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

by Elizabeth O'Roark

Then, despite his hangover, he smiles, and it feels as if the sun’s just come out after a long winter. It makes me far happier than it should.

His eyes flicker over my face. “You’re prettier than any of them even without makeup,” he says gruffly. I blink in surprise, my jaw unhinged. I’ve heard Hayes spew flattery before, but this is different. Almost as if he said it by accident. As if it was something he didn’t want me to know.

His gaze sharpens, grows feral. “God, what a filthy little mouth you have,” he says. His voice is pure gravel, and I feel a hard kick of want in my stomach. Or maybe that kick was a little lower if I’m going to be honest. I imagine hearing him say that while braced over me, flushed and desperate. Or pushing me to my knees with his hands in my hair.

“Hey, Tali,” he says, as I reach for the door. “Thanks. It was the best day I’ve had in a long time.” He’s being earnest for once, and I can tell it’s difficult for him. Another baby butterfly takes flight. I smile, stifling the impulse to ruin it with a joke. But I can’t bring myself to tell him the truth…it was the best day I’ve had in a long time too.

“I wish my husband would look at me the way he looks at you,” Linda whispers. “Like he could be completely content if he never had to look at anything else.”

He glances at me, his eyes falling to my mouth, soft as a snowflake, before they jerk away. “Every eye will be on you,” he says, “no matter what you wear.” He sounds as if he regrets it.

“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.”

“You’re pretty poor,” he says. He’s walking so fast I have to break into a jog to keep up with him. “And consider it my fine for objectifying you a moment ago. I realize I constantly objectify you, but I keep most of it to myself.”

“Hey, Tali?” he says, stopping me as I reach the door. “Don’t give up on him, okay? He needs you more than he’ll ever admit.” I nod, though I don’t entirely understand what he means. I’m not giving up on Hayes, but I only have a few weeks left before Jonathan’s back. What will happen after that? Will I remain part of his inner circle even then? Could I be more? I’d really like to stick around long enough to find out.

His gaze holds mine. “If it were an option,” he says, suddenly fierce, “I’d never be willing to share you.”

“Fine,” I say. “What do I wear?” His tongue glides over his lower lip. He’s looking at me, but his mind is far away at the same time. “The beige dress,” he says, nostrils flaring a little. “Ella will fucking hate that.” “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.”

She peers up at me. “Well, well, well,” she says. “This one’s much prettier than Ella, isn’t she?” Hayes laughs quietly, holding a chair for me and taking the seat on the other side. “Yes,” he whispers, “but you’re not supposed to say that aloud.” “I’m old. I can say whatever I’d like,” she replies.

Hayes’s eyes flicker over my face. “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.”

“I’m having fun, Tali,” he says softly. “For some reason complaining to you about things I don’t actually mind is just my favorite thing to do.” It’s not an apology, but it’s close enough and something inside me warms a little.

“Jesus, Tali,” he whispers. “I’ve wanted this for so fucking long.”

“Don’t give me that shit,” he says. He takes one long step toward me. I step back to the wall, and he closes the distance. “You know it matters.” My heart is thumping so loud it’s audible, echoing in my ears. “I—” His mouth lands on mine, rough and unrestrained, as if he’s been pushed slightly too far. And all the tension I’ve held for the past week—tension I didn’t even know was there—snaps loose and unfurls like a sail in a storm. I’ve dreamed about those minutes on the deck, have woken each day feverish and desperate for more. And I’ve spent a week hating myself for the way I ran, like a coward.

He looms over me, pinning me to the mattress as his mouth moves to my neck. “As I’ve told you before, I’d never be willing to share you.” He doesn’t look away as he says it, sincerity written all over his face. And some of the barriers I’ve built around my heart crumble, though I wish they hadn’t.

And I realize something: I never felt this way with Matt. I never felt content and heartbroken and complete with him. I never felt seen. He was never so deep in my blood that I felt his sadness and his joy as if it was my own, as if it mattered more than my own. There wasn’t a sign from Matt because he was never right for me in the first place. And Hayes is, but I’ve discovered it too late.

“Goodbye. And thank you. I’ve loved every minute of this.” And then I turn and leave California, and the thing I loved here most, behind.

I have to lie, because I can’t tell anyone that home, for me, is no longer a place. It’s the sound of Hayes’s laugh, and the sight of him brushing his hair out of his eyes, or reluctantly drinking a smoothie he hates solely because I made it for him. It’s the way he struggles not to smile when I imitate his accent, his singular willingness to always say the worst possible thing. Home is Hayes, and I am going to miss him every minute of the day for a long, long time.

I told you I didn’t want anything. Really, it was that I couldn’t stand to hear you tell me no to the things I do want. I don’t expect you to wait for me, so I’m not writing this now asking anything of you. I just want you to know I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone.

“Tali, I’m so in love with you it terrifies me,” he says. “And you’re the only thing that’s mattered for quite a while now. Do you really think I’d take off work to go to an amusement

“I’ve been in love with you, I think, since the day I saw you reading in the rain as you walked into work,” he says. He presses the box to my palm and covers it with his own. His eyes hold mine, and there’s urgency there, as if nothing in the world matters more than my answer. He swallows. “Marry me. Please marry me.”

“Jonathan said the diamond was too big,” he says. “I suggested you quite like big things.” I laugh shakily. “Did you really just allude to your dick in a marriage proposal?” “You already said yes,” he says with a quick grin, as he pulls my mouth to his. “You can’t take it back.” I don’t plan to.