Chapter 7
Raphael
I didn’t know whether to kick my new boss or kiss him. Sure, he had all but guaranteed that I would get more time with Luca—time to explore this explosive connection between us. But now I had to be around a human while my body rapidly healed all the burns that he had so intimately cared for.
Luca was going to get suspicious.
Thankfully, he was quick in his work to get them cleaned up and covered, because otherwise, he would notice that they were already starting to change. I willed my dragon back, forcing him not to speed up the healing process like I normally would. Already, the burn that had scorched our lungs and caused my voice to disappear had fixed itself. I knew it was a red flag for Luca that I somehow managed to escape the fire without any smoke inhalation issues, but he didn’t seem to question it.
“I’m surprised you’re not fussing about riding in the ambulance,” Luca said.
I cleared my throat. “My desire to spend time with you outweighs my concern about how my new co-workers view me.”
Luca chuckled. “I knew it was a macho thing. You firefighters are all the same. Once we get back to the station, I have some paperwork to do before I finish my shift, but you can rest if you’d like.”
“I’d like that.” I’d like any scenario where Luca was there with me. Sure, this wasn’t the first date I had in mind, but I could work with it.
Luca sat with me the entire ride back to the station. Then he got me settled into one of their dorm rooms. They were slightly smaller than the dorms we had at the fire station, probably because they didn’t do multi-day shifts like we did.
“I’ll be back shortly,” he said.
The building was quiet since everyone was still out fighting the fire. It would be hours before they all returned. If I slept, it was very likely that my dragon would heal all my burns, but it wasn’t as if I could run around acting like everything was normal. Luca had lived in this town for months, and it had only taken a short amount of time with me here for us to risk exposing all of us.
I could at least hide them from him while they were bandaged. And he wasn’t likely to want to unbandage for twenty-four hours so we didn’t expose the open wounds to any germs. Only there weren’t any open wounds anymore. My dragon had almost completely healed me. If we looked at the burns now, we’d see new pink skin.
After a while, Luca returned. He had a backpack slung over his shoulder.
“Did you get some rest?”
“Yes, I did.” Sort of. I mostly spent the time worrying about how to explain to him what I was.
“Great.” He handed me a bottle of water. “Make sure you’re staying hydrated. I brought more bandages in case we need to change them. Maybe I should take a look, I feel like I rushed the cleaning while we were on site.”
“They’re fine,” I said too quickly.
“I know. I know. We don’t want to expose any germs unnecessarily. I’ll leave them alone. Are you in any pain? I can’t believe I didn’t offer you any pain relief earlier. You just act so normal. I forget that you were injured.”
I put my hand over Luca’s. An electric jolt went through us at our touch, but I didn’t pull away. “I promise I will let you know if I need anything. I realize I got thrust upon you by Tyler. Would you rather I not be here?” I asked.
He bit his lip, and I wanted to tug it free from his mouth.
“No. Not at all. I—I want you here. I want to hang out and keep an eye on you. Did you have other plans? I don’t want to ruin your evening.”
I shrugged. “I’ve got nothing going.” I looked around the room. “We might be more comfortable at your home, though. Could we go there? I don’t mean to invite myself—”
“You’re more than welcome,” Luca said. “Are you sure you don’t mind moving again? You’re supposed to be resting.”
“Sounds like I’ll be able to rest as soon as I get there.” I flashed him my best grin, and Luca smiled back.
“Then let’s go.”
The drive to his house was short—not that I expected it to be long, considering how small the town was. But I was shocked when he pulled into the driveway of the very house that had caught my attention that first day in town. My dragon’s intuition never ceased to amaze me. Of course he had led me to the home of the man I suspected was my mate.
“This is me,” he said as he parked outside of the garage. “I can’t fit my car in there. I’ve got way too much stuff, and I haven’t sifted through all of it.”
I swallowed thickly. “The house is adorable,” I said. “Looks very cozy.”
He chuckled. “Like the rest of the town, right? Yeah, when I saw this one for sale, I couldn’t pass it up. Something about it just screamed home , you know?”
I nodded. I had that very same thought.
Inside the house was just as cozy as the outside. The scent of Luca was strong. My dragon rumbled his approval.
“Are you all right?” Luca asked.
“What? Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Oh, I thought you sounded like you were in pain.”
Luca put his things down and guided me toward the living room. It was located in the back of the house, with a large bay window that overlooked the yard. A white picket fence enclosed the yard, and a swing set sat in the center with a large sandbox.
“I’ll get you something to drink, then we can relax.”
“Sounds good. I’m fine, really. Almost as good as new.”
Luca narrowed his eyes. “You may look fine, but you still need to take it easy.”
I settled onto the sofa, sinking into the plush cushions.
Luca returned a moment later with a glass of water.
“Thank you for looking after me,” I said. “I do appreciate it.”
“Of course. I know what it’s like to be new in this town.”
“Yeah, and I’m staying at the fire station right now, I haven’t found an apartment yet.”
“Really? You moved here without a place to stay?”
I chuckled. “Yeah.” I rubbed the back of my neck. I didn’t want to seem like the type who didn’t plan or think things through, but how did I explain to Luca that I was just trusting my dragon?
“My brothers and I all sort of left our hometown around the same time, each heading in a different direction.”
“That’s kind of fun. Are you close with your brothers?”
I nodded.
Luca settled next to me, tucking his feet under him and grabbing the blanket that rested on the back of the couch. “I don’t have siblings, but I always wondered what it would be like.”
“It’s great. We’re close. They’ve always supported me, and I support them. Even when we don’t understand each other’s decisions.”
“Like moving to a random small town without a plan,” he teased.
“Exactly like that. It was the right decision, though. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else right now.”
Luca’s eyes softened, and he leaned closer to me. He rested his head on his hand, with his elbow propped on the back of the couch. “I feel the same.”
The pull between us was intense, and I kept my gaze focused on Luca. His eyes sparkled, and he looked at my lips. He sucked in a breath when my tongue darted out to wet my lips.
Just as I was about to close the distance between us, Luca’s phone screeched loudly.
He bolted off the couch and went in search of his phone. “I’ll be right back, and we’ll figure out what we’re doing for dinner, okay?”
I nodded. “Sounds good.”
After a few moments, he came back. “That was Theo. He heard about the fire and wanted to see what I knew. He’s a bit of a gossip. Why don’t you try to rest a bit, okay?”
“I will. On one condition.”
“Oh, and what’s that?”
“Have dinner with me.”
Luca’s brow furrowed. “Oh, I’ll make sure you get dinner. I’m not going to starve you.”
“No. I mean, would you like to have dinner with me? Like a date. Tomorrow? Unless you have to work.”
He grinned. “Not making it easy to say no, are you? I can’t deny an injured man.”
“Hey, if that’s what it takes, I’ll allow it. Is that a yes?”
Luca nodded. “Yes. I’ll go out to dinner with you. And just so we’re clear, I would have said yes even if you weren’t injured.”