Page 11

Chapter

Nine

JUNIPER

T he ancient radiator in the corner hissed like an irritated cat as I spread the men's files across my desk.

The sheer volume was overwhelming—towering stacks of potential matches that Lust unceremoniously dumped here as soon as I walked in, each one containing what I'm starting to suspect are supernatural men seeking their perfect someone.

My five female clients' folders sat neatly arranged on the corner of my desk, like a tiny island of order in this sea of chaos.

I traced my finger over the silver-haired Fae woman's photo, mesmerized by how the edges seemed to shimmer when I look at them too long.

Either the coffee hadn't kicked in yet, or my eyes were playing tricks on me.

A soft knock drew my attention.

"More coffee?" Thea stood in my doorway, looking marvelous as always.

I blinked at her. There was something...different about her this morning. Like heat waves rising from summer pavement, but in colors I couldn't quite name. I shook my head, both in response and to clear my vision.

"I'm good, thanks." I gestured at the mess before me. "Just trying to make sense of all this."

She moved into the room with a predatory grace, each step a deliberate sway of hips that seemed designed to draw attention to every curve. Then again, considering she's a succubus, I probably shouldn't be surprised.

"First days are always overwhelming,” she simpered. “Especially here." Her smile held secrets I'm not sure I want to know.

"Can I ask you something?" I shuffled through another stack of male profiles. "These forms are quite...lacking. I mean, 'enjoys moonlit walks' could mean anything from romantic strolls to actual howling at the moon, considering our clientele."

Thea perched on the edge of my desk, and that strange shimmer around her intensified. My head throbbed slightly.

"We've always done things very...traditionally here," she said diplomatically.

"Traditionally inefficient," I muttered, then caught myself. New job, Hazel. Play nice. "Sorry, I just?—"

The floor creaked outside my door and Lust appeared, looking slightly green around the edges. Again. This was his third "casual" check-in this morning, and it wasn’t even ten.

"Progress?" he asked curtly.

I straightened in my chair. "Actually, I had some thoughts about?—"

"Sir!" Thea interrupted smoothly. "That call you were waiting for is on line one."

“And you didn’t think to tell me that before coming in here for a girls' chat?”

She shrugged. “It’s Jake. The man can learn some patience.”

He grunted, threw one more inscrutable look my way, then stalked off. The moment he was gone, I swear his footsteps quickened, like he couldn't get away fast enough. Yet he'll be back in twenty minutes, I'm sure of it.

"He's not usually this..." Thea waved her hand vaguely.

"Hovering? Grumpy? Green?"

She laughed, and for a moment, the air around her sparkled. “Green? I don’t know if I’ve ever heard someone call him that before.”

I pressed my fingers to my temples. Maybe the last few days had knocked a few screws loose.

"Look," I said, desperate to focus on something concrete rather than whatever visual weirdness was happening.

"These five women are amazing candidates.

" I tapped their files. "But matching them with anyone from these male files would be like trying to pair wine with dinner when all you know is 'food exists.

' I don’t have enough information about the men or the women. "

"What are you suggesting?"

I leaned back, an idea taking shape. "What if we did a mixer? Something casual where people could actually interact? See who has chemistry?" The word made me wince internally, remembering my own disastrous romance, but I pushed forward. "We could host it somewhere neutral."

Thea's eyes lit up quite literally with an inner glow that made me blink hard.

"That...could actually work. We haven't tried anything like that before."

"Really? But it seems so obvious—" I stopped as Lust materialized in my doorway again, looking even more sickly than before.

"A mixer?" he asked, his voice strained. "You've been here one day, and you're already trying to reinvent how we do things?"

I squared my shoulders. "With respect, sir, your current system isn't exactly efficient. These forms tell me nothing about actual compatibility. And your marketing strategy..."

I gestured at the lopsided ratio of files.

"When was the last time you actively recruited female clients? Or updated your security protocols for your digital files? I’m assuming the risk of hacking is why you’re functioning like a terrible FBI agent from the 60s.

Because if you're worried about supernatural exposure, your paper filing system is one coffee spill away from disaster. "

The silence that followed was deafening. Thea's shimmer intensified so much it was like looking at a heat mirage. Lust stared at me, his face unreadable except for a muscle ticking in his jaw.

His gaze raked over me in a way that made my skin prickle with unwanted awareness.

For a split second, his eyes flashed with unmistakable interest before darkening to something closer to rage.

The whiplash of his expressions sent my heart racing—and not in a good way.

My fingers curled into my palms, fighting the urge to wrap my arms protectively around myself.

It's been less than a week since Xavier's betrayal, since I clawed my way out of my own grave.

I'm not ready for any man's attention, especially not from someone who looks at me like he wants to devour me one moment and destroy me the next.

"Are you alright, sir?" Thea asked, her voice honey-sweet with concern. "You seem off today."

"I'm fine," he snapped.

"Are you sure?" I can't help asking. "Because you've checked on me four times in two hours, and each time you look progressively more ill."

Thea stifled what sounded suspiciously like a giggle. "He does seem rather invested in your progress."

"I'm right here," Lust growled.

"And yet somehow still not actually helping," I muttered, then immediately regretted my loose tongue when his eyes narrowed. "Sorry, I just...for someone running a matchmaking agency, you don't seem very?—"

"Very what?" The temperature in the room dropped several degrees.

"Into it?" I gestured at the mess of inadequate paperwork. "I mean, are you even really Lust? Because I've got to say, this whole setup seems..."

"Seems what?" His voice was dangerously soft now.

"Like someone's idea of cosmic irony," Thea finished for me, and I shot her a grateful look.

When I glanced back at her, the strange shimmer was gone, leaving me wondering if I imagined it.

"I mean, no offense sir, but you have to admit it; you're not exactly the poster child for romantic connections. "

He opened his mouth, closed it, then seemed to deflate slightly.

"The mixer idea," he said instead of addressing our points. "Where would you even hold something like that? Most venues aren't exactly equipped for our...unique clientele."

I straightened in my chair, recognizing the olive branch for what it is.

"Give me a day to research options? There has to be somewhere in town that caters to a more diverse crowd."

"And by diverse, you mean supernatural," Thea clarified, her lips twitching.

"Exactly. Somewhere private enough for security, but public enough to feel casual." I tapped my fingers against the desk. "Let me make some calls."

Lust studied me for a long moment, that same conflicting mix of emotions crossing his face before he managed to school his features into neutrality.

"Fine,” he said. “One day. But if this goes wrong..."

"It won't," I assured him, even as my stomach churned at the thought of organizing any kind of romantic event. The irony of helping others find love when my own love life had been so horrific wasn’t lost on me.

He nodded curtly and turned to leave, but paused in the doorway.

"And Juniper?"

The false name still took me a moment to register. "Yes?"

"Try not to completely upend our entire business model before lunch?" There was a hint of dry humor beneath the strain in his voice.

I felt my cheeks heat. "No promises."

The moment he was gone—practically running, from the sound of his footsteps—Thea turned to me with raised eyebrows.

"Okay, seriously. Is anyone going to address the elephant in the room?" She asked.

"You mean how the supposed embodiment of desire looks at me like he both wants to kiss me and kill me?" I asked.

"While simultaneously appearing physically ill whenever he's near you," she added. "I've worked here for three years, and I've never seen him act like this."

"Maybe he's not really Lust," I suggested, only half joking. "Maybe he's just some poor schmuck who got stuck with the job."

Thea's eyes sparkled with intrigue. "Trust me, he’s the real deal.”

Later, I curled up in a large armchair, surrounded by the cozy cottage that somehow already felt like home. The work laptop that Lust ‘kindly’ allowed me to borrow balanced precariously on my knees as I toggled between venue websites and pack territory maps.

A cup of peppermint tea sat cold beside me–my third today as part of my self-declared ‘cleanse’ until my first paycheck comes through next week.

After everything Diana had done for me–the perfect cottage, a closet full of clothes that fit like they were made for me–I couldn't bring myself to ask for more.

The late spring breeze carried the scent of the thyme and oregano still thriving in the garden, mixing with the earthy scent of fallen leaves.