“That’s your well thought out plan?” She laughed some more. “You’ll kick them in the balls?”

“You have no idea how painful it is,” George said. “It doesn’t matter that these shifters are huge. Way stronger. Far more aggressive. None of that matters. They fall just as hard and as fast if their family jewels are broken. No!” He looked her in the eyes. “I will use my knees, my feet. Do whatever I need to do to ensure that Ice gets to me first.”

“I’ve never seen you like this. Whatever happened to being footloose and fancy-free?”

“I met the right guy.” George fake-swooned. He even clutched his chest and everything. “I’m so in love. So far gone, you have no idea.”

Meghan didn't answer. Instead, she chewed on her bottom lip.

“What about you, what’s going on with Tide? Do you have feelings for him now that the two of you have spent some time together ‒ and by time, I mean had sex, lots of sex?”

Meghan fiddled with a button on her blouse. She didn’t want to answer. “That’s not something I want to talk about right now.”

“Come on. You can tell me. Talking will make you feel better. Look, I know you’re not the type to fool around. I also know you’re not the type to fall in love easily. In fact, I don’t think you’ve ever really ever been in love. Until now that is.”

“You think I’m in love?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“I don’t know, I’m too afraid to let myself fall. Not for a guy like Tide. I’m afraid of being hurt.”

George nodded. “I can understand that, because—”

There was a knock at the door and Tide stuck his head around the jamb. “Can I borrow you for a few minutes?” He had a pleading look in his eyes.

“Sure.” They did need to talk and it wasn’t like she was getting much work done obsessing about him and trying to analyze what it all meant. She needed to ask him straight out.

“Hi, George,” Tide said.

George waved. “Hi, Tide. We were just talking about you.”

“Oh yes? All good I hope?” He smiled and out popped his dimples. She loved those damned dimples.

“Definitely,” George chuckled.

“I believe you and Ice are an item?”

George grinned so broadly it lit up his entire face. “Yes, but it’s not official yet.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll win you. He’s a strong male.”

George nodded, looking quite sedate for once. “I’m sure he will. And yes, he’s very strong, it’s one of the many things I love about him.”

Meghan walked over to Tide and they left together. They walked in silence. “Where are we going?” They were heading in the opposite direction to their apartments.

“Here we are.” Tide opened a door and waited for her to enter. “It’s my office.”

It was large and very similar to Torrent’s. There was a sitting area on one side and a desk on the other. The only thing it was missing was the big conference table. Instead, it had a small round table that could seat six people.

“Let’s go through here.” He gestured to the sitting area.

“You’re being so formal. Should I be worried?” Meghan folded her arms. She could feel herself frown.

“So, you’re not in love with me?” He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair which was a little overgrown and a lot mussed. His jaw was covered in stubble. In short, he was sexy as anything. She had a feeling he’d look good covered in mud, wearing a sack.

Then his question registered and her eyes widened. “In l-love … um …”

He half-smiled, rubbed a hand over his jaw, stubble catching. “I overheard the last part of your conversation with George. I’m sorry, it wasn’t on purpose.”

“Well then you heard the part about me being afraid too.”

“Yes, I did and you have nothing to be afraid about.” He closed the distance between them and took her hands in his.

“You were acting so weird this morning. I didn’t know what to make of it and I guess I was too afraid to ask.”

“You have nothing to be afraid of because I am completely, totally and utterly in love with you, Meghan. I couldn’t be more in love if I tried.”

“Oh.” She struggled to breathe. Her heart pounded inside her chest. “I believed you may have felt that way because of my ovulation cycle. I wasn’t sure if you would still feel the same way once I—”

“You were wrong.” He cupped her cheek.

“Good, I’m glad. You hardly looked at me this morning.” Why was she harping on about that? Maybe because her nerves were getting the better of her and in a big way. “I mean, it wasn’t the same between us. It suddenly felt so stilted and formal.”

Tide let go of her cheek. His eyes clouded. “I needed to speak with Torrent. I was focused. You said that you were afraid, well, so was I. I still am.” He let go of her and scrubbed a hand over his face.

He looked completely out of sorts. “It didn’t go well, did it?” There was a timid edge to her voice.

His eyes lifted to meet hers. “We have this age-old tradition. It’s called the hunt.” He huffed out a breath just as Meghan gasped. His eyes narrowed. “You know of it?”

“Yes, I do. George explained hunt basics to me. He told me all about it because Ice is going to be expected to hunt him next week.” She narrowed her eyes. “Are you telling me that …?” She let the sentence die as his eyes clouded.

Tide nodded. “I have to hunt you. I have to win you before I can keep you.”

Meghan nodded. “What happens if you don’t win me? What happens if—”

“I will.”

“How can you say that? There are hundreds of unmated guys in the dragon lands. Hundreds, Tide.” Her voice was shrill. “This can’t be happening.”

“Hey.” He put an arm around her and pulled her close. “We’ve spoken about this. You need to have faith. Most of those males are silver. I am gold. I will win you. I will.” It sounded like he was trying to convince himself. Tide let her go and made a groaning noise. “You don’t have to do it. I would understand if you didn’t. It would fucking kill me if you didn’t, but the thing is …” His gaze drifted to the other side of the room before coming back to her. “If you decide to join the hunt, and I don’t win you, you will need to spend time with whomever …”

Anger coursed through her. “How many times do I need to tell you that I’m not interested in some other guy. I wouldn’t—”

“I know that. You would still need to spend the allotted two weeks with him before you could return home.”

“Home?” She frowned. “I wouldn’t want to go home.”

“That’s the thing. It doesn’t matter. You would have to go home. You would be forced to. If it happens that way, you would forfeit being paid out the rest of your contract. If you join the hunt, it would be a choice.”

Meghan nodded. “What if I chose not to take part at all?” She was almost too afraid to hear his answer.

Tide took a few moments before speaking. “You will be sent home. You will be paid out in full and will be able to pursue your dream of finding a cure for asthma.”

“What would happen between now and the hunt? Do I get to continue my work? I have immunotherapy sessions scheduled. I can’t just be replaced.”

"Yes, it would be business as usual." He paused, pulling in a breath. "Blaze and Torrent have already begun working on a replacement for you."

“It would be too late for Candy and Sky, for their babies.”

“There will be more children born. It would put a hold on things but …”

She felt her lip quiver. The question that had been at the forefront of her mind was on her tongue. “If I end up getting sent home, what would happen to us?” Meghan bit down on her lip and blinked a couple of times, holding back her well of emotions.

“There would be no us. The only way for that to happen would be if you were to risk everything.”

“That’s outrageous. Why can’t we just be together? Take time to explore …”

Tide shook his head. “It’s not the dragon way. The hunt is not until the end of next week.” He took her hands. “You have time to think it over. Know that I would understand if you couldn’t do it.”

“I think that it’s probably a good idea for me to … to think about it. I need to be really sure.” Her mind raced at a mile a minute.

Tide’s whole stance softened and he squeezed her hands. “It’s a major decision. I completely understand that you can’t just—”

“Yes!” She said the word so out of the blue and with such conviction that she gave herself a fright.

“You don’t look like you’re sure.” He cocked his head, really looking at her. “Are you shouting yes for an entirely different reason, or are you saying yes because you want to take a chance on us?”

Meghan shook her head. “Who am I kidding? There’s nothing to think about. I want to stay. I want to be with you. I’ve fallen in love with you too and I would never—”

Tide crushed her to his chest and kissed her. It was a kiss that was filled with so much promise of tomorrow. A kiss that could move mountains. It was a kiss that told her he planned on racing. Not just that, that he planned on winning. She prayed he could pull it off. Thing was, she didn’t care one bit about the money. If it came to it, she would make a plan. She would continue her asthma research one way or the other but losing Tide … The thought of that had her heart landing in her throat. Had her eyes filling with tears. Meghan quickly blinked them away. If she was honest with herself, she’d been in love with him for a while now. It had been hard to admit because she was afraid. It just seemed so cruel that they might still be kept apart, despite their feelings for one another.

“It’s going to be okay.” He must have seen all of her emotions written on her face because he cupped her cheek, his voice deep.

“I know it is.” She forced herself to smile. “I have faith in you. In us.”

Something flared in his eyes. Panic, fear … maybe? And then it was gone.