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“Because I want one.”

Demanding fairy.

I raise my eyebrows. “And what’s the cost?” I ask.

He taps my nose. “So jaded. I wish you had a little more faith in me.”

My eyebrows hike up farther. “So you’re giving me a free wish?”

“Hmm. Perhapsfreeis not the right word.”

That’s what I thought.

He plays with my hair. “But you’ll like the repayment. That, I promise.”

I don’t doubt it.

“Fine. I want coffee.”

“Out of all the wishes in the world, that’s the one you go for?” Des looks distinctly unimpressed.

I really want a cup o’ Joe, alright? So sue me. My brief taste of Temper’s wasn’t enough.

I tilt my head back and forth, weighing his words. “You’re right, on second thought, maybe I should wish for another boyfriend—”

A cup manifests out of the ether and into Des’s hand. “Alright baby siren,” he says, cutting me off. “I see how you’re going to play your hand.” He presses the mug into one of my palms.

I grin at him, the last of my earlier sadness vanishing with the action.

“Going to have to remind you later of why there will only ever be me …” he murmurs.

My grin widens, and the Bargainer leans in and steals a quick kiss, the action causing some of the blessed coffee in my mug to slosh into the water. As always, Des tastes like sin and wicked thoughts, and I’m almost more interested in drinking him up than I am the coffee.

Almost.

Once the kiss ends, I lean back against the rim of the tub and gather my knees to my chest.

“What was that song?” I ask, taking a sip of my coffee.

Des is appraising me like he wants to eat me for lunch. “What song?”

“The one you were humming just now.”

Recognition sparks in his eyes. “‘For my Lost Love, I Dream of Thee’.”

I set my mug next to one of the glowing lanterns. “I like it,” I admit.

He gives me a soft smile. “I’m glad you do. My mother used to sing it to me when I was little.”

That confession—freely given, I note—sends a pang through me. There’s a soft spot in Des’s heart that belongs to his mom and his mom alone, and for the hundredth time, I wish I could’ve met her.

“What’s the song about?” I ask.

The Bargainer’s expression turns a little melancholic. “A man loses the love of his life, and he yearns for night because in dreams they’re reunited,” he says.

The two of us are quiet for a moment.

“Well, that’s a fucking bummer,” I finally say.