Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Espresso Martinis and Other Signs of Love
Declan
I chewed on my fingernail and watched Az read through the contract Janis had given me. Honestly, I hadn’t expected this to take so long, but Az was apparently very thorough. He’d already slashed his red pen through two clauses, rewritten a third, and added a fourth.
How much longer would this take?
Not that I was in a hurry exactly. After all, I was stuck here until the last batch of jalapeno cornbread finished baking. The scent of sweet bread and hot peppers filling the room told me it wouldn’t be too much longer.
Good. Because I couldn’t seem to sit still.
It’d been hours since I’d seen Gideon, and ever since we’d returned from confronting Fletcher the other night, I didn’t like being parted from him for too long.
I knew he hadn’t even been in danger, not really, but tell that to my nerves.
I expected everything to settle soon as we slipped back into our regular routines, but I wasn’t quite there yet.
As if sensing my unease, Licorice looked up at me from where she was preening on her new perch in the corner of Gideon’s kitchen… well, I guessed it was my kitchen now, too.
“There,” Az said after another few minutes. He pushed the contract across the table toward me. “If Janis has questions, tell her she can contact me directly.”
There were phrases I didn’t really understand, but I trusted Az. Demons always got such a bad rap, but they were really quite brilliant. But what was most surprising was Az’s crisp and legible printing. It wasn’t what I’d expected.
“What?” he demanded.
“Hmm?” I glanced up from the contract to find him staring at me. “Oh, nothing really. I was just thinking about how your writing is very neat.”
“Contracts are important. They need to be precise. Any room for misinterpretation or error should be eliminated if possible…” Then he tilted his head, as if considering that. “Unless it serves a purpose.”
“Thank you for doing this,” I said. “I didn’t know what to watch out for. I mean, it isn’t like I don’t trust her…” Although, I wasn’t really sure I did.
“Her contract was written to protect her best interests, not yours. Most contracts start that way. It is always important to negotiate.”
“Thank you,” I said again, because it needed repeating. Before I could say anything more, the timer beeped. I jumped out of my chair and rushed to look in the oven. I’d baked in Gideon’s oven before, but this time felt different since it was sort of my oven now, too.
I officially moved into Gideon’s apartment two nights ago. It’d only taken twenty minutes—I didn’t own much. But after we’d confronted Fletcher, I didn’t want to sleep away from my gorgeous wolf shifter another night.
Damn it. Now I was thinking about Fletcher again. And right on the heels of that thought, I once again envisioned Gideon bursting into the hotel room to find Fletcher with a gun, looking ready to kill Donny…
Fletcher could have so easily hurt Donny or swung the gun toward…
I swallowed hard.
No. Gideon was safe. Everything was fine.
Really.
I tried to think of better things—like how Gideon had looked in the shower this morning—but my stomach was still twisting and churning.
Hopefully, I’d kept my thoughts under control enough when baking the cornbread because I couldn’t imagine what kind of nightmarish magic I might unleash while imagining Gideon being shot.
Although Az might not have cared either way. My magic didn’t seem to influence him the same way it did other people.
Steam curled up from the pan as I dished up a piece for him. He hadn’t said he wanted anything spicy, but I was still trying to figure out what he enjoyed. But like Gideon, he was ridiculously difficult to get a straight answer out of when it came to feedback.
“What’s this?” he asked, sniffing.
“A thank you. If you like it, I’ll pack up the rest of it for you.”
His forehead furrowed, like he didn’t understand why I would bake for him. Had no one made anything for him before? Damn it. Now I just wanted to bake more things for him.
I really needed to get into that bakery space soon. I couldn’t do everything I wanted in this apartment-sized kitchen.
A short while later, we were downstairs in the pub. Az had a box of the fresh cornbread resting on the bar top beside his elbow. He’d gone straight to his usual stool, so I’d followed and grabbed the seat beside him.
When Gideon came out of the kitchen and saw me, a smile shot over his face. I loved how he always seemed happy to see me. I jumped off the stool and rushed over to kiss him. He greeted me with open arms, then he tugged me close, and our mouths met in a quiet kiss. A few patrons groaned. A few awed.
I grinned against his lips, not caring that our PDAs had become a regular spectacle.
“Hey, baby,” he said when we pulled apart. “How did it go?”
“Az is brilliant,” I said. “You have the best friends.”
“Good. I’m glad he could help.” Gideon looked up and nodded at Az.
I returned to the stool while Gideon went behind the bar.
“I talked to Elwood this morning,” I said, running my finger along the edge of the bar as Gideon poured Az a glass of red wine.
“Has a decision been made about Nadia?” the demon asked.
“Her magic will be bound for a year.” I shivered. I hadn’t known about my magic for long, but the idea of having my connection to it severed was discomforting.
“A lighter punishment than I’d expected,” Gideon said. “But I guess her hexes didn’t physically harm anyone.”
Az nodded. “It could have been worse. She’s lucky.”
“At least we have a bit of a break before the next festival, right?” I said, eager to move on to a different topic.
Gideon wiped the bar top. Az took a sip of his wine.
“What?”
“There are a few small events, but the next big one is the shifter conference.”
“Already?” I thought back through my conversations with Leon. “I know people were talking about it, but I haven’t been asked to post anything about it yet, so I thought it was still a while away.”
Az gave me a look like he thought I was being particularly clueless.
“There’s nothing to post on social media about it,” Gideon said in an even tone.
He didn’t sound happy about the event. If we were alone, I would’ve pressed him about it.
Hopefully, he’d open up to me about it later, but I suspected he was uncomfortable about all these shifters coming to town because he couldn’t change into his wolf.
If any of them made him feel bad about that, they’d have to answer to me…
Not that I could do much on my own, but I was sure the misfits would help.
“Oh! Right,” I said when I figured out what they were saying. Of course a shifter conference wouldn’t be advertised on social media for all the world to see.
“Mellgren has put in a lot of overtime since everyone checked out,” Az said. “Humans, with all their obnoxious perfumes and stinky shampoos, reek. The whole place needs to be aired out before the shifters arrive.”
“That sounds like a lot of work,” I said, ignoring his opinion about humans being smelly.
I didn’t usually see much of Mellgren except when he attended the misfit meetings, so I hadn’t realized he’d been working extra hours.
“Hmm… I wonder if I have enough time to set up the bakery before then? No, that’d be pushing it. ”
“Speaking of your bakery, now that you’re one step closer to having a signed contract, you should have a celebratory drink,” Gideon said.
I eyed the various bottles lined up behind the bar, then the taps. “All sold out of the winning beers?”
“You wouldn’t have ordered one of those anyway.”
“I’ll have another of these.” Az held up his empty glass. As Gideon filled it again, Az said, “Speaking of the brewers, did you hear about Beckett?”
Gideon glanced at me, like he knew something I didn’t.
“I heard he’s catching a ride to the city with Josh–well, after they scrape the bird shit off his windshield. Apparently, it’s become a bit of a target for the local avian population,” Az said with a straight face, but he lifted an eyebrow when he met my gaze.
“I swear I didn’t do anything,” I said, even as my cheeks heated. I hadn’t asked Licorice to wage war on Josh, but apparently, I hadn’t needed to.
“Beckett figured a change would be good,” Az continued. “And he’s still trying to get in with Kettlebrook. Now that Donny’s less-than-reputable background is common knowledge, they might just go with him and pretend the rest of this festival didn’t happen.”
“Yeah, I can’t see Kettlebrook sponsoring another beer festival here.” Gideon frowned. “Too bad really. I’d like to see Ivan and Malcolm have another chance.”
“Leon must be pissed,” I said.
“You still haven’t ordered anything, Declan. Why don’t you leave it to me?”
“Why does it sound like you’re up to something?”
Gideon waggled his eyebrows at me. “Trust me.”
“Always.” I held his gaze for a moment. “I always trust you.”
His cheeks darkened ever so slightly and his eyes flashed, showing that his wolf liked that, too. Then he moved toward a shiny new machine behind the counter.
I leaned toward Az and whispered, “Is that an espresso machine? Is it new?”
Gideon glanced up and winked at me. Then he retrieved a martini glass from the cooler.
“What is even going on right now?” I murmured. “An espresso machine and a martini glass?”
Gideon looked like he was concentrating hard as he filled a shaker with vodka, espresso, coffee liqueur, simple syrup, and ice. I was salivating before he even poured the concoction into the glass. He dropped a couple of whole coffee beans on the top, and I was pretty sure I had heart eyes.
He set the glass in front of me. His gaze met mine. He was so damned proud. Was that what I looked like when I gave him things to try, too? Because, right now, I wanted to kiss him again and haul him upstairs to show him my appreciation, and I hadn’t even tasted the martini yet.
“Try it,” he encouraged.
I groaned when it danced over my tongue. The strong coffee flavor hit me first, followed by a rich, velvety sweetness and a sharp kick of alcohol at the finish. I licked my lips. “Oh, wow… this is so good.”
Gideon exhaled, like he’d been holding his breath.
“I love it,” I said before taking another sip.
“Don’t drink it too fast,” he said, but I could see he was pleased.
“Oh!” someone said from the other end of the bar. “You have martinis? I’ll have one, too.”
Gideon turned to the stranger. “No.”
“But—”
“We don’t have martinis on the menu.” A soft rumbling growl rolled out of Gideon. It wasn’t enough to make someone cower, but it was a warning.
“Gideon,” I said, hoping to intervene. “You didn’t buy a whole espresso machine to make drinks for me and no one else.”
He lifted his eyebrow at me. “Didn’t I?”
This guy. I shook my head. I’d have to talk to Sable. Between the two of us, I figured we could change his mind, because the drink was seriously amazing and everyone should have the chance to try it.
But for now, I was happy to savor it all by myself and appreciate how absolutely wonderful my wolf shifter boyfriend was. I couldn’t wait to see what the future held for us, because I suspected it was going to be amazing. Maybe even better than an espresso martini.