Loved by a Dragon (Mate Me Book 1)

8.5

Xander busied himself all day, making plans to take a week-long trip. If Roxie wanted to go to Rome, he would take her. He postponed his showcase in hopes he could convince Roxie to let him show her work. Before he'd left her apartment, he had stopped at Evelyn's room and convinced her to pack a carry on of Roxie's belongings. He would take care of her clothes when they landed.

His phone rang. Looking down, he saw it was from his assistant, Anderson, traveling around the U.S.

"Hello."

"Xander, I've found our next resident artist," Anderson's voice was excited on the other end.

"Same here, she lives in Green Falls."

"Who did you find?" Anderson's interest was piqued.

"I'm still working on getting her to agree. Her parents and an ex-husband stand in my way." Xander grimaced, thinking about how awful Roxie's mother had been that morning.

"I found a painting by an artist, but the gallery I found it in was being very cagey about selling the piece."

"Do you know the artist's name?"

"Only the initials R.J.," Anderson explained, Xander could sense his frustration.

"Who is the gallery owner?" Xander knew he could try as a fellow art dealer to get the information.

"The Wright family, their son Mitchell is the current director."

"What is the name of the gallery?"

"The Golden Painting."

"Ugh, what an awful name." Xander immediately pulled the gallery up on his computer, he wrinkled his nose at the gaudy golden statues standing outside the entrance.

"True, they had an entire wing devoted to R.J., but none of the pieces were available for sale. I am thinking something is not right with the paintings."

"I'll look into him. I'm taking a week off to spend time with my mate."

"You found a mate for your prickly dragon?" Anderson laughed, Xander rolled his eyes. Anderson had pushed for Xander to find a mate and settle after being alive for a hundred years.

"Yes, I'm taking her to Rome to convince her she truly is my mate."

"Of course, you'd find a woman who won't just fall in your arms." Anderson laughed louder.

"Enough Anderson, I'll get on the RJ situation when I come back." Xander hung up and got onto his computer to do some recon on The Golden Painting and the Wright Family. He spent the better part of the afternoon digging into the gallery and their owners. What he found worried him. Many artists were unhappy with the exorbitant hanging fee. Other not so legal things popped up in his research, he would have to be careful when speaking to Mitchell. He remembered him vaguely from a conference they both attended. Mitchell seemed to want to show him up at every turn, has been in the art game for a very long time he ignored the young man. He jotted down the office number and put it aside to call after he convinced Roxie to be with him forever.

She was the only one for him, he'd been with plenty of women, but none of them sent his dragon into a frenzy like Roxie. Her beautiful curves, dark blond hair, and mesmerizing blue-violet eyes had him willing to do whatever it took to make her his.