“Trouble at work?”
“I swear to God, Hunter.” There was enough menace in her voice that he winced.
Damn the woman. He’d been so careful throughout the dinner. It wasn’t that he wanted to hide what was happening. Exactly. He simply needed a moment to understand it, have a few words with Dorian to detangle this pull toward her and the consequent need to tell her the truth–which would also serve them well for this entire freak-show situation.
But no, she had to go and press for answers.
Fine.
“Look,” he started. “It really is something work-related.”
She stared at him, a brown eyebrow rising. “But?”
“But I can’t tell you more right now.”
“Convenient.”
He pushed to the seat, twisting to face her better. “No, it’s really fucking not, and I hate it. I have to speak to Dorian–”
“Who’s Dorian?”
“My boss, brother, another demon... he’s a bunch of things. I need to talk to him first, figure a couple of things out, then explain it all to you.”
She didn’t say anything. Her brown eyes remained trained on him, unreadable. He didn’t dare brush her mind–the way things were going, she would totally bust him. So he waited. “The jury is taking its sweet time,” he murmured when silence stretched.
“Okay.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But next time I see you, you will tell me everything. I’ve known there’s a lot you’re not telling me, and that will stop soon. Unless you wantthisto stop here and now.”
The same thing that twisted his heart at the thought of them being done echoed faintly in her voice, as if the thought was hurting her as much as him. Still.... “I don’t respond well to ultimatums.”
She shrugged, but it was tense. “Your problem, not mine. If we keep going, then I can’t have shady shit playing in the background.”
She was right. Of course she was. But all of a sudden, the entire thing, his whole existence, seemed like a lie so big that she would never accept it. Maybe he could figure out how to sand a few corners–embellish some stuff here, cut some from there. Just to make it more palatable. Then he would drop more details in due time until the picture was complete.
Yeah, that could work.
“I understand,” he said, nodding. “And I agree. Just let me figure it out myself. Then I’ll tell you everything.”
One beat passed where he didn’t breathe. Then she tipped her head in acknowledgment. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
Breathing again felt very good. He smiled. “Thank you.” He brushed the back of his fingers on her cheek, glad to see her leaning into the touch. “Can I stay?’
She huffed a laugh away. “I guess.”
At that, he could only grin. “You do like me, sweetheart.”
She rolled her eyes and exited the car. But when he was walking at her side, she looked at him with her chin up. “What if I do?”
He took her hand and pulled her into his arms, kissed her nose. “Well, then, I’ll make it my existence’s purpose to never give you a reason to regret it.”
“You know your way around words, demon.”
He moved to her side, dropped an arm on her shoulder affectionately as they walked to her apartment. “There are so many more things I can do with my mouth.”
She opened the door, got inside with him, and closed it. “You’re gonna have to demonstrate that.”
