“Looks like you could use another one.” I slid the lemon drop across to her as I stood waiting for her signal to sit. I didn't want to come off as a stalker asshole; women didn’t like that.
She picked it up and put it to her lips, all while staring at me. She took a sip, pursed her lips and closed her eyes for a second before setting it back down.
“That's the good stuff. Why don't you take a seat Mr…?” She waved her hand to the seat across from her.
“West. Mr. West.” I kept my smile light and unthreatening, trying to keep her at ease, but I could tell, when her smile turned sharp, that she was going to try to find some fault with me. Well, this would be interesting.
“So, Mr. West, what brings you to Vex today?” Her question was easy and light, but I could tell this was only the beginning.
I crossed my ankle on my knee and leaned back, matching her unbothered vibe. “I'm a financial broker for Schaub & Associates, and I have a very important client I was visiting. Garth and I go back, so when I'm in town, I like to stop by.”
Her eyebrows lifted at the Garth part, and I could tell I’d passed level one of a five hundred question test I'm sure a woman like her had.
I took a sip of my drink as she looked me up and down.
“So, what are you?”
I choked on my drink because that was the last thing I thought she would ask. Usually, demons like to dance around subjects, tricking you into giving away knowledge or secrets, not asking you point blank.
She smirked, knowing she threw me off guard, but I swallowed it down.
“To be honest, I don’t know what I am.”
It was true. I didn't know the species I was. I just knew my purpose and what other supernatural and celestials called us,the four horsemenorbringers of the apocalypse, but that wasn’t what she asked me. That was how you dealt with demons: truths that are a lie.
Her eyes narrow. Suspicion clouded her eyes and I knew I had to keep talking.
“I know that my powers are not demonic or angelic. I know that I am one-of-a-kind. I also have a different kind of power, one that constantly grows inside of me and needs to be released or chaos will ensue.”
All of those things were true, and she could see it in my face and feel it in my words. That's the other thing about working with demons: they know when you lie.
Her eyes still narrowed, but the suspicion was gone. Like she knew I was telling the truth but still didn't trust it completely. She was smart. I could see a smidgen of Lucifer in her behind those all-seeing eyes. It just made me wonder what they fought about for her to run away like she did.
“Truths that aren't exactly truths. You are exciting. I’ll give you that.” Her cunning smile made my heart pound in my chest.
Was I getting turned on by this volley of information? Yes, yes, I was.
“So, Mr. West, who isn't a demon or angel, what is it that you need from me today?” Her voice was all business, but I could tell she found the situation amusing. Humor was always a way to a woman's heart, so I leaned on that.
“Oh, nothing really. Just this stunningly beautiful female who I watched down more than four drinks and enjoyed them like she had only one life to live.” This could go either way. She could take it horribly wrong or have a sense of humor and take it for what it was.
She cocked her head to one side, examining me for a full three seconds before laughter bubbled out of her sensuous mouth. Both of us were now laughing and smiling.
“Only one life… No… but savoring life's guilty pleasures…” She shrugged unapologetically. “Then you caught me. I love sugar.”
The smile that brightened her face was infectious. It was her true smile. I knew that because it made me feel things, it made me want things. It made me want to be the reason it appeared on her face again and again.
“Well, how could you not?” I say, trying to find some common ground we could connect with.
“No, you don't understand. I love sugar. I could never drink that.” She points to my martini. “I know I should, but I just can't stomach it. Wrap it up in sour sugariness, though, and I will wolf it down like a college kid at midterms with an energy drink.”
She leaned in, her chin tipped down as she looked at me through her long thick lashes, batting them at me seductively while her small red roguish smirk told me she would be the one who could blow my mind in bed. Her face looked like she was telling me something secretive and naughty. Something only between us. I couldn’t keep from leaning in with her, to look like we were just two lovers sharing secrets with each other.
“I have a secret compartment in my desk that I keep assorted chocolate in. When I feel extra stabby, I pop one of those in, andBAM”—she clapped her hand in front of our faces—“instant calm down.”
She leaned in to take a drink, smiling at me over the rim, and I couldn’t help but let out a little laugh at her dirty secret. The moment was so real and unencumbered that I got caught up in the moment and decided to give her one of my secrets.
“Well, that’s not as bad as having a coffee addiction.”
