She snorted. "That's such a man thing to say. It almost makes me think of a really bad porno. A man shows up with a pizza, and the woman doesn't have any money. So they negotiate another way for her to pay him…"
Alistair grinned—complete with his dimple—and she sucked in a breath. Even recovering from three months of hell, he was still sexy. "I'll bring better food than pizza. So I hope the payment will match the quality."
She lightly smacked his shoulder. "Someone is getting ahead of himself."
His face turned a little more somber. "The future can be taken away at any moment, lass. I'm not about to forget that again."
"Alistair," she murmured.
Kiyana had barely pressed her lips against his again when Finn's voice filled the room. "Och, that didn't take long, did it? The pair of you may need chaperones until Alistair's health is fully cleared."
Alistair sighed, and she bit her lip to keep from laughing. After a second, she turned around to see Finn, Arabella, Meg, Kiyana's mother, and Alistair's two brothers.
From somewhere behind them came Layla's voice. "I'll be back in ten minutes, and then you lot will leave. Those were the conditions, so don't forget them. And yes, I'm talking to you, Meg Boyd."
Meg waved a hand. "Aye, aye, we'll follow your rules." The older dragonwoman smiled at her and Alistair. "It's good to see the pair of you together again."
Meg had been kind to Kiyana over the last few months. While Meg still hadn't shared the details of her assignment with the Department of Dragon Affairs, Kiyana was fine with that. After all, it wasn't as if Meg were an undercover assassin.
Kiyana's mother walked past the dragon-shifters who were all at least six or more inches taller than her without so much as a blink and stood next to Kiyana. "It's about time to introduce us, don't you think?"
Finn snorted from the side, but Kiyana focused on her mother. "You've been here less than a minute, Mum. Give me some time, okay?"
Her mother merely raised a barely-there blonde eyebrow and waited. With a sigh, she gestured toward Alistair. "Mum, this is Alistair Boyd. Alistair, this is my mother, Carol Barnes."
Despite it all, Alistair smiled at her mother. "I see where Kiyana gets her strong will from."
Her mother smiled. "Good thing, too. Both her father and I were rather stubborn, and a complacent child may not have survived childhood so well."
"Mum," she muttered.
Alistair never looked away from Kiyana's mother. "You'll have to tell me more later. I'm curious about Kiyana as a wee child."
Her mother bobbed her head. "Once you're better, I will. And in case you're wondering, I'm staying with your mother at the moment so I won't have to bother you two once Alistair is free to leave this place."
Her mum and Meg shared a look. Kiyana resisted a sigh. The pair had bonded rather well, too well in Kiyana's opinion, and who knew what shenanigans would follow once Alistair wasn't bedridden.
And for a second, she wished her father was still alive. He'd have given the Boyds a run for their money, and not just because he was as tall as any of them. Her father had been a manager most of his life and knew how to handle people well. No doubt, he would've had Meg doing things without her even realizing it.
But he was gone several years now, and nothing would bring him back.
Alistair took her hand, and she met his gaze again. He raised his brows in question, but she gave a small shake of her head. Now wasn't the time to tell him more about her father. Especially since while her mother was strong in public, she would sometimes still cry at home, missing the love of her life.
Arabella spoke, breaking into Kiyana's thoughts. And even though the dragonwoman's voice wasn't the loudest, it somehow carried over everyone else's. "Layla will be back any minute now, so if you want to hug your son, Meg, do so now."
Meg didn't waste time moving to the opposite side of the bed and kissing Alistair's cheek. "Don't ever scare me like that again, aye? My hair is already gray, but you could always make it fall out."
"Yes, Mum," Alistair murmured.
Kiyana did her best not to smile as Meg fussed over her nearly thirty-year-old son. She was watching them so intensely that Kiyana nearly jumped when her mum whispered into her ear, "So everything seems fine?"
She bobbed her head and met her mother's hazel eyes. "I think so."
Her mum smiled. "I'm glad, Kiki. Your worries were for nothing."
She yearned to tell her mother her secret, about the baby, but hadn't discussed with Alistair about when they should say something.
Then she noticed Hamish Boyd's face near her shoulder, sniffing her. She blinked. "Hamish, what are you doing?"