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

by Elizabeth O'Roark

“Why can’t I just want to be an assistant?” I ask. “Or a bartender?” “Because you seem like someone destined for more,” he says quietly.

“Tali,” he says, rubbing his brow as he stands, “any man sleeping with you would keep you up all night long whether it was in his best interest or not. He wouldn’t be able to help himself.”

“What I hear you saying is you now crave my salads.” “There are things I’d crave from you long before salad,” he replies, and goosebumps crawl over my arms.

“I didn’t recognize you for a moment,” he says, clearing his throat. “You made an effort for once.”

“It’s going to be hard enough standing next to a bunch of actresses and models. I figured some makeup was necessary.” His eyes flicker over my face. “You’re prettier than any of them even without makeup,” he says gruffly.

“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.”

If he was mine, I’d have held on with everything I had.

“Tali’s beauty is all her own,”

“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.”

His hands cradle my jaw, forcing me to meet his eyes. “You have the purest face I’ve ever seen in my life,” he says quietly. “A face I couldn’t possibly replicate, and if I could, she and every other female here would ask me to.”

“He’s jealous as hell right now.” It takes me a second to even remember Matt was here. I press my palm flat to the barstool beside me, trying to get a grip. “You’re not even looking at him, so how could you possibly know that?” “Simple,” he says, grabbing my hand. He begins fighting the crowd again, pushing toward the exit. “Because I’d be jealous as hell if I were him.”

Matt was like a spoon, capable but dull-edged, while Hayes is a blade sharpened to dangerous perfection.

I huff in exasperation. “You made me go through all this effort for a dress I can’t afford, and you didn’t even look.” He sighs heavily, still facing away from me. “The dress and the voice had an unexpected consequence,” he says through gritted teeth. “Will you please just get back in the fucking dressing room?”

I open one eye just enough to see my favorite of his smiles. The sweetest one, that dimple of his blinking into existence.

he says, suddenly fierce, “I’d never be willing to share you.”

Fine, Hayes, take my liver. Anything you need is yours.

“I can’t ask just anyone to pretend to be my girlfriend.” He toys with the lid of his coffee cup. “I need someone they’d actually believe, someone...impressive.”

When you’re in the beige dress, there’s nothing wrong in the entire world.”

“Oh, Tali, you’re in so deep if you’re finally gonna call attention to those yummy lips of yours.”

I could make him happy, and I’d take care of him. For the briefest moment I am staggered by my desire to do exactly that.

“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 a date, but if it were, I’d press up close and whisper in his ear, suggesting we cancel dinner entirely. Then I’d press my lips to his jaw just to feel that five o’clock shadow of his against my skin. I’d finish unbuttoning the shirt he’s got on, running my hands down his chest, letting my fingers trace all the hard hills and valleys of his stomach before they trail lower…to his belt, which I’d rip loose so fast my speed would shock us both.

“Anything with you is better than it was with Matt.”

Just let me do this. Let me be the first.”

“I’m well aware I’m not good enough for her,” Hayes growls, pushing Matt against the Ferrari, “but this stops now. If I ever hear of you approaching her like this, in public or in private, I will fucking ruin your life, and don’t think for a minute I can’t.”

“It’s not a standard thing I offer employers, oddly enough. But I guess that argument no longer applies given that I don’t usually blow my employers either.”

Hayes I miss you.

Even after I left Hayes at the airport, saying I wanted nothing to do with him, he still spent almost fifty grand helping me get out of debt.

I’m speechless, half waiting for a punchline or amendment that doesn’t seem to be coming. “But your job is everything to you,” I finally say. “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 park otherwise?”

“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 an urgency there, as if nothing in the world matters more than my answer. He swallows. “Marry me. Please marry me.”