It was hard for Kiyana to imagine the large, muscled man teaching youngsters, but he had no reason to lie. After all, in her experience men liked to pretend they were something quite a bit more macho when they did lie.
Lochguard's clan leader, Finn, walked up to them and lightly slapped Alistair on the shoulder. "I didn't pin you as part of the welcome committee." He winked at Kiyana. "I hope he's not giving us a bad name."
Alistair grunted, and Kiyana smiled. "No. We were discussing the history of your traditional outfits, as a matter of fact."
Finn blinked. "Oh, aye?" He glanced sideways at Alistair. "I hope you're not boring the lass."
Kiyana spoke for herself. "No. It's rather interesting to talk with someone who knows as much as me."
Alistair muttered, "I know more."
Finn barked out a laugh. "I'm not sure that's a contest you want to get into, Dr. Barnes. Alistair here is something of a bookworm, and knows more about dragon-shifter history than anyone else I've met."
Kiyana jumped in. "Call me Kiyana or Kiki. Dr. Barnes is too formal."
Alistair stated, "Kiyana suits you better."
She blinked. "Um, okay?"
Finn studied Alistair a second before nodding. "Kiyana it is. Now that I've confirmed you're not bored to death, I have a few others to check up on. The female with Meg Boyd looks like she wants to flee. I'd better go take care of it."
Once they were alone again, Kiyana asked, "Why does Kiyana suit me better?"
She probably shouldn't have questioned him as she wasn't on Lochguard to form close social relationships with the dragon-shifters. However, something told her Alistair liked honesty. And for some reason, she wanted to be honest and open with him right then.
Before warning bells could go off in her head, Alistair replied, "It's a beautiful sounding name, full of depth. And even though I've just met you, I think you're a female of depth, aye?"
Depth of personality wasn't usually the first thing people noticed about her. Alistair Boyd was interesting indeed. "I am. But my mother always called me Kiki. I think it was the compromise. My father wanted the name Kiyana, to name me after his dead sister, and mother wanted something easier to say. Hence, two names for one woman."
"I'm sorry about your aunt."
She shook her head. "I never met her. She died in Jamaica before my dad came to Britain. I always wanted to be called Kiki as a girl, to fit in better. But ever since university, I've preferred Kiyana. Not only because I want to honor my aunt's memory, but also because I'm not afraid of being different any longer. If I were, I wouldn't be living on Lochguard for six months, now, would I?"
"Then why introduce yourself as Kiki?"
She shrugged. "I guess I wanted to try to fit in a little more, and it makes me less stuffy-sounding."
Alistair didn't reply right away, and it gave her a moment to realize how much she'd revealed about herself. Usually it took five dates to share that much information. And yet, Alistair Boyd's mismatched eyes weren't uncomfortable, bored, or even patronizing. No, she swore they were asking her for more information.
Then his pupils turned to slits and back. She'd seen a dragon-shifter talk with his inner beast before, but not for years.
Not for the first time, she wanted to know what it was like to have another personality inside your head. It was something she'd never experience, and no amount of questioning or observing would give her a true understanding of the special relationship between the human and dragon halves of a dragon-shifter.
Alistair's pupils turned round again. "It's a brave thing to come here for six months, aye, I'll give you that. However, I don't know where else you've studied my kind before, but Lochguard isn't reserved or wary. They'll be in your business at every opportunity, wanting to befriend you or try to match you up with their children. And before long, you won't be able to maintain the distance necessary to objectively observe us. In other words, I'm giving you fair warning that your term here will probably be cut short. Maybe even because you end up fancying a dragon-shifter here."
His words were like a slap in the face. There was no way he could know about her past and her mistake in dating a dragonman before. As far as she knew, no one outside the DDA had access to that information.
Before she could probe him to see how he knew it, his mother returned with Julie at her side. "Alistair, you've kept the lovely Julie waiting. Come. She's agreed to the first dance."
"I don't dance anymore, Mum. You know that."
Meg raised her brows. "Have you turned into a male who goes back on his promises?"
Kiyana looked between the two. She was beginning to see what Alistair meant, about Lochguard being nosey.
Of course,
her mother was far away, in Bedford. Meaning Kiyana didn't have to worry about her mother asking if she would marry any time soon, for the umpteenth time.