She’d enjoyed it. Enjoyed his food with a look of pleasure on her face that made the dragon in him hungry to pleasure her in so many other ways.

He wanted to take care of her every day. Make her make sounds of pleasure with every meal he cooked for her and then more intense sounds at night.

He was a visual dragon but also very keen on sound, and the sounds she’d made while eating his eggs were sheer heaven.

He’d always suspected he would be overbearing as a mate. His need to care for others, to please them and provide for them as well as protect them, had always verged on the too intense.

Still, his feelings for her surprised even him.

He focused on helping Mario with cooking, since he knew that would most help Helen. Mario had told him there would be a break to prepare for the dinner rush, and Chromium hoped to be able to spend more time with Helen then.

He obeyed every order, something he was used to from serving in the dragon guard, and enjoyed learning even more about food and cooking from Mario, who, despite his odd name, was a very normal male who Chromium became easy friends with.

He told Chromium about the other kitchen staff he might meet. Jenny, who helped in the kitchen washing dishes and was hoping to move up to sous chef if she could be more reliable. Steve, the usual sous chef who was a bit of “diva,” whatever that meant.

Chromium looked forward to meeting all of them if they were an important part of Helen’s world.

He already felt he fit in here.

But how did one go from cooking in a restaurant and occupying a spare room to telling a human woman that she was destined for him and that he was a dragon from another planet?

He wasn’t sure there was any timeline that would work. He focused on cutting tomatoes for an omelet, figuring that fate would just have to help him out.

When the ding signaling the last order sounded, he let out a sigh of relief and reached up to wipe sweat from his brow with his forearm.

“I got this one,” Mario said with a wink. “Why don’t you make yourself some breakfast and take it out there to eat.”

Chromium didn’t have to be told twice. His stomach was grumbling, and his hairnet was driving him crazy. It definitely wasn’t designed for as much hair as an elite warrior from Drakkaris possessed.

He made himself a quick omelet and a glass of juice and walked out into the restaurant to sit in a booth where he could watch Helen and the last few diners.

He’d always enjoyed the environment here, with the calming music, the warm smells, the smiling staff. And now he was a part of it.

The royal bodyguard of Drakkaris now an employee of a food service establishment. The thought of it made him chuckle as he worked on his breakfast.

“What’s so funny?” Helen asked, sliding into the booth across from him.

Heat rushed into his neck at her nearness, and he set down his fork. “Nothing.”

She leaned back in the booth with a sigh. “So nice to get off my feet. What a morning.”

“Good thing I was here,” he said calmly.

“Yes,” she said, sitting up slightly. “I’m really indebted to you.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you letting me stay at your place?”

She nodded.

“Then you owe me nothing.”

She looked at his plate. “I’m glad you’re eating. I’m sorry I didn’t think of it before. I hope you didn’t get too hungry.”

He shrugged.

She grimaced. “You do that so much. It’s impossible to know what you’re thinking.”

A grin spread over his face. “Really?”

“Yes.”

He was pleased that she looked a little frustrated by it. That meant she at least wanted to understand him a fraction of how much he wanted to understand her.

“So we have a break now. Steve called to say he’s coming in to do prep.”

“I thought he was sick.”

She sighed, putting her chin in her hand. “In Steve’s world, sick may just mean hungover. But he’s talented and a hard worker, so we put up with it. It doesn’t happen that often.”

“Hungover?”

“You know, drank too much the night before. He’s kind of a partier.”

“Right,” Chromium said. “So what about the remaining customers?”

She looked around the diner at the two remaining tables. “Both regulars. I trust them to be in the restaurant during prep. I don’t have to be here. Is there anything you want to do? Anything to pick up? How do the clothes fit?”

He looked down at himself. “All right, I suppose.”

“We can go get you more. That’s what he could bring by on short notice.”

Chromium made a mental note to thank her cousin when he met him.

“I think I want to get a haircut.”

Her cheeks colored slightly as she looked up at him. “What? But it’s so beautiful.”

He touched the end of his braid, testing his own attachment to the length there. He was surprised to find none. After all, he would never be going back to Drakkaris. At least never to stay. He might visit, but he would probably never need to have the look of a warrior again.

Now that the other dragons had found mates and were happily settled on Earth, he supposed it was a good time to make a move that reminded him he would be doing the same.

And settling on Earth with her would be no great hardship.

So yes, it was time for the hair to go.

“I’m going to cut it.”

She sighed. “If you’re sure.”

“It’s hard to cook with.”

“I don’t want you to lose your hair over helping me,” she said nervously. “I’m sure it took a long time to grow.”

Yes. It had. Hundreds of years, hundreds of haircuts to keep it at this length, but she didn’t need to know that. “It’s fine.”

“If you’re sure?”

“I’m sure. It’s in my way.”

“Okay.” She stood reluctantly, reaching for his plate, but he took it instead and headed to the kitchen to put it in the sink.

He was going to stay and wash it, but she patted him on the shoulder and shook her head.

“It’s fine. The staff will get it. We need to go see if my cousin can fit you in. She’s a hairstylist down the block.”

Another cousin? How many cousins did she have? How much did humans proliferate?

“Come on,” she said, taking his arm. “She’ll do great. I promise. And if the hair has been bothering you, it will be great to have it off. But we need to hurry if we’re going to be done in time.”

He smiled to himself as she pulled him along, loving the feel of her fingertips on his skin. It felt like he was burning in a way that he loved.

He wanted to burn all over with her.

He let her lead him down the road, in no way worried about the skill of her cousin in regard to the haircut.

After all, it was bound to turn out better than if he did it.

He’d been planning to use his sword.

* * *

Helen knew she’d made a big mistake the second Chromium had sat in her cousin’s chair.

Her cousin Sally had made a huge deal of the handsome man and hadn’t been able to take her hands out of his hair even after the haircut was done.

She had to admit Sally had done a good job. Instead of being almost waist length, Chromium’s hair was now layered in soft waves around his face and collar, accentuating his nearly beautiful features.

He was a lot to take in right now, in the blue button-up and white tee that was much tighter on him than on her bodybuilder cousin.

His jeans looked as if they could barely handle the task of encasing his muscular legs.

As they walked down the sidewalk back to the restaurant, with Chromium touching his hair absentmindedly and catching his reflection in store windows, they drew many admiring glances.

And despite her having no right to be jealous, she was.

A bit.

He was just so attentive and kind and handsome. And maybe she was imagining it, but his focus seemed to be on her at all times. Even when Sally had been exclaiming over him, he’d been looking only at Helen for signs of approval.

Perhaps it was just her, but it felt as though something was happening between them.

Then again, maybe he just happened to be around to stop a robbery in front of her place and just happened to know how to cook and needed a place to stay and…

He was probably above her grade as far as dating went anyway. At thirty-five with one divorce under her belt, she’d kind of resolved herself to spinsterhood.

Perhaps if she’d had a good relationship with her ex, even though it had gone sour. But no, the whole thing had been a farce and a lie, an attempt to get money out of her, and as a result, she had a hard time trusting men now.

Especially beautiful men like this one.

She trusted him just fine to help out. She didn’t trust him with her heart.

And probably, he didn’t want her to.

Who’d want to be with a fat bitch like you?

Her ex’s cruel words lingered in her head more often than she liked, and she folded her arms as she walked forward, determined not to stare at Chromium any longer than necessary lest impossible fantasies take root.

And she doubted any woman could look at him without wanting to fantasize.

He stopped to look at his reflection, and his expression seemed puzzled.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just haven’t seen myself like this in a long time.”

“Probably been a couple years, right?”

He nodded.

“It’s a big change.” She looked at his reflection with him since the storefront was empty at the moment. The prior business had recently moved. The neighborhood was gentrifying around them, and her place would soon be one of the few to have been there for more than fifty years.

She realized Chromium was staring down at her rather than at his reflection. “Yes?”

“What do you think about it?”

She swallowed, heartbeat picking up rapidly at the way he was looking at her. So intent. She didn’t know if she’d ever been really looked at that way before. “Huh?”

“My haircut.”

She felt a traitorous blush work its way across her cheeks. “It’s… handsome.”

He stepped closer until it felt they were only inches apart. His huge chest was right at her eye level, and she had to tilt her chin to look up.

He cocked his head, and his lips curved into a smirk. “You like it?”

She nodded. “Of course.” She waved a hand. “You’d look good with any haircut.” Oh damn, what was she saying? Oh well, anything to get out of this situation.

Why did it seem so important to him that she like his haircut? Why would he care what a plain woman like her thought when there were so many younger, thinner women walking by giving him looks of appreciation?

But as usual, he had eyes only for her.

He caught a curl of her hair and gently wrapped it around his finger, giving a gentle nod. “Good.”

Her jaw fell open, and he released her hair with a smirk, walking ahead of her toward the restaurant, hands now shoved in the pockets of his pants.

She followed after him, feeling slightly faint from even that short moment between them.

“So am I helping again tonight?”

She nodded. “Sure, you can help Steve with prep. You can go see if they can use you now if you want.”

“And you?”

“I’ll be front of house again.”

He considered it thoughtfully, then turned and strode toward the kitchen at the back of the restaurant.

She let out a sigh at the relief combined with disappointment when he was gone.

She was glad she’d be working out front tonight. Being in the kitchen with him would be a little too much heat.