Her Fake Dragon Mate (eBook)

Arizona Tape (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2023 | 1. Auflage
186 Seiten
Vampari Press (Verlag)
978-0-00-044362-5 (ISBN)

Infos

Legal assistant Claire has always wanted a career she's truly passionate about but the state of her bank account doesn't agree. Rich dragon shifter Taylor is under a lot of pressure from her family to find her fated mate and settle down but there's so much else she still wants to do.

Could a fake relationship be the solution for them or will things become more complicated than ever?
****
Her Fake Dragon Mate is a fated mates paranormal romance featuring a rich dragon shifter and her mate. It includes a standalone f/f fake relationship romance and a dash of steamy goodness. It is part of the Crescent Lake Shifters series.

Textauszug

Six

Taylor nervously paced back and forth at the top of the city hall's stairs as she scanned the faces of the arriving guests, hopeful that Claire was one of them. Even if it wasn’t a real date, she was grateful that she didn't have to attend on her own.

She thought she spotted her new friend but her hopes were dashed when the woman turned around and was most definitely not Claire.

A few nerve-racking minutes passed in which Taylor prepared herself for having to face the event by herself, a mental exercise that became instantly obsolete when she spotted Claire getting out of a cab.

They locked eyes and the brunette raised her hand in acknowledgement as she climbed the stairs. She was wearing the same dress that she had on the night of the New Year’s Eve party and it looked just as nice on her as Taylor remembered.

"Hey," she said, leaning in to kiss Claire's cheek, delighting in the smell of lavender. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you.” She held out her arm. “Shall we?”

“We shall,” Claire confirmed.

A little thrill shot through Taylor from the way she accepted it without a beat of hesitation. Of all the people she could've chosen to perpetuate this ruse, she'd struck gold.

She enjoyed the attention on them as they made their way inside where plenty of people were already gathered.

"I'm really glad you agreed to come," Taylor said, keeping her voice just low enough that it would be impossible for others to overhear, a skill she'd developed over the years.

Claire smiled as she picked a canapé from a passing server's tray. "Out of curiosity, what would you have done if I hadn't?"

"What I always do, go by myself. Or maybe I’d have hired someone.”

"You'd hire an escort to go with you to a gala?" Claire asked, sounding stunned.

"Yeah, maybe. I mean, my parents would kill me if they ever found out but on the bright side, it might just be enough of a shock to stop Grandma's heart, so there's that,” Taylor quipped. “I actually hired an escort to pretend to be my girlfriend once, but I didn’t have the guts to bring her. In my defence, my older brother had just found his mate and everyone was lavishing him with praise."

"I've always found that weird. Why is finding a mate such an achievement when it's literally fate's accomplishment?" Claire said.

"Exactly, thank you! It's not my fault that I haven't met mine yet. There's nothing I can do, it's out of my hands. Something my family seems to have conveniently forgotten." Taylor felt the bitterness well up in her just thinking about all the snide comments and remarks she'd endured over the years over something she couldn't control whatsoever.

Claire surprised her by taking her hand. "Well, tonight you've got me to keep your family off your back. Where are your parents? I'll dazzle them with my mediocrity."

A laugh bubbled up Taylor, dulling some of her frustration. "Now you're being harsh to yourself. Care for a drink? I'm paying."

"It's not an open bar?"

"No, but all the profits of the bar and the auction are going to charity. If you see something you like, you should bid on it."

Somehow, her statement made Claire laugh. "As much as I love a good auction, I'm almost certain I won't be able to afford anything."

Taylor’s chuckle died when she noticed her mother and father coming their way, their judgemental look already set in their eyes. She nudged Claire’s side. “Parents incoming.”

To her delight, Claire seemed unfazed as she held out her hand to greet them. “Mister and Mrs Van Der Walen, it's nice to meet you. I'm Claire."

Taylor’s father seemed confused. "It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry, who are you?"

"This is Claire," Taylor hastily interjected. "Claire, these are my parents. Monica and Julius."

"I've heard a lot about you both," Claire lied smoothly. She hadn’t been told a single thing about them.

"We didn't realise our daughter was bringing someone," Taylor’s mother said, looking her up and down. "You're not a prostitute, are you?"

"Mum!" Taylor's cheeks flushed visibly red. "Why would you say that?"

Her father released a scoff. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time you embarrassed us."

Claire took a step forward. “I’m her date. We met at Harlow’s party.”

Surprise laced through Taylor considering it had been Claire who had insisted that this wasn’t a date.

“Oh, you’re one of Harlow’s friends?” Taylor’s mother said, her interest already waning. “Well, at least Taylor is trying. I need a drink, excuse us.”

Taylor breathed a sigh of relief when her parents moved on without any other disappointing remarks or pointless accusations, thanks to Claire.

That reminded her.

“I thought this wasn’t a date,” Taylor asked, one eyebrow raised.

“It’s not, but I don’t like the way they were talking down to you, like you were undesirable or something because you don't have a mate yet. I figured there’s no harm in letting them believe that I’m your date, right?”

“Right. Thank you, I guess. That was actually really helpful.”

A playful grin lifted Claire’s lips. “Bet you’re glad you didn’t actually hire an escort, though.”

“Super glad,” Taylor said, finally managing a smile too.

"And for what it’s worth, I would definitely date you if I was into dating."

Taylor released a clattering laugh. "That's good to know. And same, you're quite the catch yourself. Now would you like some bubbly?”

"Oh, definitely.”

Once they had their drinks, Taylor guided Claire around the room so they could mingle and make small talk with anyone that was someone, which at an event like this was almost everyone. As they did their rounds, more people assumed they were on a date and neither of them corrected them. Taylor wasn’t sure why Claire was helping her but she was grateful nonetheless. Even if it was just for tonight, she’d happily take the reprieve from her family’s underhanded comments about her lack of mate.

“You mentioned wanting to speak to your boss?” Taylor asked, scanning the room in search for Emilio Silvester who owned Silver Law. “Ah, there he is. Looks like he’s chatting to the mayor. Shall we go say hello?”

“No, I can’t interrupt him if he’s talking to the mayor. That’s so awkward.”

“Sure you can. The mayor is friendly but I bet she’s dying for a refill. It’s a bit of an open secret.”

Claire didn’t budge, clearly not convinced. “You know what, it’s probably bad form to ambush him about work at a party. He won’t even know who I am. I’ll just wait for the results at work.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I don’t know what I was thinking. He probably doesn’t even handle the applications to the tuition assistance program himself.”

It bothered Taylor that Claire looked so dejected but she didn’t want to force the issue. She didn’t know enough about law firms or Claire to give advice so she just stayed quiet and guided them back to the bar so she could buy her another drink.

"It looks like the auction part of the evening is about to start," Taylor said once they had more drinks and made their way over to the auction floor. She steered Claire to their section where some of her other family members were already seated, including her parents.

Naturally, Taylor selected a different table. Since the bidding hadn’t started yet, she turned to Claire. “Have you ever been to an auction?"

"Not like this, no. But I partake in online auctions from time to time. I collect vintage miniature puzzles. I know it doesn't sound very exciting but there are more bidding wars than you'd expect."

"Vintage puzzles? Why vintage puzzles?"

"Well, there's the collector's aspect. It's exciting to have something that other people covet. And I just like puzzles, they're fun to do and it’s a bigger challenge when they’re really small."

“Interesting. I used to collect coins when I was younger but that got boring fast. Once you have them, there’s not much you can do with them.”

“That’s why puzzles are so great. There’s more to them than just collecting them.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Taylor smiled at the woman next to her. “Hey, thank you for coming with me and pretending to be my date. It really made my night more bearable.”

“Bearable? You really know how to charm a girl.”

A snort escaped Taylor. “It made my night, how’s that?”

“Better. Much better.”

A thought sprung to Taylor's mind and even though it felt crazy, she voiced one of them out loud. "Hear me out. What if you come to a few family events with me? I know you said you don't want to date but it would just be for show,” she said, trying not to sound too desperate but having Claire as her date really helped. Besides, she was good company and she was easy on the eyes too, that always helped.

"That sounds like it would be quite...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 10.3.2023
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-10: 0-00-044362-X / 000044362X
• ISBN-13: 978-0-00-044362-5 / 9780000443625