“There’s the charmer.”
“I mean it,” Luc said seriously. “I won’t charm you for the sake of it.”
Fuck, was he killing the mood? It was immaterial. He wanted Dex to know that he wasn’t putting on an act. Screwing up and falling into his old habits was unacceptable.
Forget claiming Dex on the bar. This was his mate. Luc had to do better.
He couldn’t accept Dex’s affection under false pretenses. Nothing but truth for his mate. Nothing that wasn’t real. Dex had to choose Luc, knowing who he was, with nothing clouding his judgment.
Dex ran a hand along Luc’s shirt buttons. Perhaps the mood wasn’t dead after all. “Will you charm me if I ask you to? Say, back at my place? I live less than ten minutes away.”
Luc’s fire raged, his cock fully hard and fangs aching to drop. He burned to go home with Dex and fuck him until neither of them could think. “You want to take me home?”
“I sure do. A little fun is exactly what I need today.”
Luc could grant his wish. He wanted nothing more than to give his mate everything he desired, large and small. But if hehad sex with Dex now, and later revealed he was the Devil, that would be its own kind of lie.
Dex had to choosehim. He had to climb into bed with him with his eyes open, and Luc couldn’t reveal it all in one afternoon.
Luc ran a finger across Dex’s knuckles. “I’d like to go on a date first.”
“A date? You don’t need to wine and dine me. I’m down.”
Luc reveled in the flush deepening on Dex’s cheeks. “Your willingness is intoxicating, but I’d prefer to get to know you before we’re intimate. I like you. I like talking to you as well as kissing you, and I’d like more than an afternoon with you, if you’re willing to have me.”
“Oh.” Dex paused like he wasn’t sure what to do with this turn of events. “You’re not into casual hookups?”
Luc ran a hand down Dex’s spine, unable to stop touching him. “Not with you.”
Dex’s flush spread to his ears, and he withdrew his hand from Luc’s thigh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Um. I don’t usually date, but I like the sound of more than an afternoon.” He made a cute face, lip quirking on one side. “I’d like to get to know you, too.”
Luc prayed Dex wouldn’t regret it once he did.
4
DEX
On Sunday morning, Dex woke and smiled at the ceiling. Fuck, that was a novelty. Sundays were always good because it meant brunch with Ollie, but his mood didn’t usually lift until he’d left the condo.
Apparently, having a date to look forward to that night was all it took.
While Dex had initially been disappointed when Luc hadn’t come home with him, the anticipation coiling inside him over the last few days had been a welcome change. He hadn’t been on a date in years.
He wasn’t usually as forward as he’d been with Luc. Dex almost didn’t know what had come over him, other than a burning need to offer his body to Luc. With any luck, he’d get the opportunity tonight.
He got up, crossed the hall to the bathroom, and turned on the shower, careful not to mess up anything before the open home later.
The condo was a two-bedroom, two-bathroom set-up, which he’d managed to keep in good condition in the years since hisparents had passed away. Dex still used the hall bathroom and slept in his childhood room rather than move into his parents’ old room, the one with the ensuite, which he’d left completely unchanged.
He’d have to address that soon.
Dex pushed packing his parents’ belongings to the back of his mind. No need to stress over that today.
After showering and wiping down the bathroom, Dex got dressed and headed downstairs to the bakery. The sweet smells had his mouth watering. He hadn’t bought a coffee cake in ages, and Ollie had said Dante liked sweets, so it seemed like a good bet.
When the cake was secured in his canvas bag, Dex headed out and turned toward Ollie’s apartment.
Dex had met Ollie’s boyfriend, Dante, briefly at an art show a while back, but hadn’t seen much of him since, and was looking forward to getting to know him better at brunch.
