Page 105 of Oh No! There's an Incubus in my Hot Spring
“You bet,” I say, fumbling with the pages to keep my hands from twitching.
“See you guys then.” He gives a casual salute and leaves.
The door snaps shut and I whirl around. “You could’ve told me he was still here. I almost let you start that seismic event with an employee present!”
He grins. “Is that to be our cover story, then?”
I roll my eyes. “You know that’ll never fly. We’ll have to come up with something else, like we had the land evaluated. I’ll need to check on where our property boundaries are before we do any big expansions, but I’m pretty sure if it’s directly below us we’ll be fine.
“Oh gods, but if I don’t get a work permit for it…” I chew my lip, running through the mental checklist of what needs to happen for this to all be legal and copasetic.
“I love watching that big brain of yours work a problem.” Apollo groans as he dives back into my neck.
I giggle as he mouths my pulse point, which quickly devolves into moans as he pushes his knee between my legs and pins me to the doorway. The blaze of the geode lights up the office asApollo reduces me to a whining, begging mess with his fingers and tongue.
I find the Grizzlywood Springs Permits page while Apollo makes us dinner—chicken piccata—and start the process of applying to expand within the property area. With that started, I look into nice gas stoves and place an order for one. A new fridge while I’m at it, because the one from the ’80s is hanging on by a rattling thread.
His dinner is scrumptious, and I’m shocked by how fast he’s gained competency in cooking. My mother is going to be so happy I have someone making sure I don’t need a microwave. I let him know how grateful I am after dinner, and we both go to bed fully satisfied.
The rest of the week is a blur, and much of the same. We close at six on Sunday, and I pull all the finances up for review. Apollo, Irene, and Leonard gather around the desk as I finish up.
“After calculating the average cost of power, water and soap for the towels, the special citrus water we have on every floor, blah, blah, blah, we made a total of five hundred and sixty-three dollars this week. I realize that doesn’t sound like much at all, and it isn’t, but things are going to get better.
“We had a lot of free vouchers that were used this week, so that took away some of the income, and with Mark’s attack on my Boogle listing, we were having a hell of a time getting the ads out and—”
“Hon, it’s fine,” Irene cuts me off. “Five hundred and sixty-three dollars is more than most businesses make in their first week.”
“Yeah, and it’s only going to get better,” Leonard says.
“I think we should celebrate,” Apollo says.
The others agree wholeheartedly, but I’m still thinking about the finances.
“I have money saved from the sale of my last business, so that’s how I’ll be paying you guys next week,” I say, to reassure them that theywillbe paid.
Irene places a gentle hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’m off the clock, so we’re going to talk about celebration stuff now.”
I smile. “Yeah, all right. What should we do?”
Leonard’s eyes light up. “The Copperyard Distillery does free tastings for newcomers until eight. We could get a cheap buzz on and walk over to karaoke!”
“Karaoke?” Apollo asks.
Leonard balks at him and Irene jumps in.
“It’s a sing-a-long,” she says. “But on a stage in front of a bunch of people instead of being alone in your shower.”
“Oh, I’m never alone in the shower,” Apollo says, and my face feels like it’s melting. I dip my head forward and hide in my hair as the others laugh.
“Is he any good, then?” Leonard asks, nudging my shoulder.
“I’m sorry,what?” I snap.
Leonard laughs from the pit of his stomach. “Atsinging!You know, since you’ve heard firsthand.”
I rub my forehead. “Oh my god…”
“You’re about to kill my girl from embarrassment,” Irene says, pushing the men out of the office. “Go finish doing whatever needs to be done so we can party.”
