Chapter 2

Mateo watched as the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen stormed out of the café. There was no mistaking who she was. Every cell in his body had recognized her the instant he’d walked in the door. Skin tingling, his dragon had all but forced a shift right there in the damned building. It had taken all his power to keep it from happening, which said something. Had she been more cooperative, he would have gotten her outside and into a cab. Convinced her to meet him for dinner later and gotten to know her. But she had to sit that gorgeous ass of hers down at his table rather than go somewhere safer.

He hadn’t missed the shock and disbelief that flashed in her eyes before she’d grabbed her things and stood. She knew he was her mate, and he’d all but told her he was fucking some other woman. She had every right to be pissed, but she hadn’t been. When she paused just outside the coffee shop and hung her head, it wasn’t fury he saw—it was pain. Her long red hair covered her face, but he didn’t need to see it to know he’d hurt her. Fucking hell. Under different circumstances, he never would have shunned his mate. Never.

She was outside, hailing a cab. What the hell was wrong with him? All he had to do was go to her and ask her to meet him later. It had been his original plan. If he was quick enough, Alexandra would never know. Sloane would be safe, and maybe he’d be able to erase some of the hurt he’d inflicted. He’d have to grovel a bit, but he didn’t care. His meeting with the bitch wasn’t for another few minutes.

Mateo couldn’t take his eyes off her as he pushed his chair back. If all went well, he would bring his mate back to Glen Farley with him when his mission was over. He just had to keep her out of harm’s way until then. If he could convince her to go there and wait for him, that would be even better.

He wasn’t fully upright yet when Alexandra’s cloying perfume reached his nose. It made his nostrils burn with the density of the invisible cloud surrounding her. Did she bathe in that shit? After the sweet scent of his mate only moments before, it made him want to gag.

Alexandra stepped into his space and wrapped her arms around him. He plastered on his smile when all he wanted to do was rip the woman’s head off.

Unable to keep from looking, he peered over the shorter woman’s head, hoping Sloane had already gone and missed the display. Fuck. Of course, she hadn’t. If she wasn’t angry before, she was pissed now. Even if he did manage to find her in the filthy city, she probably wouldn’t give him the fucking time of day.

“Mateo, I’ve been looking forward to this meeting all week. If you prefer, we could take this to my hotel room so we can speak more…privately?” Alexandra ran one of her long, manicured nails down his chest. He forced himself not to flinch. He wouldn’t blow his cover, but there was no way he was going to fuck her to get the job done, either.

“I wish we could, but I have other meetings this afternoon and commitments I just can’t get out of later.” He sure as hell didn’t want to give her the opportunity to offer anything else.

The woman pouted her red painted lips at him and batted her fake eyelashes. “Pity.”

“Have a seat. I’ll get you a drink. What would you like?” She’d probably look at the menu and order the most expensive drink they had.

She puckered her lips and perused the wall behind the barista. “You sure we can’t grab some dinner? Even you must take the time to eat.”

He gave her what he hoped would be a sexy smile and leaned closer. “Sweetheart, if we go out to dinner, I won’t be able to keep my hands off you, and I won’t make it to any of my meetings. You’re too tempting. I just can’t risk it. I’m sorry.”

“Fine, I’ll have the triple-shot, almond milk mocha, then. With some of that fancy whipped topping on it, too.” She gave him another syrupy smile as she sat at the table like a fucking princess awaiting her humble servant.

When he got to the counter, the barista sneered at him. With her hot pink hair and bright blue lipstick, the woman looked intimidating—almost. “I’d like a triple-shot, almond milk mocha with the whipped stuff on top, please.”

The girl couldn’t be older than twenty, yet she held his gaze without a trace of fear. “She didn’t deserve that, you know,” she said as though her words made perfect sense.

“Excuse me?”

“Sloane. She didn’t deserve for you to treat her like shit. What size do you want?”

“Large, or whatever passes for a large in this place.” He glanced over at Alexandra, sitting where he’d left her, texting rather than looking his way. “I’d like to apologize to her. Do you know how I can get a hold of her?”

He’d branded her scent into his soul so he’d never forget it, but the stench of the city would whip it away before he ever had a chance to track her down. He almost grinned as he remembered the expression on her face when he’d licked her. If her skin tasted that good, he couldn’t wait to find out how delicious the rest of her was.

The barista looked over at Alexandra and frowned. “No, I don’t,” she finally said, turning her attention to the drink he’d ordered.

She did, she just didn’t want to tell him. “I feel bad for upsetting her. Do you think that you could give her a message for me?” He tried smiling at her, but the way her eyebrows rose, he knew he hadn’t been successful.

She grabbed what looked like a half-gallon paper cup and started fixing the drink he’d ordered. “Depends on the message. Not that I know how to get a hold of her or anything.”

“Of course not. But if you could, then I might like to say something like, ‘I’m sorry for being an ass. Things aren’t always as they appear. Let me explain over dinner tonight? Meet me at Collassaco’s on Fifth at eight o’clock.’”

She handed the tall drink over the counter. “That’s sixteen-fifty, please.”

He sniffed the drink and wrinkled his nose before handing her a twenty. “Thank you, Wendy.”

“Wait, how will you know if she accepts?”

“I’ll have company for dinner.” He winked at her and moved to the table with the lids. He grabbed one that was obviously too small and fumbled with it, all the while, tracking Wendy from the corner of his eye. It didn’t take long before she headed to the other end of the counter and grabbed her phone.

If only the humans knew how much information they gave away each time they used those things. The quick little beeps and tones coming from the phone as her fingers tapped out the number had him smiling for the first time in days. Thank God for dragon hearing. For once, things were going his way. He took a moment to add the number to his contacts before heading back to his table.

“Everything okay?” he asked Alexandra, who had crossed her arms and was tapping her foot by the time he got there.

“That took long enough.”

“It did. I think the waitress was having a hard time with the foam machine thing.” He had no clue if that made sense, but when she took a deep breath and smiled at him, he relaxed.

Alexandra leaned forward, revealing her cleavage, and he had to fight not to roll his eyes at her. Like she had anything that interested him. “So, tell me. Why are you looking to organize a dragon hunt? You have to admit; it is a little unorthodox.”