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She probably thought he was overwhelmed with the other demons talking around him.

Her warm hand was comforting and warm through the fabric of his pants…

and sadly, completely unnecessary. He had six siblings who all had their own packs of children.

As uncomfortable as he was, this was still a cakewalk compared to family dinners.

No, it was Miri that was the problem. Even something as simple as sitting beside him was enough to short-circuit Duke’s brain.

How could he possibly be expected to follow along in the conversation when she was sitting close enough for him to smell the delicate coconut scent of her shampoo?

Perfume? He wasn’t sure, but he wanted to bath in it.

“I’m an accountant,” he finally managed to murmur.

The silence dragged on. Duke sighed. It was a common reaction. Just because he towered everyone he met and — according to his sisters— had more muscles than personality, everyone thought he was some kind of muscled up idiot. There was a reason he liked numbers more than people.

“I’ve been meaning to call you about that, by the way.” Lifting another piece of garlic bread from the basket in the middle of the table, Ace offered him a sharp salute. “I need a new tax guy.”

Kaz snorted. “You haven’t paid taxes in three years.”

“Yeah, because I need a new tax guy?—“

“I don’t do taxes,” Duke interrupted. “I’m a forensic accountant.”

Better to get that out of the way before someone started asking him out to avoid an audit.

“Forensics? Like CSI?”

“Yes… sort of.” He shrugged his giant shoulders, wings tingling uncomfortably under the room’s scrutiny. The sharp burn of a blush washed over his cheeks. “Think less body fluids and more spreadsheets.”

“So, maybe don’t bring up tax evasion anymore,” Miri laughed. “I’d hate to have to this night end early because Ace needs to make bail.”

Duke stared at her bright smile. Stunning. She was absolutely stunning. Looking at Miri was like staring at the moon on a dark night. His eyes rose to the swirling patterns of her golden freckles—and there were the stars.

Round cheeks turned pink under his gaze. She quickly looked away and tucked an errant curl behind her ear. Smiling to himself, Duke focused on his pasta.

“Well, as you know, I’m a barista….which is much less cool than being a money detective.” Spearing a forkful of salad, Ace gestured with his utensils. “Though I did do a stint on a crab fishing boat, that was kind of cool for a while.”

A sharp knock rattled the front door, cutting off Ace before he could launch into a story about crab legs. Rising to her feet, Miri headed for the hall.

“I wasn’t expecting anyone else…” she muttered as they heard the door open.

She poked her head into the foyer. Her spine straightened, the tension visible to every demon in the room. Duke watched Kaz and Ace share a frown. Duke shifted his legs under him, ready to jump to his feet if something was wrong.

“What are you doing here?”

“Can’t a mother swing by and see her only daughter?” a sharp voice asked.

Shoulders slumping, Miri’s sighed echoed from the hall.

“I’m having dinner with?—“

The sweet human didn’t get to finish her sentence before a short woman pushed her way into the room, a garment bag swinging over her arm. She stared at them with wide eyes. Her manicured hand fluttered to her chest. Whirling to face Miri, her graying blond hair swished over her shoulders.

“Those are demons!”

“Yes.”

“Why are there demons in your living room, Miriam?” The old lady didn’t even try to lower her voice as she waved at the men in sitting around her daughter’s coffee table. “Don’t you know how dangerous they are? You can’t trust them; they’ll try to steal your soul!”

Myth. Not only was that rumor completely false, but it was moronic. Monsters had come out of hiding nearly a century ago and still that kind of ridiculous propaganda was passed in whispers.

Duke forced himself not to roll his eyes. He could no more bargain for a soul than he could ride a unicycle. And what use would he even have for a soul? Use it as a paperweight? He didn’t even know if souls were real.

He opened his mouth to say as much but Nico beat him to the punch.

“We heard there was lasagna,” Nico deadpanned. “Demons will happily take a break from stealing souls when there’s ricotta involved.”

“And a good red sauce,” Kaz added. Waving with his fork, he pointed at his third piece of lasagna. “I’d sell my soul for this recipe, Miri. Since we’re opening up negotiations and all that.”

“Can I barter half of my soul for another piece of garlic bread?” Ace blinked innocently. “I’m willing to go as high as two-thirds.”

“Two thirds?” Duke shook his head. He wasn’t sure what the going rate for a soul would be— if there was such a thing— but it had to be worth at least two pieces of garlic bread. “You are a terrible negotiator.”

“What—“ Miri’s mom sputtered.

“What’s in the bag?” She asked loudly, cutting off her mother’s shocked babbling. Miri nodded at the garment bag draped over her slim arm.

It was too bad. Duke had been starting to run the calculations in his head. How much garlic bread was a soul actually worth? Was the conversion rate different for vampires? Was store-bought worth as much as homemade?

His fingers itched to start putting together a spreadsheet.

“But—“

“The bag, mom.”

With a frustrated sigh, the older woman unzipped the bag.

“I saw this at the department store and thought it would be lovely with your hair.”

The deep blue wouldn’t just be lovely with her red curls, it would be stunning. Between the rich blue shade and some soft candlelight, the strands of red would shine like copper…

The thought ground to a halt in his mind as Miri’s face fell. Her fingers lifted the tag.

“Well, I hope you bought two of them to sew together. This is three sizes too small.” Miri’s hands dropped to grip handfuls of her skirt. “This would barely fit on one of my legs.”

“I thought it would be good inspiration for you.”

It was too bad his gaze couldn’t burn a hole right through the interfering old lady’s skull. In seconds, the brittle bird of a woman had sucked all the air out of the room. The teasing levity of their jokes had vanished in a breath.

Duke gritted his teeth and shot a quick glance at the other demons in the room. From the murderous expressions they weren’t bothering to hide, they were ready to start using garlic bread as projectiles.

Kaz’s thick fist was slowly crushing his fork into a tangled twist of metal. Nico’s teeth were grinding together so loud that Duke could hear it from across the table. And Ace… Ace was grinning like he’d just been told the funniest joke he’d ever heard.

Duke frowned. No, he must not be processing that one right.

Before he could study Ace a little longer, the demon stood up and swaggered across the room. Wrapping his arms around Miri’s curvy waist and hugging her against his side, he completely ignored the growing tension.

“What was it you said?” Ace pinched the fabric between his fingers, “Inspiration? Honey, nobody is inspired by polyester.”

“Polyester?! That is a silk blend?—“

“Besides, why would she want to shrink herself to fit a discount rag?” The golden demon gave Miri a squeeze. “These curves are perfect for big ol demon hands. Right, boys?”

He turned around and shot them a look over his shoulder.

“Yep.”

“Definitely.”

“Big hands,” Duke agreed gravely. He raised his purple dinner-plate sized hands for emphasis.

Her mom gaped at them. Was she confused? He studied her wide eyes for cues. Maybe ‘shock’ was a better description. Duke made a mental note to ask one of his sisters later. Probably Tess. She always gave him the clearest explanations when he asked.

“Miriam, what is going on here? Are you dating a demon?” her mom asked in a hushed whisper.

“Four demons,” Duke corrected. “Technically.”

He might be shit at social cues, but he could always be counted on to be accurate with the numbers.

Kaz hid a smirk behind his wine glass as Nico shot the old lady a thumbs up. The color drained from her wrinkled face.

“Tell me you’re joking,” she begged.

“Surprise!” Wrapping an arm around Ace, Miri beamed at her appalled mother. “You were so worried about me finding a boyfriend and having babies, I didn’t know how to break it to you that I actually have four… demonic boyfriends, that is.”

“It’s wonderful to meet you.” Ace reached offered her his hand to shake. “Can I call you ‘mom?’”

Duke turned his laugh into a quiet cough. Even he had no trouble recognizing the horror on her face. Turning on her heel, she fled from the house. The room burst into laughter as the door slammed shut.

“Sorry about her. She’s not great with surprises… or people… or manners.” Disentangling herself from Ace, Miri flopped back into her seat. She shrugged her pale shoulders and reached for her wine glass.

“Don’t worry about it, baby. Everyone’s got a relative like that.” Ace crammed a mouthful of pasta into his mouth. “Remind me to tell you about my Uncle Teddy sometime. He thinks the Amish are actually a secret society of lizard people. Total nutter, but great at parties.”

“Still, it’s one thing to know I have a pain in the ass mom and another to have her drop by and insult my dates to their faces.”

“Dates? Don’t you mean boyfriends ?” Duke raised an eyebrow.