“Hey, Pietro, listen. I don’t mean this rudely, but I’m really not interested. Didn’t we try this last time, and it didn’t work?”
Pietro’s cheeks burned. A rumble of laughter from the corner caught his ear and he shot a glare at Kal, who was conveniently looking out over the bar, though he made no effort to hide the snicker of laughter.
Feeling embarrassed but also emboldened, he pushed on. “So, you do remember me?” he said casually. “I made that much of an impression, did I?”
Claire’s jaw dropped open, and even Kal shot him a glance at the save.
A laugh escaped Claire’s lips, a light, happy thing that hung in the air for a few seconds. The sound made Pietro’s heart flutter, causing him much consternation as he tried to figure out what the heck that meant.
“Anyone who bombed that badly makes a good impression when they crash,” she pointed out, her smile taking the edge off her words before she took another sip.
“How about a do-over then?” he suggested with a shrug, as if he didn’t care what she said, though inside he was desperately hoping she would agree.
“A what?” she said, blinking.
“A do-over. Start fresh, without that traumatic memory hanging over either of us.” Pietro wasn’t sure where the confidence was coming from, because he normally wasn’t so smooth or—in his mind—funny.
With Claire though, it just seemed to come naturally.
“A do-over,” Claire repeated thoughtfully into her drink before finishing it off with a gulp.
For a moment, Pietro thought he’d won her over and she was going to give him a second chance, but once she swallowed, he noticed she was shaking her head.
“Sorry, Pietro,” she said, meeting his eyes. “Now’s not really a good time.”
Pietro was hit hard by the troubled look on her face. Something was bothering Claire. Her eyes were clouded over with worry, and now, for the first time, he saw the concern etched into the corners of them as well. She wasn’t here drinking for fun. She was here to escape something, and he’d just come barging in, trying to intrude on her private time.
Real smooth, genius. Real smooth.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, fighting down the sudden urge from his dragon to go riding to her defense. “I didn’t realize…”
Now was not the time to act like her knight in shining armor. Claire had no idea who he was, and he had to keep his priorities straight. She was in danger because of him, and he needed to do whatever he could to keep her around and safe. There wasn’t a much better place to be when being hunted by vampires than in a bar surrounded by dragons.
Pietro needed her to stay here while the others were out hunting, tracking the killers down before they could wreak untold havoc on the humans of Five Peaks.
There was no doubt in Pietro’s mind as to what the vampires were going to do. Just as the vampire had read his mind, so too had he gotten a glimpse into its. They were here for a very specific reason: to hurt the dragons. To hurt them badly. One way to do that would be to hurt the humans that the dragons existed to protect.
Claire’s expression softened. Perhaps she’d sensed the type of thoughts he was having, or perhaps she just changed her mind. Whatever it was, he could tell in a heartbeat that things were different.
“What the hell,” she said more to herself than anyone else. “Have a seat.”
She glanced down at the chair next to her in invitation. Trying not to appear too anxious, Pietro slid from his seat and went to sit next to Claire. He didn’t want to scare her away. Not now, not when it seemed he might have salvaged the situation after all.
“We can talk,” Claire said politely. “But nothing more, okay? Don’t try anything. I’m not interested right now, and trust me, you really don’t want anything to do with this.”
Pietro nodded. “Not to worry. If our past history is any indication, I’m only going to make things worse with us, not better.”
For the second time that night Claire laughed, but while it started off amused, by the end it had faded into a bitterness that caught Pietro by surprise. That was amplified when she lowered her head and he saw the blankness growing on her face.
There was a moment where it seemed like she was about to recover and settle in and keep talking with him and all would be okay. Then,