“Would you want to?”
She tugged her lower lip between her teeth. “Would you bring Laz here, too?”
“He can never know about this.”
“Why not?” she pressed. “You think he’d care?”
“I care less about Temptation. He can’t know about the money.”
Rosalind leaned back, mouth parted and blinking like the separation of the two had never crossed her mind.
“That shop means the world to him. He already feels guilty about the contracts and the demons taking advantage of him. We fixed that moving forward, but if he knew that I was putting money in for his dream, he’d feel terrible.” Dav hung his head. “Lovable Loaf deserves to thrive. Itshouldthrive. The bakery’s struggles were not his fault, and I… I couldn’t let him lose something he loves so much.”
“You.”
His brow pinched as Rosalind tipped his head up.
“He can’t loseyou. That’s what would destroy him, not the bakery.”
And that was exactly what Davarox feared most.
Rosalind either didn’t notice or chose to ignore his silence. Likely the latter. “You care so much—carefor himso much—but you should know that it doesn’t go unnoticed.” Her touch was gentle. Reassuring when he thought nothing could be. “I won’t say anything, I promise. And whatever you need from me, I’ll be there, okay?”
Words felt too hard, too heavy, so he nodded. Let her hold his face in her cool hands and lean forward to press a kiss on his lips that he didn’t deserve but coveted like the selfish asshole he was.
Until she leaned back with a wince. “Oh, you weren’t kidding aboutgetting drunk.”
No wonder he’d spilled his truths so easily. “And you still taste like cinnamon sugar,” he teased. “I thought you said you liked wine?”
It must have been that word, the buzz loosening his lips, that he remembered the other part of what she’d said that first night.
Now Rosalind was the one to avoid his gaze, but Dav didn’t urge it to return. Because after a slow breath, she was strong enough to face him with her vulnerabilities. No hiding or shame.
“I do. But you’ve probably noticed I can get a little… intensely focused.”
Dav nodded.
She took another breath. “It can also blind me to things, like losing sense of time or drinking something too quickly just because it’s there. I like the taste, but I hate how it makes me feel.” She picked at her nails. “I’m very nervous about the fundraiser. Running around, making sure everything is as it should be, getting stuck in conversations with demons who have money that could make a difference. You already have so much to worry about, it feels selfish to ask if maybe…”
Davarox curled his arms around her, pulling her tight. “I’ll take care of you, too, Rosalind. I promise.”
He meant the words with every fiber of his being, but sitting on the floor of Temptation, in a room where he was familiar with some of the acts that had happened between demons on the bed behind him, there was one thing he hadn’t expected.
For a human to hear those words from his lips and choose to sink further into his embrace. To tuck her head against his chest and relax her entire body.
That after learning all his secrets and seeing his scars, she stillwantedhim.
16
A BIG DEAL
Rosalind
“No, that table needs to go over bythatstaircase,” Rosalind said for about the fiftieth time, and the fact that she’d lost count was a sign of stress she was going to ignore.
Enmona Manor looked beautiful, even if the tables were not in the right place yet. The flowers had been arranged this way and that, some superstitious demon who always needed his tea in the exact same cup every morning running around changing them to fit his current state of overwhelm. Another demon had been standing at the bottom of a narrow staircase for ten minutes letting other demons go before her while she held an auction item that needed to be displayed twenty minutes ago. A third had started crying when Mozke gently reminded them they were supposed to be outside helping Lovable Loaf bring in their supplies.
At least Rosalind had felt a bit better hearing that Laz and Dav were here. Food was already being set up on tables at a pace that settled some of the nerves in her churning belly, even if she had yet to cross paths with them.
