To Wed A Dragon: BBW Dragon Shifter Paranormal Romance (Weredragon Warriors Book 2) (6 page)

Nora jumped out of the
ambulance as soon as the vehicle screeched to a halt in front of the
large, swanky fitness center. They had gotten a call informing them
that someone had collapsed while running on a treadmill at a FabFit
gym. FabFit was a chain of fitness centers and it was where the rich
and glamorous went to get fit and fabulous.

With quick, practiced moves,
Nora and Mario unloaded the gurney and rolled it quickly towards the
tinted glass doors of the fitness center.

“Woah, this center is
way bigger than the one I go to,” Mario whistled as they
hurried through the automatic sliding doors.

“I didn't know you
joined a fitness center,” Nora said, arching a brow at him over
her shoulder. “You never mentioned it.”

“I just joined. It's
my guilty little secret,” Mario said in a stage whisper.

“You break my heart,
Mario. I thought there're no secrets between us,” Nora said.
“So spill. What else are you keeping from me?”

Mario chuckled happily and
flashed a goofy grin. Awww, she could see the hearts and stars in
his eyes.

“You proposed to
Julia!” Nora gasped and reached over to punch his arm. “How
could you not tell me! You! Man, I'm so mad at you. And so happy
for you! Congrats, you!”

Mario giggled. The big teddy
bear actually giggled. “It's a surprise for Julia. I want to
present a FabFit new me to her on our wedding night,” he said
patting his paunch.

“I'm sure she loves you
just the way you are,” Nora said sternly. “I do.”

“You're the best.
And...” Mario cleared his throat. “I wanted to ask you
if you'd be my best man, um, woman.”

Nora sucked in a breath but
she didn't have time to reply. The receptionist had jumped out from
behind the counter as soon as he saw them. The blond, buff young man
was talking nineteen to a dozen as he jogged up to them.

“This way,” the
flawlessly coiffed and sculptured receptionist said, hurrying them to
a side elevator. “He's on the second floor. That's where the
treadmills are. The ground floor is for weight training.”

“I know, I'm a FabFit
member,” Mario offered.

The receptionist broke into a
dazzling smile that was reserved only for FabFit customers. “Oh,
that's lovely. I haven't seen you around though.”

“I go to the gym at the
corner of Westpoint Avenue,” Mario replied as they entered the
elevator.

“Ah, then you know
Sergei. I hope he takes good care of you. He's one of our best
personal trainers. But I heard he's having an affair with a
customer.”

Nora turned to frown at
Mario. They were here to attend to a patient, not chit-chat and
gossip about personal trainers. Mario lifted his shoulders in
response.
What? I didn't start this
, he mouthed.

The sleek, glass elevator
glided up to the second floor, and Nora followed the chatty
receptionist past all the state-of-the-art, futuristic,
expensive-looking exercise equipment.

Nora jumped visibly when some
of the machines called out salutations and greetings to her as she
passed. She did a mental facepalm. Duh, of course there would be
motion sensors on those things. Everything had sensors and cameras
now. No one even had to lift a finger to press a button nowadays.
Machines and devices were all smart enough to obey your voice
commands.

But still, the machines
weren't smart enough to prevent accidents. Which was why they were
here.

Nora wondered briefly if the
treadmill had been smart enough to slow to a stop when it detected
that the man was no longer running on it. That could have prevented
a nasty fall from becoming even nastier.

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

As soon as they stepped out
of the elevator, Nora saw a small crowd gathered in the middle of the
spacious, mirrored room.

“Let the paramedics
through,” the receptionist announced. “Come on, let the
man breathe, people.”

A red-faced, overweight man
who looked like he was in his mid-fifties was sitting on the floor,
grunting and grumbling. Someone was supporting him and holding a
small cup of water to his lips.

Nora and Mario knelt by the
man's side and checked his vital signs. “Can you tell us your
name?” Mario asked as he took the man's pulse.

“Omar Faye.”

“Do you remember what
happened, Omar?”

“Yeah. One minute I
was running on that treadmill over there. The next minute I was on
my ass.”

“Did you feel dizzy or
breathless before you fell?” Nora asked.

Omar blinked at her, then
abruptly smoothed his hand over his stringy, matted hair. “I
exercise, I eat right, I'm fitter than most men half my age. I have
great stamina, you know,” he added, leaning towards Nora and
waggling his brows.

Nora smiled pleasantly. “Do
you feel dizzy or breathless now, Omar?”

“No, I'm fit as a
fiddle.” Omar puffed out his chest and flexed his biceps.

Mario gave her an amused look
and kept his mouth shut.

“We were afraid he'd
had a heart attack,” one of the women said. “He just
dropped to the floor and I think he hit his head pretty hard. We all
heard it. Right?” She looked around the group for
confirmation.

“I'm fine,” Omar
snapped and tried to get up but Nora stopped him.

“All your vital signs
are fine, Omar,” Nora said, putting away her thermometer and
stethoscope. “But to be on the safe side, we'll bring you in
for a checkup.”

Omar Faye beamed at her.
“Oh. I'm happy to go to the hospital, as long as the nurses
there are as pretty as you.”

“I can assure you that
the nurses at the hospital are way prettier than me,” Nora
answered without missing a beat. “Now, let's get you on that
gurney and we'll be on our way.”

As they were rolling the
gurney into the elevator, she heard the receptionist gasp. “Mr
Haeken!”

Nora looked up. It was her
turn to gasp.

Edriq was walking towards
them, his eyes sweeping across the room and taking in every single
detail.

Nora saw that even though his
glance seemed cursory, he remembered every face he saw and took in
the situation at once.

“Mr Faye,” he
said, striding up to them. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, thank you. I'm
just going for a ride in the ambulance with this sexy paramedic,”
Omar said, winking at Nora.

“I'll accompany you,”
Edriq said to Omar. “I'll inform your family and get the
paperwork done at the hospital.”

“I don't think...”
Nora began.

“I'm the Managing
Director of FabFit. Our customers' safety is our priority,”
Edriq said.

“You're the what?”
Nora sputtered.

Mario shot her a look and
nudged her. “He's the big boss here,” he whispered.

Nora chuffed out a breath and
elbowed Edriq unceremoniously out of the way.

“You can't ride in the
ambulance, Mr Haeken,” she said pointedly.

“I'll follow you in my
car,” Edriq answered, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.
“Don't worry, Mr Faye, you're in good hands.”

Omar chortled and called out
gleefully, “I'd love to have her hands all over me!”

As the elevator door closed,
Nora heard a low, warning growl from Edriq.

Nora turned when Mario poked
her in the shoulder.

“What?” she
snapped.

Mario grinned. “So
spill. What else are you keeping from me?”

“Nothing!”

As they rolled Omar towards
the ambulance, Mario chanted under his breath, “Nora and Edriq
sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G...”

“I just met the guy,
really!” Nora threw up her hands in exasperation.

“I don't believe ya!”
Mario stuck out his tongue at her and sang all the way to the
hospital, “First comes love, then comes...”

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

Edriq tailgated the
ambulance, zooming past red lights together with the ambulance.
Traffic rules didn't apply to emergency vehicles when they had the
siren on, and Edriq had no intention of letting the ambulance out of
his sight.

He stuck closely to the
speeding ambulance, too aware that Nora was in there with another
male who was shamelessly showering her with all sorts of flattering
and flirtatious remarks.

Omar Faye was an incorrigible
flirt. He was a valued customer of FabFit but Edriq had seen the guy
hitting on almost every lady in the gym. He was largely harmless and
the ladies found him more amusing than annoying.

Edriq knew he could have sent
one of his administrative staff to accompany Omar to the hospital.
They had insurance, so even if Omar sued the company, they would be
covered. But Edriq wasn't doing this for Omar or the company.

He was doing this
for...himself.

His dragon pounded him on the
back to egg him on.
At last
, his dragon cheered.
Go get
her!

This was the first time he
was throwing everything aside and putting himself first. His wants,
his needs, his...mate.

For him, duty came first.
Duty to his king, his people, his job.

Edriq scowled when his phone
rang shrilly. He snapped on the earpiece and snarled, “Yes.”

“Where are you, man?”
Zul asked. “I called your office...”

“I'm on my way to the
hospital,” Edriq said tersely.

“Ah, I heard. But the
guy just fell on his ass, right? Nothing major.”

Edriq grunted. Zul already
knew the situation. He'd probably learned everything from their very
chatty receptionist. Edriq drummed his fingers on the steering
wheel. There was another reason his busybody brother was calling.
He could already guess what that was, and he considered hanging up
before Zul could start his prolonged and painful interrogation.

But that wouldn't deter Zul.
One way or other, he would wheedle the truth out of Edriq.

“My staff saw you at a
Blazing Beans outlet last night,” Zul said and lowered his
voice to a dramatic whisper. “Who is she?”

“I don't know what
you're talking about.”

“Aww, don't be like
that. She's a special someone, ain't she? Everyone saw how you
looked at her.”

Edriq groaned. Zul had a
very good relationship with all his staff, and he always visited
every outlet and gathered feedback from his staff and customers. It
seemed that feedback wasn't the only thing Zul gathered. He gathered
a fair amount of gossip as well.

“How long have you been
seeing her? What's her name? Are you going to bring her home to
meet the family?” Zul asked eagerly.

The interrogation had begun.

“Zul, dammit!”
Edriq swore and stomped on the brakes just in time as the ambulance
slowed down suddenly.

“Tsk, tsk. You don't
have to yell at me. Everyone's looking forward to meeting your lady
friend. Mrs Vomae said she'll whip up her special dessert...”

“Mrs Vomae!”
Edriq spluttered. “You told Mrs Vomae?”

“Yeah,” Zul
deadpanned. “Mmm, I might have mentioned it to Rohan. And you
know he never keeps anything from Amelia, so Amelia knows too. And
Amelia and Tessa talk about everything, so...”

“So the whole family
knows,” Edriq finished with a long sigh.

“Uh-huh. Five
o'clock,” Zul said cheerfully. “Dinner.”

“What!”

“We're all coming home
early. Dinner will be at five, or maybe five-thirty, so we can spend
more time with your special friend.” Before Edriq could say
anything, Zul went on happily, “What time does she finish work?
Pick her up and come straight home.”

“I don't...”

“Tessa is so excited!
She wants to know your friend's name. I think she wants to make her
a bookmark or something.”

Edriq closed his eyes
briefly. He knew when he was beaten. He could never say no to the
little princess. And Zul, that sneaky bastard, knew it.

“Nora.”

Zul's laughter was an
evil-sounding cackle. “I'll let Tessa know that Aunt Nora is
coming to dinner tonight.” He made a kissy sound.
“Toodle-oo!”

Edriq swore at the dial tone.

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

Nora smiled and hoped Edriq
couldn't tell how nervous she was. She had said yes when he asked
her if she would have dinner with his family.

Edriq's words had come out in
a rush, and he'd looked so shy and anxious. “Zul said Mrs
Vomae is cooking up a storm in the kitchen. But he's never seen her
happier. We seldom have dinner guests, so she's really excited. So
is everyone. Tessa is...making something for you. A present, I
think,” he'd stuttered. “Would you...do us the honor...”
With a gulp, he plowed on, “Would you have dinner with me and
my family...tonight?”