Earth Touched - A Dragon Tribe Origin

Chapter Thirty-Eight - Lori

Frank met with Lori at Fire Eaters for lunch. She'd rather eat at the diner, but Gage was there and he'd end up asking a lot of questions. Plus, if he saw Frank flirt with her—or try to—she didn't know what Gage would end up doing. Would he butt in, act out in jealousy, or would he close himself off and assume she was taken? Plus, she wasn't supposed to know Frank. Was she?

Eating somewhere else felt safest. Unfortunately, she had the evening shift at work, so she couldn't keep her lunch meeting brief. As long as Frank didn't try to swindle his way back into her bedroom, she could deal.

"Haven't seen you for a while," he said, almost timidly, which wasn't like him at all. "Thanks for meeting me. I appreciate it."

She raised an eyebrow. "So polite. This is me, Frank."

"Our past few conversations have been tense. I thought it'd be nice to let you know I do still appreciate all you're doing and the fact that you're taking time out of your busy schedule to see me." There was a trace of sarcasm to his tone.

Lori couldn't help but laugh. "That's better."

"Well, you have been busy. Doing what, I'm not quite sure, to be honest. It's not like I ever see you at the office hanging out with Finn. You're either at the diner, or confiscating Martie." He grumbled a little under his breath then cleared his throat. "You seem to be taking to this new life a little too well."

With a roll of her eyes, Lori picked up the menu, using it to block her face from view. "The office is not a good place to flirt." He still thought she was working the Finn angle. "I heard you got a job in the office so you don't need me there."

"An opportunity presented itself. I couldn't refuse."

She gazed over the menu at him and made sure he could see her raising an eyebrow. "Rather, you created an opportunity for yourself."

"It was still presented to me, regardless of if I had to push a few things in place to make it happen. It's not my fault these political snobs are so good at doing stupid things worthy of blackmail." He shrugged, playing innocent like usual. It was never him who did the bad work, he only exploited it.

"Anyway, you don't need me in the office," she repeated. "Being Finn's friend gives me better places to talk with him. Places where he's more prone to spill private details. Too much of a microscope at work."

"I'll give you that." Frank's hand brushed over her leg. "His friend, hmm?"

Lori nudged his hand off of her. "Yes, we're friends."

"Special friends?"

She slammed her menu shut. "Why?"

"One of the reasons you didn't want to be with me anymore is because you didn't want him to smell me on you."

"I don't."

"And yet you're not sleeping together. I know because he still smells pure. This makes me think you have zero interest in pursuing him in such a fashion. You must be lonely."

Unable to suppress her groan, Lori moved her chair back a few inches just as he was about to put a hand on her again. "Actually, I'm not. Please don't do this. Desperation is not a good smell, especially on you."

"I'm not desperate." He growled quietly, a rough, unhuman sound that startled her. "Thought you'd want a release."

She squared her shoulders. "I'm fine."

"Don't accuse me of being weak."

"Don't make the mistake of assuming I am," she snapped.

He laughed, and he didn't have to say what he was thinking, or share his thoughts with her for her to know what was on his mind. Of course she was weak in comparison. She had human blood still pumping through her veins on top of being a woman.