Page 21 of The Dragon’s Accidental Manny

“You’ve got the look.”

I squinted at him. “Aren’t those song lyrics?”

He giggled and ushered me inside. The house was much the same temperature as Price’s, and he took me into a cinema room. He put the toddler down, and she scampered into the next room.

“This will cool you down.” He handed me a cold soda, and I placed it on my cheek. “So how about them dragons?”

I closed my eyes and let the laughter bubble out of me. Gods, it felt good ‘cause I hadn’t done that in a while.

“Let me guess. You found out by accident, and you were horrified and conflicted because of the children.”

I sighed. “Mmmm, something like that.”

“I made a list before I knew and added everything I couldn’t make sense of. I was going to crack the case, but it turned out the case was just dragons. Wait till you attend a neighborhood barbecue with everyone vying to cook the meat.”

An image appeared in my head of people searing one another’s butts so they could take charge of charring the steaks or rather lightly cooking the outside, leaving the insides bloody. I fell back on the sectional that was so soft, I wished we had one in our house. Ledger lay beside me because this thing was huge.

“You’ll get used to the dragon antics.” He patted my hand. “But one day, you’ll watch a man light a barbecue with his own fire and you won’t even shrug because it’s normal.”

“Maybe. I can’t imagine that day, though.”

“Word travels fast in this community, and I’ve heard whispers about Price’s feelings.” Ledger got on his side so we were face to face. “I’m going to guess it’s not just the kids you care about.”

Price had hinted at his feelings, but I’d never addressed them. I rolled onto my belly. “How did you know that Theron was the one?”

Ledger’s eyes darted to the left and right before focusing on me. Damn, he was figuring out how to say something.

“There’s something that happens to shifters. Not to all of them, though. But sometimes they meet a person, and I wouldn’t describe it as falling in love. It’s more recognition.”

I thought back to when I first caught sight of Price. My insides were flipping and flopping, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off him.

“It’s as though two people were fated to be together but the universe had forgotten to tell either of them and was just catching up.”

Ledger said that person was their fated mate. “It’s instant, and it’s based on scent. The human might not pick up on it. They just know the other guy has the look of someone who’s drowning.”

The hair on the back of my arms stood up.

When I got home, Price was in the courtyard again, and the kids were watching a movie in the playroom. He stood when he saw me but didn’t ask me how the meeting went.

“Price.” That was all I could get out.

“Cam.”

Oh gods, that one word, my name, on his lips, and I wanted to wrap my arms around him. Or better, fling myself at him so we toppled into the bushes as we slammed our mouths on one another.

“You need to tell me something. Ledger told me about fated mates, but there was something he wasn’t telling me.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t really understand the concept of fated mates other than it’s bing-bam-boppity-boop.”

He screwed up his face. “What’s that? Sounds like superheroes for toddlers.”

I tried to keep a straight face but a giggle snuck out of me, and I put a hand on his chest. Price laughed, and I bent forward ‘cause my tummy was hurting, and he did too, and we bumped heads. How did a guy who had fire inside him and a dragon have lousy coordination?

“Owww.” I clutched my forehead, and he grabbed me and pulled me against his chest. “If your dragon is as clumsy as you, I worry about you at the studio.”

“He’s not. I’m not. It’s you. I’m discombobulated.”