Page 2 of The Baby Dragon Cafe (The Baby Dragon #1)

Chapter 2

A iden Sterling was having an absolutely horrible day.

To make it worse, his phone rang for the umpteenth time this past hour. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, glancing down at the screen for a quick moment—another cousin—then promptly declined the call. He was currently missing family dinner, which was a sacred and bimonthly ritual for the Sterlings, and they were all taking turns calling him.

All except for the one person who would never call him again.

Danny, his younger brother.

Danny, who was dead.

And not to speak ill of the deceased—but Danny, the cause of his current headache. When Danny had passed away two years ago, he had surprised everyone by leaving his unhatched baby dragon egg to Aiden. Though Aiden and Danny were brothers, and only a year apart at that (“Eleven months!” his mother loved to interject, whenever anyone said they were a year apart), the pair could not have been more different.

Danny was loud and obnoxious and instantly loved wherever he went. Aiden, on the other hand, was quiet, shy, and awkward. Danny had spent his days riding his dragon, rescuing abandoned or lost animals, such as chimeras, griffins, phoenixes, and dragons. Aiden, on the other hand, preferred to spend his days at home, particularly in his garden, where no one could bother him.

At twenty-eight years old, he was perhaps too young to be such a recluse, but it was what he preferred. Everything was simpler in the safety of his home. He knew exactly what to do there, how to treat his flowers, and they always responded kindly to his attentions. He greatly preferred the company of plants to people and sorely wished he was in his garden now.

Instead, he was in town, chasing after a baby dragon, which had been hatched only six months ago by his parents in an attempt to force Aiden into making a decision regarding the dragon egg. He was to either give the dragon to his family or take care of it himself.

Because the egg was the last thing Danny had left him, Aiden refused to give the dragon up—which was why he was now running down Main Street.

The streets were empty at this time of night; all the shops were closed. However, the little monster Aiden was in charge of loved the fountain in town, and Aiden had brought him here in hopes that it would get the baby dragon to behave.

Sparky had been a nightmare all day, and Aiden’s patience had run dry eighteen hours ago. First, Sparky kept Aiden up all night with his wailing because the dragon’s teeth were emerging. Then, this morning, he had chewed through half of Aiden’s flowers, all but ruining his garden.

The baby dragon next proceeded to create a massive mess in Aiden’s peaceful home, attacking Aiden whenever he tried to intervene. Now, after a visit to the fountain, Sparky was in better spirits, but that only meant he kept running off, forcing Aiden to chase after him.

It was maddening.

Aiden looked up at the night sky, scowling at the twinkling stars. Wherever Danny was, Aiden was sure he was getting a good laugh in. For the tenth time that day, Aiden considered selling Sparky off. And for the tenth time, his conscience forbade him.

Sparky was all Danny had left him. It might have been as a joke, since Danny knew Aiden was never interested in dragons, but nonetheless, Aiden would not abandon his brother’s parting gift.

No matter how much of a nuisance it was.

There the little monster went now, leaping from Aiden’s arms and firing flames into the sky.

“Sparky, no!” Aiden called. Heat flared against his face, and he closed his eyes against the fire. Baby dragons couldn’t cause too much damage—mature dragons could properly melt a human’s face clean off—but that didn’t mean baby dragons couldn’t cause any damage at all.

Aiden looked around to ensure there hadn’t been a disaster; luckily, there hadn’t. A ding sounded in the air as a door opened. He turned to see they were standing in front of an establishment called the Baby Dragon Cafe.

“Is everything okay?” a voice called, stepping out.

His gaze fell on what must have been the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and suddenly, Aiden felt hot for altogether different reasons.

She was a head shorter than him, wearing an oversized cardigan and a dress with what looked to be singe marks on the hem. Her skin was a warm brown. She had a gold nose piercing and dark hair pulled up into a loose twist. When she looked at him with arresting brown eyes, he was all but pinned to the spot.

He vaguely knew of her and the cafe. Starshine Valley was small; everyone knew everyone, to a certain extent. Even if Aiden hardly ever left home, he heard enough from his massive family. His cousin, Emmeline, sourced the coffee for the cafe, and just because Aiden wasn’t talkative didn’t mean he was a terrible listener, too.

The woman was a Margala … What was her name? He was suddenly desperate to know, and irritated that he didn’t know it already. From what he recalled, she was a few years younger than him and not from one of the Drakkon families, so they hadn’t crossed paths before (to be fair, Aiden crossed paths with very few people).

“Y-Yes, sorry,” Aiden stammered, running after Sparky, who was making a beeline for the open door, practically skipping with glee. The beautiful Margala woman yelped as Sparky scurried past her feet and entered the cafe.

“Sparky!” Aiden cried, and was promptly ignored. “I’m so sorry,” Aiden said to her, worried that she’d be angry, that he’d already ruined things before they had even properly met, that he didn’t even know her name.

But she surprised him by laughing, holding the door open to let Aiden rush in behind his baby dragon. Gold bangles jingled on her arm. As he walked past her, he caught a whiff of her perfume: roses. He momentarily forgot about his demonic pet and inhaled the sweet scent.

“Who is this little angel?” she asked, adopting a baby-voice as she regarded Sparky. Aiden always considered people talking to baby dragons as deranged—and in baby-voice, even more so—but the act was quite endearing from her.

Sparky, it seemed, agreed; he lit up.

“Are you hungry?” she asked, squatting. Sparky cooed, a sound Aiden had literally never heard from the dragon. “Is this cute little draggo hungry?”

She went to scoop Sparky in her arms then, and alarm flooded through Aiden.

“No, I wouldn’t do that!” he cried, but it seemed his concern was for nothing. Where Aiden would have received a growl and a bite, the woman received a compliant little dragon. Sparky went into her arms willingly and happily (Aiden couldn’t blame the baby dragon, really).

She scratched under Sparky’s chin, and the dragon closed his eyes, smiling. Huh. Aiden had never seen the animal so well-behaved.

“You are hungry! Do you want a little treat?” she asked, still speaking in that baby-voice. She carried Sparky behind the counter and pulled out a massive glass jar of black chips, pulling a few out. They looked and smelled like pieces of burned naan.

The woman popped one into her mouth (which he found insane), then fed one to Sparky, who went crazy with glee, nuzzling his head against the thick fabric of her sweater. She gazed at the little devil with affection, and the little devil gazed back with equal adoration.

How did she do that? She had gotten farther with the baby dragon in six minutes than Aiden had in six months. He’d gotten more scratches and bites and burns than he could count!

“You said his—her?—name was Sparky?” she said, turning to Aiden now. Being on the receiving end of those magnificent dark eyes, Aiden jolted.

Sweat broke out on the back of his neck, and his heart beat unevenly fast. It took him a few moments to remember she had asked him a question and was patiently awaiting an answer.

“Yes, his name is Sparky,” Aiden managed to say. “Again, I’m sorry.” He needed to come up with something clever to say beyond apologizing. God, what was wrong with him?

He stepped toward her, reaching for Sparky. The dragon immediately growled. Ah, there was the misbehaving animal that Aiden knew so well.

The woman laughed. “I don’t think he likes you very much,” she said, smiling at him.

“No one does,” Aiden muttered darkly, but she didn’t hear. He cleared his throat. “Again, sorry. I’m Aiden, by the way. Aiden Sterling.”

“Saphira,” she replied, and a bolt of pleasure ran through him to know her name. Saphira . “And no worries, I love baby dragons. I don’t think I’ve seen Sparky around before …”

She trailed off, as if realizing something. Her gaze shifted to him, and he saw her connect the dots of who exactly Aiden was.

“Oh—you’re Danny’s brother,” she said. “I’m so sorry for your loss; I know those are very belated condolences, but …” She trailed off.

Usually Aiden hated it when people brought up Danny’s death, but she was genuine, her brown eyes wide. He felt a lump rise in his throat.

“Thanks.” He cleared his throat. “I appreciate it.”

Everyone in Starshine Valley had known Danny to some extent, and everyone knew how he’d died, as well. She was right; the condolences were a bit late. Danny had died over two years ago now, but Aiden still appreciated it.

Even so, a wave of grief hit him. Aiden shifted on his feet. “Well, I didn’t mean to be a bother.” He reached for Sparky.

“You’re not a bother,” she said, stepping forward to hand him the baby dragon. Sparky was soothed and came to him calmly as Saphira passed him over.

When she did, her hand brushed against his, and an electric current shot up his arm. His pulse quickened as he regarded her.

Realizing he had been passed over, Sparky snarled. He bit Aiden’s hand, clearly displeased.

“Ah!” Aiden cried, shifting Sparky to his other hand. “God, I hate him.”

“But he’s so cute!” Saphira said. “Aren’t you?” Sparky cooed as she petted his head. But the moment she retracted her hand, Sparky took the chance to try and bite Aiden again.

“Stop it!” Aiden scolded. Saphira giggled.

She had a dimple. For reasons he couldn’t explain, this was quite devastating to him.

He wanted to banter with this lovely woman, to strike up conversation, but he had had a long day, and he was tired, and he didn’t know what to say. This was why usually before going out, he prepared things to say ahead of time, rehearsing the lines in his head.

But she had taken him by surprise.

Ordinarily, if he found himself in such a situation, he bolted the first moment he got. Strangely enough, at the moment he didn’t want to leave, even if he was feeling awkward and unsure. So he just stood there, like an idiot.

Saphira looked at him curiously, with big, open eyes. There was something so bright about her, so quietly warm. She shone like starlight.

A tendril of hair had come loose from her hair; it was a perfect little spiral. He wanted to trace his finger along it.

Aiden fidgeted, nervous. This was why he didn’t go out; he never knew how to act!

His gaze strayed behind Saphira, where he saw what looked to be the ruined remains of an espresso machine.

“Looks like Sparky isn’t the only mischievous one,” he said, gesturing. “Did a dragon do that?”

As soon as the word left his mouth, he inwardly cringed. That was a dumb question. Of course a dragon did that! God!

“Ah, yeah,” she replied, sighing. “I love the cafe being open to the little draggos, but they make it a bit difficult to stay open.” She considered the melted espresso machine, the mess of metal that remained. “A baby dragon cafe is a great idea in theory, but in execution, too many flames.”

Her eyes welled up with tears, and she quickly blinked them away. He was overwhelmed by the urge to do something, then, though he didn’t know what.

“Can I … um … help?” he asked.

“No, no, it’s okay!” she said, forcing a smile. “I mean, it isn’t, obviously, but it’s fine. Not like actually fine, but it will be. I think.” She took a deep breath. “Well, I’ll let you go!”

She was dismissing him. Of course she was dismissing him. He was so useless.

Saphira stepped forward, and his heartbeat quickened. For a moment, he thought she would touch him, and he stopped breathing, but she was only giving Sparky one last pet. She looked up at him with eyes he could drown in.

“Goodnight, Aiden,” she said. A shiver ran down his spine.

Aiden turned away from her, heading toward the door. But he only made it two steps before he stopped, an idea forming in his mind.

“Wait,” he said, turning back. She was already heading up the stairs, but stopped at his voice.

“Does Sparky want another treat?” she asked.

His heart beat fast. Maybe this was a bad idea; maybe she wouldn’t want to; maybe he shouldn’t even ask. But before he could overthink it further, he blurted the words out.

“Yes … no, I mean—would you be willing to train him?”

Her eyes widened with surprise. Aiden had looked for trainers before, but he’d had no luck. Anyone who was good with dragons tended to have one of their own and didn’t want another to train because they could be such a handful.

Yet here Saphira was and, as far as he could tell, she didn’t have a dragon of her own.

“But you’re his rider,” she said. The rider–dragon bond was special, unbreakable. As such, riders always trained their own dragons.

But Aiden had tried for the past six months and made no progress. The Sterlings were one of the most esteemed Drakkon families anyone could belong to; he came from generations of riders. Every other member of his vast family had taken to their dragons instantly, but here Aiden was, still struggling—a failure.

Perhaps Saphira could help him. She clearly loved dragons and was good with them and …

“I’ll pay you, of course,” he said, walking toward her. She was on the third step, and he had to look up at her to meet her eyes.

“I don’t know,” she said, trailing off, but her gaze went to the espresso machine. Say yes , a voice chanted in his head. Please say yes. The more he thought about it, the more desperate he was for her to agree.

“An advance upfront—how about two thousand?” he said. “Then weekly—is five hundred okay?”

Her jaw dropped. “That’s a lot.”

“I can afford it, if that’s what you’re worried about,” he said.

“No, I’m not,” she said. “I know who your family is.”

Her eyes went to Sparky, then. She came down a step, and his breathing hitched. They were standing close enough to touch now. Blood rushed in his ears.

“Okay,” she said, meeting his eyes. “Deal.”