Page 15 of Demon Queen
I sighed melodramatically. “It’s for couples.” I looked at my left hand and shook my head. “Alas, I am single. The universe curses me.”
“Alas. To be so cursed.” He tsked and continued walking.
Impulsively, I grabbed his left hand, spreading his fingers in mine while he raised a brow. He didn’t dally with his dancers. I knew that. I trusted that. He was a friend and a fair employer. “You’re also cursed. Is there any way I could bribe you to go with me as my fake significant other?” I wiggled my brows at him, trying to look as lecherous as possible.
He hesitated longer than usual. His comebacks were always quick, glib, clever. He looked down at our hands, still linked together. “No. You’d have to marry me for real. That is, I’d need a ring and a ceremony to show the depth of your devotion.”
I looked at the flier then up at him, biting my lip. I really wanted to go, and it would be so much better if he was there. “Hold on a second.” I ripped an edge off the paper and in five seconds had a paper ring that I slipped around his finger.
He raised an expressive brow. “And the ceremony?”
“Will you, Dorian, swear your life to me for the duration of one afternoon?”
“Until my paper ring breaks, I do.” He grabbed a shiny gum wrapper from the dressing table, rolled it into a band and slipped it on my finger. “Will you, Cherry Blossom, swear your life to me for the duration of one afternoon?” His eyes were dancing with amusement while he held my hand.
My heart beat faster than the first time I’d gone on stage in my bumble bee costume for my very first show there. “I do. Until my gum wrapper band breaks.”
He’d kissed my hand, sending a shaft of bewildering awareness through me. “I’ll pick you up at two.”
And that was the beginning of the end. The tea tasting was every bit as magical as I’d hoped it would be. I’d dressed in a gauzy dress that floated around me like the falling petals. He’d worn a linen shirt that didn’t entirely hide his perfectly sculpted body. We’d held hands. Drank tea. And kissed beneath the arbor while the world sang of happiness.
When I went in to work that night, there was a horrible stand-off between me and my roommate, Ecstasy, who had known Dorian for years, so why was he dating me instead of her? If he was going to date dancers…
I expected him to deny that we were dating. I mean, yes, we’d kissed, but that wasn’t worth writing home about. Particularly since I had no home.
“If you have a problem with the way I run my club,” he said in a low voice with an unfamiliar edge, “You can leave.”
She tossed her hair, the blue sparkly extensions particularly dramatic. “No, I have no problem with the way you run your club. On a completely unrelated note,” she said, turning to me, with fury flashing in her eyes. “I want you out of my apartment. My name’s on the lease and I’ve decided to go in another direction. I guess you’ll have to find someone else to put up with your magical aura.”
And this from a girl with sparkles.
Dorian slipped his hand on my lower back, bracing me. “Perfect. Cherry was moving in with me anyway.”
I stopped breathing. Everyone stopped breathing. Ecstasy’s face went five different shades of outraged before she spun around and left me standing there, feeling like my world got turned inside out.
“I’m moving in with you?” I asked, looking up at him. He was so handsome, strong, basically flawless. Was he serious about this? Was it the kiss? Had he liked kissing me?
He gave me a slight smile. “Why not?” His smile was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen in my life.
Why not? Really?
Well, I’d lived with him when he found out that I was staying in my car so I knew for a fact that he was a much better roommate than Ecstasy. He kept things clean, organized, and didn’t mind my messes in the kitchen when I made elaborate dessert, or when I spread out my books for my homework all over the elegant coffee table. Ecstasy was always either complaining about my weird costumes, weird dances, or weird taste in men. The last one wasn’t fair. I didn’t like the men who knew me from the club, particularly the last one who threatened to blow up the building if I didn’t date him.
If I lived with Dorian, men would be much less likely to stalk me. And he was such great company. And that kiss…
“If you sure you wouldn’t…”
“I wouldn’t. Let’s get your stuff before Ecstasy throws it out the window.”
I shook my head and refocused on the moment. On my office where I ran my little kingdom. Finally, I had my papers in order, texted Roberta thanks for her hard work, wired the bonuses to all the employees for a launch well done, and then got my papers together and went to find Straldi. He was spinning from his webbed feet from one of the aerialist hoops. His tentacles seemed to enjoy flying in the wind.
I stood on the floor beneath him, living in the weirdness until I cleared my throat. “If you’re ready to go…”
He flipped down, over twelve feet, landed easily then slipped on his shoes and nodded at me. “Sure thing.”
I blinked at him, trying to stay cool and not scream or faint. Or pee myself. High goals. “Can I hire you for my next underwater theme?”
“Sure. And for Halloween. I can be quite scary when I put effort into it.” He winked at me while his tentacles wiggled, but somehow I didn’t shudder. He was a sensitive soul and I was super chill.
