Chapter 46 The Dragon’s Weak Point
The next morning, Hallie felt like she had turned over a new leaf.
The previous evening had been so relaxing, and Luke had taken her home without making any unnecessary advances.
Maybe Luke had worked some kind of magic spell after all.
She felt better about working for him, like she could trust him just a little more.
When she came into the office, it was Miss Santer who first greeted her in the usual stony manner and showed her to her new office. Miss Santer’s tone expressed her disapproval of everything that was happening.
“Here are some marketing materials that Luke asked me to give you,” she said, giving Hallie a bunch of paper folders, “He said you should become familiar with these and never deviate from our way of doing things.”
“I very much doubt Luke said that,” Hallie replied, sitting down behind her desk. “I think he would want me to make suggestions if I saw a need for change.”
“You seem to have a vivid imagination,” Santer said.
She was about to walk out of the room, but Hallie called, “Wait!”
Miss Santer turned around, eyeing her irritably.
“You know, J.D.,” Hallie said, “I keep thinking about that night in the hospital when you accidentally told me that Luke was the prince of Sarkadia. I wonder if it was really an accident.”
“As usual, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Hallie watched her carefully, trying to look deeper than the professional mask. “Maybe you made it look like you unintentionally revealed his status, but you actually wanted me to know.”
Santer frowned in confusion, but it seemed like perhaps she was pretending to be puzzled by Hallie’s words. “And why would I do that?”
“Because you wanted me to give up on him. Knowing he’s a royal prince would intimidate most women. It would let them know he’s probably off the market.”
“Another loony theory of yours,” Santer said dismissively as she walked away.
“I know you like him!” Hallie shouted at her retreating back.
Santer left the office, but Hallie had a feeling it was because the dragon was intimidated. She gave herself an imaginary high-five, knowing she had nearly succeeded in breaking through her fortress of professionalism. She was fairly sure she had found Santer’s weak point.
The day went by quickly. Hallie met up with the rest of the team and got to know more about the company. She really liked what they were doing, so it was easy to get excited about promoting them.
She didn’t see Luke one-on-one, though his voice was sometimes heard in the hallways, mostly making joking remarks that had nothing to do with work.
At quarter to noon, she could hear him at the front desk asking Miss Santer if she wanted to have lunch with him. Of course, the witch said yes.
It was around 4:30 when he dropped by Hallie’s office. He was wearing linen trousers and a luxurious cotton shirt with the top two buttons undone. His hair was gathered into a pony tail, the elastic decorated with a silver disc etched like a medieval shield.
His smile boded some kind of mischief, or maybe it was just his usual expression.
“Do you have any plans?” he asked.
“No,” she said, then instantly regretted it.
“Good, we’re going out!”
Hallie wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to keep going out with him when she didn’t know exactly what they were anymore. Maybe it didn’t mean anything, and he always went out with his female employees. After all, he had taken Santer out for lunch.
“What’s the matter, are you afraid to go out with me?” His devious smile turned even more malicious.
“Why would I be afraid?”
“Because I’m back to being City Luke. I’m in my element, this is where I thrive, so you better be careful because I’m about to show you a real good time.”