Page 10 of My Demon Manny

Earlier today, I'd realized we were running woefully low on basically everything, and offered to do a grocery run. What I hadn't realized was how absolutely picky Archer was. I had half a mind to magic everything up, but I was worried the magicked stuff wouldn't be as good as the real thing, so here I was, searching for the cottony-soft, leak-proof, blah blah blah diaper.

"There you are!" I cheered when I finally found it, and the packets of diapers filled half my cart by the time I had enough.Then I had to get the baby formula, some teething toys, and a couple new pacifiers since Gunner kept throwing his right under the couch with unerring precision. I'd offered to sterilize them, but Archer was of the firm belief that once something went under the couch, it was no longer usable. I wondered what he'd say if Gunner managed to crawl under the couch one of these days. Would the same rules apply to him?

Laughing at my own sense of humor, I made my way through the rest of the store, buying groceries for the adults once I had everything I needed for the baby.

It'd been a week since I started working for and living with Archer and Gunner, and I'd enjoyed every day of my stay so far.

Something was always happening, and I hadn't had a single moment to feel bored or listless. Gunner was as entertaining as ever, and he'd inspired me to grow my hair out—Archer hadn't noticed that I'd used some magical assistance, thankfully—just long enough that I could tie it up and avoid his attacks. He was also starting to be more active, which was saying something since he hadn't been a quiet kid to begin with.

With just under a week left before Archer went back to work, I'd been trying to give them as much time together as possible, even though that might not be the best thing to do. We'd also been trying to get Gunner used to Archer leaving, but it seemed to make Archer sadder than it did Gunner.

Archer and Gunner needed to get used to the separation, but it still broke my heart because I could see how much he loved his son. Then again, this was the twenty-first century. I could always video call Archer if he wanted to see Gunner when he was at work.

Done with my shopping, I joined the checkout queue as I pulled my phone out, checking my texts. Earlier this month, Elva—a demon who had even me beat in the cheerful department—had created a chat group for us demons, and someone or theother was always active, so much so that I'd had to put the group on mute. They knew I was working as a nanny for a single dad, but they didn't know about the mate thing, and I was going to keep it that way.

Ryk: Our human mate's mom invited us over for dinner again today. We played board games, and it was a lot of fun.

Elva: Oooh! That's nice! @Kali, I wanna play board games.

Kali: I'll buy some on the way home.

Me: Awww look at you, @Kali. Such a smitten kitten

Kali: I will slaughter you and feed your entrails to Hella

Chuckling, I glanced up as I realized it was my turn, sticking my phone in my pocket.

"Hello! Did you find everything you were looking for?" a young woman in the store's uniform greeted as she started scanning my purchases, her name tag identifying her as Jasmine.

"Hello, Jasmine. And yes, I did. Thank you for asking," I said with a smile, and she blinked at me, then ducked her head, the tops of her cheeks going pink. Um, had I said something wrong?

She scanned the rest of my items without a word, her eyes staying firmly on the things she was scanning, and I was sure I'd messed up somehow. I was getting better at 'acting human,' but I still made the silliest mistakes sometimes.

When she'd scanned everything, she glanced up at me, a shy smile on her lips as she told me the total. I slid Archer's credit card to her, and she quickly charged me before returning the card and the bill.

"Thank you for shopping with us! Please come back again."

Smiling back at her, I wheeled my full cart out and to my car, and it was only then that I realized there was something written on the back of the bill.

Call me:) -Jasmine.

There was a number below the words, and I blinked at it as the penny dropped.

Oh.Oh!

I hadn't said anything wrong after all. Or maybe I had if I gave her the impression I was flirting. Elva did tell me that sometimes my friendliness came off as flirting, but I'd thought she was just teasing me. Maybe not.

Shaking my head, I threw the bill into one of the grocery bags, then slid the empty shopping cart into the rack where it was supposed to go before getting into the car.

As I drove home, my thoughts tried to flick back to the giant elephant I'd been ignoring for the past week, but I firmly pushed the thought away. No way was I allowing myself to think of Archer that way, not when I loved this job so much.

Risking the best job of my life for something that might or might not happen was stupidity, and I might be unreasonably cheerful most of the time, but I wasn't stupid.

Parking in the garage, I grabbed all the grocery bags and pushed my way into the house.

I found Archer in the living room, reading something on his tablet with one eye focused on Gunner, who was sitting on the floor and swinging a toy around in between bouts of trying to munch on it.

"Let me help," Archer said, leaping to his feet before I could say I was okay.

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