Before the moment could get too tense, though, he thought he’d better speak again.
“Ever had Cristal?” he asked, his tone deliberately casual.
Now Delia grinned back at him, her entire face lighting up. She was beautiful all the time, but when she smiled like that, she was positively incandescent.
“As a matter of fact, I have,” she responded, still looking amused. “One of my friends from college got married to the son of a local developer, and they had a crazy, extravagant wedding. Swans wandering around on the lawn at the country club and a five-course meal and Cristal all ’round — and an open bar for those who weren’t into champagne. The whole thing must have set them back around a million bucks.”
That was a lot of money to blow on an event that only lasted for one day. Caleb came from wealth himself — he was the third generation of demons and part demons from Greencastle, Indiana, and his father had been president of a local bank — but even he was sometimes surprised by the way people threw their cash around.
Then again, he’d happily spend that much or more to make sure Delia had a perfect day.
Which was kind of nuts, he knew. They weren’t dating…they hadn’t shared even a single kiss…but he still knew she was the only woman in the world for him.
And not just because she knew the truth of who and what he was and didn’t seem to care a single bit. Sure, she’d been shocked at first, but now she was someone he had never expected when he moved here, a close friend and a true ally when the supernatural shit hit the fan, which had happened a lot more than he’d planned for.
“The heart wants what it wants,” he remarked, and Delia’s grin only broadened.
“I suppose so,” she said. “Still, I don’t think it was a very good investment, considering they got divorced just three years later. No pre-nup, so I think they’re still arguing about who gets the condo in Cabo.”
“Well, luckily, my real estate deal turned out a bit better than that,” Caleb said. He didn’t want to dwell on her friend’s divorce and would much rather focus on the happy news that had brought Delia here in the first place. “So, I think it’s time for champagne.”
She nodded, although a certain sly glint in her eyes told him she understood exactly why he’d changed the subject. “And with these high ceilings, you don’t have to worry about blowing a hole in all that new drywall.”
As if he’d be that clumsy when opening a bottle of champagne. Okay, he didn’t have a huge amount of experience, but all it needed was a little dip into his demonic powers to make sure the cork slid out easily, and soon enough, champagne was flowing into their waiting flutes.
“Very smooth,” Delia observed, her mouth quirking ever so slightly. “Have you been practicing?”
“I don’t need to practice,” he replied.
Her expression sobered a bit, and she gave him a considering look. “No, I don’t suppose you do.”
Rather than respond directly, he lifted his glass. “Let’s toast to the Baumanns and their drama-free escrow.”
Delia raised her glass as well. “Good idea.”
They clinked their flutes together gently, and then each of them took a sip of Cristal. Caleb wouldn’t pretend to know too much about champagne — although he’d been studying wine lately, wanting to make sure he wouldn’t embarrass himself when he took Delia out to dinner — but he thought this was still probably the best bubbly he’d ever had.
“Go ahead, take a seat,” he urged her, and she settled herself on the sofa, an appreciative glow in her eyes.
“That’s some good stuff,” she commented, then looked over the food he provided, spread across the glass and black iron coffee table. “And so is all this.”
“It’s not every day you sell a house,” he said as he sat down as well. On the sofa, too, but far enough away that she couldn’t possibly view his presence as invading her personal space.
“Unless you’re a real estate agent,” she said with a smile before sipping some more champagne.
“True,” he agreed. “Speaking of offers, have you heard back about the house in Wyeth Ranch?”
Because although the collapse of Aegis Holdings had rocked the Las Vegas real estate market, that didn’t mean he didn’t plan to take advantage of it. The property in Wyeth Ranch would be one of their most recent acquisitions if they managed to snag it, and it hadn’t yet been updated and therefore was going for a lot less than most of the other houses that were being liquidated.
“The auction is on Wednesday,” she replied. A flicker of worry came and went in her expression, and Caleb could tell she wasn’t completely thrilled about getting involved with Aegis again, if only in a peripheral way.
While he understood her trepidation, he thought she was being a bit too cautious. They’d walked the property with a bunch of other investors who’d been on the same tour set up by the auction company, and he hadn’t detected a single hint of demonic activity in the place. It might have once been owned by a positively diabolical outfit, but the house itself was just an ordinary three-two built in the late eighties and in dire need of some updating.
Also, Delia hadn’t sensed anything off about the house, either. Although she still steadfastly refused to call herself a psychic, they both knew her powers — which had started as the simple ability to speak to ghosts and help them move on to the next world — had begun to shift and expand after the incident at the Desert Sands casino.
Well, also after they’d met Ty Carter, a local tennis pro who might or might not be an angel, or at least part one, just as Caleb was part demon. Ty had all but admitted that Delia’s strengthening powers had something to do with him, even though he’d also said they would have expanded without his intervention, if not as quickly.
Anyway, Delia hadn’t felt anything wrong about the house Caleb wanted to pick up as a cheap flip, which meant he was willing to bid up to a fairly decent price to get his hands on the place. He’d had so much fun working on this house with her that he wanted to do whatever he could to repeat the experience…and making a little extra money on the side wouldn’t hurt, either.
