He was a fascinating, gorgeous creature.
He studied me back withthose curious eyes but neither of us spoke a word, caught in amuggy haze of sex, sweat, and the faint scent of cigarettesmoke.
With one finger, he plucked my red-and-blackstriped panties from the ground and offered them up. “You seem tohave misplaced these.”
I got off him and snatchedmy underwear from his hands. One of those huge, goofy grinsthreatened to break free. I tugged my pants on, feeling utterlysated. Turned out my hellish day had a pretty wonderfulending.
When I turned around, he’dalready finished dressing and lit up a cigarette as he leanedagainst the brick wall. The scrapes along my back sent a flutteringexcitement through me, evoking the thrill I felt as he’d enteredme. I jammed my hands in my pockets and stared up at thestar-studded sky. The cool wind swept by, drying and chilling thebeads of sweat along my neck and arms.
“So can I buy you adrink?” he asked after letting loose a stream of smoke. A smirkplayed on his lips.
“I think you’ve got thatbackward.” I grabbed the cigarette from his hands and took a drag.The nicotine flooded through me. “It’s okay, though, I know youstrange folks don’t get humans all too well.”
“Hence the drink. I’d liketo discuss a job opportunity with you.” He snagged his cigaretteback.
I crossed my arms over mychest. The universe had a fucking funny sense of humor. Annoyanceboiled inside me. Was that what this had been? The exact thing I’drefused to do that cost me my last job? “Sorry, bucko, I don’taccept handouts.”
He raised an eyebrow andglanced at me, to the wall, and then the ground. The light bulbclicked on in his eyes. “Not like that. I’m talking about thediscussion before our lovely detour. You’ve got a unique abilityand we could use a booking manager—one who knows the exact placeswith the least amount of our kind. One who can handle theday-to-day with humans without leaving them heartsick andhazed-over. Or worse, draining them dry.”
He glared at the building.I supposed one of them got a little trigger-happy at times. My betwould be on the sultry-voiced fae.
I stared at him in silentdisbelief. After spending most of my life around people who eitherbelieved I was crazy or who I had to lie to, the idea of joiningthe supernaturals never occurred to me. It wasn’t like I’d had theopportunity.
The adage about one doorclosing and another opening couldn’t get truer, could it? Yes, thefan orgy was a bit much, but he wasn’t asking me to be a groupie orattend the shows. He was asking me to deal with fae, who had noeffect on me, making them as harmful as any other human. I couldn’thelp it—I burst out laughing.
“You know, when someoneoffers you a job, laughter isn’t the most reassuring response,” hesaid, still calm and cool as ever. He ground out his cigaretteunder his boot and shrugged. “Any thoughts? The boys would behappy. We’ve been looking for a solution since our last bookingmanager kept stealing humans and getting us banned from cities.You’d be the perfect fit.”
I rifled a hand through myhair, trying to smooth the sweaty, tangled strands. Disbeliefcoursed through me. In terms of weirdness, this day topped thecharts. Lost a job, got blue-balled at a concert, broke my dryspell, and got a new job offer.
I was used to hoppingtowns and nothing tied me to Jefferson City. He watched me, stillwaiting for my answer. The glint in his eyes made my heart jump,not in any hearts-and-flowers sense, but that giddy leap ofexcitement when adventure promises to be at every turn.
“I’m down for discussion,”I said, offering the first genuine smile I’d had in awhile.
No lies, no secrets—itmight be nice. “So why don’t we go get that drink youoffered?”
He returned my grin andextended his arm like a gentleman. We walked arm in arm back insidethe Raven to discuss an interesting future.
The End