Page 9 of A First for the Playboy Dragon (Mysteries of Dragon’s Island #7)

CHAPTER 8

***HARRISON***

H arrison and Juliet sat in a comfortable silence, his arm still draped over her shoulders, his thoughts finally settled for the first time since she’d come into his life. It had been a very long time since he’d spent time with a woman with anything but the intention of getting her into bed, and oddly enough, he wasn’t sure what to do next. Seduction had been his only game for so long that he’d forgotten how to romance a woman, but then again, maybe he’d never learned that skill. He wasn’t completely sure, but he was willing to find out.

“I think we’re supposed to go on a date now,” he said, looking over at her. “That’s what people who are dating do, right? It’s been a while since I’ve done this. I think all the way back to high school, if you want to know the truth, so you’re going to have to be patient with me.”

“I’ve never really dated anyone, unless you count the guy I went out with a few times when I was sixteen, but that didn’t end well,” Juliet said, a shiver running through her, then looked over at him and sighed. “I haven’t trusted anyone enough since then to risk that happening again.”

His protective instincts came to life when he felt the tension in Juliet’s shoulders and heard the pain in her voice, but he took a deep breath, reining it in. “Let’s take a walk on the beach,” he said. “It’s a shame to waste such a pretty afternoon hiding in the shade.”

“As long as you don’t try to get into the water,” Juliet said, taking his hand when he got up and offered it to her. “I think I need to face one fear at a time.”

“Fair enough,” he said, then grinned at her and squeezed her hand. “But it wouldn’t hurt to get your feet wet.”

“Don’t push it, mister,” she said, but there was a smile on her face. “I’ll take my shoes off, but that’s all.”

He laughed, “You drive a hard bargain,” he said, then stopped so he could take off her shoes. Now, doesn’t that feel better?”

Juliet wiggled her toes in the sand and looked up at him. “Maybe a little,” she admitted. It’s warm from the sun.”

“The water is warm, too,” he said, drawing her closer to the shore. “Let’s walk along next to it for a while.”

They walked hand in hand down the beach, the sound of the waves and the birds calling interrupted only by the sounds of people having fun around them. After a while, they left the other guests behind as they wandered farther from the resort and to his relief, Juliet was relaxed walking next to him, her earlier discomfort gone.

He wanted to ask what happened when she was sixteen, wanted to know who had hurt her enough that she’d walled herself off from even the prospect of love but held back, not wanting to spoil their walk. She wasn’t the only one with issues from the past. He had his own demons, and asking her to reveal hers would mean revealing his own. That was only fair, and he wasn’t sure that he was ready for that kind of honesty.

“What grade do you teach?” he asked instead, deciding it was a safe topic. “Some of the most important people in my life were my teachers, and I have a lot of respect for what you do.”

“Thanks. I’ve wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember,” she said. “It’s not easy growing up in foster homes; you get moved around a lot, but no matter where I went, there was always a special teacher who saw my potential and helped me work toward my goals.”

They talked about their favorite teachers for a while, then he realized how far they’d walked and pulled on Juliet’s hand to get her to stop. “We should probably head back,” he said. “We walked a lot farther than I thought we would. I don’t know about you, but I want to shower before we have dinner.”

“Dinner?” she asked. “I don’t remember you asking me to dinner.”

“Darn, I thought I did,” he said. “Oh, well, another time, maybe.”

“Harrison, stop teasing me,” she said, giving him a playful shove. “There’s nothing more I would love than to have dinner with you.”

“Good, then it’s a date,” he said, grinning at her. “I wish I could take you out someplace fancy, but we’ll just have to settle for the food court, unless you want to have dinner at my cabin.”

“As tempting as the offer is, I think we’d better stick with the food court,” she said, a blush rising on her cheeks. “I trust you to be a gentleman, but I’m afraid I’ll do something to embarrass myself.”

“That could never happen, but I get it, baby steps,” he said. “That’s fine with me. This is turning out to be more fun than I thought it would be.”

Juliet stopped walking and looked over at him. “I think I’m insulted,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “Why are you spending time with me if you thought I would be boring?”

“That’s not what I meant, not at all,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “I just meant that I’m enjoying not spending all my time thinking about how quickly I can get you into bed. In a way it takes the pressure off. I can just enjoy what we’re doing, the conversation we’re having. Does that make any sense?”

She relaxed in his arms. “Sorry, I guess I overreacted,” she said, looking up at him. “It’s still just so hard to believe that you’re interested in me, and that you’re willing to give up the chance at all the beautiful women on the island to just spend time with me.”

“Well, you’d better believe it because that’s exactly what I’m doing,” he said. “And let’s get one thing straight: you’re just as beautiful as any woman on this island; you just chose not to flaunt it.”

The blush on Juliet’s cheeks deepened. “That was a very sweet thing to say,” she said, then stretched up and gave him a quick kiss. “You earned that.”

“I’ll have to think about more sweet things to say to you if that’s the reward I get,” he said, grinning down at her. “Let’s see, your eyes are the color of the ocean, and you smell like sugar and cinnamon. How am I doing? Have I earned another kiss?”

Juliet laughed. A look that made his heart speed up appeared on her face right before she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for what turned out to be much more than a quick kiss. When she finally stepped back from him, as breathless as he was, their eyes met, and warmth spread through him, unlocking something deep inside him he’d had locked away for a long time.

Juliet’s eyes widened; she let out a little gasp, then her legs began to tremble, and he reached out to pull her back into his arms, shocked that she’d felt it too. “That was some kiss,” he said, crushing her to him. “We’re playing with fire here, sweetheart. Maybe going slow isn’t such a bad idea.”

***Juliet***

Juliet stood in front of the closet, wrapped in a towel, her hair still wet from the shower, a heavy curtain over her back, staring at the clothes hanging there, not sure what to wear. She started to reach for her usual black pants and long-sleeved white dress shirt, then pulled her hand back, looking at the brightly colored garments on the other side of the small space. Running her hand over a sundress that she’d fallen in love with in the dressing room, she wondered if she had enough guts to wear it; if she could leave the cabin with that much skin exposed.

With a frustrated sigh, she grabbed the dress. “It’s just a dress. You’ll still have more skin covered than most people around here,” she said out loud, hoping it would give her courage, then dropped the towel and slipped the dress over her head. Letting out a sigh when the soft fabric caressed her skin, she tugged the zipper in the back up, then looked in the mirror. “Now, that’s not so bad, you’re mostly covered, and those days are long behind you. Have some guts, Juliet. Nothing bad will happen to you if you dress like this, lots of women do, and nothing happens to them.”

Taking a deep breath, she turned away from the mirror, went into the bathroom, and quickly braided her waist-length hair, then secured it to the back of her head with a big clip and a bunch of pins. She briefly considered putting the contacts sitting on the counter in and leaving her glasses behind, but she rejected the idea, already more nervous than she should have been.

It’s just dinner, she reminded herself. You’re not going to sleep with him. Stop fussing and get out of here, you’re already late. She made it all the way to the door, then turned around and ran back to the closet, grabbed a sweater and quickly put it on, instantly feeling better. Before she could leave the bedroom, there was a knock on her front door, and she froze for a second, her eyes trailing over to the black pants, but she forced herself to turn around leaving them behind.

When she opened the door, Harrison was standing on her porch wearing dress shorts and a button-down Hawaiian shirt, his hair slicked back from the shower. He had a big bouquet of flowers in his hand. When he saw her, a smile spread across his face, and a spark of desire flared to life in his eyes, making her heart do crazy things.

“I thought I was meeting you in the village,” she said, slightly breathless. “You look really nice.”

Harrison didn’t say anything. His eyes were busy roaming over her body, making her shiver as the spark of desire in them turned into a full blaze. She was suddenly filled with the same warmth that she’d felt earlier this afternoon, and the urge to kiss him soon followed, but she managed to take a step back instead.

“These are for you,” Harrison said, holding out the flowers. “Someone pointed out to me that I should pick you up if this was a real date, but these were my idea.”

“They’re beautiful,” she said, feeling her cheeks warming with a blush. “I should put them in some water. Do you want to come in?”

“I think I’ll just wait here,” Harrison said, a look of disappointment on his face. “I was hoping those might earn me a kiss.”

“Oh dear, I didn’t even think of that,” she said, stepping up to him and giving him a quick kiss. “They really are beautiful, Harrison, thank you. I’m going to put them right next to my bed so I can think about you first thing in the morning and last thing at night.”

Harrison got a funny look on his face, almost as if he was in pain. “Damn woman, you really know how to get to a man,” he said. “It might take me a second to recover from that one. I’m trying not to think about you in bed.”

A thrill rushed through her. “Oh, Harrison…I didn’t…I’m sorry,” she said, her voice shaking a little. “I wasn’t thinking…”

“Maybe you should go put those flowers in some water and give me a few minutes,” he said. “You smell good, and that’s not helping; I keep wondering if you taste the same way.”

She gasped, her cheeks flaming, not sure how to handle the rush of desire that almost overwhelmed her. “That might be a good idea,” she said, backing away from him. “I’ll be right back.”

Her hands shook as she filled a vase with water, the desire still pumping through her blood, but she managed to get the flowers inside, then left them sitting on the counter, not sure she could trust herself to carry them to the bedroom. Harrison was still standing on the porch when she came back, his back to her, but when he turned around, she could see that he hadn’t made much progress getting himself under control.

Something inside her responded to the look in his eyes, and without even giving it a second thought, she walked over to him. He swept her into his arms with a rumbling growl, then lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her until she was trembling and a new need began to build deep inside her. Harrison ended the kiss, reluctantly pulling away from her, then held her close while they both caught their breath.

“I’m sorry, I really tried to resist, but seeing you in that dress…” he trailed off. “I know it shouldn’t matter what you’re wearing, and it doesn’t, but…”

She reached up and put her fingers over his lips. “It’s okay, Harrison, I’m glad you like it,” she said. “It’s a big change for me, but if it makes you happy, then it makes me happy.”

Harrison groaned, “There you go again, saying something that makes me want to kiss you,” he said. “You’ve really got to stop doing that or we’ll never get to dinner. I think you might be better at this romance thing than I am.”

“But you’re better at the kissing part,” she said, grinning up at him, just beginning to realize the power she had over him and enjoying it more than she should. “Maybe you should kiss me again, just to even things up.”

“Your wish is my command, sweetheart,” he said, lowering his mouth to hers again.