Page 60 of Dragon Tempted

“And that’s not who you are.”

Her eyes flared. “Precisely.”

He stepped closer to her. “You are too stubborn for your own good.”

Laughter burst out of her. “Says the most stubborn person on the planet.”

“What about Tessa?” he countered. Damn. Was he teasing her right now?

Her eyes danced. “Okay, the second most stubborn person on the planet.”

“I wouldn’t dare take that crown away from her,” he said as he reached up and pushed a piece of hair that had come loose from her bun behind her ear. What the hell was he doing?

Her shocked expression told him she was thinking the same thing. He backed away. “Why do you think Mia is so sure your family has another book?”

She blinked. “I don’t know. Maybe because our great-grandmother wrote them? My mother told us part of the story. So she was either told the stories or the books were passed down to her.” Sienna’s eyes widened and her face paled.

He took a step toward her. “What’s wrong?”

“John. If my mother had something important that was handed down from her family, she would have kept it in a special place.”

His heart sped up. “The cabin.”

“Yes! We’ve never searched here.”

“Where do you want to start?” he asked.

She looked around the room before responding. “The bookshelves make the most sense, don’t you think?”

He nodded. The bookshelves along the wall were made of several longer shelves and also shelves with horizontal braces in the middle that created square cubbyholes. Sienna started at one end and John the other as they methodically removed the books and various items from each shelf and cubbyhole before returning it and moving on to the next. As each area returned nothing, Sienna’s enthusiasm ebbed. When they reached the last shelf, her shoulders drooped.

“Don’t give up yet. We have plenty more to check.” John walked over to the sewing machine. “What about here?”

Sienna sat in the chair in front of the antique sewing table. “There isn’t much here to look at.”

“I think this is one of the folding tables that you can store the machine inside. Let’s see if we can move it. Maybe there’s a storage area beneath it.”

Sienna reached around the back. “There is some sort of lever back here.” She moved it and the machine started to tilt down. She peeked in the space. “I think I see something.”

“Here, let me hold the machine while you see if you can reach it.”

It took some maneuvering, but Sienna was able to pull out the thin leather book. Her hands shook as she held it up. “Oh my God.”

John righted the sewing machine, and they stared at each other in silence. She opened the book and read the inside cover. “It’s the same handwriting, and Margaret Collins’s name is here too.”

John led her over to the couch since she didn’t look too stable, and she dropped down, holding the book against her chest. “I can’t believe this has been here all along.” She opened the book again and flipped to the front of the story. “Are you ready to hear what happens next?”

“You don’t want to let everyone know you found it?”

“I’m not waking up the entire house tonight. I’ll show them first thing in the morning.”

“Then by all means, start reading.”

She smiled at him, and he felt a catch in his chest. He would do anything to keep that smile on her face. Anything.

Chapter 22

Sienna set the book down in her lap as she tried to absorb what she’d read so far.