Page 39 of My Demon Assistant

Lost in thought, I walked into work on Monday morning, and for once, I wasn't thinking about my never-ending to-do list. Instead, I was looking forward to seeing Eshim again, even though I'd just seen him last night.

I'd almost asked him to stay, but then decided against it so I could have a moment to myself to absorb everything. It'd been the right thing to do, because I felt much more relaxed now.

In the elevator, I held the door when I saw someone heading for it, and smiled at the woman who stepped inside. I was pretty sure her name was Hannah, and she was a new addition to one of our marketing teams.

She gave me a tight smile as she got in and pressed the number for her floor. Then she stayed on the other side of the elevator, as far from me as the space allowed. Had I been rude to her at some point? I didn't usually talk to the employees unless it was in regards to a project, so I was sure I'd never had a conversation with her.

When the elevator stopped on her floor, she rushed out, and I made a mental note to ask Archer about her later. If something had happened to make her uncomfortable in the office, we needed to rectify it.

On my floor, I stepped out of the elevator and almost ran into Martin, who gave me a curt, "Morning, Sir," before ducking into the elevator.

Shaking my head, I made my way to my office, smiling when I spotted Eshim already at his desk.

He grinned when he saw me and stood up, my usual coffee and cookies in his hands. He followed me into my office, placed my treats on the desk, then turned to me as I pulled off my coat, taking it from me and hanging it up as I unbuttoned my jacket.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yep. I missed cuddling with you, though," I admitted, and his smile softened.

"Me too. Which is strange since we only did it for two nights."

"Right? Two nights and suddenly it felt like I'd always slept in your arms."

Eshim smiled, then stepped closer until there was no space between us. Cupping my hips, he leaned in and kissed me. Even though we were at work, I couldn't stop myself from kissing back.

Eshim didn't deepen the kiss. Instead, he brushed his lips against mine one more time before stepping away.

"Okay, your agenda for today. You're meeting with three different design teams about the Hanover's projects, and Martin's team has some new mockups for you to approve for the conference thing, and you have lunch with Kat and Archer. They asked me to join," Eshim gave me a wide-eyed look, and I chuckled.

"Of course they did. If Lux or Fressia worked here, they'd be invited to. They might drop by anyway."

"Oh. That's okay, then. I thought they might be planning to give me the rake talk."

"The what?" I asked as I took a sip of the coffee, the hot liquid warming me up from the inside.

"You know, that thing where a person's friends or family member give their new partner 'the talk' and warn them not to hurt their person," Eshim explained earnestly, and I chuckled. Fuck, how could a centuries-old demon be so clueless and cute?

"You mean the shovel talk," I said with a nod, and he tilted his head.

"What's the difference? Aren't they both gardening tools?"

I took a bite of the cookie to hide my smile, but I couldn't completely erase the amusement from my voice. "Yes, but shovels are used to dig and fill up holes. So the implication is they'll bury you if you hurt their friend."

Eshim blinked, visibly surprised, then nodded. "Oh, that makes sense. I wondered what the gardening tool connection was."

Hmm, did that mean all his mistakes were because he didn't know the context? That would make sense, especially since some phrases evolved so much over the years it was hard to figure out their origins sometimes.

"Thanks, for clearing that up. I can never get them right."

"That's okay. I find it adorable. You can always ask me for clarification, though, and I'll look it up online if I don't know myself."

Eshim leaned over my chair and pressed a kiss on my cheek. "Thank you. Now you better get to work. I don't want my presence to be a distraction, or Kat will fire me."

"I wouldn't let her."

"It was part of the deal, remember?" he admonished, and I sighed.

We'd talked things over with Kat and Archer since Eshim wanted to keep his job, and we'd decided Kat would be responsible for his performance reviews, bonuses, and everything else. It would free me up from any professional control over Eshim, and make sure everyone in the office knew everything was aboveboard.

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