Page 44 of Angels Don’t Date

“You wouldn’t rather examine them before you get rid of them?”

I patted his shoulder. “I’m on a tv show to find true love. We’re doing duets this week and these wings will literally get in the way. Is today Saturday or Sunday?”

He frowned. He had no idea what day of the week it was unless he had a meeting with his wife.

I shook my head. “Never mind about the day. Can you do it?”

“If you perform the runings, they’ll last forever instead of fading, but it will take longer as you aren’t as experienced,” he said.

Was he actually using this disaster as a learning opportunity? Of course he was. Still, I had wings coming out of my spine. I needed to learn how to handle them, like I handled all the other stuff.

“Do I need a notebook?”

He smiled, showing his fangs and pulled an empty pad out of his jacket. “I brought one for you.”

I almost smiled. It was so much like old times when he’d be so excited with sharing the wisdom of the ages with me. I had piles and piles of notebooks in my armoire back home. Was the laboratory home anymore? My own body wasn’t my home with growths coming out of it. But I’d adapt and manage. Because there was no other alternative.

Chapter

Fifteen

Mirabel was amazing! She brought music for all the duets after analyzing everyone’s voices.

I spent Monday working with Mirabel and Banus on our duet. It was actually a really nice song, more about friendship between different kinds of darkness than anything overly romantic. Even thinking about kissing brought me back to the tub episode, so I was happy to avoid it.

Mirabel and Pearly White worked together on how the whole video with the incubus and me would be recorded, more like a music video than a simple performance. They were hoping it would go viral, and she’d have her music academy logo stamped on the bottom, and he’d make all the money from it. Win-win. Too bad there were more than two players. Always read the fine print.

I didn’t see Richard. That is, when I saw him, I went in the other direction, cheeks on fire and the image of bare skin and water droplets pounding in my brain. This is why you shouldn’t ever see your best-friend-forever naked. Because then things get weird. I mean, weirder than the life-binding and him being some kind of angel cooking champion instead of who he really was. Except that was who he really was. Anyway, it was really confusing.

Monday evening, I was on my way to the grand hall where the incubus and I were doing the first recording session of the first duet, and Richard fell in beside me, holding out a plate of baked goods that smelled so delicious that I stumbled. Or maybe that was him smelling so irresistible. It was definitely him. It should be illegal to smell so incredibly delicious.

“What do you want?” I demanded, refusing to look at him. The sun was going down, catching his golden hair like a halo, but I only saw it in my periphery, so I didn’t come undone.

He leaned close enough that I could feel his warmth. I’d been cold ever since the goblin disaster. “I want you to taste test for me.” Why did his voice send a shiver down my spine?

I stiffened up. I wasn’t looking at him because then I’d stare. “I’m not a guinea pig.”

He nudged me. “Then I want you to eat my apology baked goods. I’m really sorry for what I did. Truly. I wasn’t thinking about how you’d feel, and it was stupid of me.”

He could admit he was stupid? I pursed my lips and snatched the most luscious looking berry muffin I’d ever seen and nibbled on the edge. Mm, but it was hard to swallow around him for some reason. I cleared my throat. “How I’d feel? What about your life? Were you not thinking about that, too?” I dared a sneaky peek at him.

His brow furrowed and his sweet blue eyes gleamed with remorse. “Right. My mortality isn’t something I’m used to thinking about. You didn’t answer my messages all weekend.”

I shook my head. “I can’t talk to you while I’m thinking.” And I couldn’t think when I was around him.

“That explains why I talk so much, because I never think.” He nudged me gently again. “If you’re not talking, you can eat.”

I held up the delicious looking muffin, frowning at it. “Does eating this mean that what you did was okay?”

His shook his head, eyes intent and sweet. “Absolutely not. I’m going to make you apology baked goods for the rest of my life unless we can figure out how to undo it. There’s got to be a way, right?”

If I hadn’t asked the commander how to undo the illegal binding, that might be an option. Not anymore, because being life-bound to me was the only thing keeping him from being executed. Which meant that I had to tell him that it was fine. Not that it was fine, but that I’d deal with it. Should I tell him that his dad knew? The thought of talking about the Commander gave me a stomach ache.

“Ritchie!” Mirabel came out of nowhere, throwing her arms around him while he tried to hold the plate steady. He had great balance.

He put an arm around her waist and lifted her off the ground while he handed me the plate. I took it because otherwise all the lovely mini muffins and cakes would tumble to the stone castle floor.

He kissed her forehead. “Hey, Mischief. The music you sent me is fabulous.”