Chapter 16 #2
“I could work for a marketing firm,” she continued. “Or public relations. Or a nonprofit. Or a media company. There are dozens of possibilities.” She sighed. “Sometimes I think maybe I should go back to school and get a graduate degree. Maybe become a teacher like Jessica.”
Rhaz considered that. “Betty married.”
Phin blinked at the sudden change in subject. “Aaron’s Betty?”
“Yes, that one. She married.”
Phin laughed. “She did.”
“And how old is she?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Twenty-four? Twenty-five? Maybe twenty-six.”
“Only a few years older than you.”
“Well, yes.” She rolled her eyes. “But that doesn’t mean I have to run out and get married.”
“Of course not,” he agreed solemnly.
She narrowed her eyes. “Not for another few years anyway.”
Rhaz looked toward the house to hide his smile. He was enjoying teasing her far more than he should have. He didn’t know why. He simply liked seeing her flustered.
When he looked back, she was staring straight ahead. “You like working for the fire department, do you not?” he asked.
She glanced at him.
So he added, “You have an education, yet you don’t know what to do with it.”
“Yeah.” She leaned back against the porch swing. “That pretty much sums it up.”
“Too many choices,” he murmured.
“What?”
He looked at her. “I have never had choices.”
Her head snapped toward him. “What do you mean?”
“It is as I mentioned earlier. I have duties and obligations. I am honored by them, but I did not choose them.”
Phin grew quiet.
“My life was determined long before I was born,” he continued. “There are traditions that have existed for generations upon generations.”
He drew in a breath and slowly let it out.
The night before, he’d enjoyed himself immensely.
Even the discussion Betty and Aaron had about his poor swimming had amused him.
He’d wanted to give Aaron a ride, but Anon and Caelen had convinced him it was unwise.
There had been too much moonlight. He would have to wait for a crescent moon when he would be less likely to be seen.
“You’ve suddenly gotten quiet,” Phin said softly.
“Have I?” He smiled. “My apologies. Here we are, finally alone, and I do not know what to say.”
Phin laughed. “Oh, I have plenty to say.”
“You do?”
“Questions. Lots of questions. But every time I start asking them, somebody suddenly appears.” A cheeky smile crossed her face.
“Ah. Yes. I know whom you mean.”
“Dentist Anon, aka busybody,” she teased.
Rhaz chuckled. “But he is a good man, and I like him.”
“Oh, I like him too,” Phin said. “He’s been my dentist ever since he came to town, and he’s a great dentist.”
She paused. “But he kind of reminds me of Louise Tattleson.”
Rhaz burst out laughing.
“Oh, you think that’s funny, do you?”
“I do.”
She jabbed him with her elbow. The blow was hardly enough to move him, but he laughed harder anyway. It felt good.
Rhaz got his laughter down to a chuckle and rested his hands on his thighs. “I like you, Phin Ironwood,” he stated. “You intrigue me.”
He heard her tiny gasp and saw the pink creep into her cheeks again.
He liked that too. In fact, he liked everything about her and wasn’t entirely sure why.
It wasn’t as though she were a fated mate.
Such things were exceedingly rare among dragons.
The more he thought about it, however, the more he wished she were.
At least then he would have an excuse not to marry Princess Beyza. He shuddered.
“Are you cold?” Phin asked. “It’s pretty hot out.”
Rhaz chuckled and rose to his feet. “Walk with me.” He offered her his hand.
“Oh...” she hedged.
“Do you need to be somewhere?” Rhaz asked, withdrawing his hand. Perhaps he was being too forward. Perhaps he was making her nervous.
Phin stood. “No. Not exactly. I can walk.”
“Good.” He led her off the porch, around the house, and across the back of the property toward the chain-link fence.
“Where are we going?” she asked, hurrying to catch up.
“Up the trail.”
“But what about the fence?”
She finally matched his pace. Rhaz slowed to make it easier for her. “I thought the trail would be nice.”
“Oh.” She smiled. “Okay.”
They walked the rest of the distance in silence. When they reached the fence, she stopped. “Well, now what do we do?”
Rhaz rested a hand on the top rail. “I propose that we leap over.”
Phin stared at him.
“Or,” he added, “I could lift you over.”
“Absolutely not.”
Unfortunately for her, she’d answered a second too late. Rhaz placed his hands around her waist, lifted her as though she weighed nothing, swung her over the fence, and set her on the ground.
“Rhaz!”
He laughed, vaulted over after her, then gently took her arm and steered her toward the footbridge ahead.
“Goodness. Do you ever warn people before you pick them up?”
“No.”
“Clearly.”
Phin grinned at him. “Wow, you must work out a lot.”
There was unmistakable awe in her voice, and his chest swelled. “Work out?”
Phin demonstrated by raising her arms up and down. “You know. Exercise.”
“Ah.” He nodded. “Activity. Drills.”
“Exactly.”
“Then yes. I do many drills.” He smiled at her. He seemed to smile at her constantly.
She hurried to keep up again, and he slowed his pace.
There was a freedom to this he’d never experienced before.
There were no guards trailing after him, no lecture beforehand from his father, and no lecture afterward from both his parents.
Any time he spent with a potential bride had always followed the same routine.
Thankfully, it never took long to discover that none of the young ladies presented to him were suitable.
Eventually, he realized there was no one in the royal court who was, and he’d resigned himself to bachelorhood.
Then his father presented him with King Iskareth’s offer. Princess Beyza. The arrangement was somehow worse than any match his parents had attempted before.
“So how far are we going?” Phin asked, breaking the silence.
“There’s a pine grove farther up the trail. I wish to see it.”
“Oh, I know where that is.” She pointed ahead. “There’s a nice hiking trail up there.”
“Do you have time?”
“I do.”
Rhaz stopped and looked down at her. “Are you certain I am not keeping you from something?”
Phin shook her head. “No. It’s just me today.” She glanced around at the forest, clasped her hands behind her back, and started walking again.
She was nervous, and Rhaz liked that. The blushes, the quick glances, and the pink cheeks all pulled at him. Her scent had changed as well. There was no doubt about her attraction now. The troubling part was that it appeared to be mutual.
This was dangerous ground. He should not be doing this.
The warnings of his parents echoed in his mind, yet it was difficult not to.
Phin was wonderfully delicate and feminine, and every protective instinct he possessed rose to the surface when he was around her.
Yet she was far from helpless. He admired her courage, her strength, and her willingness to do whatever was necessary to save lives in an emergency.
Perhaps that was part of the problem. She was strong without being hard, brave without being reckless, and capable without needing to prove it.
The more he learned about her, the more he admired her.
The more he admired her, the more dangerous this became.
The problem was, he had no desire to retreat.