“Which one is Kalypso?” Laz asked quietly.
“The one under Ozirax’s supervision,” Dav whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
They both shuddered.
“Bri knows we’d never hurt Rose… right?” Laz asked.
“We should probably keep a stash of chocolate desserts on hand.”
“What kind?”
“All of them.”
“Good idea—hey, hi, good chat?” Laz quickly amended after Rosalind turned from finally pushing the other human out of the bakery.
She blew a curl out of her eyes. “Yup, great. Totally normal.” Back still pressed against the door, she gave them a strained smile. “She’s joking, by the way. She won’t actually get Kalypso.”
“But the chocolate?—”
“Don’t worry about that,” Rose blurted, voice pitched higher than normal as she darted a look toward her table. “Sorry, I’ll clean that up and then I’m ready to go.”
Without waiting for their response, she hurried over and began stacking her papers.
Dav leaned closer and whispered, “You’re getting chocolate dessert, right?”
“Everything on the menu,” he whispered back.
Laz hung his apron up and grabbed his coat, happy to wait now as he watched Rosalind tuck her bag behind the counter and go out of her way to give Dav a hug. The gray demon seemed surprised, holding the mop out of the way but wrapping his arm around her shoulders gently. But his entire demeanor softened, and that secret smile of his seemed brighter.
Hmm, Laz should hug him more. It would be just like Davarox to not admit that he enjoyed hugs.
“Ready,” Rose said with a smile as she tugged her soft pink sweaterover her head.
It was pure torture watching her flip her dark waves out from the neckline and not just pick her up and carry her back to his place, but he reminded himself of the night he’d planned and settled for holding out his hand instead.
Her fingers didn’t hesitate to find his, weaving them together as her cool palm squeezed into his larger, warmer one.
“Have a good night,” Dav shouted from the back.
“Don’t sleep here tonight!” Laz called back before the door closed. “Save some work for me.”
“Maybe,” came the muffled response.
Rose kept her eyes on the window, craning her neck to look inside the shop until she couldn’t any longer. “He won’t really stay there tonight, right?”
Lazerath shrugged. “I’ve seen him make a bed out of flour before, but he said he had some things to clean up around home. And if he says he’s going to do something, it gets done.”
“You’re really close.”
“Pretty much inseparable since we were kids,” he said happily. “Though I didn’t exactly give him a choice. It helped that no one wanted to mess with Sev, and then when Dav grew, no one wanted to mess with him anymore, and then it sort of became a joke that I had two bodyguards following me around all the time.”
“Kids can be cruel,” she muttered, hand tightening in his.
Laz nodded. “So can adults. But Dav stuck around afterSev joined the guard, helping me with the bakery. I probably guilted him into it, with the whole name and all.”
“Lovable Loaf was his idea?” Rose asked, cheeks brightening as she looked up at him.
“Lovable LoafisDav.”
