When Monday morning came, Winter was devastated. After a weekend filled with sex, kissing, drinking coffee, and baking cookies, the last damn thing she wanted was to say goodbye to Dragon. She didn’t care that she didn’t know his real name. She didn’t care that their relationship was supposed to just be a fun weekend fling while she was on the island.
She cared that she liked the guy, and she didn’t want to go.
Only, they’d promised. They’d said it would just be until Monday, and then they’d both be mature adults and go their separate ways.
Now she got to start worrying about her meeting with Brian Monster, and she got to feel upset with Leon, and she got to worry about how she was going to find a new writing job on short notice. Her rent was going to be due in just two weeks, so she needed to find something like, yesterday.
Breakfast was somber and quiet. Winter and Dragon ate in silence as he prepared to go to work and she prepared for her meeting. Neither one of them wanted to part ways, but it was what had to happen.
She wanted to ask him if they could try to date. It was on the tip of her tongue. She understood, reasonably, that he was a dragon and that she was a human. She knew that he had a real job, and she didn’t, but to her, that just meant it was the perfect time for her to move.
She could come to Sapphire Island. She could get a job here. She could make a life here, and she could make it with him.
Winter had never believed in true love until she’d met Dragon. She didn’t even know his name, but she knew a lot about him. She knew that he was kind, and that he was gentle. She knew that he was funny and smart and sweet. She understood that he was the type of person who would do absolutely anything for his family, and she knew that he was the kind of person who was thoughtful.
If she was going to date anyone in the world, Winter wanted it to be Dragon.
But it could never be.
He offered to give her a ride downtown, but she shook her head. She had called a ride already, and when it arrived, Dragon walked her to the door.
“It was wonderful to meet you,” he said.
She wanted to say, “I love you.”
She wanted to tell him that she could be his dream girl.
Instead, she nodded, said nothing, and turned to leave. She walked to the car, hurrying, and shoved her stuff in the backseat. Then she sat up in the passenger seat beside the driver, and she muttered for him to hurry. Winter didn’t look back. She didn’t check to see if he was looking because she thought that if he was, she’d throw herself out of the car and go running back.
She’d beg him to keep her, just for a little while longer.
A tear slid down Winter’s face and she leaned her head against the window.
“Rough breakup?” Winter’s driver said sympathetically. She couldn’t stand the idea of talking, so she just nodded.
“Yeah,” she finally managed to choke out. “Something like that.”
SHE HAD A FEW HOURS to kill before her lunch meeting with Mr. Monster, so Winter stored her stuff in a locker close to where she’d take the ferry home. Not that she’d have a home for much longer. She was unemployed now, after all, and she was going to have to face the music on that one.
She didn’t want to even think about dealing with the fact that she would soon be homeless and that her resume needed a massive touch-up. Fortu
nately, Winter spotted a sign for a museum that was located just a few blocks from where her meeting was to be held, so she decided to make the most of it.
Winter had done zero sightseeing on her trip to Sapphire Island. Instead of exploring the beaches and the museums and the historical sites, she’d spent the weekend in Dragon’s bed. She’d learned every inch of his body, memorizing all of the little places he liked to be touched.
She tried to focus on the artwork displayed at the museum she’d chosen to explore, but it was hard. Eventually, she gave up, grabbed a coffee from a nearby café, and headed to Monster Brothers Security.
Their headquarters was located downtown. There was a huge, beautiful fountain outside of the building, and she paused for a minute to look at it. This was it. This was the last thing Winter had to do before she could go home. She just had to go inside, apologize to Mr. Monster, and she had to warn him about Dragons Daily.
Winter didn’t know if Dragons Daily would actually be able to pull up any dirt on this guy. Somehow, she doubted their prowess, especially if they sent one of her less-experienced colleagues to write the story. Still, she didn’t like the idea of someone like Leon preying on a company that was trying to do good in the world, so she held her head up, pushed her shoulders back, and walked inside.
The first-floor lobby was beautiful. There were pictures of dragons that lined the walls, as well as several sitting areas. Winter ignored all of those things and marched straight to the receptionist’s desk. The woman smiled at her brightly.
“Hello! How can I help you today?”
Winter instantly felt at ease. There was a little sign on the woman’s desk that read HARPER. That was a cute name.
“Hi Harper,” she said, trying not to freak out. She was starting to shake a little bit, and her chest was getting tight. She could feel the beginning of an asthma attack coming on, which was something she needed to stop feeling.