Page 199 of Just One Little Bargain

“Human orientation specialist?”

“Stop.”

“How about a girlfriend?”

Evie’s mouth parts, and for once she has nothing to say. I’m already preparing to take it back, revise the wording, possibly relocate to another state, when a reluctant smile starts pulling at one corner of her lips.

“You’re skipping several steps.”

“I’m aware.”

“Actual dates first.”

“Right. Yes. Obviously.” I nod far too quickly. “Chronologically sensible.”

“But maybe eventually.” Her smile grows.

“Eventually is good.”

The first drop of rain lands against my cheek. Evie looks up just as another splashes onto her shoulder. The storm that has been threatening all evening breaks, rain falling in scattered heavy drops that darken the grass before gathering into something steadier. Neither of us moves toward the inn.

“You’re going to get soaked,” she says.

“I’ve had a tough week. This is relatively minor.”

“I do need someone to help around here.” Her gaze lingers on me, softer now. “And I heard my couch is pretty comfortable.”

My pulse jumps.

“But you’re absolutely getting your own bank account, and I’m not letting you give me every piece of paperwork you don’t understand.”

“What percentage may I give you?”

“Zero.”

“That feels unnecessarily strict.”

“You wanted to be human.”

“I didn’t realize there’d be administration.”

She snorts, brushing rain from beneath one eye. “You came from corporate Hell.”

“Exactly. I thought I’d suffered enough.”

The scattered drops turn into steady rain, soaking through my shirt and darkening Evie’s dress.

“Can I?” I lift my hand.

Her eyes drop to my mouth before returning to mine. “You’re asking now?”

“I thought it was appropriate.”

She grabs the front of my shirt and pulls me toward her.

The kiss is hard from the start, all pent-up anger and relief. Her mouth opens under mine, and the second our tongues meet, the last week catches fire inside me. My hands clamp around her waist and pull her tight against me, her rain-slick dress warm under my palms. She makes a tiny sound into my mouth when my fingers spread over her lower back, and it goes straight through me.

I kiss her deeper, chasing the taste of cider from her tongue while her hands slide up into my wet hair and grip.

We break apart long enough to breathe, her fingers still buried in my curls while I keep one hand firm at her hip. Neither of us puts any real distance between us. Rain tracks over her flushed cheeks and catches on her swollen mouth, and I have to stop myself from kissing her all over again.

“I should warn you, I have done extensive research on dating and courting.”

She chuckles. “I’m counting on it.”

I kiss her again before she says anything else. Behind us, Foxglove glows warm through the rain. Tomorrow, there’ll be paperwork, explanations, employment forms, and at least one humiliating conversation about how a thirty-year-old human man can exist without a birth certificate.

But tonight, it’s just us. A demon who chose mortality and a woman willing to let him stay, standing in the rain, in a garden that will bloom again come spring.

For the first time in my entire existence, I’m exactly where I want to be. In the life I was never meant to have, with the person I would choose anyway.