Page 16 of Dragon Charmed

His heart thumped in his chest. Damn. Those eyes. The color of well-worn denim. And that face…the word gorgeous didn’t do her justice. And while he might not know who he was, he knew down to his bones that beautiful women as a rule were a danger to him.

“I know who you are,” she said.

And with those five words his thumping heart lurched to a stop. Holy shit. Could it be that simple? Could she be the key to him finding out who he was? And what if he didn’t like what she had to say. About him—his past, his actions, his damn name.

But he wasn’t going to walk away from her like he had John’s cabin. He had to know the truth.

Tessa was having a hard time breathing. This is what she got for trying to be a detective. But she wasn’t going to show her hand. Nothing would stop her from protecting Arabella and Megan and the dragon clan that they were both now a part of. Especially with Mr. Tall, Dark, and Smug. Up close he was rugged in his Henley and jeans. Had a real lumberjack vibe going on. Dark, slightly shaggy hair, close-cut beard. And those eyes—big and brown. And of course he had eyelashes that would take a makeup artist an hour to recreate.

He looked like he got his way. A lot.

She wasn’t going to let that happen. Not when it came to protecting Arabella and Megan. Tessa narrowed her eyes and went on the offensive, something she was way too good at. “I know who you are.”

“And who do you think I am?” he asked in a too calm voice.

Calm voices scared Tessa even more than loud, growly ones. Time to lay everything on the table.

“You’re the private investigator that John Baker hired.”

He blinked at her before responding. “And you know this how?”

“Because John told me he was hiring someone, and I saw you on the road leading back to his cabin.” She might as well let it all out since he knew she’d been following him, which meant he must have seen her check out his truck. “And I saw the paper in your truck with John’s name and address and your instructions to find Mia White.”

He paused after she finally stopped talking, as if he was choosing his words carefully. “And how do you know John?”

Okay, now was the time to fudge some things. “John is a friend.”

He narrowed his eyes. “And did he tell you my name?”

Oh, she was messing this up. “No. But we haven’t had a chance to talk details since he said he was hiring someone yesterday to find Mia.”

He pushed out a breath before setting the coffees on the roof of her car. “You felt the need to follow me, why?”

Crap on a cracker. “John is a bit overprotective. I wanted to help find Mia White, but he decided to take matters into his own hands.” She was digging an even bigger hole.

“And so you decided to take matters back?”

He was a comedian. She sat up straighter. “Yes. I don’t want to be kept out of the loop on this. And even though John doesn’t believe it, I can help.” She grabbed the envelope next to her. “I’ve done some research on Mia to help jump-start the search.”

He reached for it, and she pulled it to her chest. “I’m not handing this over until we have an agreement. I want to help.”

He stared at her without saying a word. So long that she almost started to squirm under his gaze, but she stopped herself.

“Let’s take a look at your research.”

She opened her mouth to interrupt him, and he held up his hand. She would have told him where he could stuff that hand if she wasn’t trying to convince him to let her help.

“Together.”

She nodded. “I’m Tessa.”

He returned her nod. “Ben. And just so you know up front, I’m not promising anything until I see it.”

She narrowed her eyes again and he smiled. Ben obviously didn’t know who he was dealing with…yet.

Chapter 6

Ben counted to four as he sucked in a breath and then counted to five as he blew that same breath out. He was trying to calm down before Tessa came back with her coffee order. They had decided to go back into the coffee shop since most people were grabbing their caffeine to go, which meant the tables were relatively empty. And it was neutral territory.