Page 10 of My Demon Assistant

I worked quietly for a while, replying to emails and forwarding the important ones to Jerry, adding conferences to his calendar. It was interesting work, but I always kept an ear out for Jerry in case he needed anything.

I glanced up as a woman with strawberry blond hair, bright blue eyes, a curvy frame, and the stink of a certain demon clinging to her approached, and smiled. Kat. She was Jerry's best friend, ex-wife, and ex-roommate. She was also mated to Fressia, one of the most intimidating demons I knew.

"Hello!" I greeted her, and she smiled hesitantly.

"Hey. Eshim, right? You're Jerry's new assistant?"

I nodded quickly, then debated over it for a moment before saying, "I am. I'm also a friend of Fressia. And Calux." I'd told Lux not to tell the others—except Archer, because I couldn't ask him to keep secrets from his mate—yet, but I thought it would be a good idea to get Jerry's friends on my side.

Her eyes widened, and she perched on the edge of my desk, leaning closer to whisper, "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

I squinted at her. "Mind reading is not one of my powers."

She snorted, then asked, "Are you a demon?"

I nodded, and her eyes widened. She peeked up into Jerry's office, then eyed me curiously. "Is Jerry..."

"My mate," I confirmed, and she whooped. Loudly.

"Shit!" she mumbled when a woman passing by dropped her folders, and Jerry called her name from his office. "We're talking about this later," she informed me before she stepped into Jerry's office as I went over to help the poor woman she'd startled.

I was glad Kat was already mated, or I would've been supremely jealous of how close she and Jerry were. As it was, I knew Fressia was even more possessive than me, so I had to wonder if she'd been a bitch to Jerry because of it. I'd have to warn her off if she had.

I didn't like that Jerry was the only one in the dark about demons, and I knew he'd have feelings about it when he found out. When I told him. Yikes. That wasn't a conversation I was looking forward to.

Kat returned a few minutes later, a smirk on her face. She didn't stop to talk to me, but she did give me a wink. I guess I had another person in my corner now.

I'd met Archer yesterday evening when I went over to Lux's place, and he was just as excited as Kat about me being Jerry's mate. Clearly, his friends hated keeping secrets from him. I was glad he had such good friends.

Now that I had the job and was getting used to my work, my thoughts turned to the next step in my plan. I wanted to get to know Jerry better, to form a bond with him.

Being mates wouldn't automatically make us fall in love. It wasn't a love-at-first-sight thing. Being mates just meant that out of all the people in the world, Jerry and I would have the best relationship with each otherifwe put in the work.

According to Lux, Jerry wouldn't want to date his employee, which meant I'd have to work extra hard to woo him. Maybe the internet would have some advice on how to flirt successfully?

Jerry

I pressed the intercom button, my eyes on my new assistant through the glass front. He'd been working diligently since he came in, and so far, I had no complaints. I was actually surprised by how well he was doing, and Kat seemed delighted by his presence, though I had no idea why.

"Eshim," I said, and he jumped in his chair, then glanced at the phone, then at me through the glass. Biting back a smile, I continued, "Can you get me the Parker file from Archer? He should be done with it."

While we had our own copies, I'd asked Archer to look at some stuff and leave his notes. We could just as easily do it digitally, but I was an old-school paper-person, something Kat never stopped teasing me about.

"Sure thing, sir!"

I watched as Eshim hopped to his feet and headed off toward Archer's office, and turned my attention back to the screen, making a few notes for Kat—who, of course, refused to work on paper simply to drive me crazy—in the proposal she planned to submit to a potential client.

Business had been doing well for a while, and I had faith in Kat's abilities. She wouldn't usually ask me to double-check her work, but this was a big client, and if we managed to get this contract, it would be a huge deal for our company.

Footsteps made me glance up, and Eshim smiled at me as he held out the file, peering at me with his big blue eyes. "Here you go, sir."

I took the file with a murmured thank-you, and his smile widened, but he didn't look away. My brows furrowed as he kept staring at me, his eyes boring into mine until I jerked my gaze away, tingles crawling over my skin.

"Thank you, Eshim. You may go now," I murmured, gaze on the file I flipped open as my heart raced. What the fuck was that?

Eshim lingered for a moment, just like he had earlier when he brought me coffee and the most delicious cookies I'd ever tasted, then left the room, closing the door behind him and resuming his post outside.

I exhaled loudly once he was gone, then shook my head. Seriously, what was that about?

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