Rylie Cruz 3 - How to Date a Demon (3 page)

“
She doesn’t want to talk
with you, Stephen. Now, I think you need to go.” My jaw tightened
and I gave him the evil eye.

“
Does Jennifer want me to
go? I think she has some say in this matter.” His expression
tensed.

“
Fine.” I crossed my arms in
front of my chest.

He had me there. She could talk to him
if she wanted, but it didn’t look as if she wanted anything to do
with him.

In the interest of being completely
fair, I said, “Go ahead and ask her. I’m pretty sure I know her
answer.”

We looked at Jennifer, waiting for her
answer. If Stephen made one wrong move, Jack would throw him out
with no further discussion.

Finally, she said, “He scared the hell
out of me. I woke up and he was standing in the middle of my room.
How did you expect me to react?” She looked at Stephen, then back
to me. “I thought he was here to suck the blood out of
me.”

Even though Jennifer had been dating a
vampire, I still hadn’t convinced her that all vampires didn’t want
to do that, but she had a point. Some of them still wanted blood
straight from the source. Because of that I didn’t know what
Stephen would do. We both knew that he hadn’t had an easy time of
adjusting to the vampire life. His behavior was erratic.

Jack moved forward and placed his hand
on Stephen’s arm. It was as if he was saying, “Go the easy way, or
I can make this hard for you.”

Stephen looked at Jennifer, then
finally relented and allowed Jack to guide him toward the front
door. Adios. Jennifer sure had bad luck with guys. If I hadn’t
known better I’d think that she had a curse on her love life
too.

I followed the men down the hallway.
When we reached the front door, Stephen stopped and looked at me,
searching my eyes for an answer. For half a second, I felt sorry
for him, with his big puppy dog eyes. But for just half a second
until I remembered why Jennifer was mad at him in the first
place.

“
I just wanted to talk with
her. I wanted to explain. It’s not what it seems like,” he
pleaded.

“
I don’t think breaking into
a girl’s apartment and scaring her to death is the way to get on
her good side.” I let out a deep breath. “Listen, why don’t you
give it some time? Maybe she’ll feel more like talking. At least
wait until the morning.”

He frowned.

“
Oh yeah, I forgot you don’t
do sunlight well. Okay, come back some other time then, but use the
doorbell, please.”

“
But she won’t answer. She
won’t let me in.” He was awfully whiny for a vampire.

“
I guess that’s the price
you’ll have to pay,” I said, closing the door in his
face.

Was I being too harsh? I’d never dealt
well with cheaters.

I met Jack’s gaze. He smiled, exposing
the tips of his fangs. I couldn’t deny that I found that sexy. I
was weak, what could I say?

“
I guess I’d better go talk
to Jennifer.” I gestured with a tilt of my head.

He nodded. “Do you need to be
alone?”

“
Yeah, we probably need some
girl time.” I traced my fingers up and down is arm.

“
You make it very hard for
me to leave you. Will you come over later?” he asked.

I continued caressing his skin. “I’d
love nothing more.”

Jack kissed me on the lips and I
watched as he moved across the hall to his place. When I regained
use of my jelly-like legs, I went to Jennifer’s bedroom. The only
light came from the streetlight outside the window, casting eerie
shadows across the room. She sat on the edge of the bed with her
knees folded up and her arms wrapped around them. Her face was
buried in her knees.

I sat beside her. “Are you
okay?”

“
Yeah.” She shrugged her
shoulders. “He just scared the hell out of me.”

“
Are you sure about what
happened at the restaurant? Maybe he is planning a divorce?” I
asked.

She looked at me as if I’d just asked
her if she was sure she loved chocolate.

I nodded. “Okay, so you’re sure. That
was a stupid question. Anyway, I have a feeling he will be back
around. The crazy ones always come back.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to
talk to him. He broke my heart and I’ll never forgive
him.”

“
You’re probably going to
have to tell him to get lost and stay lost. If that doesn’t work,
well, we’ll do something to get him to leave you alone. Now why
don’t you get some rest?” I patted her leg.

She nodded and slipped back under the
covers. I pulled them up and pushed the blanket up close to her
body as if she was two years old and needed to be tucked in. I
eased across the room. When I got to the door, I turned around for
one last look. I could have sworn I saw her eyes glow red for a
split second before she closed her lids to drift off back to sleep.
A chill prickled my skin. I chalked it up to my imagination and
made my way back to Jack’s apartment. But what if it hadn’t been my
imagination?

How to Date a Demon, Rule
#4

Refrain from Satan
jokes.

I hadn’t gotten much sleep the night
before, but that was no surprise really. I couldn’t get used to
Jack’s vampire schedule—I needed to sleep at night. Sure, I was
occasionally lured out after ten p.m. by the full moon, but I tried
to ignore that nocturnal call as often as possible. Lucky for me,
Jack could still go out into the sun since he was only a half
vampire. Half the hassle, half the fun. Was there fun while being a
vampire? Hmm. Yeah, I guessed Jack would say there were some
benefits. As long as he was okay with it. Anyway, he could go out
in the sun, he just had to limit the amount, so that meant more
nighttime activities.

I was sitting in my office attempting
to get at least a little work done. My mind was preoccupied to say
the least. I had been so distracted lately that my business was
suffering. I really needed to get my matchmaking on and get the
nutso paranormal creeps out of my life for good. Call me crazy, but
in spite of recent events and lacking business, I felt good about
things. It was probably the first time in my life that I’d ever
felt that way. Things were going well with Jack. If I could just
get things worked out for Jennifer, then everything would be
perfect.

I tapped my pen against my large wood
desk trying to find a mate for a particularly picky werewolf (no,
it wasn’t Lily) when I heard footfalls coming down the stairs. Was
it Jack or Jennifer? My question was answered when Jennifer poked
her blonde head around the corner.

“
Good morning,” she said
cheerily.

No glowing eyes, so she certainly
looked better. Her smile seemed forced which was unlike her because
she was the bubbliest person I knew. Too bubbly at times,
especially at this time of the morning.

“
Off to work?” I
asked.

She hurried over and plopped down in
the leather chair that was placed in front of my desk. She leaned
her head back against the leather. For a second, she said
nothing.

I thought maybe she’d fallen asleep
when she said, “I want you to fix me up with someone.”

I almost choked. “You want me to do
what?” I gaped at her.

She nodded as if to
say,
“Yeah, you heard me
right.”

“
I think it’s best if I get
back on the horse, if you will.” She gestured with her hands. “Why
wait around? All guys are going to turn out to be losers anyway, so
I might as well have a little fun while I can. Someday I’ll be old
and collect knick-knacks and sit around and knit.”

I glanced over at my animal figurine
collection. What was wrong with collecting things? It was a fun
hobby, no?

Jennifer continued, “Maybe I’ll get a
bunch of cats, but for now, I want to date. So will you fix me up
or not? I’ll pay your fee. Don’t think I want to mooch off you or
anything.” She waved her hands.

“
Jennifer, I wouldn’t dream
of asking you do pay. But don’t you think you need to wait a while?
You’d just broken up with Todd when you met Stephen. Both of them
turned out to be not that great. Maybe give it some
time.”

“
I love how positive you
are, Rylie. You always try to see the good in people. Saying that
they were not that great is like saying Charles Manson is slightly
crazy.”

I watched her, waiting for what she’d
say next. She did have a point though.

“
So, are you going to fix me
up or not?” She tapped her fingers against the chair
arm.

I released a heavy sigh. What I was
about to do was wrong, but I couldn’t say no to her. How would I
ever find the right person for Jennifer? That was the reason I
hadn’t fixed her up in the past. What if they didn’t get along?
Would she blame me? I didn’t want it to ruin our friendship. But
after all that we’d been through I wondered if there was anything
that could ruin our friendship. We’d been through failed
relationships, her mother’s ailing health, and countless other
struggles and we still stuck by each other. Heck, she was friends
with me even when she’d thought I was some delusional person who
thought she was a werewolf.

“
Fine. I’ll do it. But let
it be on the record that I think this is a bad idea.” The little
voice inside my head told me this was not the right thing to do. As
usual, I ignored the warning.

She continued and ignored my
cautionary advice. “You know what kind of guys I like. You know
what I’m looking for.”

That was the thing. I didn’t know what
kind of guy she was looking for. Her taste in men was so varied
that I had no idea where to begin. I guessed good-looking, nice,
and with a job was a good place to start.

She looked at me
expectantly.

Finally, I nodded, “Okay. I’ll see
what I can do.”

She jumped up with renewed vigor.
“Good. Let me know when you find my Mr. Right. I’m off to work.”
She waved over her shoulder.

An hour later, a knock sounded on my
door. I no longer invited people in without checking to see who it
was first. I’d learned that the hard way. I hurried over to the
door and eased it open. How long would I be on edge? Would I ever
be able to let my guard down? Probably not.

When I opened the door just a crack, a
gorgeous guy was standing in front of me. That hadn’t happened
often in the past, but lately there were good-looking men all over
the place. I definitely wasn’t complaining.

His hair was short and dark with maybe
a tad too much hair-styling product. Maybe he’d accidentally poured
out too much this morning so I’d overlook it. He wore a dark suit
and striped tie. Was he a lawyer? Had Uncle Ernie done something
illegal again?

“
Hello, are you Rylie Cruz?”
he asked with his smooth voice.

I wanted to say, Who’s asking? But
that would have been unprofessional.

“
Yes, I’m Rylie.” I
nodded.

“
My name is Neil Allen and a
friend of mine recommended Get a Mate. Do I need an appointment to
see you? I looked at your website and I was going to set up an
online account, but I live so close that I thought I’d take a
chance and drop by.”

“
You’re looking for a date?”
I asked as if I didn’t run a matchmaking service.

He quirked a brow. “Yes. I can come
back if it’s a problem.”

I finally remembered to open the door
for him. “No, no. Please come in. I’m so sorry. Have a seat.” I
gestured toward the leather chair.

“
Thank you,” he said,
flashing me a perfect smile.

Why couldn’t this guy find a date?
What was wrong with him? He was gorgeous. I figured women would be
following him down the street. Was he an axe murderer? Did he
collect dolls? I pulled out my usual forms and handed them to him.
I couldn’t wait to find out more information about him. He had said
he lived nearby. Was he a paranormal?

I didn’t sense it from him. I guessed
I’d find out soon enough though. That was, if he told the truth on
the forms. What type of woman was he looking for? That was when the
thought popped into my head. Jennifer. I stared at the good-looking
man as he filled out the forms. Was this Jennifer’s Mr. Right? No.
It couldn’t be that easy. He’d practically fallen into my lap.
There had to be something seriously wrong with him. It was never
that easy.

After a few minutes, he must have felt
my stare because he looked up. I couldn’t even fake and pretend
that I hadn’t been staring.

“
So are you all done?” I
asked.

“
Yeah, I think that about
wraps it up.” He stretched his muscular arm toward me and handed
the forms back. “You’re very thorough in your questions. I like
that,” he said.

Was he teasing me? I couldn’t tell by
the devilish grin that never left his face.

How to Date a Demon, Rule
#5

Don’t tell your date that
they have fire breath.

I looked down at the page, then
glanced back up at him. He was looking for a bubbly blonde from New
Orleans who was independent and liked to laugh. Hmm. Where ever
would I find one of those? This was just weird. Matching people had
never been this easy before. In spite of the fact that he’d shown
up as if by some kind of magical force, I was still reluctant to
set him up with Jennifer. I thought it was still too soon for her
to date anyone. But it was her life and I couldn’t tell her what to
do. If she insisted on paying my matchmaking fee, then I had to do
my best to find the perfect mate for her. Was this guy it? I needed
to look into his background before I made the date official. Make
sure he wasn’t a serial killer. But there was really no way to know
for certain. People were good at hiding facts when they wanted to
be sneaky.