“I’ll prove it to you. Just give me some time.” An investigation of her background, her family history, would take a few days-maybe less, depending on who he hired and how much money he tossed around, but Niol knew he would find the proof.
He just had to look hard enough.
“I can’t be a demon, I think I would know-”
“I thought so, too,” he murmured.
“My parents would have told me, don’t you think? But they didn’t because they’re not demons. They’re perfectly normal people-” A shadow drifted over her face. “My dad was, anyway, but he had a heart attack and-” Her chin lifted. “He was an accountant, for goodness sake! And my mom, she’s an engineer at the car plant in-”
“Maybe she doesn’t know.” Maybe neither of her parents had known the truth.
Adoption, one possibility. Or maybe somewhere far back in the family tree, one of Holly’s relatives had been tempted by a demon in disguise. “Make no mistake, I know what I saw upstairs.” When he’d had her naked and open to him and he’d been seconds away from thrusting into that slick pink flesh.
Then he’d met her stare and the world had stopped.
And started again in a red haze of fury.
“You’re wrong.” A whisper. “ I’d know.”
He brought her hand to his lips. He’d screwed up with her, lost valuable ground, and he wasn’t sure how to repair the damage he’d done.
The idea of Holly betraying him-
It had shattered his control and let the fury rage.
“No, love,” now, spoken as the endearment it was, “you wouldn’t.”
And that was the whole damn problem.
Holly paced her office hours later, Niol’s words still spinning in her head.
A demon. The guy actually thought she was a demon.
Insane.
Ridiculous.
Wasn’t it?
But Niol wasn’t the joking type and the fury she’d glimpsed in his eyes had been all too real.
Because he thought I’d played him.
Shit. Holly stumbled to a stop. It just wasn’t possible.
Holy Christ…what if it were true?
From the beginning, she’d been so fascinated by the idea of demons, drawn, almost helplessly, back to Paradise Found.
Back to the demons.
Because she was one?
No. Not. Possible.
Her hand slammed onto her desk. She was grade-A human, through and through.
No matter what Niol thought he’d seen.
Someone rapped on her door.
Holly sucked in a cleansing breath and turned around. “Kim, do you have those tapes-”
Kim wasn’t standing in her doorway. She’d expected the intern, with the security tapes from the previous morning.
But the pretty brunette wasn’t staring back at her.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Holly snapped, her body jerking as if she’d been shocked.
And, yeah, she was pretty damn shocked.
Because seeing Dr. Zachariah Hall, blond hair perfectly slicked back, golden tan gleaming, blue eyes smiling at her-stunned her. He was the last person she’d expected-or wanted-to see.
The lips that had been tilted in a warm grin sagged a bit. “Holly…you aren’t still angry, are you?”
She growled. Finding her fiancé half-naked with his grad student hadn’t been one of her best moments. Or his. Jerk. “Uh, yeah, I am. And probably will be for the next, oh, twenty years.” Why the hell was the guy there? He’d tried calling her a few times after the breakup. She’d ignored him. Then, blessedly, he’d gone away.
Back to his classes and the nimble grad girls who would do anything for that A.
The smile was totally gone now. “I made a mistake. A onetime mistake.”
One time her ass. She snorted. “One time, twenty times,” which she believed more than the “one time” story. “You’re done in my book.”
He stepped toward her and closed the door behind him.
Her mouth dropped. “Uh, Zack, I’m not in the mood to talk to you-” Ever.
“I’m sorry I hurt you.” The words sounded sincere. His eyes looked sincere.
The apology was completely different from Niol’s. Very smooth and slick. Not at all awkward. Didn’t sound like the words had been dragged from him.
But she didn’t buy it, not for a minute.
And what about Niol’s apology?
Later.
“I’m sorry I wasted four months of my life on you. Guess we’re even.” Okay, that sounded like something a really cold bitch would say.
So call her cold.
And she’d always been a bit proud of being a bitch.
The faint lines around his eyes hardened. He wasn’t wearing his glasses today. Usually he saved those for his classes. She knew he thought they made him look scholarly, and he was all about the smart professor look.
Dr. Zachariah Hall was an associate professor in the biology department at Mellrune University in Atlanta. He spent his days lecturing to bleary-eyed students or writing really lame research papers.
And screwing students, too.
When she’d first met him, Holly had mistakenly believed the guy was a class act. Smart. Honest. Gentlemanly.
The wild spark she’d always longed for hadn’t ignited between them, but she’d figured she’d be able to live quite happily without that spark.
So she’d accepted his proposal over a lobster dinner one night, then found him having a hands-on experience with his student two months later.
Extra credit?
“I was scared, Holly.” Again, sounded sincere. Maybe it was. “I fell for you, hard and fast. I didn’t know what was happening to me, so I-”
She rolled her eyes. “So you decided to go down on another woman? Got you.” She did not have time for this drama. “Look, I don’t want to hear your explanations. I just don’t-” Care anymore.
Her breath caught.
Wow. That was true. She didn’t care. She rolled her shoulders and felt as if she’d just dropped a huge weight. “That was months ago, Zack. I’ve moved on and I hope you have, too.” Now she got to be the sincere one.
Less bitch. More-ah, what was she more of?
His perfectly chiseled jaw clenched. “You’re seeing someone else?”
Was she still seeing Niol? Even after his accusation?
What if it were true?
“I-”
Another knock at the door.
“Come in!” She would have welcomed just about anyone then, as long as she didn’t have to be in the room alone with good old Zack anymore.
Kim poked her head inside, and she was smiling. “You got a delivery.”
Not another one. Her stomach knotted.
The door swung open. The red roses spilled from the vase Kim carried, their lush scent tickling Holly’s nose.
She blinked. “Did you see who-”
“Oh, yeah.” Kim didn’t even seem to notice Zack. “Susie was at the front desk, but I caught a glimpse of him before the guy left. Real sexy, black hair, sunglasses-”
Zack cleared his throat.
Kim jumped. Okay, so she hadn’t noticed him.
Holly hurried forward and took the flowers. “Thanks, Kim.” The vase felt slightly chilled against her hands. Niol must have brought it right over from the florist’s.
Kim gave a little wave and ducked out of the room.
Holly carried the vase to her desk. There was a small white envelope nestled in between the bloodred flowers. Her fingers shook a bit when she reached for it.
She’d always been a sucker for red roses.
She opened the tiny envelope, pulled out the card.
“So there is somebody else.”
A bold black scrawl on the crisp card.
I’m a bastard, but you know that. But you don’t know what’s inside of you-waiting to come out. I do.
Let me show you, love.
Her fingers clenched around the card.
Demon.
Niol wouldn’t make a mistake like that. Everything she knew, every whisper of gossip she’d greedily caught all pointed to Niol being the strongest demon in the city.
He’d know if he was having sex with another of his kind.
I see you now.
Her eyes closed. Denial, yeah, option one.