Page 6 of Rescued By the Dour Demon

Erwin brightened. “A favor? You’ve never called in one from me before.” He pursed his lips, studying Leith. “You’re not joking, are you? Because it’s not nice if you are.”

“No, not joking.” He waved a hand at the mess that was his office. “I need this entire place to be sparkling, everything where it belongs in ten minutes.”

“Eh, it’s not even that bad. Looks like a half-day rager, at best. You could have this cleaned up in a couple of hours, tops. Why the rush?” Erwin fluttered closer to Leith’s face, his eyes narrowing. “What’s so important?”

Leith steeled himself, unwilling to give the nosy imp even a scrap of information that it would then gleefully rush back to the Underworld with and sell to the highest bidder. “That’s not any of your concern. I just need it done. Do we have a deal?”

“You erase one of the favors I owe you in return for a sparkling clean office?” With a flutter of his wings, he pretended to lean back in a chair, crossing one stubby leg over the other and lacing his fingers behind his head. “I’d be a fool not to take that deal, and I’m no fool.”

“Deal,” Leith said. In his soul, he felt the weight of the favors Erwin owed him lighten by one. “Clean in less than ten minutes.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the imp grumbled, hooking a thumb towards the door. “It’ll go faster if you’re not here.”

“Fine.” He should have enough time to run down to the coffee shop for refreshments. “And it better not smell like brimstone when you’re done.”

“Lemon-fresh. Got it. Now leave so I can do my job.”

Leaving Erwin to his task, Leith locked the office behind him, anticipation of his upcoming meeting with the woman who made his withered heart sing.

5

ROWAN

She stood on the sidewalk in front of a locked door that read “Leith Mamon, Attorney at Law”. While she’d skirted Granny’s express wishes otherwise and called a few lawyers, feeling out the how they might handle the situation with the jackhole intimidating her and other townsfolk, she was practically positive she’d never set a meeting with one.

So, the question was: should she stay or should she go? The chords of an old 80’s song started playing in her brain. Great. Now she’d be stuck with that earworm all afternoon. At least it was a good song.

She spun on her heel, intending to leave, and crashed into a tall man carrying two drinks and a bag with the logo of the local bakery stamped on the outside. He bobbled the drink container, an arm going around her waist to steady her. Heat flooded her body where it pressed up against the comforting firmness of his.

“Oops. Sorry about that,” she said, her cheeks flaming. She took a step back and smoothed her clothing. “Good reflexes.”

“And you have excellent timing,” he said, handing the white paper bag to her and fishing a set of keys out of his pocket.

The heavenly scent of chocolate croissants from the Sir Bakes A Lot Bakery down the street tempted her nose and made her stomach growl. Avocado toast was tasty and all, but breakfast was a few hours ago, and nothing beat the sweet, sweet goodness of Rob’s creations.

She eyed him as he unlocked the door, the cool rush of air conditioning making her skin prickle. A strange déjà vu-like sensation crawled over her. He felt familiar somehow, like she’d met him before. But she could swear she’d never even heard of Leith Mamon. Still, as Granny liked to tease, she’d lose her head if it wasn’t attached to her neck.

Clearing her throat, she said, “I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, but for the life of me, I can’t remember setting up this meeting. Honestly, I don’t remember even talking to you.”

Nearly a foot taller than her, he reminded her of that hot, super-tall actor who played an elven king in the hobbit movies, but with darker hair. He wore sharp-creased, navy blue pants and a pale blue button-up. He’d loosened his blue polka-dotted tie and unfastened the top few buttons, baring the hollow of his throat. Beneath that crisp shirt, his muscles bulged and flexed.

“Well, that’s a shame because I remember you,” he said, his voice an aurally pleasing low rumble. He held the door, gesturing for her to proceed him into the office.

She gave him another long look, again briefly debating stay or go.Can’t do any harm to see what he has to say, can it? she asked herself.After all, I’m already here. And, if nothing comes of it, Granny never even needs to know.

As soon as it crossed her mind, the second-biggest gossip in town, one Miss Ida Wick, spotted her from across the street and waved.

Raising a hand in acknowledgement, she locked eyes with Leith, who watched her, a knowing smile playing around thecorners of his mouth.Well, shit, she thought as she crossed the threshold.Busted.

His office was a welcoming space, the frosted glass on the big front windows diffusing the sunshine to a warm glow that played well with the modern wood and metal furniture. It smelled good, too, a light lemony-grassy scent that wasn’t overpowering.

She liked that he’d refinished the wide oak floor planks and exposed the brickwork of the long wall separating his office from the space next door. Too many people were far too quick to cover up or tear out the old and replace it with new. It hurt her heart every time someone gutted one of the old structures around town, destroying the character, and replacing it with soulless design and materials that were, quite frankly, of far inferior quality.

With a hand hovering at the small of her back, he guided her to a criminally comfortable visitor’s chair, set two steaming paper cups of Earl Grey on the desk’s empty surface, and handed her a wrapped croissant.

Silently, she watched as he slipped on his suit jacket and straightened his tie.I wouldn’t mind seeing that in reverse, she thought, taking a sip of her tea.

He walked by her, notes of ozone and eucalyptus swirling behind him. Rather than sitting behind the professional shield of his desk, he sank into the visitor’s chair next to her and picked up his cup of tea.

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