me to do things, even though I worked alongside my dad all my life, except the years I was in technical school.”
“I think you’re very good at what you do,” he said. “I’d be surprised if anyone didn’t.”
She shrugged. “Sometimes it feels like people think I only run it because of my dad, not because I’m qualified. Sometimes I think the same thing. And honestly, with things like this…” She gestured in the direction of the door where the men had gone out. “I feel overwhelmed sometimes. But I can’t show it or it just looks like weakness.” She put her head in her hands. “I can’t afford to look weak.”
He reached out and raised her chin, forcing her to look at him. “You aren’t weak. It isn’t weak to let people help you. Tell me more about those guys.”
She pulled away from his hold, flushing. “They’re from the biggest rival auto shop in town. The funny thing is, though, they were never that bad before. Lately, I get the feeling they’re getting more aggressive. They come to work and try to cause trouble or, like you just saw, follow me around.”
Now that she mentioned it, they had to have someone watching her to know where she’d gone after work.
He didn’t like that thought at all.
“What do you mean they’re worse? What did they do before?”
“Oh, you know, the usual. Trying to steal clients, trying to offer to buy me out when I didn’t want to sell. But they weren’t this… physically aggressive. Sometimes I worry they’re going to vandalize the shop.”