Page 19 of Snowed In with an Incubus

“Hey,” Reg said slowly. “Are we still going for a run?”

Jaz gasped, pointing at the tattoo peeking out from Reg’s ragged neckline. “Shrimp Cousin!”

Reg glanced down and laughed. “You told her about Shrimp Cousin? That’s—that’s interesting. Sam, who’s this lovely lady who you showed your chest to?”

“I’m Jaz,” Jaz said before Sam could tell him to go stick a horn in it. “I’m … uh … in Claw Haven for New Year’s,apparently.”

Realization dawned on Reg’s face. “Did you get stuck in town? Shit. I’m sorry. Hope you didn’t have big plans.”

“Not really,” Jaz said with the deep distraction of someone thinking about all the plans they had before their life fell apartthe day before.

Reg gave Sam another pointed look. He was going to invite her to the party, he realized. It made his stomach twist in equalparts excitement and dread for reasons he didn’t fully understand. Of course, Jaz was invited to the party. Why wouldn’t shebe?

But before Reg could open his mouth, Jaz’s phone rang.

Jaz dug it out of her pocket with a curse. “Oh, I need to get this. One second!”

She ducked down the hall, then, after some looking around, into the bathroom. She waited for Xena to follow her in, then closedthe door behind her.

Sam tensed as Reg sidled up, acting all casual with his hands in his shorts pockets.

“She seems nice,” he said. “What’s the story there?”

Sam was silent as he tried to figure out a version of last night that wouldn’t make Reg turn into the most annoying personin the world.

“Sam,” Reg said after five full seconds had passed in silence. “Seriously, what happened? Did she stay over? Is she here borrowinga cup of sugar?”

Sam braced himself. “No, uh, she’s a client. She came in last night at closing asking for a tattoo. Said she’d pay double.So I did it, and then as she was leaving, the power went out.”

Reg looked at him expectantly. “So go out the back door.”

“Tammy had the keys.”

“Break a window,” Reg said slowly, then sighed. “Wait, they’re so high. And if your skinny ass can’t fit, she won’t fit those hips through—”

Sam smacked him in the nipple, a leftover habit from high school that they still hadn’t gotten over.

Reg recoiled, giggling and rubbing his chest. “And the phone lines were down, so I guess you couldn’t call the cops. So yougot locked in?”

“Yeah,” Sam said and swallowed. “And I … uh …”

“What?” Reg’s tail swished cheekily behind him. He was still rubbing his chest. Sam had smacked him hard. “Did you two hook up?”

“I, uh …” Sam swallowed again, throat suddenly dry. “I forgot to take my potion last week. I didn’t realize how bad itwas until my hands started shaking just before closing.”

The smile dropped off Reg’s face. “Oh, shit.”

“Yeah.”

“Did you guys … ?”

“Yeah.” Sam scratched his forehead, remembering the persistent itch of the horns threatening to burst through. Those samecurled horns were on Reg’s head. How could he go out like that—wings out, tail flicking behind him—with no shame boiling inhis gut?

Reg glanced into the hallway Jaz had ducked down. “I mean. You both seem pretty happy this morning, so I guess it all workedout?”

“She made it fun,” Sam admitted. “I was all … gross and sweaty and in pain. I offered to wait it out—”

“Course,” Reg said quietly. “So … how was it?”