He lifted his head. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Getting there.” I really was feeling stronger. I ran my hands over his back, his muscles bunching under my fingertips.
“Maybe you’d better lie down again.” He eased me back to the bed until I was sitting on the edge, then knelt in front of me. He kissed me again, his mouth hot on mine as he slid his hands under the back of my sweater. One went up to the clasp of my bra, and one went down to slide into the back of my jeans.
“Mmmm.” I fell back on the pillows, dragging him with me, our mouths still connected. This was feeling very right, very—
“Rafe, Glory?” Nadia slammed the hall door, and I could hear her heels tapping as she headed across the living room.
We sprang apart like guilty children, then grinned at each other. Rafe ended up next to the dresser, a book in front of his bulging zipper. Like he’d been reading me a bedtime story. I finger combed my hair.
“In here, Nadia.” I sat up and grabbed one of my shoes lying on the rug next to the bed and slipped it on. “I had an accident, and Rafe was taking care of me.”
“Accident? What happened?” Nadia looked concerned, but I could tell it barely covered a combo platter of curiosity and aggravation.
“A blast from my past came by. In the form of a demon bitch. She knocked Glory around a little.” Rafe gave up on the book, took Nadia’s arm and steered her back to the living room. “I need to warn you in case she comes back. And I’m pretty sure she will. She lives to cause trouble.”
“Who is she? What does she look like?” Nadia was now all business. “I need you on track here, Rafe. This is the second night in a row you’ve disappeared on me, damn it. This club isn’t going to open on time if this keeps happening.”
“I’ll tell you all about her on the way to the club.” Rafe turned to me. “Glory, about your shop ...”
“Rafe, did you just lock up?” I stuck my foot in the other shoe and followed them to the living room. Nadia’s attitude had snapped me back to reality in a hurry.
“I had no choice, Glory.” Rafe acted like abandoning my shop hadn’t been a big deal. Aggravating.
“Sure, fine. But now that I’m recovered, I need to get back down there. I’m missing sales and ruining the track record we had for being open twenty-four hours.”
“Can’t you let it go for one night? Alesa might come back.” Rafe was in my space, staring worriedly at me while Nadia tapped her foot and looked like she wanted to say something. It didn’t take mind reading to know she was over the whole Rafe-and-Glory connection and ready to pull the plug on their partnership. I couldn’t let him ruin this club thing over me.
“I can’t afford to do that, Rafe. I’ll call Richard. He’s an ex-priest. He’ll know what to do about a demon. If nothing else, he’ll stay with me until the next shift comes in. You and I can talk later. How’s that?” His eyebrow went up. Okay, so we hadn’t exactly been talking when Nadia had come in. I saw my purse and dug in it for my phone. Silence. I looked up and saw Rafe staring at me. Mr. Inscrutable.
“I’ll be careful.” I pulled out my phone. “Calling Richard now.” I patted Rafe’s chest, then pushed him toward Nadia. “Go. This is important to you. I want the club to be your number-one priority until it’s opened successfully. I’m a businesswoman too, Nadia. I totally get where you’re coming from.”
“Listen to her, Rafael. Now let’s go. There are a million details, and I can’t handle them all by myself. I called your cell, and it went straight to voice mail. This is no way to run a business.” She opened the hall door and gestured for Rafe to precede her. “Are we going?”
“Yes, I guess we are. Don’t go down without Richard, Glory. I’ll be back before sunrise.” He gave me a look that was a promise of something interesting later, then walked out. Nadia’s glance actually said thanks, then she slammed the door.
“All right, then.” I picked up my phone and called Richard. Voice mail. Knowing Flo, that probably meant they were practicing for the honeymoon and she’d made him turn off his phone. I left him a message that this was urgent and involved a demon in my shop. More than a little shaky about my decision, I grabbed some supplies, stuffed them into my purse, then headed out.
The first hour was uneventful. I had a few customers, including two who had tried to come earlier and were disappointed that we’d been closed. The sales I made convinced me that I’d done the right thing reopening. When the bell rang over the door and Aggie came in, I was relieved. Reinforcements. I hoped she’d fight on my side if a demon showed up.
“I had Greg look up shower games, Glory. Tell me what you think.” Aggie plopped papers on the counter and sat on the stool in front of me. “Some of these are pretty funny.”
“Funny’s good.” I picked up a paper. “Unless you’re making me look ridiculous. ‘Stack cotton balls on your head. The person who can balance the most wins a prize.’” I crumpled the paper and dropped it in the can behind the counter. “I think not.”
Aggie grinned. “Aw, come on. Where’s your sense of humor? I can see you now, a stack of those fluffy things on your head, Miss Cottontop, while we all laugh and cheer.”
“Next.” I picked up another paper. “What’s this? ‘Kiss Flo’s ass.’ Are you nuts?”
Aggie snatched it. “You didn’t read it all. You blow up a picture of her head and draw a body. Then we each put on a ton of lipstick and a blindfold. The person whose lips end up closest to Flo’s cute little ass wins a prize. Isn’t that fun?”
“In Siren land maybe.” I grabbed the paper and tore it in quarters, dropping it in the can. Okay, maybe I wasn’t in a game-playing mood. Getting drop-kicked by a demon will do that to you.
“Fine. Be that way. I’ll pick my own games, and you’ll just have to go with the flow.” Aggie laughed. “Get it? Flo, flow?” She stared at me. “Never mind. What’s got you so bummed? You’re usually a little more upbeat than this. Is it something to do with that demon I saw come in here earlier?”
“You could say that. What do you know about demons?” I sat on the stool I kept behind the counter. Aggie was right. I was down and sinking fast. I’d even lost a sale earlier because I hadn’t smiled and faked interest in a customer’s dress choice. Now Aggie and I were alone so I could vent.
“I know they’re trouble.” She pulled another sheaf of papers out of her Louis Vuitton tote. “Games for the bachelorette party. X-rated. That should cheer you up.”
“Damn it, Aggie, I can’t think about games right now. The demon may come back anytime, and she’s hurt me once.” I pulled a vial of holy water out from under the counter, then draped the rosary around my neck. “Think this stuff will help?”
“Couldn’t hurt.” Aggie picked up the holy water. “Well, I take that back. Fake. Whoever sold it to you ripped you off. I can tell the real deal from a mile away. Gives me the heebie-jeebies. Not that I’m evil or anything, but I’ve got enough of the bad stuff in me to have a sense of things like that.”
“Well, shoot. Got it off the Internet. I had high hopes for it.” I dropped the vial in the trash can. “What about the rosary? I had it in front of me, along with a prayer book, when she was here earlier and she didn’t approach me, but she did treat me to a kind of psychic knockout punch.”
“Yeah, they don’t like touching stuff like that. But it depends on what kind of demon you’re dealing with. There’re good demons and bad. I assume you’re going at it with a bad one.” Aggie was checking her manicure like this was no big deal. I wanted to cram her stack of papers down her throat.
“Yes, definitely bad. She’s really after Rafe. Wants to have his baby, of all things.” I propped my chin on my fist. Visions of that coupling made my skin crawl.
“Ooo. Now you’ve got me interested. Sex with a demon. Tell me more.” Aggie leaned in.
“She’s Rafe’s ex. Now she claims her biological clock’s ticking, and she wants her little hellbaby to be his. Rafe’s not interested. She hit me, so maybe she’s thinking it’s because I’m in the picture. Of course that’s not it. He wouldn’t do her if she were the last female in Heaven, hell or any part in between.” I glanced at the bachelorette games. Ring toss with an inflatable penis? Oh, joy.
“He’d better be careful. She could sneak up on him. Knock him out like she did you, and then take him while he’s unconscious.” Aggie started to stuff her papers back into her tote. “Don’t ask me how, but demons can get men up when they don’t want to be there. It’s happened before. The Storm God has told us some really cool stories about it.”
“Not sure with Rafe. He’s part demon himself.”
“No frickin’ way.” Aggie stopped in mid stuff.
“I was as shocked as you are.” What was I doing spilling Rafe’s secrets to Aggie like she and I were girlfriends? “Don’t you tell anyone I told you that. Swear it, or I’ll tell the Storm God you love your shoes more than you love him.”
Aggie blinked. “Gee, Glory. Play hard ball why don’t you? Fine. I won’t tell a soul.” She crossed her heart.
I looked up when the bell over the shop door rang. Customer? No. I nudged Aggie. She turned around. We knew immediately that we had a problem on our hands.
“Well, well, well. A vampire and a Siren. I just love a twofer.” The demon glanced back, and my sign flipped on its own from Open to Closed. The dead bolt clicked shut, and we were trapped with her.
“Love this.” Aggie threw up her hands like she did when she was about to turn someone to stone.
The demon just laughed and threw up her own hands. Aggie was frozen in place. Yep, stuck on her stool like a permanent fixture. I gaped at Alesa.