Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
brIA
The rum burned warm in my throat as I stared at the dragon shifter who’d just suggested the most unexpected arrangement.
Pretend to be his girlfriend?
I gaped at the dragon shifter. Gorgeous as sin? Hell yes. Mate? Hell no, despite what my panther told me.
I’d been trying to play it cool. Act uninterested. While my body was responding like he was teasing me with catnip.
But the pretend-girlfriend proposal threw me off. “Why?” I managed.
“To help with my image,” Darius said smoothly.
I blinked at him. “Do you have a problem with it?”
“There’s a shifter on board this week that I’m looking to impress.”
“With a fake girlfriend?” I deadpanned.
“A relationship helps,” Darius replied. “It also makes for a better story why I’m on board this week.”
“How so?”
“I’m here to spend the holidays with my girlfriend rather than sailing alone for a little R&R. He’s a family man. And I’d look better in his eyes if I appeared to be committed to one woman.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Which you don’t usually do?” Of course he was a playboy. Just look at him—sin in a suit.
“Not for decades.”
“Decades?” He’d said it so casually, like he’d lived through entire lifetimes while I was still figuring out this one.
“I was married once, long ago. She was human and she died.” He kept his voice neutral but I noticed the hardness in his jaw. He took a sip of his rum and it softened.
Something twisted in my chest—a flicker of sympathy I didn’t want to feel for the dragon my panther was purring was the one. “I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago.”
That admission was unexpected, and it struck strange pangs in my chest. Empathy. And a hint of jealousy. Because he was supposed to be mine.
No, no, no.
I inhaled. Whatever this strange rush was in my veins, the way my pulse sped when his golden eyes caught mine, it was just temporary. I’d get past it. I’d dealt with worse—heartbreaks, hurricanes, hungover vampires. One smoldering dragon with a tragic love story wouldn’t unravel me.
I just had to remember who I was.
A professional. A performer. Not a woman whose cat purred as he spoke.
“So let me see if I can get this straight, Darius.” I tapped my fingernails on the bar. “What’s the real reason you’re here?”
“A business opportunity.”
“During a holiday cruise?”
“Yes.”
Something didn’t add up. “Are you traveling alone?”
“I am.”
Stranger still. “Okay, let’s see if I follow. You fell in love once. Your heart was broken. So now you focus on business?”
“Something like that.”
“What am I missing?”
“I don’t exclude pleasure.” He flashed a flirtatious smile.
Of course not. Just like every other guy.
“What’s this business opportunity you’re pursuing? Another rum deal?”
“I’m dreaming bigger.”
“How so?” I asked, slightly intrigued.
“My distillery is on my private island. I already have a deal with a smaller ship, but the Moonlight Siren would be ideal. They add a stop on my island for a day excursion. Not only will we provide use of our beach and bar but a tour of the distillery. And the gift shop.”
“Ah,” I nodded, catching on. “More passengers mean more money.”
He smiled. “Exactly.” He ran his fingers over his glass of rum. “Win-win. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Not exactly.”
He arched his brows.
“What’s in it for me?”
He leaned back and appraised me. “What do you want?” He cocked his head. “Money?”
Money was nice, but it could add a layer of ick to this arrangement. I had to think strategically. Since it was the holiday season and I was going to give to them anyway, I might as well make the most of it.
“Since you could be making a hefty profit from this arrangement, I’d like you to make a sizable donation to a charity of my choosing.”
He appraised me for several seconds. “Which one?”
I named one near my heart. “They rescue abandoned or orphaned shifter cubs.” A lump wedged in my throat, and I forced myself to swallow it down.
He gazed at me and his expression softened. “Done.”
I exhaled. That went easier than expected. I rolled my neck to loosen the tightness that rose when I’d mentioned the foundation. Memories of a difficult time rose and I quickly squashed them. Not the time.
Instead, I let my gaze roam over this devilish dragon’s face, down his cheekbones, his jawline, his mouth. His lips were full and chiseled, sinfully so. What would they feel like on mine?
Hmm. Flirting, I could do. It was light, carefree, without any promises or expectations.
Relationships? Nope. I lived on a cruise ship where different passengers came and went every week.
And mates? A commitment to one person forever? Not for this woman, no matter what my panther purred.
I swirled my drink. “So how do we play this?”
Darius leaned back but kept his steady gaze on me. “Tomorrow after the Christmas tree lighting on the main deck, they’re having a rum tasting in the Nocturnal Lounge. Can you make it?”
“Yes. I’m supposed to sing a song at the lighting.”
“Perfect. I’ll meet you near the tree.” He nodded. “Cedric is sailing this week with his wife, and I’d bet they’ll be there. We’ll smile. Flirt. Act like we missed each other and can’t keep our hands off each other.”
“Flirt and act. I can manage that,” I said with a nod. “It will also give me time to find the witch who cast the spell and ask if she had a little mishap.”
He studied me for several seconds as if wondering if that were possible. “We need to know each other better.”
“Hmm, not easy since we just met.”
“The basics, at least,” he said. “Where we’re from. Where we met. How long we’ve been dating.”
I leaned forward, excited about a charade with this hot dragon. “I’m game. Okay, quick background you should know—I grew up in the Florida Keys. I moved around, singing in various clubs around the East Coast before I joined the Moonlight Siren earlier this year.”
His eyes gleamed brighter with interest. “And we met when the ship was docked in New Orleans a few months ago.”
“At a jazz club,” I added.
“Where I couldn’t take my eyes off you.” His eyes darkened with greater intensity. “And once I heard you sing, I was hooked.”
The way he looked at me heated me from the inside out. I fanned myself. “If you keep staring at me like that, dragon, we won’t have trouble fooling anyone.”
He chuckled, the sound low and vibrant.
I took a moment to regain my composure and straightened on my stool. “I need to know more about you.”
“My dragon clan is in Portugal. I left to find my way as soon as I was old enough to care for myself.”
“And found yourself on a Caribbean island making rum?”
He tipped his chin up a notch, warming me with another devilish grin. “Something like that.”
“What about…your wife?”
He flinched. “We don’t need to mention that.”
“But—”
He finished his drink. “I think we have a solid start. We can wing the rest if necessary.” He stood, walked closer, and kissed my cheek.
The kiss should’ve been nothing—a polite rehearsal for our act—but heat flared where his lips brushed my skin. My breath caught, and for one wild heartbeat, the performance felt terrifyingly real.
His eyes darkened to molten amber.
Neither of us spoke.
Seconds later, he stepped back, snapping a determined look onto his face like a shield. “Sleep well, Bria.” He hesitated, as if fighting himself, then walked out of the lounge.
I watched him leave until the very last inch of his outline was out of sight. My heart beat a wild, erratic rhythm. I pressed my fingers to my cheek, feeling the heat where his mouth had touched. My panther purred, content.
Mate, she said.
Fake, I retorted.
Tomorrow, I’d play my part as if it were just another performance on the stage.
Kylie slid over from the other side of the bar. “You okay, Bria? You look a little shaken.”
I straightened, needing to get myself together. “I need to find Maribelle.”