I finished out the night happy, the case and payment far from my mind as I counted my better-than-normal tips. I even let a drunk guy stay longer than closing, I was in that good of a mood.
“See you later, Terry.” I waved to the cowboy and headed for my car. With no angel in my passenger seat, I made sure to remember my own seatbelt and blared pop music as I sang at the top of my lungs. At two A. M., there were no other cars to make me feel self-conscious about my head banging or out-of-date dance moves. I was usually the one giving drinks, so I didn’t get to party much on my own. Plus getting drunk with desire-inducing angels around was not a good idea. I could just see some kind of stripping happening.
Actually, that wasn’t such a bad idea. I could have my own private strip club.
Laughing at myself, I pulled up to my apartment and shimmied up the stairs to the beat of the latest tune still stuck in my head. I wandered into my apartment and scanned the area. No angels in sight, I grabbed my phone and dialed the only place open this time of night.
“Mr. Wong’s, what can I get for you?” the voice on the other line asked.
“Hey, Todd.” I know, Todd for a Chinese name, what are the odds? “It’s Jane.”
“Jane, my girl. How you doing?” Todd said, sounding more like a homeboy than any Asian descendant. His father, Mr. Wong, was probably having a cow behind him right now.
“Starving,” I admitted.
“I got you. You want your usual?” Todd asked. Yes, I order from there that often. If you were a single woman living on her own with weird shifts, you wouldn’t be cooking at this time of night either.
“Yeah, that’ll do me.” Briefly, I remembered my empty fridge. “Actually, can you make that a double order?”
“Got a hot date?” Todd asked, the disappointment in his voice not lost on me.
“No,” I chuckled.
“Want one?”
Laughing even harder, I rolled my eyes. “Not right now, but when I do, you’ll be the first I call.”
“Promise?”
I leaned against the counter in my kitchen and started to answer, but Lucifer caught my eye sitting at my breakfast table. “Would I ever lie to you?”
“For free wontons.”
“Okay, you got me. I would do a lot of things for free food.” I smiled broadly, earning me a bemused look from Lucifer.
“Good to know.” Todd laughed. “I’ll have your stuff over in two shakes. Make sure you wear something sexy.”
“I’m always sexy,” I countered. Lucifer stood from the table and approached me, my and Todd’s line of conversation suddenly making me nervous.
“That you are,” Todd agreed and then hung up.
Setting my phone down, I kept my eyes on Lucifer who stalked toward me. “I thought you went home for the night.”
“Not before I claim my payment.” Those words made my heart race in anticipation. He’d found a way to touch me? Suddenly the Chinese food was not the highlight of my night.
“How are you going to do that?” My voice came out breathless, and my nipples tightened as Lucifer brushed against my front, the tingling sensation shooting straight to my now soaking core.
“I have a theory,” Lucifer murmured. “Until this point, we haven’t really been trying to touch you, but if I actually put some effort in, perhaps that will change.”
I cocked a brow. “So, you’re just gonna wish really hard and hope the sex fairies make it come true?”
“Sex fairies?” Lucifer smirked. “No, I’m going to use my energy to focus on touching you.”
“So, you’re winging it,” I countered and then sighed. “I hate to tell you, but Gabriel already beat you to it.”
“What?” Lucifer raised his brow.
“Yep,” I made a pop with my mouth. “He accosted me in the parking garage right after our meeting. All he did was make my mouth numb.”
“Well,” Lucifer chuckled. “I’ll be damned. Never imagined he’d be so forward.”
“You’d know him better than me.” I shrugged sadly. “Now, if you don’t mind I have a date with the Chinese guy.”
“That Todd fellow,” Lucifer asked, his grin fading. “Are you having sex with this man?”
“Only when he brings me extra wontons,” I deadpanned but quickly corrected myself. “No, he brings me food. We flirt a bit, but that’s all. He’s not my type.”
Lucifer snuggled up closer to me, making my whole right-side buzz. “And what is your type?”
I looked him over, from his perfectly fitted suit to his hand tousled hair. He was the perfect package I would enjoy unwrapping and savoring every taste as I did. Too bad, that wasn’t an option.
A part of me wanted to say he was. He, Michael, and Gabriel actually. All three of the heavenly beings made my motor go, go, go like I’d popped a few Adderall. The only problem with them being their all show and no actual follow-through.
Lucifer watched me expectantly waiting for my answer. Before I could answer, there was a knock on my door. Saved by the Chinese.
8
I didn’t even remember going to bed that night, but my stomach was yelling at me in the morning. Why did I have to eat all the food I’d ordered?
“Fuck me,” I groaned, rolling over in bed.
“I’ll pass. How about a jelly donut instead?”
Mandy’s voice had me popping up faster than a teenage boy watching his first porn.
My eyes fell on the blonde sitting at my tiny kitchen table, a white box and two cups of coffee in front of her. I jumped from the bed, not caring that I was half naked. Apparently, I’d have enough foresight last night to take my pants off before collapsing.
I snatched up the coffee cup and a jelly-filled donut, scarfing down half of it before I sat down. Hey, I had a stomach ache, but I wasn’t dead. “You’re a lifesaver,” I said with a mouthful of pastry.
“I’m assuming that was a thank you.” Mandy laughed, taking a drink from her cup.
I grabbed another donut. “What’s the occasion?” I waved a hand at the box and the coffee as I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t think this counts as one of my dinners. This hardly even counts as breakfast.”
“It’s a bribe.”
“What now?”
Mandy leaned forward to grab something off the ground. She picked up a file and dropped it on the table in front of me. “The girl who went missing is Clarissa Granes. She’s twenty-two and her family is pretty worried.”
I glanced down at the file, flipping open the top to see the picture of a blonde woman with a pleasant girl-next-door kind of look to her. “How long has she been missing?”
“About three days.” Mandy sighed and pointed at the file. “We’ve tried everywhere. Her school. Her work. Her friends. No one seems to have any clue where she might have gone.”
“Maybe she went on siesta? Took a girl’s day. I hear the Bahamas are pretty nice this time of year.” My snark earned me a chastising look. I sighed and took another donut. I was going to need a mad workout to make up for these calories. As the cream-filled center touched my tongue, I groaned in pleasure. So worth it.
Mandy made a disgusted noise. “Should I leave you and your donut alone?”
I flipped her off while shoving the rest of it in my mouth. At least the guys weren’t here to see me stuff my face. God must really hate me because the instant I thought that, Michael appeared behind Mandy. Choking on my donut, I grabbed my coffee and took a large drink to force the rest of the pastry down. Eyes watering, I coughed out, “Um, what do you need me to do?”
Mandy glanced over her shoulder as if trying to see what I saw. I didn’t ask how she knew I saw someone, she’d been around me long enough to know. Still, no matter how hard she looked, the guys never presented themselves to her. It would make my life a hell of a lot easier if they would.
Frowning, Mandy gave up trying to see the angel and turned back to me. “Well, we thought we’d start by having you go back over what we’ve already done. See if you catch anything we missed.”
I was only half paying attention to Mandy, my eyes on Michael as he strolled around my apartment. When he noticed my attire, he raised a brow in question.