Loopholes - Part One

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CHAPTER FIVE: LOOPHOLES - PART ONE

Harri’s hands fisted the steering wheel as she stared up from the parking spot at the rather rundown-looking duplex Azel lived in. 

“I guess this is goodnight then,” he said, even though he made no move for the car door. She could feel him looking at her, could practically feel him trying to piece her together like a puzzle. “Unless you want to come in.”

She shook her head. She shouldn’t. It wasn’t like her. And yet… She sighed and ran nervous palms over the leather wheel. “I don’t want to go home.” Nate would be there. Next door. Forever hovering around her. He might even knock on her door. Expect to come in. Her phone — which she’d turned off notifications for — likely held messages from Katie or Emma or Carrie. Or, more likely, from all three, since she’d left the bar — with Azel — without saying goodbye to any of them. Hell, it might even have messages, panicked and scolding, from her mother and her aunt.

She’d been able to escape it all during dinner. Had been able to let the food and Azel’s quiet, comforting company keep it all at bay for a bit. 

But the second he stepped out of her car, it would all come flooding back in. She’d have to face it all again. And she simply didn’t think she could take the pressure. Not after tonight.

“You could come in,” Azel told her again. “It doesn’t have to be for anything.” Sex. He meant sex. They both knew it. It was what normal couples would do. Was definitely what other people would normally do with him.

Harri caught a glimpse of herself in the rearview mirror and frowned. But she wasn’t normal. Wasn’t what he wanted. She couldn’t even say for sure what she wanted. Only what she didn’t.

Next to her in the tiny, oblong reflection, she saw his lips smile sympathetically. “Remember, boss, whatever you want, however you want it. No questions, no judgment.”

That was their deal. Her brow knit. What did she want? “I don’t want to go home.” Her voice was small but sure. The sound of unspoken truth.

Azel stared at her for a moment before nodding. He opened his door and stepped out of the car. She watched him walk around the front of her car to open her door. She blinked up at him as he bent low and held out his hand. Worrying her lip, she narrowed her gaze at his outstretched palm. “Are you sure?”

He grinned at her encouragingly. “I can’t guarantee it’s as nice as you’re used to.” He raised a wry eyebrow. “In fact, having seen your place, I know it’s not.” He shrugged. “But it’s quiet and empty and free.”

She frowned. “Free?”

He crouched down so he could look her in the eye. “No extra price. No hidden costs. Just… free. Of and from anything you’re worried about.” He tilted his head, his tousled hair falling into his eyes in an innocent yet no less seductive tease. “You don’t have to spend the night. You can stay however long you like,” his voice was soft and easy on the icy night wind, “and leave whenever you please.”

She should be careful. Cautious. Something, before him, she’d never had to remind herself, much less struggle to convince her own foolishly longing brain, to be. But she should. She’d always heard that deals with devils were traps. Inevitable doom wrapped in temptation and tied up with obvious folly. 

Then why did Azel always make her feel so safe? Why did he give her every choice? Leave open every option? And why did being so freely given an out draw her so deeply in? “Okay.” She held out her hand, watching as he wrapped his larger, warmer one around it to help her stand.

She hadn’t really looked at his place, when she’d picked him up earlier in the night, too panicky and anxious about the party to really notice much of anything. The old brick building was crumbling and in definite need of some repairs and maintenance but, as they walked the streetlamp-lit walkway toward it, she found herself feeling strangely more settled with each step. 

She followed him inside the spartan unit. Taking in the mismatched, clearly second — or third, or maybe even fourth or fifth — hand furniture, everything seemed almost too big or just a touch too small for the space. A frayed rug mostly covered the stain ruining the hardwood floors. Several cabinets and dressers — from ornate chipped vintage to utilitarian filing — stood staggered against the walls. A kitchen table with at least three different chairs was cluttered with papers. Azel moved to the large, but very old fridge and peered inside. “It’s a good thing we already ate,” he said with a self-deprecating chuckle. “I don’t really have a lot on hand, but I can get you something to drink. Water or a soda?”

“A soda would be nice,” she said as she took off her coat and sat down on the faded but still cozy couch. 

Looking down at his coffee table, she squinted at the piles of papers covering the scratched surface. Phrases like Final Notice and Past Due were printed, harsh and bold, over several of them. She frowned as he shoved and shuffled them aside to make space on the table. He shook his head. “Here, let me get rid of those.”

“Azel,” she said softly, not sure what to say or how to say it so she didn’t offend him. She bit her lip. “Are you okay?” She watched as one of the bills fluttered from his fumbling fingers to fall face-up and demanding on the floor. “If you need money—”

“No.” He snatched the bill off the rug and shoved it and the others into a nearby drawer. “Don’t—” He shook his head. “I don’t—” His scarlet skin flushed a deep, ruddy burgundy. “It’s fine. Really.” The smile he flashed her didn’t reach his eyes and seemed to etch tense lines around his mouth. “Don’t worry about it.”

But she did. She leaned in. “I can give you an advance.” She shook her head. “If you need it, it’s not a problem.”

“I don’t need an advance,” he said, his tone dark and hard. “I don’t need—” He shut his mouth with a sharp snap, his fangs biting his lip. He shook his head. “Look, demons never had to worry about this kind of stuff before. Bills. Due dates. Overdraft fees. And time doesn’t mean the same to us as it does to humans. When you live practically forever, what’s the difference between a month and a minute?” His lip curled with disgust. “So, sometimes…” He rubbed one of his horns in an agitated tick. “I just forget, you know?”

She did. Her brain didn’t really comprehend the passing of time well either, especially when she was engrossed in a new project or task. “Me too. That’s why I have all my bills set up for autopay. Takes care of itself every month without me having to remember.” She shrugged. “I can help get you set up too, if you want?” People were always asking for her help with stuff like that. She was good for that sort of thing.

Azel just shook his head. “I tried that once. Ended up overdrawing from my account. So not only did the bill-collector get mad at not getting their money, but I had the bank on my back for insufficient funds.” He shook his head. “At least, this way, only one person’s got it out for me at a time.”

Harri frowned. “That’s why I offered to pay you in advance. If you need the money now, I can give it to you.”

Azel’s face set in stubborn lines. “I can’t ask that of you.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You’re not asking;” she pointed out, “I’m offering.”

“I don’t need your money,” he bit out as he turned away from her. 

She looked at his table then at the drawer. “Kinda looks like you could use it.”

He gripped both of his horns and tugged in frustration. “The last thing you need is one more person using you for their own advantage.” He waved his hand. “I’ll be fine.”

Harri studied the worry lines marring his handsome face. Yeah, she knew all about being fine. How much effort and energy and time it took to be fine all the time for everyone else. Sometimes, just keeping up the act felt like a full-time job unto itself. She bit back a grimace. “How’s the job search going?”

A short, scathing scoff escaped his lips before he bit it back. “Fine.”

She watched him begin to pace, his wings fluttering tightly, and tried to believe his words. But all she could think about, while she watched him stiffly fidget, was what he’d said about how some people react to him. Always seeming to either see less or ask too much of him. She couldn’t imagine it was easy finding a job when too many ignorant folks didn’t see him as a person just because he wasn’t human. 

Honestly, Harri had no idea what that was like. She’d been recruited right out of college, using the contacts she’d made during internships and academic networking to do very well for herself. Even before she’d graduated, she’d had several companies court her. Then, once at her job, she’d always been treated like a valuable asset, an expert respected for her skills and opinions. 

She couldn’t imagine being treated as disposable or worse. And she hated the idea of anyone making Azel feel that way. If she could make things easier for him, she was more than happy to. But he certainly seemed unhappy about it. Not that she understood why. “I’m going to pay you for the month anyway; what does it matter, if it’s a few weeks early?”

“It matters.”

Okay. She frowned at his defensive, definitive tone. “Want to explain why?” He didn’t. She could see that. She shook her head. “It’s only money.” It wasn’t like she was doing much with it. She lived a fairly simple life. Most of her assets sat in various accounts — checking, savings, money markets, IRA, stock, bonds — making more of itself through some kind of economic magic she barely understood and didn’t much care to learn.

Azel rolled his eyes at her. “Only someone with money can say that.”

Whatever that meant. She shrugged. “Then you should take it. If we both have money, we can both say it.” Simple solution. Clean. Efficient. Easy.

Azel shook his head. “I’m not taking your money, so just stop.”

“You know,” she said innocently enough, “if I give it to you, it’s not really mine anymore.”

He grunted. “You’re paying me for a job. If the job’s not done, you don’t have a reason to give me your money.”

Seemed like a silly distinction to her. “I mean, if it’s mine, I can do whatever I want with it.”

“Harri.” Her name became a warning on his tongue.

She held up her hands. “Okay, okay. Just…” She looked at him seriously. “If you change your mind, my offer stands. No questions, no judgment.”

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Devil in the Details - Part Five

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CHAPTER FOUR: THE DEVIL IN THE DETAILS - PART FIVE

Frowning, Azel pushed his way out of the bar. He’d been looking all over for Harri, for half an hour since he’d gotten off stage and couldn’t find her where he’d left her. He’d thought maybe she’d just gone to the restroom or something, since she’d left their drinks on a nearby table, but she hadn’t come back. She hadn’t been by the bar or with her cousin or friends. She hadn’t been watching their hosts do birthday shots. Had she left?

Why would she leave? She’d been having fun. Last he saw her, she’d been standing in the crowd, watching him with a small, savoring sip of a smile hidden behind her bubbly drink. And, sure, he’d lost track of her while he tried to politely wave off the grabbing hands of the women who’d congregated along the lip of the stage, but he’d had to deal with them before they either pulled themselves on stage or dragged him off it.

This was why he typically didn’t like large groups of people. There were always too many eyes, too many hands, too many desires; it was too easy for a demon to get overwhelmed and for it all to turn into a goddamned mess. And, when they all wanted a feel, a taste, wanted to take a piece of him… He shook his head. No, he preferred one-on-one.

Only he’d gone and lost his one. Azel scanned the parking lot for Harri’s car, spotting it beneath the streetlamp. So she hadn’t left the place entirely, stranding him here. That was nice. But then where was she?

He shut his eyes. Away from the crowd, from the countless wishes and wild wants of dozens of intoxicated people, he should be able to find her. He tilted his head and tried to taste Harri’s particular brand of listless longing in the air. Turning, he walked around the building, feeling for her in the dark. Melancholy called out to him, led him like breadcrumbs to a bench in the employee parking lot. Surrounded by frozen cigarette butts and slush-sogged fast food wrappers, Harri was hunched over on her phone, her gloveless fingers flying over it furiously. 

He stood in the shadows and watched her for a moment, wondering what he should do. Looking around the secluded place, it was clear she wanted to be alone. Yet he could feel her loneliness. Her yearning to belong, to fit in. Which didn’t make sense. These were her friends. Her people. She did fit here. Like Nate had said, she belonged with these people.

Yet here she was. Alone. On a bench. Surrounded by other people’s trash.

So he sat down next to her. Didn’t say anything. Didn’t do anything. Just sat next to her and let her type. Because she was literally radiating a desperate need to. So they sat like that for what felt like twenty minutes. Gradually, he felt her mood lift — not in a way that felt happy, per se, but that let that oppressive darkness around her ease just enough — before she finally shut off her phone. “Sorry, work stuff.”

He nodded. “No worries.” He was only here for her; whatever she wanted to do was fine by him.

She fiddled with her phone, not turning it back on but looking like she might at any moment. “There was a problem. I just needed to…” She shook her head, shoving her phone and her likely frozen hands into her coat’s pockets. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear about it.”

He shrugged. He didn’t mind, if that was what she needed. “Will I be able to understand any of it?” He doubted he could help her solve anything that might stump her. Katie had said she did tech stuff for a living; that could get jargon-y and go completely over his head fast.

She wrinkled her nose. “Probably not.”

He cocked his head. “Will talking it through help you figure things out?”

She shook her head. “Not really.”

He nodded. “You want to tell me anyway?”

She ducked her head, burrowing into her coat like a shivering turtle, her glasses fogging up as she sighed. “It wasn’t anything…” She frowned. “It’s really not…” She huffed, her breath billowing out in the cold, and hunched her shoulders a bit more, her feet shuffling on the dirty pavement. “I just needed a break, you know?”

He gave her a nod. Sure, he understood that. The bar was crowded, loud. “You feel better now?”

“I’m fine now.” She wasn’t, not really, and he could feel it. “It was just… a lot in there.” She bit her lip. “I was just feeling…”

“Overwhelmed.”

She nodded with a slight hum of relief. “And, sometimes, work helps, when I feel like that.” She sat up a little straighter. “I’m good at my job. Work is something I know how to do. I can always find the right answer.”

Oh. He nodded, feeling her insecurities begin to rise inside again. “And, in places like this,” situations like this, “you can’t always.”

She shrugged. “With people, you can never…” She pursed her lips together tightly. Azel, for all his powers to read people, cursed the fact that he could know exactly what she was feeling — sad, confused, inadequate — but have no idea why. “It’s not as easy for me. Never has been.”

He frowned. “Did something happen? You looked like you were having fun on stage.”

She smiled softly. “I did.”

So something happened off-stage. 

She sighed and looked up at the cloudy, light-polluted night sky. “I think maybe parties like that are just not really my thing.” She scrunched her nose up. “Like I’m standing in a room full of people and I still feel so alone.” With a grimace, she kicked a soda can toward the dumpster. “People go to parties to be seen, to feel connected, and instead…” She huffed. “I always end up feeling invisible.”

He nodded. “I get that.”

She rolled her eyes at him skeptically. “You feel invisible around people?” She gestured to the whole of him. “Look at you. You had women throwing their underwear at you like you were some rock star.”

He grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, everywhere I go, people are always looking at me,” he conceded, before shrugging. “But I know what it feels like to not feel seen.” He arched his brow at her. “You think any of those women knew who I was.” He gave her his own disbelieving look. “You think any of them cared?” He let out a sharp laugh. They saw temptation in his face and a good time in the size and shape of his body. “They know what they want me to be and, for them, that’s all I should ever be.” They didn’t want him — whoever that even was — they wanted the fantasy.

That was his whole thing, after all, wasn’t it? To become some person’s greatest desire, burn them out with it, before moving on to the next. Before the amnesty agreement, he’d never been the same person — had the same personality or actions or motivations — for longer than the few days each contract lasted. Even after the agreement, he’d gone almost immediately into the service industry, putting on a mask and a show to please and tempt customers, coworkers, and employers. 

Sometimes, he wondered, if anyone ever did dig deep enough, under all his facades and acts, what would they even find? Would there be anything there at all?

Laying a chilled hand on his arm, Harri smiled at him sympathetically, the look — despite their differences — feeling like kinship. She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t really want to go back inside.”

Yeah, he didn’t either. Giving her a conspiratorial smile, he raised an eyebrow. “You want to get dinner? I hear there’s a Mexican place I should try.”

 When she smiled, he sucked in a breath as her worries and insecurities eased. Huh. It was a strange feeling. Even though he’d made a living pleasing people, fulfilling the holes left in their lives, it’d rarely ever actually made anyone feel better. In his line of work, you learned very quickly that feeling pleasure and feeling better were not the same thing, especially when that pleasure — no matter how good in the moment — came tied with some pretty steep penalties. While he liked to think that most of his clients shuffled off their mortal coils more than satisfied, it’d never felt quite like this.

As if, simply by his being there — no mask, no show, no contract; just him — her night was a bit better, brighter. As if knowing him, being with him, didn’t automatically come at a cost. 

Harri stood, smiled at him. “That sounds amazing. Let’s go.”

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The Devil in the Details - Part Four

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CHAPTER FOUR: THE DEVIL IN THE DETAILS - PART FOUR

Still feeling flushed from the lights and crowd, Harri hid a giddy grin behind her glass as she sipped, watching Azel bend over the songbook. He was going to sing for her. She didn’t know why that pleased her so much. Probably because she found the idea of performing in public as embarrassing as she did thrilling. It was something none of them, not even Katie who was probably the most brazen person she knew, would ever do on their own but, somehow, together, their collective bravery could. 

She wasn’t foolish enough to think that they were good. Good, at karaoke, wasn’t the point. The music that came out of the speakers was never nearly as important as the experience had on stage. The way that moment of courage, of vulnerability, could transform a room, alchemically creating this — regardless of skill or talent — shared moment of greatness. It left her feeling equal parts silly and humiliated and… inexplicably exhilarated. 

But to go up there alone… Harri couldn’t even imagine it. The only time she’d come close was when Nate had convinced her to sing a duet with him. She cringed, remembering her stuttering, stiff, choked voice during her solo lines. It’d been terrifying and, even when they’d sung together, hadn’t felt like they were together. It’d felt like she’d been trying to do and be something she hadn’t really wanted to because she’d known he’d wanted it. And she’d wanted to give him what he wanted. Wanted to be the kind of person he wanted her to be. Bold. Brave. Romantic. Instead of just her.

You want me to sing for you?

Biting her lip, she wondered what Azel wanted to give her. 

She shook her head. She was being ridiculous. She was sure it was no big deal for him. Sinfully handsome, cosmically charismatic, with the voice of a fallen angel, she was sure he’d probably sung for other people before. It didn’t mean anything to him, just because it felt like it should to her.

But, still, the way Azel stepped up to the mic, adjusting it to his height, as he searched the crowd until he found her, made her breath catch. Even as the music started, he didn’t break that connection, keeping her gaze as he began to sing.

“When I close my eyes,

you’re all I see.

With your hand held out,

feel only me.”

Dear Lord, she should have known he’d be good. But she had not been prepared for his voice to pour smooth and warm like booze through her body, pooling low and liquid inside. The look he gave her, as he sang those lyrics directly to her, felt like a stroke, a lick of fire, along her skin. Watching his mouth, full and so very mobile wrapped around the slow rock ballad, move over the microphone was like going slowly out of her mind. And, she was sure, the slight sway of his hips — the slow, swaggering swing that dared your eyes to linger — shouldn’t be allowed.

And, feeling deliciously damned, Harri dared.

“Touch me anywhere,

everywhere, please.

In you, I know, 

I’ll find release.”

She turned when she heard a group of women on the other side of the stage cheer wildly. Clutching the cold, hard glass in her hand, Harri watched them reach up to Azel with eager smiles and welcoming eyes.

“He’s popular, isn’t he?”

Harri’s jaw tensed. “What are you doing here, Nate?”

“Emma invited me,” Nate said easily. “Said you’d be coming.”

“With a date,” she said, turning to steadfastly look at Azel again, even though it felt harder to focus on him.

“Are you with him?” Nate asked. “Really?”

Harri frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I heard this is just your second date.” Nate smiled, looking far too pleased. “And look at him; he practically has a fan club.”

Harri watched as Azel grinned and nodded at the cluster of women as they called out to him, their manicured hands stroking his cuffs and shoes. Her frown deepened. “They find my date hot,” she said, aiming for a casual tone, “so do I; what’s your point?”

“He could have any of them, Harri,” Nate said, walking behind her, his voice crawling across the back of her neck. “He could have anyone with just a look or a word.”

Harri lifted her chin and straightened her glasses. “And he chose me; again, what is your point?”

“For now.” He leaned in close. “Look at him. Look at them.” 

Reluctantly, Harri did. In pretty party dresses framed by perfectly tempting bodies, they were the kind of women people admired. Who outshone and overwhelmed women like her. They had something — that thing — she knew she didn’t have. Some special quality that caught other’s attention, that lured others toward them. Staring at them, it was as if she could feel herself shrink, disappear. She swore she could feel the room’s gaze skate over her, like she was scenery.

“You’ll always be just one of a crowd with him. Could you ever really feel like you were with him, Harri?”

She looked up at Azel, whose gaze no longer looked for hers, before shutting her eyes. Suddenly, she felt ridiculous, standing at the lip of the stage, holding his drink like some living countertop, while he crooned for an adoring crowd. She looked down at the half-drunk glasses, now clammy against her palms.

“You’re perfect, a dream, 

too good to be true.

How did anyone like me 

get someone like you?”

She opened her eyes and stared as Nate rested a hand on her shoulder, over her perfectly pressed, primly cut work shirt. “You know I love you.” His hand cupped her fine cotton-covered skin like it belonged there. “You’re it for me. All I’ll ever want.” His fingers tightened, pressing the stiff but soft cloth into her flesh possessively. “All I’ll ever need.” She looked up from his hand to his face as he let her go so he could grab the drinks from her. He set them aside before turning her to face him, his smile sad and sorry. Pitying and far too perceptive. “Do you even know what he wants? Or how long he’ll want you?”

“Look at me,

Show me what you see.

Take everything I have

Before you leave.”

Harri stiffened as Azel’s raspingly melodic voice melted like chocolate over her senses — tempting, decadent, and, ultimately, not very good for her — feeling her chest tighten. She looked away from Nate. Away from Azel. Away from the crowd. She swallowed hard, her throat feeling suddenly stuck. She stepped back and shook her head, needing space. Air.

She was being silly. Who cared if Azel didn’t want her? Of course he didn’t. That wasn’t part of their deal. He was free to want any one of those women. He could go after anyone he damned well pleased. He wasn’t hers. She wasn’t his. He had no reason to want her.

But what if no one wanted her? 

In a world full of women like that, who was she? Outshone, overwhelmed, and overlooked. She had a lifetime of experiences telling her so. 

And that was fine. She didn’t need to be desired like that. Wouldn’t even begin to know how. She was other things. Good things. Sure and solid things. Smart and capable. Dependable. Things her friends and family and coworkers and clients valued. She didn’t need to shine to have worth. She didn’t. Not with them.

But what if Nate was right? What if, romantically, she was it for him? What if he was it for her? Her last chance at being wanted. Of being loved. When attracting a partner meant being… well, attractive, where did that leave someone like her? What if she was throwing it all away simply because she didn’t want him, didn’t want exactly what he was offering? 

When having both seemed impossible, was it better to have what you want, whatever the price, or to be wanted, no matter the cost?

She took another step, her head pounding, and shook her head. “I have to go.”

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The Devil in the Details - Part Three

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CHAPTER FOUR: THE DEVIL IN THE DETAILS - PART THREE

Azel wasn’t sure exactly what to expect when they showed up to the party. He wasn’t exactly the kind of guy most dates invited to events like these. Who introduced their demon lover to their friends? Unless they wanted their friends to join in as more than friends. He’d done that several times.

He didn’t think that was what tonight was about.

“Look, we’ll just say hi to Katie and leave. In and out.” Harri was wringing her hands.

“Whatever you say, boss.” He looked around at the clusters of people talking and drinking. It looked… fun. Friendly. In a way Azel had never really experienced. In Hell, there’d never really been time to just hang out with friends. Everyone was too busy simply trying to survive. In the human world… 

To be honest, it didn’t feel that much different. Both seemed eternally obsessed with the hustle, chasing some elusive measure of success never meant to be reached. Usually, by the end of a shift — waiting tables or serving drinks or hocking shoes or cellphones or, for one interminably long holiday season, personally engraved, non-denominational occasional ornaments — he was too exhausted to go anywhere or do much of anything. 

And, even if he did, who would he go out with? His human coworkers, even if they were friendly at work, weren’t friends. They could never really trust him and he couldn’t really blame them for that. Demons had preyed on humans for too long; you couldn’t expect tensions to change just because a few laws had. 

Even the magical folks he’d worked with in the past — fairies, werewolves, pucks, and the like — hadn’t really warmed up to him. It was hard to befriend and bond with humans, if you buddied up too close to their enemies. 

He should have moved. Found a place with a higher demon or monster population or something. But he’d gone where he could find a job and a home. There hadn’t been a plethora of places open to him. And, even if he had, it wasn’t as if demons were, by nature, great at making friends, even with each other.

Stifling a sigh as he walked through the bar, he could feel people’s gazes on him. Taking in his wings and horns, his skin and eyes. A demon in their midst. He couldn’t quite hear, so much as feel, whispers as he passed. Nothing like being the only demon in the room. He fought the urge to ruffle his hair or shrink in on himself, knowing there really wasn’t a point. Short of an illegal glamour, there wasn’t a thing he could do to hide what he was.

Azel looked up, when Harri laid a reassuring hand on his arm. She smiled at him, though the shaky, nervous tilt of her lips was less comforting than her touch. “It’ll be fine.”

He gave a nod of his head, her unease reminding him of his role tonight. That’s right. It would be. It’d be better than fine; it’d be fucking fantastic. The best night of her life. Because it was his job to make it so. Right. So. “Is there anything you want me to say? Do? Be?”

She blinked up at him, confused. “What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “I’m your fake boyfriend; I can be anyone you want me to be. Generously wealthy — though you might need to spot me some cash.” He winced. “Or the dark, mysterious kind. Aloof but always watching. Or maybe you’d prefer someone dotingly affectionate.” Yeah, the gentlemanly type. “Or—”

“Just be you.” She shook her head. “I don’t need you to put on a show or anything; just, you know…” She waved her hands. “Be here. Have a drink. Say hi.”

Just be you. Azel wasn’t even sure he knew who that was. 

“Harri!” They both turned when a woman who looked like a taller, bolder version of Harri made her way toward them.

“Oh God, here we go,” Harri said with a somewhat panicked look on her face. She shot an apologetic look at Azel. “Look, I’m so sorry for whatever’s about to happen. Katie can be blunt, but she means well.”

Before Azel could respond, the woman rushed up to sweep Harri into her arms. “Oh, thank God, you’re here!” She turned to see Azel standing there next to them. “Opps, sorry, is that okay to say around you?”

Azel’s wings pulled in tighter around himself. He shook his head. “It’s fine.” Honestly, even as a demon, he didn’t really think about God too much. Not anymore than anyone else thought about the boss of a rival organization or company. Even back in the day, Azel had been too far down the celestial ladder to matter much to the higher-ups, which meant they hadn’t much mattered to him either.

The woman held out her hand. “I’m Katie, the cousin. And you must be the d…” Her eyes widened as her words trailed off. “...date.”

Demon. Azel smiled and gently took her hand. “Azel Brimm. Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”

Katie, still holding his hand, looked him up and down, her gaze taking in all of him with a mix of burning curiosity, wary interest, and just a touch of lustful approval. “It’s nice to meet you too; I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Really.” Harri rolled her eyes. “Wonder from whom.”

Katie waved that off with a smile. “Doesn’t matter now.” Grabbing them both by the arm, she pulled them over to the bar. “Now that you’re here, Harri, can you go help Jack set up the karaoke machine? They’re having trouble with it.”

“But—”

“I’ll keep Azel company while you’re gone.” Katie grinned as she let her cousin go to grab his arm with both hands. “Get him a drink. Ask him some get to know you questions. Run a background check, a blood test, and a quick credit scan. The usual.”

“Katie,” Harri warned, narrowing her eyes over her glasses in a way that had Azel standing straighter. “Be nice.”

Katie put on a show of looking offended. “Me?” She scoffed. “I’m always nice.” She shrugged. “But I also promised your mother I’d be thorough.” She waved Harri away. “Go help Jack and I’ll make sure your date has a drink waiting for you when you come back.”

Harri rolled her eyes at the woman before turning to Azel. “I’ll be right back; you’ll be okay?”

After a lifetime of reading people — using their secret wants to cater to them — it was strange to have someone ask, to care, much about him. He shook his head. “I’ll be okay.”

They both watched Harri walk off toward the befuddled group on the stage tripping over wires and cables. “So,” Katie said to him, “let’s get you a drink.” She gestured to the bar. “There’s beer and soda in the coolers and, if you want to make yourself something, anything on the bar is free game, just don’t touch anything behind the counter.”

Azel nodded and walked up to the bar and studied the bottles of fairly mid-tier booze. He raised an eyebrow. “Can I get you a drink?”

Katie waved him off. “I’ve been sticking to beer. The only one who knows how to mix a proper drink here is the owner and he’s running around making sure no one burns the place to the ground.”

Azel shrugged and turned a bottle of gin to read the label. “I don’t know about proper, but I used to be a bartender so, if you tell me what you want, I can probably make it for you.”

Katie raised an eyebrow. “How about a martini?”

Azel nodded. “Can do.”

As he moved along the counter to find his ingredients, she studied him. “So you used to be a bartender; what do you do now?”

Azel fought the urge to wince. Humans fucking loved that question. As if what they did for money defined who they were. No wonder they condemned demons so much, so sure they were nothing more than the terrible task they’d been commanded to perform. 

Just be you. That’s what Harri had told him. But there was being himself and there was the truth. And Azel had never been very fond of the straight truth. “I’m self-employed at the moment.”

Katie watched him build her drink with a keen eye. “Self-employed? Doing what? Exactly.”

He shrugged and handed her the drink. “Whatever needs doing. Odd jobs mostly.” This job was certainly odd.

Katie tapped her finger against the glass, still studying him. “You have a website?”

He shook his head. “Word of mouth mostly.”

“And you’re successful doing just that?”

He smiled at her smoothly. “So far.”

“Harri works as some kind of super savvy specialist at a tech consultant firm, you know.” He didn’t, though he’d never let it show on his face. “Makes a pretty penny going into all those big-wig finance and securities businesses to set up and fix their systems.” She looked at him shrewdly. “Must be nice to have a girlfriend who’s so… financially steady.”

Azel paused, pursed his lips thoughtfully as he poured his own drink. “We’ve gone on exactly two dates now. On the first, I paid for the coffee.” Harri had reimbursed him for it later, but the statement still held true enough. “And, on the second,” he said, raising his glass, “drinks are on you, I suppose.” He took a sip.

Katie smiled and tasted her own drink, murmuring approvingly. Of his answer or the drink, he couldn’t be sure. “So how did you two meet?”

He nodded, prepared for this question. “We met at a bar. I gave her my number.”

Katie looked at him skeptically. “You picked up my cousin at a bar?”

Azel nodded. “She was there with a friend from work, who had to leave early. I asked if I could join her.”

“And she let you?”

Azel shrugged. “I offered to get her a drink.” When Katie scoffed in utter disbelief, he grinned. “A soda.”

Katie nodded. “That sounds like Harri.”

He smiled warmly at the memory. “It does.”

Katie, clearly a practiced reader of people herself, leveled a look at him. “So I promised my cousin that you’d have a drink waiting for her. What are you, Mr. Bartender Extraordinaire, making for her?”

Azel thought about Harri’s coffee order — a latte with an extra shot of espresso and hazelnut syrup. She liked caffeine and sugar. Reaching down into the coolers, he pulled out an energy drink and a ginger ale. Pouring those with a splash of grenadine, he finished it off with a Maraschino cherry and a lime wedge. A non-alcoholic yet still adult version of a Shirley Temple. A Surely Tempted. He held it up to Katie for inspection.

With an amused smirk, Katie nodded. “All right, last question: why Harri?”

Azel furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”

Katie shot him a stern look. “I love my cousin; she’s the greatest. She’s the smartest, most capable person I know. Nicer than she should be. But we both know that she isn’t the type you hit on in a bar.” She narrowed her gaze. “So why my cousin?”

Why Harri? Feeling irritated at the question for some reason, Azel frowned. Katie wasn’t wrong; Harri wasn’t the kind of woman to pick up dates at a bar. She didn’t dress to impress. Didn’t style herself with products or makeup to attract. Physically, she was the type who blended in with the background. A wallflower at her finest. 

But he had been drawn to her. Had, once he’d finally seen her, not been able to look away. Why? Azel looked up at the stage, watching Harri crouch down as she handily helped hook up equipment, saving the party for someone she likely didn’t even know. “She looked like she could use someone who put her wants first.”

A pleasantly surprised look crossed Katie’s face before she nodded. “Be careful with her. Harri doesn’t date much. And usually only because some guy pursues her.” She frowns. “Not all of them have… had her best interests at heart. And, with her being such a people-pleaser, we’re all a little protective.”

He’d assumed as much. “Understood.” Curious, he wondered how Nate fit into all this. A person didn’t hire a fake boyfriend to make a guy back off, if he wasn’t, at some level, a threat. Yet he’d made it past inspection. Was, presumably, liked and welcomed by these people. Harri’s people. Azel frowned.

But before he could even begin to think of a way to ask about it, the woman inexplicably burst out in a truly ear-piercing squeal. Gesturing wildly, Katie shouted. “Emma, Carrie, come meet Harri’s new guy!”

Azel’s eyes widened as two more women approached. Offering to make them drinks as well, a cosmo and an amaretto sour, he let them pepper him with more questions — easier ones, like what he thought of the party and where he’d learned to mix drinks.

Thankfully, by the time both women had drinks in hand, Harri came back, wiping her hands together. “Karaoke is all set to go.”

He handed her a napkin from the counter as the women cheered. Katie grinned. “Great! Then how about we kick things off?”

Harri crumpled the used napkin and pocketed it. “You guys have fun.”

“C’mon, Harri, you have to sing with us,” the cosmo begged.

“You love to sing,” the amaretto sour chimed in.

Harri shook her head. “In the shower or the car. Not in front of a crowd.”

“One song,” Katie pleaded. “Just to show these guys how it’s done.”

Azel could see the exact moment, Harri caved to the group of women. The crack in her composure and the slight flicker of defeat in her eyes. He thought about saving her, reminding her about their dinner plans maybe, but the way she crumbled for her friends amused him. 

Besides, underneath all the nerves, he could sense her excitement to be among these people again. She’d missed them. She felt safe surrounded by them, turning those nerves into fizzy bubbles inside her — uncomfortable, sure, but not unpleasant. So he grinned and handed her the mocktail he’d made her. “Here, drink this fast, then it won’t seem so scary.”

She took the glass gratefully even as she rolled her eyes. “Says the man not going on stage.”

“You want me to sing for you?” He raised an eyebrow.

She narrowed her gaze. “Would you?” She looked around the crowded bar. “In front of all these people.”

He shrugged. If it was what she wanted. “Sure.” He’d done far more for people he’d… liked far less.

She took a gulp of the beverage, making a sweet, savoring sound he hadn’t known he’d been waiting for. She flashed him a brief but brilliant smile. “Better not back out, just because I’m going first.”

He shook his head, as she took another deep swig, before taking her empty glass from her. “Go on. Have fun.”

She wrinkled her nose skeptically, even as she eagerly hurried to the stage to join her friends. With a low chuckle, Azel turned back to the bar to refill her glass. By the time they’d picked a song and the opening strains of some pop song started, Azel had finished the drink. He looked up as the four gathered around the mic to sing, their voices strong if not altogether in sync or in tune. His eyes focused on Harri, huddled in the middle, with the mic gripped in front of her as she looked at the lyrics, her friends, the lights, anywhere, but at the crowd of people who’d turned to watch.

From where he stood, Azel could feel the thrill of it all — the music, the lights, the stage, and her friends — pop her bubbling nerves, like tiny explosions that left her giddy and lightheaded and only a little bit shaken. Her voice, easy to pick out, trembled and cracked but also laughed as she sang the sugary sweet love song, making him smile.

“She looks good up there, doesn’t she?”

Azel didn’t turn. He’d known the man was here. Had felt Nate’s familiar jealousy sulking around since before Harri stepped on stage. “She does.”

“This reminds me of Katie’s last birthday.” Nate laughed. “There’s a karaoke place we like to go to. Harri and I did a duet by this artist.”

Had they? Azel sipped his drink. Wasn’t that… cute.

Nate smiled fondly at Harri. “She was so adorably nervous. It’d taken half a beer to get her up on stage with me and the other half to calm down afterward.”

Azel’s gaze shifted to look at the man. Good-looking enough, he supposed. Average height. Average build. Average features. The man was a study in perfectly packaged, polished blandness. If he’d seen the two together, before having known Harri, Azel would have thought them perfectly matched.

Now, having seen the subtle spark Harri hid beneath layers of beige, Azel wondered what she’d ever seen in this guy.

“When we were dating, we’d hang out with her friends all the time,” Nate said, crossing his arms over his chest with more arrogance than Azel thought someone like him capable of. “We’d all gotten so close over that time. Still are.”

Which might explain why Harri didn’t feel comfortable going out with her friends lately, now that she and Nate were done. As a demon, Azel was almost impressed by how elegantly the man had isolated Harri, invading her safest places. 

As her fake boyfriend, it pissed him off.

“Her friends are such a big part of her life,” Nate continued, looking smug. “She belongs with them, don’t you think?” He narrowed his gaze at Azel, looking him up and down. “Belongs with us.”

And not Azel.

The man hadn’t said it. He hadn’t needed to. Yeah, one of these things was not like the others and, much as it rankled Azel, it wasn’t Nate. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see people whispering his way, their gossipy gazes sharp and cutting against his back. He wondered how many of them knew Harri. How many had seen her and Nate together. How many were quietly judging, measuring Azel next to her ex. He didn’t wonder which, between the two, would come out on top. Stiffening his shoulders and steadying his wings, he looked back to the stage to watch Harri warblingly belt out the last few notes with her friends. 

Maybe she didn’t belong with someone like Azel. But Azel scoffed at this guy, whose need for Harri to make himself feel in any way remarkable felt cloying. “I may not know Harri’s friends well.” He shrugged. “I may not even know Harri all that well. Yet,” he said with a raised eyebrow at her ex. “But I’m pretty sure she belongs anywhere she damned well wants to be.” He grabbed both their glasses and turned away from Nate as the song came to a close. “Belongs with anyone she wants to be with.” And, without waiting for a response, Azel made his way to the stage.

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CHAPTER FOUR: THE DEVIL IN THE DETAILS - PART TWO

“Harriet Cathrine Wren,” her mother’s voice rang shrilly over the voicemail she’d sent, “what is this I hear about you dating a demon?! Call me immediately.”

Harri winced. Her full name. Yikes. She glared at her phone. And the several voicemails, messages, and DMs from not just her mother but her aunt, her cousin Katie, and her friends. Jesus, how had this spread this quickly? How had any of them even found out?

Nate.

It had to be. Besides her and Azel, he was the only one who knew. Fuck! She hadn’t thought he’d do something like that, but she should have. He’d done this all the time, had used her family and friends to get to her. For more than a week after they broke up, she’d been fielding calls and messages from everyone wanting to know what had happened and asking her if she shouldn’t give Nate another chance. If she had to hear one more person sing his praises and tell her how much he truly loved her, she’d scream.

Not looking forward to it — but knowing it would be best to just get it done and over with — she called Katie, whom she hoped would be less freaked out by all this. After all, Katie worked as a PR rep for a bunch of online magical influencers. She would know — at least, better than her Catholic-raised mother and aunt — that this wasn’t that big of a deal.

“Harri?” Katie’s worried voice all but shrieked over the line. “What in the literal Hell is going on? Are you dating a demon?”

Harri rolled her eyes. “We went on one date. Coffee.”

The relieved sigh Katie gave made Harri’s eyes narrow and her jaw clench. “Thank God for that. The way your mother’s been calling mine all morning, you’d think you’d sold your soul to become a Bride of Hell.”

Harri scowled. “How did she even find out?”

“Apparently, Nate ran into her at the bistro her book club brunches at.”

Harri fought the urge to grind her teeth. “How convenient.” That he’d be at a restaurant halfway across the city from their apartment at 9:00 in the morning on a Sunday. “How did he even know she’d be there?”

“They still talk, you know. Pretty sure he calls her more than you do.” She snorted. “Definitely more than I call my mom and, boy, did she let me know that this morning when she grilled me about this boyfriend none of us have met or heard anything about.”

“One date!” Harri groaned. “We’ve had one date.” Why was everyone acting like she was hiding things from them?

Well, she was, but not what they thought she was. 

Guilt pricked her. With their moms being so close, Katie and Harri had grown up practically as sisters. There’d been a time when they’d been practically inseparable. And, sure, over the years, with their jobs and lives, they’d grown apart, but it still felt weird hiding something this big from her. Why hadn’t she thought of that? Why had she thought she could keep these parts of her life separate? “I just think everyone is making a bigger deal out of this than it is.” 

Hell, Harri wasn’t even sure anymore what was going on. She frowned and thought about the teasing texts Azel had sent her earlier. Thought about the way he’d talked and touched her yesterday morning. Thought about how it’d felt like, maybe, for a moment there, he’d been about to kiss her on their walk. What had all that meant? They weren’t really dating; why was he flirting with her, especially when Nate wasn’t even there to see it? It didn’t make sense. 

Katie sighed. “It’s because he’s a demon and you know it. Look, I’m not saying it’s fair, but… they’re just worried about you. It hasn’t been that long since you were with Nate.”

“It’s been months.” Harri pouted.

“Yeah, only a couple of months after a year together,” Katie pointed out. “You guys were pretty serious and we just want to be sure that you’re not… being rash.”

Harri huffed. “How is going on one date with one guy being rash?” She shook her head. “And Nate and I weren’t that serious.” Katie had been with her boyfriend, Jack, for three years now and no one treated her like this.

“Nate was looking at wedding rings, Harri,” Katie said pointedly. “Sounds pretty serious to me.”

Harri wanted to scream. Yeah, Nate had been looking, not her. That was why she’d broken things off. 

Katie sighed. “Hey, I’m glad you’re getting back out there. Weighing your options. But can we both at least agree that this guy doesn’t exactly sound like your usual type? I mean to go from a marriage-material nice guy like Nate to some bad-boy demon…” She could practically hear Katie shrug. “It doesn’t sound like you, and it’s making us all a little worried, okay?”

Harri sighed at the genuine concern in her cousin’s voice. “Fine. I appreciate that you all care, but...” 

Katie tutted. “You’re feeling badgered.” She sighed. “Okay, how about this? Jack’s best friend is having a birthday party tonight. Bring this new guy along so I can tell our moms I met him and he’s not about to drag you off to the underworld, all Persephone-style, or anything.”

Harri’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “You want me to crash your boyfriend’s best friend’s birthday so you can meet a guy I’m barely seeing yet?”

Katie scoffed. “Yet?” Harri winced at Katie’s titillated giggle. “Hell, yes, now I really want you to.” She hummed dismissively even before Harri could form a proper protest. “Look, it’s perfect. Casual and informal. No parental pressure. It’ll be a huge group of people. The birthday boy’s brother owns this dive bar and we’re pretty much taking it over for the night. Come, have a couple of free drinks, hang out for a bit. It’ll be fun.” 

“I don’t know.” It was a bad idea. There was pretty much nothing in the world she wanted less than to bring her fake date to essentially a family inspection. Hell, even if she’d been in a real relationship, who did that after one coffee date? 

“C’mon,” Katie insisted. “It’ll put our moms’ minds at ease a bit and it’ll be a good excuse to get together again. I feel like I haven’t seen you since your birthday party.”

Harri winced, thinking about the huge surprise party Nate and her friends had planned for her about four months into their relationship, where he’d made a huge deal of gifting her a key to his apartment. Even though they lived right next door to each other and had been in and out of each other’s places easily enough, he’d made this grand show of boxes packaged and wrapped inside each other like those nesting dolls, each getting smaller and smaller until there was just a single jewelry box at the center. 

Harri still remembered the anxious mix of panic, embarrassment, and a tiny bit of flattery when she’d thought he might be proposing to her. It’d been way too soon and, even as she’d held the tiny box in her hand, she’d been trying to figure out a nice way to turn him down without hurting his feelings or humiliating either of them in front of all their friends. In all honesty, it’d be such a fucking relief when she’d opened the box and saw his key, instead of a diamond ring, that she’d been overwhelmed with gratitude, laughing with him at her undue anxiety.

Looking back at it, it felt… unnecessary and vaguely callous, to play with her feelings like that for a joke.

“I’ll invite some other people,” Katie continued. “See if maybe Emma and Carrie can come. You could see if your friend from work — Megan — can make it too. We’ll make a night of it.”

Oh no. Things were getting out of hand. Harri did not want that many people involved in this. There were too many already. The only person she’d wanted to convince was Nate. She had no desire to parade Azel in front of all her friends. Shaking her head, Harri huffed. “We have dinner plans tonight, but we’ll swing by for drinks beforehand, okay? You can meet him, see that he’s just a regular guy, and stop worrying. Okay?”

Katie agreed readily, eagerly sharing the event’s details before letting Harri go. With a sigh, Harri hung up and glared at her phone, already regretting everything. Things were getting messy. Why didn’t anything ever seem to go the way she planned? With a sigh, she started to text Azel again.

HARRI: Sorry, change of plans.

.

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CHAPTER FOUR: THE DEVIL IN THE DETAILS - PART ONE

Frowning, Azel listened to the polite voicemail. “Management has reviewed your resume and, unfortunately, we will not be able to offer you employment. But we thank you for thinking of us.”

Damn it! How hard was it to find a job? Azel glared at his phone and the job posting site he’d been making his way through all morning. Two waiter positions. Three sales associate positions. A bartender gig. Even a warehouse worker temp job. He’d been on the phone or in interviews with employers all day and none of them — not one — gave him so much as a second glance. Fuck!

What the hell was he going to do?

He looked back at his phone’s screen, when he heard his notifications chime.

HARRI: Just checking that we’re still on for tonight. I was thinking Mexican, if that’s okay with you.

Azel grimaced and rubbed the nape of his neck uncomfortably. Ever since he’d left Harri’s apartment yesterday, he’d had this niggling feeling in the back of his brain. Guilt. Not exactly a feeling he, as a demon, felt very often and he decidedly did not like it.

He sighed and rubbed his horns frustratedly. This was supposed to be an easy gig. Get wined and dined by some well-to-do stranger who wanted to use him to get her ex off her back. Simple. 

Except, like every other employer in the city it seemed, he had the awful feeling she didn’t even need him. Harri was sweet, if a little skittish. A bit of a control freak, but in an achingly endearing way that made him think she’d been pushed around too much in her life. 

And, as plain as he’d found her at first… she had this intriguing way of changing so completely with each emotion — the way her dark eyes lit up with joy, or how those soft lips looked hungry with curiosity when wrapped around her seemingly endless questions, or the way her defiant shoulders stiffened with determination, or the absolutely enticing way her whole body seemed to writhe with embarrassment every time he teased her — it made it impossible to not want to stare and watch the dynamic shifts play over her. 

Azel shook his head. Yeah, she didn’t need someone like him. She could be — probably should be — doing all this with a real boyfriend. Or at least a date she didn’t have to pay for. He wasn’t doing anything worth getting paid for and it felt… wrong taking it. 

At least before, with the people he used to make deals with, he’d been giving them the fantasy treatment, becoming everything they’d ever wanted but couldn’t have — for whatever reason — for the duration of their agreement. A balanced contract. A fair deal.

Azel stared at her text. Maybe that was the answer. He just needed to give Harri the full service. Be the best fake boyfriend she could imagine. Apparently, that was the only marketable skill he had and she was the only one in the city willing to hire him for it, so she deserved his best. And that was what he’d damn well give her. He grinned as he typed his message back.

AZEL: Mexican, huh? So you like it hot then?

He chuckled as he watched the tiny ellipsis bounce, pause, bounce, pause, and bounce again in an indecisive dance as she crafted her own response.

HARRI: Do you not like spicy food? We can go somewhere else, if you’d prefer.

He laughed out loud, imagining the blush that he’d bet was flushing her cheeks as well as the cautious, almost distrustful look in her eye — as if she had absolutely no idea what he was doing or why — that made him think that not enough people had flirted with her. Though he didn’t know why, when it was so much fun.

AZEL: Oh I can definitely handle the heat. Meet at your place at 6:30?

He smiled at her nervous Okay, wondering what it would take to get a more playful reaction from her. He wondered if she’d ever sent a sext or a dirty pic in her life. She didn’t seem like the type. But even something like Can’t wait or I’ll be waiting would be nice.

But that would be something she’d send someone she was actually dating. Had she sent Nate messages like that? With a determined frown, he typed again.

AZEL: Can’t wait

.

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CHAPTER THREE: OPENING BID - PART THREE

She shouldn’t. It was a bad idea. She was going to end things with him. 

Any minute now. 

So she really shouldn’t touch him.

But her hand was already reaching up to the large wing curling around her. She let her fingers barely brush against the bony edge of his wings, feeling the fragile strength of their frame. Her breath caught as his wings flexed beneath her touch, the fluid movement letting her fingers flow over the delicately thin yet resiliently taut skin. Her eyes traced every vein and vessel, made so clear as sunlight shone through the veil of flesh in a beautiful, living tapestry. Her mind marveled. She was touching something wondrous. Something, not that long ago, people would have sworn couldn’t be real. Yet, here it was.

Here he was.

Harri looked up into Azel’s heated gaze as he shifted to face her, his wings folding over them, like a shield against the rest of the world. She inhaled sharply as he leaned in close, their breath — made sweet and sultry from the hazelnut coffee — swirling between them and fogging her whole world.

Lord, she was in trouble, wasn’t she?

She snatched back her hand. “We should head out.” The words weren’t much more than a whisper, unsure and unsteady.

“Is that really what you want?” She could hear her own desires reflected back at her, heavy and hot, in his heady voice.

Biting her lip, she nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

“As you wish.” He stepped away, his wings pulling back to simply shield them from the wind again. “Why don’t we discuss the details of our contract while we walk?”

She nodded again, her shoulders relaxing a bit more. She let out her breath as her vision cleared. Details. Yes, figuring out the exact parameters of their agreement sounded good. Sounded smart. 

As they walked, they batted back and forth terms and conditions. No, they did not have to meet up every day. But, yes, they should meet up at least four times a week.  When it came to touch, they would both ask for consent first, every time. Yes, both of them. Whatever Azel said, it made Harri feel better knowing that he could say no to her. It made his yes feel more real. Made hers feel so too. She didn’t want to ever wonder if he was just doing things for her because she wanted it, even if he didn’t. She knew all too well what that felt like and didn’t wish that on anyone.

By the time they walked back up to her apartment, she felt much more at ease, much more in control again. Felt like this contract — this deal — could actually work. He’d be helping her with Nate; she’d be helping Azel until he got a new job. This was a good thing for both of them. For Nate too, in the end. They would be helping Nate move on. What was a month of playing pretend in the face of that? 

Harri opened her door, even as they both lingered in the hallway. “So I think this was a pretty successful first date, wouldn’t you say?”

The smile he flashed her warmed her belly. “I’d say we definitely made good progress today. If you’d like, we could go inside, maybe order some lunch and officially draw up the contract.”

She felt herself stiffen as her hand tightened on the doorknob behind her.

His head tilted cautiously. “Or… I can take it home tonight and bring it tomorrow. We can sign it over dinner, if that works better for you. You can pick the restaurant.”

She looked up at him gratefully. She knew she was being a little irrational.  It wasn’t as if she was afraid of having Azel in her apartment. He’d been in it this morning and it’d been perfectly fine. It wasn’t him she worried about, not really.

It was just… after having let Nate in — after finding it so hard to keep Nate out — having another person in her space, her home, felt wrong. This place was hers; she wouldn’t let anyone in again until and unless she wanted to.

“Okay,” he said, nodding knowingly. He studied her, his gaze feeling like a stroke as it traced the curve of her face, the trail of her neck, the sweep of her shoulders, and along the length of her arm. “You know, I never did get to hold your hand today.” He smiled up at her again. “Guess I’ll have something to look forward to tomorrow.”

After bidding each other goodbye, she watched him walk down the hallway and out of sight, her thoughts lingering on the promise of tomorrow. Feeling foolish, she shut the door behind her and leaned against the hardwood, her mind and heart ridiculously racing. She shook her head, willing herself to calm down. She had no reason to be reacting like this. He might sound like he was flirting, but he wasn’t serious. He was playing a part. Doing a job. Fulfilling his end of their deal. She needed to remember that. None of this was real. 

And she didn’t want it to be real. Real meant repercussions. Real meant dealing with all those messy relationship things — emotions and expectations — that she didn’t want to.

No, this was better. Cleaner.

She jumped at a loud knock on her door. She frowned. Had Azel come back? Had he forgotten something?

Holding her breath, she opened the door a crack. Only to see Nate fuming in the hallway. “Who the hell was that?”

Instantly irritated, she rolled her eyes. “It’s none of your business, Nate.” She moved to shut her door again, only to have him shove the door open more.

“What do you think you’re doing, Harri?” Nate shook his head, disbelieving, disapproving. “A demon. You went on a date with a demon!” He took a step closer.

Refusing to move an inch, to let him into her apartment again, she stiffened her spine and glared into his face. “Go home, Nate.”

For a moment, he looked like he was going to shout, his whole body seeming to surge and seeth as if readying for a full-blown fight with her in the middle of her doorway. 

But, just as quickly, all that anger vanished, suddenly shoved and stuffed behind that nice guy exterior she no longer trusted. He gave her doorframe a weak yet meaningful kick with his foot. “Look, I know you’re mad at me.” He shrugged helplessly. “I honestly have no idea why or what I did. But, if you’d just tell me,” he looked up at her, frowning, as he said, “I’ll do whatever you need me to to fix it.” He reached out to touch a strand of her hair as he smiled at her ruefully. “You don’t need to date a demon to get my attention. You already have it.”

But she didn’t want it. She leaned back, out of his reach. “Go home, Nate,” she told him, her voice hard and unyielding, before shutting the door behind her.

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