Dragon's Fake Wedding Date - Riley Storm Page 0,24

if this was fate sending her a message? If she turned it down, she might never get another chance again. Would it be something she regretted?

But what would happen if she opened herself up to it?

Gayle didn’t have an answer. To either question. Yet.

Chapter Thirteen

Rann

He was pushing it, he knew.

Most of the others had departed, and he was one of the few left at Gayle’s. The evening had been fantastic, and he was hoping to just grab a few moments alone with her before he left. He wasn’t going to make a move, but he wanted to have her full, undivided attention if he could.

All evening, she’d been distracted by other people, and perhaps by his presence as well. He couldn’t tell. Something had been eating away at her on the inside though, and he wanted to make sure it wasn’t something he’d caused by showing up. What he didn’t want to do, however, was be the last one there.

That would start tongues wagging, and Gayle really did not deserve that. Not after everything else she’d put up with. So when he saw Lilly and Trent get up and prepare to leave, he followed as well.

“Guess I should get going too,” he said after the couple had made their way to the front door.

Gayle looked at him, and he saw the decision process happening in her eyes. Rann held his breath. While he didn’t want to make life awkward for Gayle by staying, that wasn’t the same as saying he wanted to leave. If she—

“You aren’t done with your drink though,” Gayle said, pointing to the half-full beer next to him.

Rann was fully aware he could upend the beer and down it easily. If Gayle was simply giving him grief for wasting a beer though, she would have admonished him for wasting it. Instead, she was telling him he should finish his beer.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

Before he could reply, Lilly called out a goodbye from the front door.

“Bye!” Gayle said, brushing past him to give them a hug.

Rann walked over as well, giving Lilly a hug and bumping fists with Trent.

“Take care,” he said, making a show of going for his own boots as well, indicating he wasn’t staying.

The door closed behind them as he finished untying the laces.

“You’re just going to waste a beer like that, are you?” Gayle said, a bit of challenge in her voice.

He looked up, studying her face for a long moment. Rann had to be careful, to make sure this was what Gayle wanted and that he wasn’t misinterpreting it. She looked happy, though there was a bit of nervousness locked away in her warm brown eyes. He doubted he would have seen it if he’d not been looking for it though.

Still, it seemed like she genuinely wanted him to stay.

“I suppose that would be rude of me, now wouldn’t it?” he asked slowly, straightening at the same time, boots forgotten.

“You brought some nice flowers, but you didn’t bring your own booze,” she teased. “As the host of this little gathering, I’d take wasting of my own beer quite personally. Especially since I don’t drink it, and it would go to waste.”

Rann frowned. “There’s three more in your fridge still,” he pointed out. “Some could say those would be going to waste.”

Gayle shrugged, walked over to the fridge and grabbed one, along with a fresh vodka soda. “I guess you had better make sure they aren’t wasted then.”

His face broke out into a broad grin. “Are you forcing me to drink more beer?”

“Only if you’ll be okay to drive after.”

“I’ll be fine,” he said truthfully, plunking himself back down on the couch next to his half-finished beer. “Fast metabolism, and I had the first one like four hours ago. I’ll be safe, I promise.”

And I can always fly back if I need to. Though he didn’t mention that part. Not yet at least. Even though his kind were now public knowledge, Rann was still unsure how Gayle would react to learning he was a dragon. He didn’t want to scare her off. Once she knew him better, then he could tell her.

“Well then, yes, I am going to make you drink more beer,” she said with a giggle, sitting down next to him on the couch.

Right next to him.

Rann didn’t miss the fact that she could just as easily have sat somewhere else or even at the other end of the couch. There was no reason for her to sit so close to