After only a minute, she finished off her creation with a flourish of her wrist as she placed the lemon rind on the edge of the martini glass and stepped back. “There, perfect cosmo.”
Lucifer stepped forward to lift the glass. My eyes narrowed on him as his shoulder brushed with hers.
It seemed like every woman in the entire place watched as he brought the glass to his lips and sipped the pink liquid. His throat twitched with a swallow, and I wasn’t sure if someone had cranked up the thermostat at that exact moment or if the saying “hot as Hell” had been spawned from the sinful lips of this devil.
“It’s delicious,” he said, looking down at the drink almost like he was surprised. Curving his palm around the glass with the stem pinched between his fingers, he leaned an elbow again the bar and smirked at Jess.
I didn’t like the way he was looking at her. It made my stomach cartwheel with unease.
“As it so happens, I’m currently looking for a bartender. A human who knows how to make human drinks. And having a human on staff might do wonders for pulling in a more human clientele.”
Jess’ eyes filled with confusion as she looked around at some of the dancers on the club floor and then up to the one working the pole on the main stage. I didn’t have to read minds to know what she was thinking because the same thought ran through my head.
Theylookedhuman. So if they weren’t, what were they?
“They’re succubi. Another form of shifter,” Lucifer explained in a casual tone.
“Demons?” I asked through a whisper, barely daring to say the word.
“But of course. Where there are angels, demons are never too far away,” he answered with a wink.
This was all just too much. People who could turn into animals was one thing, but demons and angels who could waltz around like they were human, without anyone being wise to the deceit? That meant demons could just be walking around, looking like the next guy. Waiting for you to turn down a dark alley, then corner you and eat your entrails.
The corner of Lucifer’s mouth lifted in a mocking grin. “But don’t worry, loves. I keep all the naughty demons locked up downstairs, and I only let the most angelic of my hellish brood out to play on the surface.”
Jessica laughed, thinking all this was just a joke. “You’re funny. I won’t lie, working here would be wild, compared to the long shifts I pull at the hospital.”
“Indeed. Exactly why you should come work for me. I’ll pay you twice as much and work you half what they are. Besides,” he tapped his stubbled chin in thought, “I want you so badly that I’m willing to throw in something extra special as a sort of sign-on bonus. How about that?”
Jess and I both gapped at the devil, completely at a loss for words. Me, because I was literally watching Satan try to lure my friend on his payroll, and Jess probably thought this was an offer too good to be true. She was right, of course, but for completely different reasons than what she expected.
“What kind of sign-on bonus?” she asked with a cautious flit to her words.
“If you come work for me, I will double your current salary the hospital is paying you.”
“But you don’t know what I’m making.”
He chuckled because he knew exactly what she was making simply because she was thinking it.
“Trust me, I can afford it.” He looked up at me and slid me a wink like we were in custody of some harmless inside joke. “It’s also my understanding that your father is in poor health. Miracles aren’t really my line of work, Kitten, but you intrigue me. Maybe I can help. All you have to do is sign this.”
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a paper contract. There was no flaming parchment, no floating pen or cackling demons unless you counted the giggling strippers at a distant table.
But none of that stuff was needed to know that piece of paper was bad news for Jess, big time.
She looked at the paper like he’d pulled a snake out of his jacket. Then she snapped her head in my direction, catching me off guard with the most scathing glare. “You told him about my dad?Melanie!What the fuck? That’s private.”
All my insides were a jumble like I’d just fallen off a roller coaster that I’d been strapped to for hours on end. For a moment, I thought I actually might be sick.
“I didn’t tell him. I swear.”
“Then how does he know about my dad’s cancer?”
“Because he’s the devil, Jessica!”
She gave a dramatic eye roll and scoffed. “He’s not the devil. You need to go home, Mel. Get some sleep. You’ve been through too much tonight, and you’re starting to irritate me. I don’t want to fight on your birthday.”
“But Jessica—”
“Go home!” She was practically yelling now. I knew that tone. No matter what I said, there would be no convincing her. Now I could see angry tears glazing her eyes, sliding down her cheeks and peppering the chest of her blue scrubs. She had been presented with an emotional offer and was pissed at me on top of it.
It made me sick to my stomach even thinking about leaving her alone with this guy, but I’d tried to tell her. And at that moment, it was all I could do. If I pushed it any further, I risked fracturing my relationship with Jessica, and as my only aside from Gabe, I couldn’t chance that. She’d have to figure out exactly who Lucifer Morningstar was on her own.
“Fine,” my voice wavered as I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Just don’t sign anything, Jess.Please?”
Then I was off, shoving my way past dancers, trying my damnest not to think about what they really were, what they really looked like, as I flung myself toward the restrooms. It was too much to process, too much to consider.
If everything Lucifer said was true, then angels—celestials—were real.
And that meant it was also true that I was quite possibly in love with one.
