“Shit, I wish we knew how this went over with Delta. She didn’t know either,” Flint mutters to Alder as he rubs the back of his neck, worry pooling in his dark gray gaze. “This is harder than I thought.”
“If I had known we would stumble across our own, I certainly would have procured more information,” Alder admits.
I have never been so confused in my life.
“Are you two messin’ with me?” I demand. I have no clue what they’re talkin’ about, and every time I tell them that, they just get even more confusin’.
“Well, here goes nothing…” Flint announces awkwardly, and for some reason, I tense, like he’s gonna hit me or somethin’.
“We’re demons, and we think you’re supposed to help us guard our Hellgate,” Flint blurts in a rush, like he’s verbally rippin’ off the Band-Aid.
I stare at him blankly for a moment, waitin’ for him to crack a smile or for humor to twinkle in his eyes. You know, somethin’ to give away that this is all some game they’re playin’.
But I get nothin’. Nothin’ but serious stares as they watch the information sink into my expression.
“Did Shelia Dumarsh put you up to this?” I ask, crossin’ my arms over my chest and feelin’ very suspicious.
That stupid bitch has been tryin’ to get back at me for years, and this just reeks of the kind of nasty shit she’s been pullin’ since I “dumped” her brother half a dozen years ago. Not that Allen and I were ever anythin’, but he was goin’ around tellin’ people we were, and I had to set that shit straight. It would be just like her to try and convince me of some outlandish thing like these two bein’ demons, and then make fun of me for the rest of my life for fallin’ for it.
With a scowl, I close the distance between Flint and me, then immediately pull up his shirt.
“Whoa,” he objects in surprise, but he doesn’t do anythin’ to stop me as I feel the hem of his cotton top for some wires or a hidden camera. I check all the way up to the neck of the T-shirt for good measure, and sweet molasses, he isripped. Lines and dips and hard ridges stare back at me, and I freeze for a second, just to ogle his fine body.
“Find anything?” he teases as I continue to stare at him for way longer than can be considered polite. I quickly blink and get back to the mission at hand. But there’s nothin’. No wires or anythin’. I quickly drop his shirt, my face burnin’ at how blatantly I just checked him out. I will never get that delicious sight out of my brain.
I clear my throat. “Take your pants off,” I order him, movin’ from Flint to Alder so I can check his abs too. I mean shirt. Check hisshirt.
My stars and garters, I am in trouble with these two.
“Now, darlin’, if that’s how you wanna play, I’m in, but I just met your mama, and I don’t want to ruin her good name, so why don’t we just shift this to our place?” Flint offers, his tone teasin’ but husky.
Yes, please, my inner hussy says, but I manage to scoff as I reach for Alder’s shirt. He just looks at me, his warm gaze intense as he says, “Help yourself,” in a way that sends my thoughts toallkinds of inappropriate places.
I try to shake the lust from my mind as I feel around his white V-neck shirt for anythin’ electronic and incriminatin’, but all I feel is sculpted muscles and warm skin. My downstairs basement might start floodin’ if I’m not careful.
I make sure to keep my eyes averted from his as I respond to Flint’s flirtatious dodge. “You wish, Countertop. I’m not puttin’ moves on you. I’m checkin’ you for wires and cameras. Allen knows his way around hidin’ those damn things in places they don’t belong.”
“No cameras, but I promise you that a night with me would haveyou wishing you’d recorded us,” Flint retorts with a wink and a confident smile that makes my vagina zing with anticipation.
I pretend like I’m not affected at all. “Please, all that bravado tells me is that you rely on your looks too much and either have a small pecker or no idea how to use it.”
“Damn,” Flint declares incredulously...and then he starts unbuttonin’ his pants as though he’s ready and willin’ to prove me wrong.
My gaze widens with surprise, and I freeze, waitin’ to see if he’ll really drop his pants right here on the overgrown lawn. If he thinks I won’t stare my fill, he’s got another thing comin’. I can’t help it—somethin’ about these two have me all revved up.
“What in the hell is goin’ on over here?”
My head snaps in the direction of my daddy’s voice. I feel Alder chuckle, like he thinks the scene we’ve just set is amusin’, and I can only imagine what this must look like from the outside lookin’ in. Me with my hands under a guy’s shirt, like I’m about to strip it off, and Flint rumpled and readyin’ his pants to be ’round his ankles.
Just peachy.
I snatch my hands away from Flint’s lavender chest, already missin’ the feel of all those muscles. “Hey, Daddy,” I greet innocently, but even I can hear theoh shitin my voice.
Luckily, Todd comes runnin’ from the side of the house just then to welcome my daddy home like he always does, and I immediately take advantage of the momentary distraction.
I step back from Alder, who just shoots me a wink, and I quickly straighten his shirt so it doesn’t look like I was just gettin’ fresh with two men in the front yard of my parents’ house for all of heaven’s angels and the neighbors to see.
Flint rushes to do up his pants, while my daddy strolls over to Todd and rubs him under his chin and coos at him like he’s just the most precious thing on this planet.
