“Like dirty limericks?”
“No, thankfully. Got some haikus once, though.”
She laughed again. “The more you tell me, the more I really want to read your books. I’ve got to go pick up one.”
Seth shrugged. “No need. Give me your address, and I’ll send you a couple.”
“Oh, no. You don’t have to…”
He waved her off. “They send me boxes of them. It’s not a problem.”
“Wow, thanks.” She grinned. She had a cute smile for a shameless tramp. “That’d be great. Maybe…maybe I could get you coffee as a thank you. I mean, coffee not from here.”
Seth didn’t quite catch it at first, then I saw the surprise register on his face. “Ah,” he said. The social ease and banter he’d just had abruptly shut down. “Well. I…” He hesitated, and suddenly, suddenly, I wondered if he was hesitating over whether to accept rather than choosing words to refuse her. After what seemed like an eternity, he shook his head. “No. I can’t. Not…no. Not really. I’m, um, probably busy.”
Her face fell a little. “I understand.” A moment later, she mustered a smile. “Well…let me check on some tables, and then I’ll be back.”
She sauntered off across the restaurant, and I wished that dress wasn’t quite so snug on her ass. Seth’s eyes followed her, a bit regretful.
Suddenly, I didn’t want to talk to him quite so much after all.
I left the diner, my emotions in a tangle. I discretely shifted back to a visible form and headed down the street, moving toward the hotel but not really sure I wanted to go back there either.
“He likes her,” a voice suddenly said beside me.
Startled, I turned to find Kurtis walking along with me. He’d appeared out of nowhere. I didn’t bother asking what he’d just seen. Demons could move around with their signatures masked, and I supposed it was time for his bribe.
“No, he doesn’t,” I said immediately.
Kurtis laughed, the same unconcerned laugh I’d heard in the courtroom. “Of course he does. She’s hot.”
“He loves me,” I said.
“Love doesn’t stop people from betraying each other.”
It reminded me a bit of my conversation with Noelle. We passed near a bakery, and he beckoned me toward it.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s talk. This place makes great éclairs.”
Which is how, five minutes later, I found myself sitting at a table and eating a cinnamon roll the size of a car tire with another potential killer.
Kurtis didn’t speak until he was halfway through his second éclair. “So. Where were we?
Ah, yes. Your naive belief that love can keep a man from cheating on the one he loves.” He fixed me with a knowing look. “Honestly, I never thought I’d hear that from a succubus. You of all people should know better.”
He was right. I did know better. I couldn’t even keep track of how many men I’d lured away from the women they loved. Affection and reason tended to get a little murky when the body and its hormones took over.
“Seth’s different,” I responded.
“Of course he isn’t. He’s a man. He likes women, and that woman wants him so bad, her panties get wet each time she refills his coffee.”
“Doesn’t matter. She’s not his type.”
“She’s the female type. And she’s pretty.”
“She’s a waitress. Seth wouldn’t go for that.”
“She’s a waitress using her shitty job to put herself through college. You saying a geeky guy like him wouldn’t respect that?”
Yes, Seth would indeed respect something like that. But I still didn’t want to go along with any of this.
“He still wouldn’t do it.”
“Why? Because he’s getting it somewhere else?” He gave me a pointed look.
I honestly shouldn’t have been surprised if he knew everything about me. Still, I had to ask. “How do you know that?”
Kurtis licked chocolate icing off his fingers. “How do you think, little one? That guy’s got a soul brighter than a five-hundred-watt bulb. If he was sleeping with you, it’d show. And if you were going to do it, you’d have already done it.”
“He’s above physical needs.” It was quite possibly the stupidest thing I’d ever said, more so than the happiness and pain comment in the elevator.
“No one’s above physical needs. Not even demons. Look at Noelle and her insane obsession with all this.”
I tossed my hair back, putting on my best bland look. “Well, I don’t care if Seth wants to sleep with that girl. Not like he’d leave me for her. Besides, we have an arrangement. He knows he can get sex on the side if he wants. I don’t care.”
Kurtis threw back his head and laughed. “The f**k you don’t. I don’t have to be an angel to know you’re lying. It would kill you if he slept with someone.”
“It wouldn’t,” I said, even though he was right.
“Have you noticed that their names rhyme? It’s pretty cute.”
“Look,” I said angrily, “will you just leave my personal life alone and get on with whatever bribe you’re here to offer me?”
“Actually, your personal life is why I’m here. And I’m here to bribe you too.”
“Yeah? With what? Your compelling relationship advice?”
“Nah. You wouldn’t listen to it. I’m here to give you what you really want.”
“Yeah. Clyde said the same thing.”
“Clyde’s full of shit,” he scoffed. “I can give you the real deal. You don’t want to hurt your guy? I’ll give you a night with him, consequence free.”
I stared. The room seemed to stop moving.
“You can’t do that.”
“Of course I can.”
“How?”
“You belong to Jerome, right? I’ll get him to block you off from your power for a day.”
I blinked. I’d never thought of that. Hell, in its complicated love for hierarchies and chains of command, had a weird organizational system. An archdemon’s underlings were connected to him in such a way that their divine powers were “filtered” through him. It kept him in control of his subordinates and also gave him a sense of their whereabouts and well-being. It was also sort of like a string of Christmas lights. Take out an archdemon, and it’d cut off his lesser immortals from their powers until a new system was established. I’d never considered the notion of an archdemon willingly blocking someone out of the immortal chain.
The appealing fantasy quickly shattered for me. “Jerome would never do that. He doesn’t approve of my relationship with Seth.”
“Jerome owes me a favor.”
“He does not.” I had a hard time picturing my boss being indebted to anyone.
“He does.” Kurtis held his hand out to me. “I swear, if you vote for one of the other suspects, I’ll make sure you have a night with your guy during which he’ll suffer no damage to his soul.”
I felt the slight crackle of a demon offering a bargain. They could lie and swear about the most extraordinary things…but they were bound to their deals.
I swallowed, a brief image of being naked with Seth flashing in my mind’s eye.
“I can’t,” I said slowly. “I won’t vote because of a bribe. How do I know you didn’t do it?”
“Please. The evidence against me is ridiculous, and you know it. I could see it on your face at the trial.”
“Then why are you worried? Why do you need to bribe me?”
“Because there are plenty of jurors who’d enjoy convicting me just for the fun of it. I need to make sure that won’t happen.”
Temptation, temptation. The story of my life.
“I…can’t.”
He shrugged. “If you say so. Keep an eye on your boyfriend and that waitress, and you’ll see that I’m right about that. I bet he’s a great tipper, and I bet if he starts getting it somewhere else regularly, he might find it isn’t worth sticking around you. But, if you sleep with him sooner rather than later, you’ll keep him from straying.” He pushed his chair back and stood up. “Think on it. You vote for one of the others, and I’ll make good on my promise.”