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He hummed in agreement. “Weird in a good way?”
I nodded and said shyly, “Yeah, weird in a good way.”
“So…” he started, suddenly getting a bit bashful. “Would you… Would you like to…” He stopped himself and scratched at his stubble. “Sorry, I’ve never… explored with a human before. What I mean is, if you’d like, we could get something to eat, or maybe a drink together sometime?”
I smiled, realizing he was as nervous as I was. At least I wasn’t alone in being clueless. “Sure. Well, you know what would be perfect? The annual Gumbo Cook-Off is in three days. I’ll be participating, so if you would like to meet again there, give me some moral support…”
A nervous chuckle escaped my throat, and I scratched at the back of my head. Me, asking a guy for support after how hard I got screwed over by my ex? I never thought I’d ever put myself on the line like that again, yet something about Lucian made it so easy to trust him.
“Of course,” Lucian agreed with a genuine smile. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
My pulsed raced as I thought about him sitting in the crowd, cheering me on.
Lucian took a step closer and cupped my cheek in his hand, his thumb brushing gently across my skin. “You’re going to do great,” he assured me. “And if you don’t mind, I’d like to see you again after the competition.”
I gulped, wondering just how far this thing between us was going to go. “Yeah?”
“Whatever this… spark is, between us… I want to explore it more.”
I nodded, unable to find my voice as he stared into my eyes.
He then pulled away and cleared his throat, saying, “I’ll let you get back to work. But I’m looking forward to the competition.”
I smiled shyly and said, “Thanks. And thank you for putting out the fire.” I wasn’t sure if I was referring to the one in the oven, or the one between my legs.
Either way, Lucian winked and said, “Anytime.”
“Wait. How about we exchange numbers?” I suggested. “Otherwise, I’ll be stuck having to start fires to summon you.”
Lucian looked like he was about to go off on a fire safety spiel before he noticed my playful grin. He then smiled back and pulled out his phone.
I stared down at his device, surprised to see a bulky thing with a tiny touchscreen.
“What?” he asked.
“That phone’s, like… ancient.”
“Well, I’m older than I look.”
“Mygrandma’sphone is newer than that! How do you do anything with such a tiny screen?”
Lucian thought about it, then shrugged. “We hellhounds can be a bit old-fashioned.”
I gave him a sly look. “I wouldn’t call what you did to me a moment ago ‘old-fashioned.’”
“With technology,” he elaborated, giving me a little squint. “Most of us underworld dwellers are like that.”
I laughed and said, “Okay, fair enough. Here, let me put my number in for you.” I held out my hand for his phone. “And I’ll text myself to get yours.”
He handed over the brick and watched as I programmed my information into it, then took a selfie for my contact photo.
“There,” I said as I handed it back to him. “Now you can call or text me anytime.”
Lucian tucked the phone back into his pocket, his eyes filled with a warmth that made my heart skip a beat.
“Thank you,” he said softly before leaning in to press one last kiss to the top of my head. “I look forward to seeing you soon.”
And with that, he was gone, leaving me wondering what in the world I just signed up for.
