Compelled (The Secrets of Dragons Book 1) Read Free

to get out and enjoy the weather.”
    Was she sure she was from Florida? It had been sunny, but could have been fifteen or twenty degrees warmer. Eric shrugged off his jacket and hung the leather on the back of the chair. “I’d be happy to do the dishes for you.”
    Lou turned to stare at him with a look of utter surprise that made him feel the need to intercede. “Believe it or not. Eric likes doing housework. Our motorhome is so clean you could eat off the floors. Dirty dishes in the sink bug the shit out of him.”
    “Help yourself,” she replied, gesturing to the sink before turning and flipping the coffee maker on. “I have regular dark roast and vanilla; what’s your poison?”
    Alex sat at the table. “I would love plain dark roast. Eric likes vanilla. So what’s your poison?”
    “Are we still discussing coffee?” she asked with a smirk of a smile.
    The woman certainly had an expressive face. “Have you ever played poker?”
    She turned to the sound of the microwave being closed and frowned. Eric was also a fanatic about having a clean sponge and liked to nuke it to kill any germs. He wasn’t exactly a germaphobe, but had his moments.
    “What are you doing?” asked Lou.
    Eric cringed. Their former girlfriend had been extremely nasty about Eric’s eccentricities. It was one of many things they were constantly fighting about. He didn’t allow anyone to pick on Eric.
    “I was sanitizing the sponge.”
    Lou shrugged. “I do that myself sometimes. Thank you.”
    A smile bloomed on Eric’s face. The expression verified what he already knew. Lou was the perfect woman for them. She put the first cup of coffee on the table in front of him, then turned back to make a second cup. He wondered if she would make her own first or make Eric’s knowing he would be tied up with the dishes for a few minutes. “Do you have any milk?”
    “I have half-and-half in the fridge.”
    Alex got up and checked. He was pleased to find she had purchased the organic kind with nothing but milk and cream in it. He had problems with many of the additives in food. They would make him ill and cause his skin to become beet red, hence his nickname. He had also been called Hellboy on occasion.
    “Do you want milk, Eric?” she asked as she set the cup down next to the sink.
    Eric smiled and shook his head. “I like it straight up black.”
    Lou sat down across from him. “I’m going to skip on the coffee. I drank a cup earlier, and it’ll keep me from sleeping if I have more. Not that I sleep well anyway,” she added with a shrug.
    That was concerning. It was important for body and mind to get enough sleep. “You don’t sleep well?”
    “Not really. I haven’t since my grandmother died. She was the only family I had. I swear I hear her walking around sometimes and the sounds creep me out.”
    “You think she’s haunting you?” he asked with far more humor in his voice than he intended. He had every reason in the world to believe the supernatural existed.
    “No. I think it’s my imagination, but it doesn’t make it any easier to go to sleep.”
    Alex had been under the impression she had been living with someone when she mentioned changing the locks. “What about your boyfriend?”
    “He worked nights.”
    It was disturbing to consider her alone, every night, wandering around or lying in bed in fear. Why did he feel so propelled to protect her? He had just met the woman. Alex glanced up at Eric and saw Eric staring at him with a look that could only be described as horror. Were they having the same thought? They often did.
    What he was thinking was completely ludicrous, but he was going to propose it anyway. “Would it be completely off the wall if one of us offered to stay with you tonight? It wouldn’t be a problem or anything. We could sleep on the sofa so you won’t be alone.”
    Her face flushed with the pink of embarrassment, but why was she embarrassed? Was she ashamed to be fearful of being alone? For many