“Three dates. I’m here to claim the first.”
“No.”
“Have breakfast with me. We can take a long stroll on the beach, get to know each other. Find out if our star signs align.”
“I already know your star sign.”
“How studious of you.” He leaned in, resting his arm on the doorjamb above my head. I rocked back on one foot and crossed my arms over my chest. “Want to share all the good stuff with the class?”
“Ass, you mean,” Xtelle shouted from behind me. “You have some nerve coming here and trying to…what are you trying to do?”
“You like me,” Bathin said, ignoring the unicorn. “I like you. Let’s have breakfast.”
“I already ate.”
“Let’s have coffee.”
“No.”
“Her? You’re trying to date her?” the unicorn screeched. “That one? Why did you choose the most boring Reed?”
I raised my eyebrows and decided the demon had a good strategy. I ignored the unicorn.
“No breakfast,” I said to Bathin.
“Then let’s do lunch.” His smile was almost fond. “I know you’re trying to come up with an excuse for why you can’t have lunch with me. I’m sure you have a dozen very good reasons. Here’s my rebuttal: We made an agreement back at the Hell vortex. Let’s not sully those memories by going back on our words. Lunch will be lunch. I’m not expecting anything else.”
“Except two more dates.”
“Except two more dates.” His gaze flicked down to my mouth, then back to my eyes. “Let’s do lunch today. Then you can choose our next date. How does that sound?”
“Weak,” the unicorn muttered.
“Fair enough, considering you forced me into agreeing to this.”
“There were other choices,” he said. “There are always other choices.”
Maybe I should just ignore him too. “What’s up with the cats?”
He shrugged. “Strays.”
“I know that. Why are they following you?”
He shrugged, but didn’t say any more.
I frowned. “Are you feeding them? Are you…?” I tried to peer around him. Yep. Three stray cats. They looked healthier than the last time I’d seen them around town. And even though they were ignoring Bathin, it was obvious they were following him.
“You’re taking care of them, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. So,” he said. “Lunch. I’ll stop by around one.”
“I’m working.”
“I know. I’ll find you. I will always find you.” His gaze wandered from my eyes to my lips and back to my eyes. He winked.
“Knock off the stalker act, Bathin, or I’ll have to throw you in jail. And then who’s gonna feed your cats?”
I shut the door in his face. I waited for the chuckle and footsteps to fade, then went back to packing for the day.
