Steel (Rent-A-Dragon Book 1) Page 3

  Buck nodded, wide-eyed, and Liam did as Kate asked and put Buck back down.

  The man stumbled backward, then practically sprinted back in the direction of his home like a terrified deer.

  But as Liam looked down at Kate, pleased with himself, it was very clear she wasn’t so pleased.

  “What came over you? That was crazy,” she said, cocking her hip and furrowing her brow.

  “He shouldn’t have been so aggressive.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s not the first time. And that doesn’t mean you get to just lift him into the air like that,” she said incredulously.

  Liam wanted to argue that he’d done the right thing. That Buck’s anger was unacceptable. But the last thing he needed at the start of his first day was to lose his mate’s trust.

  “You’re right. I apologize. It wasn’t my place to do that,” Liam said, sounding as contrite as he could muster in spite of the adrenaline still pumping through him.

  Mollified, Kate relaxed a little, and he was pleased to see a small grin creep up the corner of her mouth.

  “If I’m honest, he probably deserved it. There aren’t exactly any other men around in my life to step in like that anyway,” she remarked, picking up the mug she’d left on the railing and taking a long sip of her coffee. “How exactly did you do that, though?”

  Liam tried to think of a proper response, but he was too distracted by her words.

  So there wasn’t a man in her life. She wasn’t mated. Or was her mate just absent, away at war or something?

  No. He had to trust his instincts. If his dragon had called her mate, then there must be a reason.

  Just then, a series of loud barks boomed from inside the house, followed by the half-open front door flying open as a large, black dog burst outside, tail wagging as he ran circles around the deck.

  “Tank, how did you get out?” Kate exclaimed, trying to get the overexcited dog to sit as it licked everything in sight and jumped for joy.

  “Tank, sit,” Liam commanded, stepping forward and addressing the happy-go-lucky Labrador.

  Immediately, Tank turned to Liam and sat, his tongue hanging as he panted, but his eyes remained locked on Liam’s gaze.

  Good boy, Tank.

  “Wow, that’s pretty impressive. Whenever a stranger’s over, he gets so excited I have to put him away or he’ll knock people over,” Kate said.

  “Dogs respond to authority. It’s how they work in the wild,” Liam said.

  “I’d love to hear more, but…” Kate said, trailing off as she pulled out her phone and checked the time. Her expression immediately turned from curiosity to worry. “Crap, the time. Could you keep an eye on him for a moment? I actually have a list inside that I’ll give you. Will that work?”

  “That will be fine,” Liam said as Kate disappeared inside with her coffee.

  Tank just sat there, looking up at Liam eagerly.

  Liam would fix this house for Kate.

  Hell, he’d build her ten houses if it was what she wanted.

  He’d finally found his mate.

  4

  Kate wasn’t expecting much when she got home from work that day. From what she’d learned about contractors, they usually did the bare minimum promised and then showed up the next day only when bugged.

  And that was still better than asking her ex to do anything around the house when all he wanted to do was sit on the couch and watch football.

  So it was with huge shock that she pulled up in front of her house and into the driveway, almost feeling she’d come to the wrong address or something.

  She got out of the car, shut the door, and stared at the nearly fully cleared yard, nicely groomed dirt, and the fixed, straight drain pipes on the side of the house.

  She heard a bark, and her heart sank. Had Tank been out here all day, getting in the mud and in Liam’s way?

  She heard a male laugh, and Liam appeared, walking around the side of her house and patting his leg for Tank to trot obediently alongside him, tongue hanging out, looking as if Liam were the most amazing human he’d ever seen in his life.

  And she’d never seen Tank respect a human before. He liked her, but he didn’t make a huge effort to be obedient, and no amount of treats or discipline seemed to help that.

  Liam looked up and gave her a calm smile, appearing proud of what he’d done.

  She would never get used to how gorgeous he was, his work shirt clinging to his body, his muscles bulging and damp, his tall figure flushed and lightly tanned from a day of hard work.

  She walked into the center of her yard, which had previously looked something like a mini junkyard. There was no way one person could have done this in a work day. All she’d done was move a little closer on a few sales deals.

  He wiped his forehead and leaned on a shovel. His dark hair was swept back and pointing all directions. So thick. His teal eyes sparkled in the evening light.

  He looked… genuinely happy to see her.

  She felt slightly ashamed for going off on him earlier about the neighbor. She wasn’t used to people standing up for her, and she’d realized right after moving in that there was no point arguing with Buck or the others.

  But after driving all the way to work with a deep blush on her face, she realized she was still reacting to the thought of a big, handsome man getting that angry for her.

  But he was just a contractor. She needed to keep it professional, right? She smoothed her suit coat down and straightened her skirt and strode over to him, trying not to let her heels sink too far into the dirt as she straightened to look up at him.

  “How do you like it?” he asked, cocking his head with a playful glint in his eyes. No, not playful. Hungry. Eager.

  She was hallucinating. No way a man like that would be thinking of her as anything but a client.

  “It’s amazing,” she said, looking around the yard. She reached a hand out toward Tank, and after Liam nodded, Tank stepped forward for her to pet him. “And you’ve tamed my dog in the meantime.”

  “We’re friends,” Liam said. “Dogs like it when someone is in charge.”

  She sighed, folding her arms as Tank panted up at her with big brown eyes. “I’ve tried to be in charge, but I guess I haven’t done so well, have I, big guy?”

  Tank’s tail wagged as she scratched him behind the ears.

  “So you’re happy?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “Are you sure you didn’t ship in a crew when I wasn’t looking?”

  “No,” he said. “We dragons can be very motivated when we’re working for the right cause.”

  She giggled. “Dragons, right.”

  He just shrugged and slung the shovel across his shoulders. “I’m still finishing some stuff in the backyard. Talk to you after?” She could see the list she’d given him tucked in the breast pocket of his work shirt. His tight, sweaty work shirt.

  She swallowed, feeling sweaty as well. “Sure,” she said. “I’ll be inside. Just ring the doorbell when you’re done.”

  He nodded and started for the backyard.

  “Don’t work too long,” she said, looking at the horizon. “It’s getting dark.”

  He nodded and disappeared behind the house, and she took a deep breath to calm herself. Hot didn’t begin to describe him. Especially after a day of working on her property. She walked into the kitchen and took a peek out the back window as he dug a ditch along the back of the hill on the edge of her property. Such a hard worker.

  He wiped sweat as Tank took a seat above him on the hill to watch patiently. She had to grin at Tank finding such a friend. Her ex had never gotten along with Tank, and she’d seen him growl at him more than once or hide under the table, tail tucked.

  Not that she’d have allowed her ex to hurt her dog. She’d have left him long before if that had happened.

  She started prepping dinner, chopping ingredients and trying not to look at the sexy man outside the window.

  She’d been without a man for years now, and w
ith her work being busy and with Tank to cuddle at night, she hadn’t really minded it.

  But something about having Liam here, just being such a man outside, working with his hands, saving her from the neighbors, was making her just too aware of how much she wanted him as a woman.

  Oh, Kate, you’re embarrassing yourself. Just stop it.

  She put the lid on the skillet and went to the back door to look down at Liam, who put a hand over his waist as he looked out at the rest of the dirt. Had he eaten? She felt unreasonably concerned about it.

  She opened the door and stepped out onto the deck. The yard was a complete mess front and back, but the house had won her over with the beautiful deck. She’d put a hot tub on it and wished she had more chances to use it, but she was working too much.

  She whistled to get Liam’s attention, and he narrowed his eyes, squinting up at her. She waved for him to come up.

  He did, gesturing for Tank to come with him. He came up on the porch, looking slightly shy about it, and she felt her own nervousness as her heart sped up and began hammering in her throat.

  “I was thinking, if you didn’t have plans, you could join me for dinner? It’s the least I can do for how hard you’ve worked.”

  He looked out at the yard. “I’m not finished.”

  “It’s fine,” she said. “You can do it tomorrow, right? Let me feed you to say thank you.”

  He folded his arms, cocking his head. Damn, he was huge when he was close to her. Despite his long day in her dirty yard, he still smelled masculine, fresh and spicy, and looked good enough to eat. “I don’t know,” he said. “Do contractors usually do dinner?”

  “I guess not,” she said, feeling suddenly awkward. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” She felt stupid. She was just a lame, desperate single girl, obviously using dinner as an excuse to have some company, but—

  “I’ll come,” he said. “Let me freshen up.”

  “How?”

  “The hose,” he said. “I’ll just hose off my boots and hands.”

  “Okay,” she said, feeling strangely relieved he was joining her, that he didn’t think she was weird.

  A few minutes later, when she was done setting the table, he came in, looking apologetic and uncertain. He had to duck slightly to get in her back door, and it made her want to giggle.

  Tank followed in after him, looking extremely proud of himself, as if he had worked hard all day, too. Maybe he had.

  She gave him a kiss on the nose and led him to his full food bowl, where he started eating voraciously. She watched him for a minute before sitting down with Liam.

  “I wish I could enjoy anything as much as dogs enjoy food,” she said with a sigh.

  Liam’s dark eyebrows furrowed. “You don’t?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Humans just don’t live in the moment like that.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. “You should have more pleasure in your life.”

  “Thanks,” she said, feeling a flush tinge her cheeks. “And thanks for putting up with Tank today.”

  “He’s a good animal,” Liam said, sounding a little formal, as if he’d just a hint of an accent and was maybe hiding it. “He just needed someone to set boundaries.”

  “How do you know so much about dogs?”

  He waved a hand as he handed her his plate. “I really enjoyed them in my past life. I mean, before.”

  “Before you lived in a freakin’ castle?” she asked.

  “Freakin’?” he asked, looking puzzled as he took back his plate and started to dig into it.

  She laughed as he ate voraciously, using a spoon to scoop up the stir-fry awkwardly, holding the utensil in his entire fist.

  She covered her mouth as he looked up at her, confused. She shook her head. “Sorry, I just thought of something. Go ahead.” She was so happy about his work she really had no place to complain about his table manners. It was just a bit… odd. But there were a lot of odd things about him.

  He set down his spoon gingerly. “What is a freakin’ and how does it apply to the castle?”

  “Freakin’ is a just a term to mean… um…” Yeah, how did she explain it? “It’s just a word to express either disbelief or emphasis.”

  “Ah, like Tank is a freakin’ dog?”

  She put a hand to her head, smiling, and reached for her glass of wine. “Um. No. Just don’t worry about it. How did you end up in the castle?”

  “Well, me and my friends… um… The other workers and I fell on hard times, and Aegis and his mate, um, wife, took us in and gave us work.”

  “And what about Citrine? What does he do?”

  “Manages things, I guess. And keeps things calm, since, you know… Aegis.”

  “He does seem tightly wound. Kind of the type that always needs to have control?”

  “Oh, you have no idea,” Liam said. Then he threw his head back in a deep, hearty laugh that seemed to resonate inside her, making her warm all over. Or maybe it was the wine.

  He’d already refused any, so she was the only one drinking it.

  “So how did you come to live here with this dump of a yard?” he asked abruptly.

  She blinked. “That’s blunt.”

  “Oh,” he said, looking around nervously. “I mean, that yard that was not a dump, but interestingly organized and—”

  She laughed, waving a hand. “No, I get it. I had to move quickly when I… Well, I moved quickly, and I didn’t have time to do anything.”

  “And… you have no man to help you?”

  She raised an eyebrow. That sounded awfully sexist, but at the same time, yes, she had no man to help her and that was why she’d had to hire one. “No man.”

  His jaw dropped and his brows lowered in consternation. “How is that possible with someone as beautiful as you? What is wrong with your world that a man hasn’t claimed you?”

  She was kind of glad she’d had wine at this point. Otherwise, she’d be super weirded out by his words. Claimed?

  But it was also ludicrous that he thought she was some kind of beauty who could never be single. She was in her thirties, more into her career than getting out there and dating, and while she liked her hazel eyes and soft, thick brown hair, she’d always been kind of plain and freckled, not to mention overweight.

  She didn’t mind her curves, but she hadn’t really ever felt like the kind of woman who drove men wild.

  “I’m not that pretty,” she mumbled, digging into her dinner. Her wine made it easier to talk to such a handsome, striking man, but she still wasn’t used to talking about something like this. Her dating history.

  “Preposterous,” he said, scoffing. “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”

  She blinked up at him.

  “If you don’t mind me saying so,” he added nervously.

  “No,” she said. “It’s fine.” And it was, despite the scarlet blush she was sure was spreading under her freckles. “I just… don’t hear that a lot.”

  “Well, you should,” he said stubbornly. He held her eyes just a little too long, his long lashes shading his beautiful teal eyes she could just get lost in. They were bluer on the edges and a bit yellow in the center, with green in between. A startling color.

  He broke the tension and sat up straight, looking at the yard behind him. “We need to put in draining. I’m digging a small system, but we should do more. With that hill and all that sand, your back neighbor probably isn’t happy.”

  She nodded. “Cammie thinks it’s going to kill her rose bushes.”

  “Not yet,” he said. He shook his head. “I can’t believe humans are so rude to each other. It’s like communities don’t help each other anymore. They could be patient with a woman on her own.”

  She smiled at him. “You don’t sound like you’re from Earth sometimes, you know that?”

  He blinked and then bit down on his full lower lip. “Oh. Sorry.”

  She shook her head, hoping she hadn’t made
this gorgeous man nervous. “It’s fine. Anyway, can you put in sprinklers and a lawn for Tank? I hate that we have to go to a dog park rather than him having his own grass. That’s what I’d really like.”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “You can give me a quote on it tomorrow,” she said.

  “Oh, right,” he said. “Quote.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “You know, because you’re getting paid for this, right?”

  He looked confused and then nodded. “Right. Money.” He stood and put his napkin aside. “That was amazing. Thank you for dinner.”

  She grinned. “Thanks for joining me. I don’t often get such handsome company for dinner.”

  He turned to her, and his lips curved into a dazzling grin showing gorgeous white teeth.

  “You think I’m handsome?” he asked, teasing.

  She pushed him toward the front door, blushing badly, feeling as if her body couldn’t deal with another minute of him. “Of course. The whole world would, I bet. But of course you know that.”

  “Hm,” he said, thinking about it as he walked out the front door and into the darkening light. He walked down the stairs with his hands in his pockets and then turned to her on the bottom one. “I’ll be back tomorrow at first light.”

  She cocked her head as she watched him walk to the beat-up truck he’d driven here, her eyes drinking in his figure from head to toe.

  She felt almost electric impulses to feel those muscles, those lips, drag him back, and run into his arms and stay there the rest of the night.

  It was a very good thing he was pulling away with a wave.

  5

  Back at the castle, Liam showered and changed into silk pajamas and a night robe and was ready to check in with Aegis as he’d demanded.

  It had been hard to drive away from his mate. He’d felt a physical resistance, as if something were being pulled from him.

  She wasn’t mated. She didn’t know how beautiful she was. She worked so hard, but she was too exhausted to enjoy anything. There was much more wrong with her life than just her yard, and he intended to help her fix it.