there.
“And let’s face it,” Madison said in her pragmatic way as she flipped through the magazine, “once Killian finds Poppy her soul mate, she’ll be all into that. She won’t even care about him anymore. If she even does now.”
Daisy supposed that was true. She probably was worrying for no good reason.
A knock rattled the door, and all three girls froze.
After a moment, Daisy’s heart rate went back to normal, and she opened the door.
Poppy stood on the other side. Her eyes moved over Daisy, then her gaze shifted past Daisy to her friends.
“What are you girls doing?”
Daisy and the other girls exchanged looks.
“We’re just working on our English papers,” Daisy said, her voice surprisingly calm, even to her.
To back up Daisy’s words, Emma held up her copy of the book they’d read:
Daisy really hoped that was what she was feeling about her sister and the demon. Then she noticed Poppy had changed from her usual jeans and T-shirt to a cute skirt and sweater.
“Why are you dressed up?”
Poppy looked down at herself. Now she was the one with the decidedly guilty expression.
“Killian and I have decided to go out for a bit. We’re going to check out that art gallery show.”
The
Daisy’s concern flitted away like her attention to the term paper she claimed they were working on. Things were okay. Killian was on the task, and Poppy was agreeing to go out. It was all good.
“Will you girls be okay for a bit?” Poppy asked, her guilt replaced by that searching look of hers.
Daisy nodded right away. “Sure. We’ll just be here working.”
Poppy considered that, then raised an eyebrow at Madison. The girl pushed away the magazine and held up her copy of Shakespeare too.
Poppy’s gaze moved from one girl to the next until it returned to Daisy. She nodded. “Okay. Make sure you get those papers done. We won’t be late.”
“We will,” Daisy assured her. “Have fun.”
Daisy closed the door, then turned to grin at her friends. She didn’t have anything to worry about. The quest for a soul mate was still full steam ahead.
When Poppy walked back into the living room, Killian couldn’t miss the strange expression on her face.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said, although the affirmation wasn’t exactly convincing. “Sometimes I get the feeling those girls are up to something.”
Oh, they were. He could attest to that. They were conjuring demons. And somehow Killian didn’t think Poppy would approve.
But he couldn’t explain even if he wanted to, which he didn’t. He had a strict order he couldn’t tell her he was a demon. And telling her about the conjuring would be outing himself.
Not that Poppy would believe him anyway.
“I’m sure they are just talking about boys or something,” he said instead. “Isn’t that what teenage girls do?”
“You’re right. They probably are,” she said, but again Killian didn’t get the feeling she quite believed that excuse.
“So are you ready?” Distraction seemed like the best tactic.
For many reasons.
“Yes.” She pulled in a breath as if to cast aside her current worries. But her mind managed to move right to another concern.
“Do you think this looks okay?”
Killian had thought her outfit looked more than okay as soon as she stepped into the room.
She’d changed into a white skirt with big red flowers. Poppies, appropriately enough. The skirt stopped just above her knees to reveal bare, shapely calves. With it, she wore a black camisole top and a bright red cardigan. The style suited Poppy. Still comfortable and casual, but fashionable too.
She looked beautiful.
But instead of telling her that, he simply said, “It’s nice.”
The expectant glitter in her eyes faded, and he got the feeling she’d been disappointed by his reaction. But before he could say anything else, she busied herself with getting her purse and a jacket.
Killian watched her bustling around, wanting to tell her what he really thought of the look. And knowing full well he shouldn’t.
In fact, his thoughts had been going lots of places they shouldn’t over the past few days. He’d been hanging around because he hated being in the flowery apartment, and he was avoiding Vepar. Plus, it did make sense to get to know Poppy better. At least, that’s what he’d been telling himself. And sometimes he even believed it.
But that fact was he liked being around Poppy. He liked her smile and her laugh. He liked her sense of humor. He even liked her sense of style. The girl could rock a
In fact, it was when he started finding that look sexy that he decided they needed to hit the singles circuit again.
So he’d suggested going to the singles reception at the art gallery. He was doing far too much liking himself, and not enough finding other guys to like her.
Time to matchmake. Whether he wanted to or not. He’d been surprised when she’d agreed. And maybe a little disappointed too.
“Okay,” she said with a smile, “I’m ready.”
He nodded, holding out a hand for her to lead the way to the door.
He was ready for this too.
“Um, wow. This is …”
Poppy nodded, not even needing Killian to finish his thought. They stood among a bunch of strangers looking at photos of people….
Well, there was no delicate way to say it. Having sex.
Having sex in an artistic, black-and-white, avant-garde sort of way, but sex nonetheless, and quite graphically too.
“Maybe I should have read the ad more closely,” she said, not able to take her eyes off the photo in front of her showing a couple engaged in …
She tilted her head. Fellatio? Cunnilingus? Truthfully, she wasn’t really sure of the genders of the people involved. But it still managed to be very intimate and very erotic.
She glanced at Killian. He stared too, until a waitress clad from head to toe in shiny black vinyl walked past with a tray of champagne. He snagged two of the flutes, handing one to Poppy.
“I think we’re going to need this,” he said, taking a large gulp.
She sipped hers, agreeing with him, but not willing to have a repeat of the other night. The elevator incident flashed through her mind. No, she didn’t want a repeat of that, even as her body started to ache at the memory.
She took another sip of the pale gold liquid. Killian wasn’t as restrained. He guzzled his.
“We can go if you want.” Poppy said, once he’d finished his drink.
He shook his head. “No, this is fine. I’m sure we can meet some interesting people here.”
As if to validate his theory, a man wearing a corset, tight leather pants and a top hat walked by.
“But if you try going home with him, I’m going to have to stop you,” Killian said, eyeing the man dubiously.
“I think we’re good on that one.”
They shared a smile.
“I’m going to get another,” Killian said, lifting his glass, scoping the room for a waitperson. He spotted another, easily visible due to the shiny PVC garb.
