When he looked at her, he noticed she was not staring at the grave marker in front of them. Instead, her gaze was locked on him—his mouth, to be exact.
His smile faded as he wondered what she was thinking. Then she seemed to realize what she was doing, and she looked away, moving closer to inspect the stone.
He continued to watch her, but neither spoke as they looked at several more graves.
Finally, she directed her gaze to him again, but almost unwillingly. Pink colored her cheeks, but he wasn’t sure if that was from the sun and spring air or from embarrassment.
“I’m actually getting a little hungry,” she said, nothing in her voice revealing her true feelings.
“I can always eat,” he said, which was true. He had a ridiculous appetite—most demons did. Gluttony was a favorite sin. Right after lust.
She pointed toward where they entered the park. “We can go to Faneuil Hall, that’s another place along the Freedom Trail, and they have a lot of places to eat.”
He held out a hand. “Lead the way, tour guide.”
She didn’t smile, and a pang of disappointment actually vibrated through his chest. She turned and began walking through the graveyard. He followed, and he didn’t hasten his steps to catch up with her.
Lust. Definitely his first favorite sin.
Which, he assured himself, was the only reason he was lingering back, his gaze locked on the cute little curve of her rear end.
CHAPTER 7
“Do you like it?” Poppy watched with a slight grin as Killian dug into a huge cinnamon bun coated in extra frosting.
He took a bite, then closed his eyes, his handsome face the picture of unadulterated ecstasy. He moaned low in his throat, and Poppy tried to ignore the fact that his reaction caused little flips in her belly.
So he was quite amazingly beautiful. Good for him. He wouldn’t be her type, even if she was looking for someone.
Even if she could get him, a part of her added, although she’d ignored that point until she noticed a tall blonde in designer jeans, a cute trendy top and killer high-heel boots staring at Killian as she passed, stalking him like a hungry, lithe cat. She even slowed her pace, clearly hoping he’d spot her. That was more his type.
But Killian was too wrapped up in his love affair with his dessert. Poppy picked at the remains of her falafel pita pocket, irritated she suddenly felt as awkward as the nerdy kid at the big school dance. Invisible to all the beautiful people.
“This is amazing,” he said, regarding the dessert with an almost reverent expression.
Again Poppy’s stomach fluttered. Could she even imagine him looking at her like that?
Good golly, she was comparing herself to a cinnamon bun. She glanced over to see the gorgeous blonde had taken a seat at a table just a few feet away from them, angled in just such a way that Killian couldn’t miss her once he looked up.
Poppy made a face at herself, even as she ran a hand through her hair, annoyed that she felt self-conscious again. If she couldn’t compete with a cinnamon roll, she sure as heck couldn’t compete with a stunning Amazon blonde.
Not that she wanted to compete, of course. Just random thoughts, she assured herself. But before she even realized what she planned to say, the words were out of her mouth.
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
He didn’t speak, his mouth full of pastry, nor did he look surprised by her sudden question, but he did shake his head.
Something that felt an awful lot like relief washed through her, but it didn’t last, as her mind moved right to another thought: Maybe he didn’t have a girlfriend, but rather a wife, although he didn’t wear a ring.
Not that she’d been looking.
“No, no one,” he said once he’d finished eating.
The strange relieved feeling returned. She ignored it.
“Not the type to settle down, huh?”
He immediately shook his head, which didn’t surprise her. She suspected an amazingly good-looking man like him wouldn’t want to limit his choices too soon.
A feeling an awful lot like disgust, which she embraced, helped push away that other, more disturbing relieved feeling.
“Actually I do want to settle down,” he added. “You know, soon. Really soon.”
Poppy blinked. Huh?
“But you don’t have a girlfriend? Don’t you kind of need one of those to settle down? Especially soon?”
“Yes, I do. That’s one of the things I hope to do here, actually.”
Again she couldn’t hide her baffled look. “You plan to settle down? Here?”
“Umm, yeah.”
Damn. He’d really just said all that? Settle down. Here. Soon. All of that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Damn.
No, he told himself, this was a good plan. He’d convince her to go out and do the singles thing with him. Because he wanted to find a …
“Yeah, I’m looking for a wife.”
Poppy stared at him like he’d lost his mind. He kind of wondered if he had too. But he was willing to go with any plan that might get her a true love and him back to Hell. Even pretending he wanted to get married.
“I’ve wanted to get married for a while now,” he said with a nod of his head, trying to sound prosaic about it. “It’s always been a dream of mine.”
Did he really just say that?
“Really?” Clearly Poppy didn’t believe it either.
But he mustered his most sincere look
“It’s been something I’ve wanted since childhood. That special someone to share my life with, to raise a family with, to have as a best friend and lover. Forever.”
He fought the urge to wince. Had he poured it on too thick? From the dazed look on Poppy’s pixie face, he had. Oh well, it was out there. He was going to have to run with it.
“So what do you think? Do you think you could help me?”
She gaped at him as if he’d asked her if she’d be willing to give him a kidney. He tried not to be offended by her aghast expression. Did she really find his request so impossible a task? He was a good-looking guy, and he’d never had problems getting human women before. Her incredulity bothered him, more than he would have liked.
“I don’t think you need
“Why not?”
“Look over there.” She jerked her head slightly to the left. He did, only to discover a blond woman seated a row away, watching him. She smiled as soon as he met her eyes. A wide, inviting smile. A smile that all but asked him to come join her.
He forced a polite smile back, then returned his gaze to Poppy.
“I don’t want her. I don’t like blondes,” he said, saying the first thing that came into his mind.
Poppy gave him another look of disbelief. “Well, I’m sure any number of brunettes or redheads would fall over themselves for your attention.” She stood then. “I really should get home. I do have some work I need to get done.”
She started walking away before he could even get to his feet. He gave a longing look at his half-eaten cinnamon bun, but left it behind.
