Ashlyn Chase - How to Date a Dragon

“You’re still looking awfully serious. Here, let me try something.”

“Christ,” he muttered.

She set down the camera and strolled up to him. Unbuttoning her blouse enough to expose lush cleavage, she said in a low, sultry voice, “Think of the fun we can have after I finish the shoot.”

He raised his eyebrows. Think of the horror when you find out I’m a dragon.

“No, that’s still not the expression I want. What’s the matter? Are you having a bad day?”

“You could say that.”

“Anything I can do?”

“Nope.” He’d have to take his punishment just like any other firefighter who did what he’d done, regardless of his inability to burn. He should be grateful for the chance to delay facing the chief, but to be honest, he just wanted to get it over with.

As Drake was thinking about what to tell him, Chief Tate strolled out where they were shooting.

“Are you almost done here?” the chief asked.

The photographer backed away and quickly buttoned her blouse. “Ah, yes. I’d like one more pose…”

“I’ll wait.” Chief Tate stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels.

Shit, I’m in bigger trouble than I thought. Drake decided to have some fun with the shoot after all. He set down the ax, moved beside the chief, and threw his arm around Tate’s shoulder. “Here. Take one of me and the chief. I’ll pay you for it.”

“Huh?” Chief Tate leaned away and frowned at Drake. “What the hell for?”

“A memento. If I’m about to be fired, I’d like a picture of my old boss for my scrapbook.”

Chief Tate reared back and laughed. “I’m not going to fire your ass, Cameron. I probably should for taking such a dumb chance. This isn’t like the time the mayor heard about you saving a damn dog and was impressed. You won’t be getting a commendation for this one.”

The photographer grinned. “Wow. A commendation from the mayor! Now there’s something to smile about.”

The chief snorted. “Yeah, I told him to take off the word ‘bravery’ and make it a citation for stupidity.”

Shrugging one shoulder, Drake said, “It figures.” At least it didn’t sound like he was getting canned. That was a relief.

Chief Tate addressed the woman without looking at her. “Don’t encourage him. He risked his life for a damn pet. Cameron, you’re just lucky the mayor’s a big dog lover.”

The photographer got even more excited, if that were possible. “Oh, he is. I’ve photographed him, and he has pictures of his greyhounds right on his desk.”

“Is that right?” The chief didn’t sound impressed, despite his words. “Look, as soon as you finish up here, Cameron, come to my office.”

“Sure thing, chief.”

The photographer cozied up to Drake. She held out a card. “If you had a shirt on, I’d tuck this in your pocket.”

He took the card and glanced at it.

Suzanne Bloom

Blooming Great Photography

617-555-8349

He smiled and she said, “Freeze.” Backing up a couple feet, she snapped a few more pictures. “There. Now I have what I want.”

Yeah, your phone number in my hand.

“I’ve got to do something to make this right, Claudia.” Bliss sat at her friend’s breakfast bar, running her fingers over the smooth granite.

Claudia took a sip of her coffee. “Look, he saved your business and possibly your place in the competition. Why don’t you make him a card?”

“A Hall-Snark card? What would it say? I’m sorry I got you suspended, but you looked great in suspenders? ”

Claudia grimaced. “Ah, no. I’m sure you can do better than that.”

Bliss slumped over and rested her cheek on the cool stone. “My computer didn’t survive, by the way. Well, I mean, the hardware did, but I think the rest is fubar.”

“Fubar? What’s that?”

She leaned back and sighed. “Sorry. It’s something my brother Ricky, the ex-marine, says. It means fucked up beyond all recognition.”

Claudia chuckled and opened the laptop in question. She hit the power button and a light came on. “Are you sure? It looks okay.”

“I tried to boot it up several times, and all I can get out of it is, ‘Operating system not found.’”

“Don’t give up yet. There’s something called forensic data recovery. You’d be surprised what the FBI can get off computers that were supposedly destroyed.”

“I doubt the FBI would consider a reality TV show about a greeting card competition worthy of their time or equipment.” Bliss cupped her chin and rested her elbow on the counter. “I don’t know what I was thinking. He could have died. I don’t even know his name…” She lifted her head and sat up straight. “Wait. The back of his jacket said Cameron.”

Claudia set a tall glass of ice water in front of Bliss. “There you go. Is that his first name or last?”

Bliss sighed. “I don’t know.”

“What did the other guys’ jackets look like? First names or last?”

Bliss rested her chin on both palms and her elbows on the counter. “I don’t know. I only had eyes for him—as they say.”

Claudia chuckled. “Oh, yeah. You’ve got it bad.”

Bliss took a long swallow of her ice water. Her parched throat welcomed the cool liquid. “You want to know the worst thing about all this?”

“What?”

“Forget that my home and all my belongings except my precious laptop are toast. I have to go back to Winthrop and live with my annoying parents for who knows how long. If I don’t win the contest, it could be forever.” She groaned.

Claudia rubbed her friend’s back. “I wish I could let you move in here, but my place is just too damn small. We’d get on each other’s nerves, and our friendship is more important than anything to me.”

“I know. I feel the same way. But I do have to go home. I lost my glasses in the fire. I think I have a spare pair in my old bedroom. Some of my old clothes might still be there, and I’ll need them, if they fit. Stupidly, I didn’t get renter’s insurance, and now I have zero money and no time for shopping.”

“So, have you told your parents yet?”

Bliss took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “No, but I have to soon, before they see it on the news. They’ll have a fit.”

“Not because you need a place to stay, I hope.”

“No, that’s not it.” She snorted. “They’re always hoping us kids will come home for dinner… or a month. No, they’ll be upset because one of their precious spawn had a brush with death. And they’re going to try to get me married off and living in the suburbs.”

“Oh, boy. I don’t envy you, but at least your parents aren’t stuck on the idea of your marrying a rich guy.”

“Seriously? Yours are like that? Do they know what you do?”

Claudia laughed. “They know I work on Beacon Hill, but they don’t know I manage a bar. If they did, they’d have a fit. I’m supposed to be rubbing elbows with Boston’s elite.”

“What do they think you do?”

“All they know is that I got my MBA and I manage a small independent company on Charles Street. Technically, that’s true, so if you ever see them, don’t mention the bar. Actually, the less said about my job, the better.”

“You completed your business degree? I thought you still had another semester to go.”

“I finished it in December.”

“Congrats. So, are you looking for a better job?”

“Nope.”

Her friend confused her sometimes, but Bliss had other things to think about right now. “Unfortunately, if I go back home, I can look forward to a lot of arranged, so-called accidental meetings with eligible young men. My parents will want him to be Italian so they can have a whole passel of paisano grandkids.”