“I’m Darrak. Eden’s… brother.” He extended his hand.
She gripped it tightly. “Wow. Okay, hi. I’m Nancy. It’s really great to meet you. I mean, really great. I didn’t know Eden had a brother. Do you live in the city? I haven’t seen you around before.”
“I’m just… visiting.”
“That’s great. With your… wife? Your girlfriend, maybe?”
“Uh…” He disengaged his hand from her grasp. “Neither, actually.”
“Oh, that’s very interesting.”
“Nancy,” Eden interrupted. “Tell me more about this love witch.”
She reluctantly moved her appreciative gaze away from Darrak. “She’s not a real witch, of course. But she may as well be. She’s worked her magic on me whenever I read one of her books. I left my lousy husband thanks to her advice. It’s like she’s speaking directly to me through her books.” She smiled and her eyes flicked back to the demon. “And yes, I’m still single. I’m just saying.”
Eden could barely breathe. She went back to her desk and computer keyboard where she typed Selina Shaw into Google search.
It yielded 1.5 million hits. The first one being her official website.
Click.
And there she was. A sexy woman, smiling wickedly out at her. Dark flowing hair, perfectly styled. Black-ringed vividly green eyes. Full pink lips. She looked like a movie star, only she wasn’t. She was a self-help guru, and her moniker the Love Witch was there as a flourishly designed logo, along with her two most recent releases, Curse That Creep Right Out of Your Life, and Hocus-Pocus Is the New Black.
Both of which featured Selina’s perfect, smiling face and ample cleavage on the cover.
“So are you going, or what?” Nancy asked.
“Going where?” Eden replied, feeling stunned. One moment she felt that she’d never find this woman, and the next… she couldn’t believe she’d never heard of her. She was a number one New York Times best-selling author, for Pete’s sake.
“To the reading tonight.”
“I… uh,” Eden blinked rapidly. “Where is she going to be?”
“At the World’s Biggest Bookstore on Edward Street.”
“What time?”
“Seven thirty. I’m going earlier so I can get a seat. So exciting. I can barely wait.”
Eden just stared at her, stunned.
Nancy shifted her feet in a nervous manner. “Anyhow, I guess I’ll go now. You know, I have some banana muffins in the oven. I might see you tonight?”
“Yeah, sure. See you.”
“Great!”
Nancy left the office, giving Darrak an appraising look as she went.
Andy finally hung up the phone. He hadn’t paid any attention to this exchange.
“Darrak,” Eden said, clicking through the website. “Selina Shaw’s even been on Oprah. And you didn’t even know her name?”
He shrugged. “My hosts haven’t been big TV watchers.” He paused. “I shouldn’t say that, actually. One was heavily into soap operas. And another had a very unhealthy love of clown porn. But I’ve tried to block that out.”
She cringed at that. “But this is her?”
He came to stand next to her and leaned over so she could feel the heat from his extra hot body. “That’s her,” he said grimly.
“Why aren’t you excited?” Eden had gone from stunned to relieved in thirty seconds or less. “This is it. She’s here, just like you said she was. And we know where she’s going to be tonight.”
“Is it really the world’s biggest bookstore?”
“That’s the name of it.”
“But is it? And is that determined by square footage or by the number of books they keep in stock?”
“Stock, I think. But who cares? It’s a big-ass bookstore and she’s going to be there. This is exactly what you’ve been looking for for over three hundred years and I’m not seeing even the slightest glimmer of excitement in your eyes. Your curse is going to be broken. You’re going to be free to go wherever you want. And I’m not going to die in a year. So obviously I’m ready to celebrate.”
He turned to look at her and their faces were very close. He tucked a strand of auburn hair behind her ear and kept his hand against the side of her face. Just his touch was enough to chase away the chill she now constantly felt during daylight hours.
“I’m happy. Of course I am.”
“But?”
“But maybe I’m going to miss you a little. Can’t help it.” He ran his thumb lightly over her bottom lip and she felt a sudden, unbidden surge of desire for him right then and there.
“Uh,” Andy said. “What the hell are you two talking about? And um… does your brother usually touch you like that, Eden? Because it’s making me very uncomfortable.”
She pulled away from the demon. “We’re a very affectionate family.”
“I think there’s another word for affection like that.”
Sheesh. It wasn’t as if they were actually making out, or anything.
That damn Devil tarot card and its lustful implications.
She began piling the mess of paper that had accumulated on her desk into a tidy pile. “Forget it, Andy. Just bask in the fact that you’re the 51 percent owner of a newly thriving business.”
“Good point. Strange and awkward sibling love forgotten. How long is Darrak going to be staying with you?” he asked. “Maybe I can put him to work for us.”
“I’m standing right here,” Darrak said. “And the last time I checked I was capable of speaking for myself.”
“He won’t be around much longer.” Eden was surprised by the strange sensation of loss she felt when she said that.
Andy leaned back in his chair and finally lit up his cigar, puffing it slowly. “He’s going back to his, um… home?”