A Deal with the Devil (The Grumpy Devils, #1)

by Elizabeth O'Roark

“No offense, but that sounds extremely dull,” he replies. “A good sex scene is essential to any meaningful work of fiction.” “Ah, yes. I remember the blow job in Pride and Prejudice. Very tastefully done.”

I turn to head back downstairs and his hand encircles my wrist.

“Because,” I say, unable to meet his eyes, “everyone in your life seems to take something from you, and that’s not what friends do. I guess I’d rather be your friend.”

“Jesus,” he says, blowing out a breath. “Half the men in this room are old, Tali. And now I’m going to have to defibrillate all of them.”

What’s wrong with the beige dress?” He shoves his hands in his pockets. “Nothing. That’s why she’ll hate it. When you’re in the beige dress, there’s nothing wrong in the entire world.”

“I saw her photo on Jonathan’s desk and started looking for her all the time, because she worked at this bar I’d pass on my way home,” he says. Weirdly…it doesn’t sound like a lie. “I saw her reading while she was walking in, even though it was raining. And I thought she was the loveliest thing I’d ever seen in my life, so I followed her.”

But when I step outside and the sun warms my skin and I take that first sip of my latte, just before I spit in yours, it suddenly feels as if the world is a decent place.

“Tali,” he says quietly, pulling my hand away from my face. “Let me.”