Page 11 of A Game Cursed and Deadly

A part of me screams yes, jumping up and down. I take a deep long breath before smothering it until it has no breath left. The only reason I’m even entertaining this is because I’m feeling lonely and grief-stricken, and the attention is… unusual, but nice. I need to keep to myself, though. Rumors are easy to spread in this town, and I want to keep a low profile, get Àvia’s affairs settled, and disappear again without leaving people with anything to talk about. A date with the town’s dark and mysterious outsider is not the way to do that, as much as I want to go.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say.

“Give me a good reason why not.”

Damn, he’s persistent. I know the reason I can’t go, but sharing it would be too close to revealing my secret. “I date women,” I blurt out instead.

His eyebrows climb up his forehead. “I date men, too. Sometimes. Sometimes I don’t.”

Fuck, if that isn’t hot. Why is it hot?

“The real question is, do you only date women?”

I should lie. It would end this conversation. But the way he looks at me, with a hunger bordering feral, lights a fire deep in my belly. “No,” I answer honestly.

“Then I think we’re in the clear.”

I shake my head, trying to clear the haze of his presence. “I can’t, I’m sorry.”

Putting the book in one of the shopping bags I just organized, I push it toward him. “Have a great day.”

He regards me for a moment, before grabbing his shopping bag and stepping back. “Very well. But if we meet again, I’m not taking a no for an answer.”

I pout. “That’s not really fair, is it? You know where I work.”

His smile is downright wicked. “I won’t come back here unless you want me to. I trust that fate will bring me to you soon enough.”

And with that, he tips his head toward me before walking out with his purchase.

I drop my face in my hands and groan.

“Esme?” Sara asks, emerging from the back room. “Who was that?”

She says it like she has a very clear opinion of who — or at least what — he is: a catch.

I shrug. “Someone I met last night.” I don’t point out that I met him at the cemetery, while I was wailing over my grandmother’s grave, because that would be weird.

She comes to stand next to me and looks out the door. “Well, damn.”

I elbow her in the side. “Stop it, you perv. You don’t even swing that way.”

“What?” She jerks a shoulder. “I have eyes.”

Right. And I’m willing to bet a blind person could see how attractive Teizel is.

I cross my arms over my chest. “Your point is?”

“Did I not hear him ask you out?”

My eyes widen. “You were eavesdropping?”

She raises her hands in front of her. “Not on purpose,” she promises. “I just happened to hear.”

I huff out a breath. “Okay, yeah, right.”

“I also heard you turn him down.”

I scowl. “He’s not my type.”