Page 16 of The Devil She Knows
“Sure.” Daphne smiled. “Whatever you say.”
“Theydon’t,” Sam huffed. “It didn’t. It didn’t mean a damn thing.”
Daphne held up a finger. “Not to be pedantic, but our kiss did, in fact, mean adamnthing. Considering you just made a deal with a demon.”
Our kiss.She could stop saying it like that, like Sam had been an equal, active participant instead of an innocent bystander.
“For instance, that little gasp you let out when I kissed you, the way you leaned in and pressed yourself against me? How you probably didn’t even realize you were doing it? That tells me a story. Do you want to know what story that tells me, Samantha?”
“Fuck you,” she spit out, face on fire. “If I gasped, it was because I was horrified that you were kissing me.”
“It tells me,” Daphne continued as if Sam hadn’t spoken, “that it’s been a long, long time since that ex of yours gave you even a scrap of the affection you so desperately crave if you were willing for even a second to look for it in the arms of a demon.”
“Youkissedme,” Sam gritted out. “I didn’t ask you to.”
“No, but you liked it,” Daphne cooed. “You can lie to me all you want, but at least be honest with yourself; for a moment there, when our lips touched, Hannah was the furthest thing from your mind, wasn’t she?”
Shame curdled her stomach like sour milk. “I—No.No.I just—”
Daphne pressed the pad of her finger to Sam’s lips, shushing her. “Hannah broke up with you, remember? She left you sitting alone in a restaurant with your battered and bruised heart in your hand. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Moral reassurances from a demon? Wonders never ceased. “You’re right. BecauseIdidn’tdoanything.Youkissedme.” And quite frankly, Sam was sick of talking about it. “Can we just—move on? Preferably to the part where I get Hannah back?”
“Hasty, hasty,” Daphne chided, clicking her tongue against her teeth. “Before you start wishing, we need to go over a few simple odds and ends. All basic housekeeping, really.”
Oh joy. What did she have to do now? Sign over her firstborn before she could get started? “I’m listening.”
“For the sake of clarity and precision,” Daphne said, “all wishes must begin with the phraseI wish. NotI’d likeorI wantorGive me.”
Sounded simple enough. “Got it.”
“Good. Now, on to our safe word. I’m thinking—”
“I beg your pardon?” She balked. “Safe word?”
“It’s a word or phrase previously agreed upon for use during—”
“I didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday.” She glaredflatly. “I know what a safe word is. I just hardly think you and I need one. Unless you plan on kissing me again, in which case, let me give you a preemptive, emphaticno, thank you.”
“They’re not just for sex, silly. Call it what you want, but if at any point your wish isn’t going the way you’d hoped, you can use the yet-to-be-agreed-upon word to end the wish and make another.”
Um. “Hold on. Why wouldn’t my wish go the way I’d hoped? It’smywish.”
“It’s just a precaution.” Daphne smiled beatifically. “Now, what’s a word you’d normally never say in regular, everyday conversation? It needs to be something you’ll remember.”
“I don’t know?” Sam shrugged weakly. “Pineapple?”
Daphne’s head fell back with a groan. “Really, Samantha? You’re a chef and you go with afruit? At leastpretendto work with me here.”
A hot flush crept up her neck. Excuse her for never having come up with a safe word before. “If you have a better idea, I’m all ears.”
“Lucky for you, I am a font of better ideas. Personally, I’m partial toshenanigans.”
“Shenanigans,” Sam tested the word. It rolled off the tongue surprisingly well. “Fine. Now, can I make my wish, or do you have moreodds and endsfor us to go over?”
“By all means.” Daphne swept out a hand. “The floor is yours.”
Finally.“Well, obviously, I want to be with Hannah. But she’s not happy right now. And I want her to be. Happy. With me.”
