Page 28 of Hexes From Exes

Apparently you don’t have a sense of humor either. Are you completely banned from coming up here if it’s not on business?

Rick felt his palms go clammy. Was she asking him to visit her? To hang out? It’s not like it’d be a date, after all. That was off limits. Technically so was friendship with a human, but this was a business transaction. He was nervous of getting caught and them misinterpreting their relationship, he decided. He needed to make it very clear that this was about their deal.

Rick

Why would I come to the human realm for any other reason?

Stephanie

I have to go to a mixer for some medical company tomorrow night and I have to present. My ex, Fred, will be there. Cooper can’t make it, maybe you could come with?

Fred – an ex. That made it business! It wasn’t a date. It was a mixer event she didn’t want to go to alone. She was there for work. She was doing a presentation. And since it wasn’t a date with Fred, he didn’t have to use it as evidence for their deal.

Sometimes it paid to be a tricky revenge demon.

Rick

Sounds boring.

Stephanie

It will be, but there will likely be an open bar.

Rick

What does the bar do?

Stephanie

It means free alcohol. More mojitos and seltzers.

Rick

What time?

* * *

Rick looked at his reflection in the mirror in the bathroom of the convention center. He had to admit the outfit Stephanie had ready for him was outside of what he would normally wear. The human body was uncomfortable enough, adding some of their even more constricting attire to it wasn’t something he was interested in. If he wouldn’t have stuck out so much at the restaurants and bars Stephanie went to wearing the type of clothes humans called “pajamas”, he would have worn them exclusively.

Somehow Stephanie found him something comfortable and flattering. He looked like a business human, like the circle of exes that cursed Stephanie just a few weeks prior. He tried to swallow down that thought as he exited the bathroom to head back to Stephanie’s side.

Stephanie was standing alone on the edges of the room. Over the last hour they’d been introduced to at least a few million people, none of which Rick could remember. When asked what he did for a living the first time he was honest. “Revenge.”

“Ah, a divorce attorney!” laughed the patron. Stephanie laughed along with them, giving Rick a frantic look in the process.

“You’re lucky you’re funny,” Stephanie said once the patron left.

“I am uncomfortable lying,” Rick said.

Stephanie gave a half smile. “Well, that’s admirable. Most men think it’s a muscle that should be exercised daily.”

“Human men are not like demon men,” he said with a shrug.

Stephanie raised an eyebrow. “What are demon men like?”

To her surprise Rick laid a hand on her wrist, twirling her around to face him. She was just a breath away now, her head tilted up to look into his hazel eyes. “A demon man worships his lover and knows that they are his equal as well as his partner.” His other hand trailed along the side of her cheek down to her neck, eliciting a line of red heat in its wake. “He would also make sure his partner was always satisfied.”

Stephanie’s lips were parted as she looked up at him, her breath coming quick. Rick’s eyes flicked to her breasts, which were concealed behind her high neck dress, before releasing her wrist. “I’ll be back,” he said, ducking away to take a lap around the room.