Page 27 of A Game Cursed and Deadly

“Not even close. But it’s either this or the house, and I think I need to hold on to the house a little longer.”

Yes, that we can agree on, at least. “Why don’t you leave it to me? I’ll find a jeweler or pawn shop willing to buy it.”

Her frown deepens. “The lawyer fees are due tomorrow.”

“Then I’ll go first thing in the morning.”

Esmeralda shakes her head, but little conviction carries the movement. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

I reach my fingers for her chin and force her to look at me. “You’re not asking me, I’m offering. I can see this is hard for you, and I want to help.”

She blinks a few times, a lone tear streaking down her cheek, before leaning to brush her lips to mine tentatively, slowly. Nothing but a taste. She pulls away before I’ve had my fill.

“Sorry,” she says.

I grin. “Oh yes, because that was so terrible for me,” I joke, and at least it earns me a tired smile. “For the record, you can kiss me whenever you want, little one. I’ll suffer through it.”

She slants her face for another quick peck. “Noted.”

I reach for the ring clutched in her fingers, which she’s reluctant to let go. Her eyes stay trained on it as I slide it into the chest pocket of my shirt.

“I promise I will haggle for the very best price for it.”

“I trust you with it. And… thank you, Teizel. I know I’m a random girl you’re casually dating, but you helped me a lot today.”

I force a smile but say nothing, not finding it in me to lie to her. Because she’s most certainly not a random girl to me, and more than helping, I’m here to doom her.

chapter 11

a chill of

recognition

esmeralda

My bank account’s down to a measly sixteen bucks, barely dodging overdraft, but the lawyer is paid. Àvia’s ring fetched just under thirty-two hundred, and Sara advanced three hundred from my next paycheck—the only cash I’d take from her. Combined with what savings I had left, I was able to drop off a check to the lawyer an hour before close of business, but hey, I got it done and that’s all that matters. It’s cause for celebration.

In hindsight, though, I should’ve gone with a free option. As I scan the prices on the menu, my spine stiffens. The restaurant, a cute little bar and grill twenty minutes north of Hazel Creek, is as nice as it get in this area. I picked it because the full-windowed wall gives a beautiful view of the sun setting over the ocean, but I didn’t think this through. Even just drinking water and eating complimentary biscuits, no way I’ll cover both our tabs.

“You know I’m paying, right?” Teizel asks, as if reading my mind.

I shoot him a glare and he shrugs. “You look worried.”

“There’s no way I’m letting you pay when I asked you out.”

“There’s no way I’m letting you pay, period. No date of mine is going to pull out their wallet when they’re around me.”

I roll my eyes. “Viva la patriarchy, right?”

Teizel scoffs, the right corner of his lips quirked up. “Hardly. I’d pay if you were a man, too. I have money — I don’t see how it’d be fair to ask someone else to strain themselves financially for me when I’m plenty able to afford it.”

His admission doesn’t surprise me; everything about Teizel screams wealth. Not in an ostentatious way: it’s the way he carries himself, the elegance and softness of his hands with perfectly manicured nail polish, his ability to command the attention of a room.

“What is it you do, anyway? You randomly moved to this hell town for the sake of it, so I doubt you have a nine-to-five.”

His expression remains casual, but his jaw ticks ever so slightly before he answers. “My family is in politics, though I’m not currently following in their footsteps. We have investments — I guess you could call it an estate — and that’s what I live off.”

My lips part with a pop. If ever there was a more old money answer, I’ve yet to hear it. I return my attention to the menu. “Okay, I guess you are paying tonight, then.”