Page 16 of Summoning Mr. Wrong
I pulled my hand back, suddenly remembering he was still wearing only an apron. “I should probably update my resume and start job hunting.”
“Responsible,” he said with obvious disappointment. “Boring, but responsible.”
“Welcome to adulting,” I replied. “It’s mostly responsible and boring, with occasional moments of panic.”
He made a face. “No wonder humans are always so stressed. Come on, at least let me help with your resume. I’ve seen a lot of job applications over the centuries.”
Which is how I ended up sitting at my tiny desk with a demon peering over my shoulder, critiquing my employment history.
“‘Attention to detail’? Seriously?” Deus scoffed. “That’s what everyone puts. Be specific. ‘Developed specialized coffee preparation techniques resulting in 15% increase in regular customers.’”
“That’s a complete exaggeration,” I protested. “I just made coffee the way people ordered it.”
“It’s marketing, not lying,” he insisted. “Humans do it all the time.”
After an hour of Deus’s surprisingly effective resume advice (punctuated by his running commentary on how humans made everything needlessly complicated), I had a document that actually looked impressive. Whether it would get me a job was another question entirely.
“Now can we do something fun?” Deus asked, draping himself dramatically across my bed. Somewhere during the resume session, he’d finally put on clothes—loose sweatpants and another of my t-shirts that stretched tight across his broad chest.
“I should really start applying to jobs,” I said, but my heart wasn’t in it. The thought of sending out dozens of applications only to be ignored or rejected was too depressing to face immediately after being fired.
Deus must have sensed my mood because his approach changed. “How about this,” he said, sitting up. “We take a break, do something to clear your head, and then you can come back to the job hunt with fresh eyes.”
It was sensible advice. “What did you have in mind?”
“Nothing elaborate,” he assured me. “Maybe a walk? Some fresh air? I’ve been told that helps humans process stress.”
The suggestion was so normal, so un-demonic, that I had to laugh. “A walk? That’s your big idea? Not, I don’t know, a bacchanalian orgy or a deal with a fortune 500 CEO?”
He shrugged. “I’m adaptable. We can do the orgy if you prefer, but I thought you might appreciate something simpler first.”
“A walk sounds perfect,” I said, still smiling. “Let me just change.”
Chapter 10
Twenty minutes later, we were strolling through the small park near my apartment. It was a mild spring day, the kind that reminds you winter eventually ends even when it feels endless. Deus walked beside me, hands in the pockets of a leather jacket he’d manifested from somewhere, looking for all the world like a normal (exceptionally attractive) guy.
Except for the occasional shimmer of tattoos visible at his wrists and neck, and the way other park-goers seemed to subconsciously move out of his way without realizing they were doing it.
“Do people always react to you like that?” I asked, nodding toward a woman who had just crossed to the other side of the path for no apparent reason.
“Like what?”
“Like they sense something’s… different about you.”
Deus considered this. “Sometimes. Humans have instincts they’ve mostly forgotten how to listen to. But on some level, they can tell I’m not one of them.”
“But I didn’t,” I pointed out. “When you first appeared, I was surprised, but not… afraid. Not really.”
He gave me a sidelong glance. “That’s because you’re different.”
“Different how?”
“You see things other people miss.” He stopped to examine a flowering bush, touching a petal with surprising gentleness.“You notice beauty in unexpected places. It’s why your apartment is full of those little drawings and odd trinkets. You find value where others don’t look.”
I stared at him, caught off guard by the observation. It was true that I collected things others might consider junk—interesting rocks, fallen feathers, sketches of strangers on cafe napkins. But I hadn’t realized he’d noticed, much less understood why.
“Is that why you were summoned to me, specifically?” I asked. “Because I’m… what, more observant?”
