"Wanting and needing are two different things." He stepped away from me, and I suddenly felt incomplete without his body against mine. I had a fleeting flash of some connection bigger than both of us, and then it was gone. "A long life means nothing if it's empty and has no purpose. Better to live a short one filled with the things that are important to you."
"You're a fool," I snapped. "I'm not going to stay and watch you die."
"Then go."
And I did.
CHAPTER 17
The next day was only a partial shift at work for me, but when I saw how busy things were, I suspected I'd have a hard time dragging myself away. Seth wasn't working in the café, but I found a note on my desk. He'd apparently already been there earlier.
Thetis -
Have some errands to run, but I'd like to see you later. I miss you and don't like how we left things. Come on over later when you get the chance. I'll be home all night.
Love,
Seth
I had some things of my own to take care of, and after reading his note, I suddenly wanted them done as soon as possible so that I could go see him. As I was about to leave, Maddie caught a hold of me and covertly led me into the history books. To my astonishment, she pushed down her shirt collar, baring her shoulder.
"Whoa," I joked. "Don't you think things are moving kind of fast?"
"Look," she whispered, pointing at the lacy bra strap that had been revealed. "It's red."
"That it is," I agreed, still a little puzzled.
"It's number one."
"What?"
"My three adventurous things. I bought a red bra."
I stared in astonishment. "I thought...I thought you said my idea was ridiculous?"
She averted her eyes. "I thought it was...but then, well...I heard about Seth. What happened to him. You were there, right?"
My favorite topic. "Yeah, I was there."
"Didn't it freak you out? I mean...right there in front of you: life and death."
"Yeah. Kind of."
Shaking her head, she looked back up at me. "Hearing what happened to him just kind of shook me up. I told you it wasn't that easy to be adventurous, but suddenly I decided that maybe it was. I just had to take control."
I smiled. "With a red bra."
She flushed. "Hey! All your lingerie may be red and edible, but this is the first bra I've ever bought that isn't white or black."
I reined in my humor and gave her a genuinely pleased smile. "I'm proud of you, Maddie. I really am."
"Don't patronize me," she warned.
"I'm not. It looks great. You get matching underwear?"
Now she really looked embarrassed. "A thong."
I repressed the urge to whistle. "Nice work, soldier."
She wandered off, back to the registers. Moments later, I felt an immortal signature and a touch on my shoulder. Spinning around, I found Tawny's enormous chest practically shoved into my face. I'd heard little from the succubus since I'd called to tell her she had a job at Simon's. Niphon's presence at the poker game had been the only indication that she still hadn't bagged a guy.
"Georgina - " she wailed, lower lip trembling.
"No, no," I interrupted. I grabbed her arm and dragged her toward my office. "Not here."
I managed to close the door just before she burst into tears. I groaned.
"Now what's happened?"
"I met a guy last night." She flounced into my chair, and it was a wonder her br**sts didn't hit her in the face.
I leaned against the wall, crossing my arms over my own chest in a sort of protective gesture. "Okay...that's not a bad thing."
She swallowed a sob, and it was all I could do not to clean up the mascara smudges on her face. Honestly, how much did that woman wear? "We had a great time...had drinks and talked and all that."
"That's not a bad thing either."
She shook her head. "But at the end of the night, he told me he just wanted to be friends."
"He - wait. You got the friends line from someone you just met?"
Tawny nodded.
"What did you say to him? Like...did you proposition him?"
"Yeah...I asked him if he wanted to meet me in the bathroom and try out this edible mint chocolate warming gel I have."
"You - what?"
Tawny reached into her purse and started to pull out a tube of something. I waved her off.
"No, no. I don't need to see it."
"What went wrong?" she cried.
"Well..." I wasn't sure if I should laugh or weep. Tawny was never going to pull this off. Never. "You might have come on too strong. And honestly...that gel thing? That's just weird."
"I thought guys were into that kind of thing."
"Some are...but, I don't know. What kind of guy is he? What's he do for a living?"
"He's a cashier."
"Hmm. Okay. That's not too bad."
"Over at Blessed Images."
"Over at - you propositioned a guy who works at a religious supply store?" I exclaimed.
"I wanted a good one," she told me. "There's no better place."
"Oh my God. Tawny..." I didn't even know where to start. There were so many nuances to seduction, so many tactics and strategies. She didn't know any of them, and seriously, I didn't even know if she could learn. "I got you the strip club job...why are you trolling religious supply stores? Guys should just be coming up to you after your sets." Something troubling occurred to me. "You do still have the job, don't you?" I believed Simon would stick to his word, but one never knew for sure with his type.
"Yeah..." she mumbled. "But those guys aren't - "
"For the last time! Forget the good ones. You can't afford to be choosy." I studied her. She was clearly low on energy again. Frowning, I recalled my date with Liam. "So...Tawny...things really didn't work out with Nick the auctioneer?"
She took a tissue from the box on my desk and blew her nose loudly. "Nope. I told you. I called, and he said he wasn't interested."
I was good at reading people, very good. It was, well, what made me a star succubus. And looking into those teary blue eyes, I searched for some sign of deceit. Any sign. I found nothing. So who was lying? Tawny or Liam? And why would either one of them lie? Liam had no reason to - not about Tawny. Tawny, I supposed, could be in league with Niphon. Maybe he wanted to prolong things simply to annoy me. That was a dangerous game for both of them. His animosity couldn't be strong enough to risk pissing off Jerome. And I knew Jerome would be pissed off if he found out Tawny's orientation was being used for ulterior motives.
There was also the fact that Tawny's energy had shown no post-sex glamour the day after Liam saw her and Nick together. She hadn't gotten any. That was my only hard evidence in all of this.
All of these thoughts flitted through my mind in a heartbeat. If Tawny really was pulling a poker face on me, she'd soon learn that she wasn't the only one who could do it. Keeping my expression exasperated and unsuspecting, I said, "Tawny...I...I just don't get this. Any of this."
"That's it?" she asked. "You're my mentor, and that's all you've got for me?"
"I got you the job! I don't know what else to do. Maybe we can go out together and...God help me...do a three-some or something." I could imagine few things more horrible than that, but these were desperate times. The expression on Tawny's face showed similar sentiments.
"I don't know about that," she said. "I don't think I really do that."
I rolled my eyes. "In another century or so, you'll find you do everything."
She blew her nose again. "Well...I want to keep trying on my own before anything like that. Until then...do you think...do you think you could..."
"Could what?"
"You know."
"No, I really don't." From her, a request could be anything.
Tawny gulped. "The kissing thing again."
"No! I told you that was a one-time deal."
"But...but...I'm so low..."
She burst into tears again. And yeah, she was low on energy. Really low. By tomorrow morning, she could be in danger of losing her shape again. Fuck. This wasn't possible. I had to be getting played here, but why and how? Was all this hassle worth it to Niphon, just to keep irritating me? Fuck.
"This is the last time," I growled.