To Catch a Billionaire Dragon

Chapter Six

Persistent ringing of her cell phone interrupted Laurel's work the next afternoon. Irritated, she picked it up. She didn't recognize the number and thought not to answer, but the prospect that it might be Logan made her heart skip a beat in excitement and change her mind. The strange voice at the other end disappointed her.

"Hi, this is Paul Dunn. The fireman from the other day?"

"Hi..." She had forgotten all about him, but she had given him her number.

"I was wondering if you're free tonight."

She didn't know what to answer. It had been so long since she had been on a date, if she didn't count the previous evening with Logan, which she didn't—she had no idea what it had been about, but date it hadn't been. She should go out ... but she needed to work. She glanced at her computer screen, where the manuscript glared at her accusingly.

But she also needed to have a social life. "Yes, I'm free. What do you have in mind?"

They agreed to meet in a pub near the fire station where Paul worked, and hung up. Two hours later, when her phone beeped as a reminder of the date, she had no idea why it was doing so. When she suddenly did—half an hour later—she had to rush to get herself ready.

She hurried out of her apartment and to the elevator that luckily arrived just then, almost colliding with Logan, who was exiting the cage.

"Where's the fire?"

She grinned at the appropriate question. "Hopefully nowhere. I have a date with the fireman."

"You have a date?"

His incredulous tone made her pause. "I do date, occasionally. Some men find me attractive, even."

"I didn't mean it like that. You're very attractive." He studied her clothing. "Although the dress you wore yesterday was much better than jeans and a blouse, no matter how many pretty flowers it has."

"We're meeting in a pub." With that, she got in the elevator and pushed the button. As the doors closed, she saw Logan staring after her, a frown on his face. The clothes weren't that bad, were they?

Paul didn't seem to think so. His eyes lit when she arrived, only a couple of minutes late. It was an Irish pub filled with off duty firemen and cops, relaxing after a long day. She studied the place and the people curiously, committing everything to memory to be used later.

Paul was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt with the logo of his department on it, his wet hair combed back after showering. He smelled nice and looked even better, a large man with steely muscles and open face. She could do much worse.

Unfortunately they had nothing in common, which they soon discovered. He shuddered in barely suppressed horror when she told him she was an author. "I don't have time to read," he confessed, almost sheepishly.

She took that to mean he didn't like to read, but she hid her disappointment and nodded. "You have such a hectic job. What do you do on your free time?"

"I hang out with my family. I have three brothers, two of them firemen, and one a cop." He looked happy as he told stories about them and all his nephews and nieces. Laurel listened, acutely envious. She had lost her parents when she was four and had grown up in an orphanage in Brooklyn. She didn't remember her parents and had no recollection of family life. Paul made it sound wonderful.

"Do you want a large family?"

His question threw her. "I..." She had no idea. Growing up, she had always wanted a family of her own, but that was before she became an author. As one of almost thirty children, she knew a large family would demand her attention, and she wasn't sure she could afford to give it. "Maybe later," she settled with, and saw his disappointment. They were neither of them happy with the other.