Page 11 of The Devil Went Down to Laughlin
“Sounds good. Thanks for getting back to me on this — I appreciate it.”
“No prob.”
They ended the call there, and Delia set her phone down on the desk in front of her. She’d only started to swivel back toward her monitor when her mother paused in the doorway to her office. Not quite thirty years older than her daughter, Linda Dunne had the same oval face and blue-gray eyes, although her hair was light brown, expertly tinted with just a few highlights here and there. They still weren’t quite sure where Delia had gotten her red hair, although the main suspects appeared to be her great-grandfather on her father’s side and Linda’s grandmother, who’d apparently been more auburn than true red but who seemed to have passed those gingery genes along to her granddaughter.
“Busy today,” Linda remarked, and Delia did her best to ignore the stab of guilt that had gone through her.
Yes, she’d been busy…but only about half of what she’d done at the office today had anything to do with her actual clients.
“A little,” she allowed, then added, “I just heard from the title company that the funds for the Piñon Drive house cleared. They’re going to send a cashier’s check over this afternoon, and Caleb Lowe will be here around three to pick it up.”
Her mother’s expression grew thoughtful. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with him.”
It wasn’t a question. Normally, Linda Dunne would never interfere with her daughter’s business, but it must have caught her notice that Caleb Lowe wasn’t what you could call an ordinary client.
“I suppose so,” Delia said lightly. Why did it feel as if her mother was inquiring about the latest guy she’d been dating, even though there was absolutely nothing of that nature going on with Caleb?
Maybe because you kind of wish there were, passed through her mind.
She ignored the thought as best she could.
“He needed help with his house,” she went on. “And it sounds as if he wants to do some more flips. I kind of missed doing that, so it’s fun that I’ve met someone willing to bankroll the projects, and all I have to do is provide some creative input.”
“Not to mention getting the commissions when you find properties for him,” her mother responded. Nothing in her tone or expression showed that she had a problem with the arrangement, and yet Delia still felt as if she needed to justify herself.
“Well, that, too,” she said, even though she knew that Caleb had earned a real estate license a while back and could have handled those transactions himself. However, she also got the feeling that he would probably continue to have her manage any acquisitions for him, partly because she was much more experienced in that kind of thing…and also because he knew she needed the money and he didn’t. She made a decent living and certainly didn’t have to worry about keeping a roof over her head or even allowing herself certain luxuries like a spa day every once in a while or almost exclusively buying Cole Haan shoes because they were the only heels her feet could tolerate for more than a few hours at a time, but she certainly didn’t have millions stashed away like he did.
A beat or two passed while her mother seemed to study her for a moment. “It isn’t anything more serious than realtor and client, is it?”
That was a loaded question if Delia had ever heard one. There might not have been anything romantic going on between her and Caleb, but on the other hand, they’d passed “simple business relationship” status months ago.
“We’re friends,” she said simply. “We like working together. But we’re not dating or anything.”
Once again, Linda was quiet. This time, her expression seemed to border on skeptical, although Delia hoped her mother would be able to infer from her daughter’s tone that she really didn’t want to discuss the subject any further.
Then she said, “That’s too bad. He seems like a nice young man from what I’ve seen of him.”
Considering she’d only been briefly introduced to Caleb and otherwise had just caught glimpses of him as he came and went from the office, Delia had a feeling her mother was mostly impressed by him because it was clear enough he had money and she wouldn’t have to worry about her daughter dating a deadbeat or something.
And she also had to wonder if her mother would think Caleb was quite so “nice” if she ever found out some part of him wasn’t even human.
Of course, Delia would never share Caleb’s secret with anyone. He’d been surprisingly frank with her, but she’d also noticed that he didn’t seem eager to tell anyone else about his otherworldly origins.
Well, of course not. She wouldn’t pretend to know everything about his personal life, and yet she could tell he hadn’t made any other real friends during the months he’d lived here in Las Vegas. He seemed on friendly terms with his new neighbors — who were probably just happy that the renovation was now finished and the improvements he’d done on the house had removed the upscale neighborhood’s one remaining eyesore — but she guessed that friendliness didn’t amount to much more than waving when they drove past or maybe having a chat about the weather or some other harmless topic when they happened to be in their respective backyards at the same time.
“He is nice,” Delia said. “And easy to work with. But we’re keeping things professional.”
“Your choice…or his?” her mother pressed.
“Both,” Delia replied calmly. “Sometimes it’s not so hard to tell that it’s better to just be friendly and nothing more.”
That comment sounded reasonable enough. For all she knew, it was only the truth, and those stray glances she caught from him from time to time didn’t mean anything at all.
She wasn’t sure how she wanted to feel about that. From the beginning, she’d been forced to acknowledge that Caleb Lockwood was very attractive, and she knew she got along better with him than any other man she’d ever met…but she’d also made herself believe the last thing she wanted was to get involved with a man who happened to be a quarter demon.
Now, though, she didn’t know what to think. If he reached out and told her he wanted something more, would she be brave enough to accept the truth that had been hiding in her heart for quite some time now?
She honestly didn’t know. Somehow it seemed easier to face down an army of demons when armed with nothing more than a few vials of holy water than it was to admit that she maybe…just maybe…wanted something a little more than merely friendship with Caleb Lockwood.
