Page 42 of My Blind Date is a Demon

There is a knock on my door and I almost let out a yelp. I slap my hand over my mouth to stifle it.

“Tamzin?”

I take a calming breath. “Yes?” I squeak. Real smooth.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Great.”

“Can you open the door? I think we should talk.”

I run my fingers through my hair and then open the door. “Hey. What’s up?”

“I was just making sure… That is, I was wondering…” He seems unsure of how to ask if I saw him turn into an infernal hell beast. From my bed. Mr. Darcy lets out a big meow, as if telling me to be quiet and get in bed and snuggle with him. I then realize we are being a bit loud, with Bella’s room just down the hall. I shush Damon and motion for him to enter my bedroom so I can close the door.

“If you are wondering if I saw you turn into…whatever that was, then yes, I did. Why did you do that? And who was that woman?”

“Nothing,” Damon says, flustered. “She’s no one. I just lost my temper.”

“Is that what you do when you lose your temper?” I ask. “Because I don’t think I can have you in the house if that is the case.”

“Just calm down,” Damon says.

“You’re telling me to calm down?” I ask with half a laugh. “Excuse me, I am not the one who just exploded out in the driveway for all the neighbors and their dogs to see.”

“You are right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m not used to living in suburbia with so many people around.”

“Hey, if you want to leave, be my guest,” I say, throwing my hands up.

“You don’t mean that,” Damon says, looking surprisingly hurt.

I sigh. “No. No, of course not. I’m just… What was that? Who was she?”

“Just a friend. A fellow demon. She…she came to check on my progress.”

“Progress?”

“You know, how I’m supposed to be possessing and torturing you.”

“Oh. Right. Are you, like, in trouble or something?”

“No,” he says quickly. “At least, not yet. I don’t want you to worry about anything. But the sooner we find out what Bella did to me, the better.”

“Well, at least we are in agreement on that.”

We look at each other, both unsure what to say next. I break away from his gaze and look around the room, which is a mistake because I remember that we are in my bedroom. My cheeks flush hot with… Well, I want to say with embarrassment, but maybe it is something else. This is the first time I’ve had a man in my bedroom since my husband died. And Damon is just so, so hot. He licks his lips and runs his hand over his hair. He looks at me, and his eyes travel down the length of my body. I try to remember what I’m wearing without looking down. Nothing special, a silk cami top and silk pants. I grabbed a terrycloth robe when I left the room. I don’t own or wear many sexy night things anymore. As a single mom, I have to be prepared to run out of the room to take care of my kid at a moment’s notice. Still, I feel a bit exposed. For a moment, I think about how easy it would be to drop the robe and invite Damon to spend the night with me. A braver woman than I would do it.

But I let my anxious thoughts get the better of me. There is a picture of me and my husband still on the wall. I remind myself that I can’t really trust Damon. He’s a demon, and another demon just showed up at my house to remind him that he is supposed to be torturing me. He’s dangerous, to me and my child. If he were to somehow escape his cookie jar, who knows what he would do to us.

I pull my robe tighter around me and clear my throat. “Well, I guess we should get…” I almost say “get to bed,” but I don’t want him to think I’m initiating anything. “I mean, you should…”

“I should…I should go, I guess,” Damon says, looking away and fumbling for the doorknob.

“Right, go,” I say, warring with the part of myself that wants to beg him to stay.

Damon leaves the room, closing the door behind him. I remember that I still didn’t take my pills. I open the door and see that Damon is still in the hallway. He looks at me hopefully, as if I’ve changed my mind.

“Sorry,” I say. “I just…umm…forgot something in the bathroom.”

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