Page 19 of How Not to Date a Demon

Indecision swirled in her stomach. Galen was good to her. Should she even be putting him through these dumb trials?

But what if?

What if something was wrong? And what if it was something as extreme as… as being another species? She couldn’t ignore that.

Vampire? Werewolf? Fae? Something? She wasn’t very well versed in her supernatural beings. Maybe she should have paid more attention during the Big Reveal.

How could they go any further if he was keeping secrets from her? Maeve didn’t like secrets. She didn’t like the fact that Galen was keeping something from her. And she was nosy enough to gather her own intel and find out what.

Maybe it would be nothing, and they could laugh about all this in five years.

Mind made up, she swirled the soup one more time before shutting the burner off and grabbing her pot holders.

Transferring the pot to the table, she placed it on the oven mitt and began to scoop them a steamy serving.

“Will you grab the cornbread? It’s cool enough now.”

As she spooned them each some vegetable soup, she kept an eye on Galen. From the corner of her eye, she watched him approach the counter where she’d been cooling the cornbread. When he extended his arm to grab the pan, she held her breath, cranking her neck around to see him better. She had a clear view of him grabbing the cast iron skillet by the handle and—

Simply turning and bringing it to the table. Barehanded. With no reaction.

“What?” he asked, catching her gaze.

She said the first thing that came to mind. “Nothing. Just checking out your ass.”

The way Galen’s lips curled made her belly warm, so she averted her gaze and finished filling their bowls. Galen got them each a slice of cornbread, and they ate like… normal. Like they did every other night, before she ever suspected anything weird.

It was almost enough for her to doubt herself, to call the whole thing off. But she didn’t. She’d started this for a reason, and she was going to see it through.

But it definitely didn’t feel like she was sitting across the table from some kind of… supernatural creature.

Then again, he’d been fooling her for an entire year. This was normal for him.

That made her bitter all over again, but she still ate dinner with a smile. With jokes and laughter. It made it difficult to figure out where the line was.

She couldn’t watch Galen’s expression soften every time he looked at her and still try to tell herself that he was something… else.

Maeve was just going to have to prove it to herself.

Maeve discovered something about Galen during her investigation.

How had she never realized it before? Galen was hot as hell, with dark hair and a genuine smile and nice pecs and nicer muscles and an ass you could take a bite out of—okay, we get it.

Her boyfriend was hot.

But he was very clueless.

Galen never questioned her, or as far as she could tell, even suspected anything was weird.

He’s dating you so maybe his threshold for weirdness has changed.

Rolling her eyes at herself, Maeve pushed the thoughts aside and stretched her arms up. “Here,” she called up. A second later, Galen’s voice echoed down the foldout ladder from the attic, accompanied by a cardboard box. She caught it with an oof and an explosion of dust.

She sneezed and turned around to set the box down.

Yes, this was another test for Galen. She was still awaiting the jewelry, so she’d skipped ahead to the last suggestion—religious relics.

If any of these crazy ideas were going to work, it would be this one. Don’t ask her why. Maybe it was the remnants of her grandmother’s religious teachings, some of which happened to be stored in this big box.