Page 36 of Dragon Tempted

“You not going to practice?” Sienna asked.

“I beat on this bag on the regular. Needed to hone my defense skills after getting grabbed by that Templar thug.”

“Adam said you almost got away from him.”

“The important word in that sentence is almost.” She turned to Sienna. “Megan just filled me in on the drone and the talk with John. Gives a whole other perspective to Sir Grumps-a-Lot, doesn’t it?”

“Absolutely.” Sienna sighed.

“He can be hard to deal with. Maybe that’s why I like him since I’m the same way.”

Sienna smiled. “Glad you’re so self-aware.”

Tessa barked out a laugh. “That’s true. John doesn’t know it, but I think he needs someone he can confide in. A friend.”

“Feels like you’ve been giving this a lot of thought. Who do you suggest?” Sienna took a sip of water.

Tessa tilted her head and smirked.

Sienna choked, coughing until she could catch her breath again. “Oh no. Not me. What about Megan?”

“Megan is too kindhearted. She told me she barely stopped from crying when he was answering her questions. You know John isn’t going to respond well to that.”

“What about you?”

Tessa shook her head. “Oil-water. Not a good combo.” Tessa held up her hands. “And before you suggest it, Eric and Adam are out too.”

Sienna nodded. “Because they’re overprotective.”

Tessa laughed again. “Because they’re both jealous Neanderthals when it comes to John. You do remember that Lily’s drawing of me and John standing hand-in-hand in front of his cabin put the fire under Adam’s butt to declare his love for me, right?”

“Yes.” That story had become folklore in the family. They were running out of options. “What about Marcus?”

Tessa’s eyes widened. “Two grouches who don’t like to talk? How is that going to work exactly?” She rested her hand on Sienna’s arm. “I’ve seen how he is with you. Look how he was during the meeting. How you convinced him to stay. He respects you. And that’s saying a lot where John is concerned.”

And hadn’t Ryan said something similar to her too? “And how exactly do you think I should make this friendship happen? A friendship bracelet is not going to work.”

Tessa clapped her hands together. “Not from you. But that just gave me an idea.”

Whenever Tessa announced she had an idea, the hairs on Sienna’s neck stood up. “What sort of idea?”

“You need something to break the ice with him. A ringer. Don’t worry. I’ve got it all under control.”

Now the hairs on her arms were joining in too. She would have to rein Tessa in or it could blow up spectacularly in her face.

An hour later Sienna had showered and changed into work clothes before heading downstairs to the office where she found Ryan typing away on his laptop. The whiteboards he’d ordered were attached to legs with wheels so they could be moved out of the way. Currently they were pushed over to the side of the room. Megan had already started transferring the notes to the boards.

“Any news from Jonas yet about the drone?”

Ryan nodded. “We watched the footage and the drone hadn’t recorded much before you grabbed it. Jonas is going to do some more research on it.” He paused. “I take it the talk with John didn’t go well?”

“Why would you say that?”

“Because I saw you, Megan, and Tessa in the courtyard beating on the heavy bag.”

Sienna sat behind the desk. “It’s not what you think. John told us about some events from his earlier years before he started keeping the journals. It was really hard to listen to. Everyone in his life abandoned him.”

Ryan frowned. “Damn. That would make me want to pound on something too.”