Aubrey’s eyes instantly landed on him again…

  The man who had been watching her from the balcony; the one who had given her chills.

  Being so close to him was unnerving, but he looked back at her, his eyes fixed on hers, and the reality of how tall and handsome he was hit her like a ton of bricks. She tried not to gasp, her hands trembling as she held her drink.

  “Hi,” Mia beamed.

  The guy who had spoken moved closer, stopping in front of them, clearly ready to talk.

  “You guys got a booth booked?” He looked around and stared at the roped off sections.

  Mia looked at Aubrey nervously, and Aubrey did her very best not to sound annoyed or roll her eyes.

  “No, we don’t,” Aubrey said flatly. “We just wandered up here by accident. Come on Mia, let’s go.”

  She took hold of Mia’s hand and went to lead her away, but the guy who had been speaking to them piped up again.

  “Hey, wait, it’s okay,” he said as he dipped his head to the side to catch her eye. “You don’t have to go back down there. It’s way too hot and busy. Why don’t you join our table?”

  Mia instantly squeezed Aubrey’s hand, and Aubrey was aware that the man in the suit who had caught her attention was looking at his friend with daggers; as if he was just as unsure of this situation as Aubrey was.

  “Oh, really?” Mia asked before Aubrey had the chance to speak. “Are you sure that’s okay?”

  The guy who seemed to be into Mia held out his hand and reached for hers. He shook it professionally, like they had just concluded a job interview.

  “Of course, it is,” he laughed. “I’m Victor, and this is Carter…”

  Carter.

  When she heard it, the way it sounded, in her mind, she knew it was perfect for him. Almost like he could never have had any other name.

  Carter.

  She let her eyes travel back up and meet his again. They were dark and engulfing, almost completely black.

  She swallowed and quickly looked away.

  Victor reached his hand out to Aubrey this time, and even though it took her a moment to realize it, when she did, she smiled and shook it.

  “Aubrey,” she said. “Nice to meet you.”

  Victor looked toward Carter, and Carter smiled and then looked back at Aubrey. The four of them were standing there as if they had been brought to this moment by fate. It had been a long time since she had been out and partied like this, but it always felt good making new friends, and bonding over dancing, drinking and music.

  The guys held out their arms as if to lead the way, and the girls followed them.

  “Please play nice,” Mia whispered in Aubrey’s ear. “They’re both super-hot, and they have a table we can jump on for a while. Why not?”

  She looked so excited; Aubrey didn’t want to ruin the moment for her, even if she did feel like running. She may have been drawn to Carter, but she could tell there was something different about him. And she was intrigued as to why he and Victor seemed to be the only two men in the place wearing suits and acting completely as ease, as if they knew the club inside out.

  They ushered the girls into the VIP area, and then, security put a red rope across the entrance. Aubrey was sure that the security guard was a guy they had gone to high school with, but he was now massive and stacked and clearly enjoyed his time in the gym.

  Victor brought over two glasses of champagne, and Carter seemed to disappear into the crowd. He had been watching Aubrey ‒ she could feel his eyes on her ‒ but he had turned his back and was chatting to some of the other men, as if he were trying his very best not to acknowledge her.

  She felt herself scowl.

  It rattled her that he had walked away, even though she was adamant that she wasn’t interested in him… He may be cute… but how rude!

  She felt herself huff and then sipped her drink and turned toward Mia, who was busy chatting away with Victor. She looked happy finally, as if she had forgotten about the fact that she had been recently fired from her job and may potentially struggle to find work in their little town ever again.

  It was never easy starting over in such a small place, and Aubrey was so thankful that she had a career of her own that seemed secure and stable, allowed her to earn great money, and was something she enjoyed doing. Even if it meant she was working harder than she was playing at the moment.

  “Okay,” Mia said as she giggled and stepped toward Aubrey. “These guys are hilarious, and it turns out, the two we met… They own this nightclub.”

  Aubrey raised her eyebrow and felt that she was suddenly going to become overly pessimistic.

  “Seriously?” she asked.

  “Yeah, and it’s that one’s birthday…” Mia pointed over to where Carter was standing, and at just that second, he turned around and glared with intrigue at them both.

  Aubrey’s mouth fell open a little and her heart sank down into her stomach, a flip of nerves that he seemed to be able to keep up when he looked at her. His eyes honed in on hers, and she felt trapped by him. She couldn’t look away from him, at the way he was so ruggedly handsome but standing there in his suit and appearing devilishly sexy.

  She swallowed and smiled.

  He smiled back.

  Her heart seemed to pound harder.

  “And don’t kill me…,” Mia whispered. “But they’ve invited us back to a party at Carter’s house, and I said we’re going.”

  Aubrey’s eyes were still transfixed on Carter’s across the room. The music was so loud that it vibrated through her; she could feel it in her throat, and her palms were hot and skin tingled. She felt alert and on fire, and as she looked at him, she felt herself falling.

  She wanted to go to him, but she had to resist.

  “Aubrey, did you hear me?” Mia snapped. “I said, we’re going back to a party at Carter’s house. Come on, grab your purse.”

  Aubrey looked at her friend, snapping herself away from Carter and his deliciously sexy stare, and blinking to try and bring herself back into the moment.

  “What?” she said. “A party?”

  Mia grinned and took hold of her arm. They looped their forearm and began walking toward the crowd of men who were already doing the rounds, inviting more and more people to go with them.

  “Yep,” Mia said with excitement. “And you’ll never guess what… I think I just got myself a new job. Here!”

  Aubrey’s eyes widened.

  “I was chatting to Victor and told him what had happened, and he said they’re looking for a shift manager for the club. Isn’t that great?”

  Aubrey smiled and nodded. She could see how ecstatic Mia was, and she had to admit, even though she was doing her very best to have a bad time, she was actually kind of having fun.

  Plus, there was Carter…

  Gorgeous, mysterious Carter… who kept capturing her eye and making her want to know more.

  “Okay,” she said. “We can go for an hour, but then, I’ll be leaving you to it.”

  Mia winked, and they both smiled and began to follow the crowd.

  As she passed by Carter and Victor, she could feel his gaze on her again, and her heart did a little dance in her chest.

  She had never known excitement quite like it.

  5.

  From going to work to see how well the club was going to having a surprise birthday party thrown for him, and having one of the most random, if not fun, nights in a long while, Carter now found himself standing in his kitchen with half of the club bouncing around and drinking his wine.

  He rubbed a hand down his face and looked across at Victor. How the hell had he even let him convince him that this was a good idea?

  All he had wanted was to come home, but he hadn’t seen the night ending this way. It was like something out of a movie, as if it had been professionally organized.

  It was clear that they were both in the nightclub business, even Carter’s home welcomed debauchery… He scowled, at nothing in particular. He had done so well to keep his privacy, but now it was out there for half the town to see.

  He lived in a goddam mansion. His family was old money and they had many expensive and rare antiquities that had been passed on to him. Not only that but he was also hiding the small secret that he could shift into a dragon. He wasn’t sure inviting normal people from town up to his house in the mountains was exactly the smartest move. But in his defense, he had drunk enough birthday booze to sink a pirate ship. At least his dragon could handle it; that meant he didn’t succumb totally to alcohol like a regular human. Even though most of the people that had made it to the party were either his dragon pack brothers or completely wasted, he still felt as if his life was on show, and he wanted to shut the party down.

  “This was a bad idea,” he said to Victor as he sidled up next to him and handed him a straight vodka. “A very bad idea.”

  “No, it really wasn’t.” Victor chinked his glass against his. “You spend too much of your time up here alone. It’s good to open your doors every once in a while, and let the world in.”

  Carter looked at Victor and rolled his eyes. He knew there was no point in arguing with him; he was fully letting the night run away with him, and Carter had to admit, he couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t often they were all in this position and having a good time together.

  He paused and sipped his drink. He had been standing, waiting to catch sight of the girl from the club again.

  Aubrey.

  He had wanted to disappear when Victor had drunkenly started talking to her and her friend, but he knew she was here somewhere, in his house. Now that he had been close to her, he could detect her unique scent. It was enchanting, like the forest mixed with gum drops, tinged with musk and champagne.

  He bit his bottom lip and adjusted the turn on his shirt cuff before he tucked it back inside his suit jacket.

  Victor had been chatting to Mia, Aubrey’s friend, and it seemed like they had been getting on well, but Carter could tell there wasn’t a romantic spark between them. Not like he was feeling for Aubrey.

  He hadn’t even spoken to her beyond introducing himself and all he could feel was her presence. It was driving him mad, making his bones ache for more and sending his senses into overdrive.

  He turned and discreetly sniffed the air. The predator in him was stirring, but he would have to try and control himself.

  Suddenly, he knew she was near. His dragon instinct was firing up, the hairs on the back of his neck began to tingle, and he made a few steps toward the doorway, getting closer to the hall. He saw her standing there with Mia. Her blonde hair was draped to one side, her blue eyes were glinting in the candle’s light that had been lit along the hall, and he couldn’t help but notice that she was standing close to the ancient Dragon statue that had been in his family for generations.

  She was quiet, standing there sipping her drink and barely taking notice of anything that was going on around her. He could tell that other people who he had welcomed into his home that had never been there before were gawking at all the chandeliers, at the open roaring fireplaces, at the artwork on the walls, and at the fact that the house was probably bigger than their entire street. But Aubrey, she stood quietly, not looking impressed in any way, and just seemed to be enjoying chatting with her friend.

  It made him smile.

  He stepped back and turned toward the kitchen to see Victor standing right in front of him with a quizzical look on his face.

  “That’s at least the tenth time I’ve caught you in a trance watching her,” he said. “Why don’t you just go over there?”

  Carter crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said defensively.

  “Yes, you do,” Victor teased. “And the sooner you stop putting blocks in your own path, the sooner you’ll realize there’s a whole world out there that you’ve been missing out on.”

  Victor walked away, and Carter felt as if his feathers had been ruffled. His cousin was such a pain in the ass, but he did speak sense at times.

  It had been months since Carter had even seen his pack socially away from official dragon business, and he really should have been taking better care of not only them but also himself. There had been some strange happenings in Lone Reach, and a man had recently gone missing. He hated to think of his town as being in danger and him having not been present. He may have had everything he could ever want or need within the confines of his incredible family home ‒ which was now his alone ‒ but he had been missing out on a lot of normal activities for a guy his age.

  He didn’t party. All he did was work. He had isolated himself on the mountain, and all he seemed to ever feel was the weight of responsibility for his pack and the burden of his family’s past.

  He sighed and downed the rest of the vodka in the tumbler, and then he sucked in some air and made his way toward Aubrey. It was about time he had a conversation with her and stopped torturing himself.

  As he approached her and Mia, Mia’s eyes caught him coming and she nudged Aubrey who turned to face him, and he was sure he could hear the sound of her heart beating.

  He was making her nervous, he could sense it in her, and it was such a turn on, because she seemed like the most confident girl on the planet.

  “Hi,” he said as he stood in front of the two of them.

  Mia’s eyes were flashing excitedly from Aubrey to Carter and then back again, and she looked down at her glass and feigned surprise that it was close to empty.

  “Oh, would you look at that!” Mia exclaimed. “I’m completely out! Hey, I’ll be right back, you guys…”

  Mia laughed as she walked away, slipping out of sight and into the crowd. Carter grinned as he stepped into her place and leaned against the wall of his grand entrance hall.

  “How are you?” he asked, looking deep into her strikingly blue eyes. It was all he could think to say; she had almost left him speechless, as if he couldn’t hold a thought together.

  Aubrey smiled, and he was sure he saw a twinkle appear in her eyes, as if they were growing wider with her attraction to him.

  “I’m good,” she said. “Tired, but good.”

  “Out past your bedtime?” he asked.

  “Something like that,” Aubrey grinned.

  He liked that she was playful and could respond to his questions in a way that was something other than what he had been used to when it came to making small talk with girls. They were usually so screechy and gushy. Aubrey appeared calm and intelligent, as if she were taking it all in stride.

  He could still smell her nerves though, and he could hear the thump of her heart. She was intrigued by him like he was by her, but she was nervous around him, even though she was trying to disguise it.

  “Have you had a good birthday?” she asked him, sipping her drink.

  “It’s been nothing but one surprise after the next,” he smiled. “I went out thinking I was going to work. Instead, Victor surprised me with all of that and then with inviting everyone back here.”

  “I bet you wish none of us were here right now then?” she smirked.

  “Well, I wouldn’t say that…,” he trailed off, making it known that he was happy to be speaking with her.

  She smirked and then looked over her shoulder as if she were checking to see if Mia was on her way back.

  “I’m not one for big nights out myself,” she said. “I would usually just do the alehouses around town on Main Street. It’s been forever since I’ve been in The Dragon Pit.”

  “And what did you think?” he asked her.

  “Interesting,” she said, looking away from his gaze for a moment, but a little smile still played on her lips. “It was good fun… I enjoyed it.”

  “Me too,” Carter admitted. “Even if, at the time, I just wanted to do my checks and get home.”

  He looked at her again, at the way her eyes were twinkling. She really was so goddam cute that it was hard to look away from her. He wanted to drink her all in, memorize every bit of her so he would never have to be without her image again.

  He realized his thoughts were running away with him, so he cleared his throat and took a step back. He had been doing so well trying to avoid her, and then, in a moment of weakness, he had let Victor goad him into coming over.

  Now that he was standing there with her, he was quickly becoming hooked.

  “Fancy going for a walk?” he asked her.

  She cocked her head to the side and took him in, as if she were trying to figure him out.

  “I would, but my parents always taught me not to go off with strangers.” She had mischief in her eyes and a little smile was flickering on her lips.

  “I don’t think I’m a stranger anymore,” he said, taking a step closer to her. “We know each other’s names, and you’re standing in my hallway.”

  She smiled and dipped her gaze to the ground.

  This was quickly becoming a game, and he was relishing every second, but there was a part of him that was getting so sucked into it that he had a feeling it was going to derail him and the good work he had put into his self-control.

  “How about you get me a drink instead?” she asked playfully. “And then, we’ll see from there.”

  Carter’s dragon was itching to take the bait, and he reached down, took hold of her hand, and began to walk her toward the kitchen where the drinks were waiting.

  They made their way to the island in the center of the room, and Carter found a crystal tumbler for Aubrey and filled it with ice. She motioned to the vodka he was drinking, and it surprised him in a good way. This was clearly a girl who knew herself. Not someone who wanted to be shown off and carted around; she wasn’t afraid to speak up and say what she wanted.

  “You drink neat Belvedere?” he asked her with a smirk.

  “Only on Saturdays.” She grinned as she took the glass. “The rest of the week I’m all about Beluga.” She sipped and winked.

  “I’ll have to keep my eyes on you then,” he teased.

  They were testing each other, and it was making him more interested. He could tell she was joking with him, that likely, for the majority of her time, this girl worked hard and kept to herself, much like he did.