His tail had been swaying until he caught sight of the wedding planner.
His fur stood up.
His back arched.
And a hiss Iris had never heard before escaped him.
He looked almost possessed.
“Checkers, what’s wrong?” Iris asked, trying to pet the cat, but he only hissed harder as he stared holes into Arden.
“Oh, don’t mind him.” Arden waved a hand, unbothered. “All cats react like that to demons. It’s because of the drop of demon blood in your veins, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“Yes. Cats have demon blood. It’s very watered down, of course. But they don’t want their humans to know they’re sharing their homes—and tuna—with partially evil creatures. The times have changed, cat; the humans know demons aren’t all wicked now.
“Now, back to your wedding. Do you think Mr. Mayor would be willing to sacrifice that blue suit of his for something that better works with our color palette?”
“I think you’d need to pry that thing off his cold, dead body.”
“Right?” Arden asked, letting out a deep chuckle. “I picture him sleeping in it so he is media-ready at any time of day or night.”
“He sleeps in a pair of sleep pants.”
“No top?”
“No top.”
She hated how even the thought of that made her belly slosh around again. And how much harder it was to try to blame a stomachache when she knew very well how strongly her body had reacted to Finn’s partial nudity the first time. She’d just come out of the bedroom to get a glass of water, and there he’d been, stretched out onthe sectional, his arm thrown over his eyes, so he at least couldn’t see as she stood there ogling him. While some very unsettling sensations overtook her body that left her overheated and tingly.
If she were being honest with herself, she’d admit that she’d felt those same feelings down in the pool, when his gaze had been moving over her and her fingers had been slipping up his thigh.
But she was choosing to delude herself instead. It worked better for her plan.
Besides, desire was base. It was just chemicals and the animalistic instinct to mate, to reproduce, to keep the species going. It didn’tmeananything. Even if she felt it. Which she totally hadn’t. Not for a man who was all fins and no current, as the saying went.
Arden let out a little whistle. “I bet he works out.”
“He does. Daily. He’s usually at the gym before I’m even waking up.”
“We love a healthy groom. Unless we’re marrying for money, in which case we want them ancient, addicted to fried foods, and dealing with a five-pack-a-day habit.”
To that, Iris let out a laugh.
She might have come to the surface determined not to like anything about life on land. But she had to admit that there were some perks. The endless supply of books was at the top of her list, of course. Then, the food. Monty had been very right about that.
But most surprising was the people.
While she had her family in the ocean and some acquaintances, she was always a bit of a loner thanks to the fact that other merfolk tended to walk on seashells around members of the royal family.
On land, it seemed as though no one really cared about her title.
She’d found deeper connections with Selene, Willow, and Arden in hours than she’d developed in a lifetime with others in the sea.
That was somehow both comforting and off-putting in equal turns.
“Anyway, back to the colors. No blue suit. Because, quite frankly, no one escapes my color palette, not even the future mayor of the city.”
