Page 30 of The Flame Game

“We have to make deals with demons and devils as part of our job. You’re going to have to get used to it.”

“But we have special niece and nephew privileges, so we don’t need to cut a deal. We’re family, and he likes us.”

“I’m going to tell him that, and if he laughs at me, you’re going to owe me.”

“As long as the owing happens in our bedroom, at home, I’m all right with this.”

“You’re absolutely wicked.”

I smiled. “I really am, aren’t I? I’m definitely the devil of this relationship compared to your angel.”

“And when you’re around, it seems my angelic side goes and takes a nap. I’m not your gorgon-incubus-angel doohickey, after all.”

“That’s true. But you have black feathered wings. Your angel is just a little naughty is all.”

“Later, I’ll show you naughty,” he promised.

Nice. I skipped to the bedroom to get changed so we could get to the naughty portion of our day.

I fell in love with a leather coat on display in the window, and its price tag broke my heart. “The gift card isn’t enough.”

My husband chuckled. “The gift card covers most of it, and I’ll cover the rest because you saw it and it made you happy. I will insist you try it on first. That’s me being selfish, by the way. You’re sexy in black leather.”

“But it’s expensive.”

“Yes, it is.” Quinn caught me by the arm and dragged me into the store, and before I could stop him, he flagged down the first employee he saw, pointed at the coat in the window, and told her every damned one of my measurements from the waist up.

Somehow, knowing he had as many issues as I did helped a little. While I spluttered, the woman checked the coat in the window, nodded, pulled it down, and brought it to me. Before I could open my mouth and protest, my husband robbed me of my stuff and held the coat open for me, so I could wiggle into it.

It was a lot heavier than I expected, beating the super thin leather coats often up on offer.

Heavy meant expensive. Heavy meant I might not need to replace it anytime soon, too.

Expensive wasn’t so bad when I didn’t have to replace my precious jacket for a long time.

“You’ve been teaching your uncle some tricks, haven’t you?” My face flushed from embarrassment while I tried the coat on, which fit like a glove but better. To my delight, the coat had pockets everywhere. The pair of pockets on the inside could even carry a small gun, keys, and a wallet. The exterior pockets could carry enough to be worth their while, too. “It has pockets,” I breathed.

The employee, a younger woman with bright blue eyes and a ready smile, giggled. “All of the pockets zip closed, too. There is even an anti-thief layer between the liner and the leather. It won’t stop someone from cutting through the layer, but it will stop most knives.”

That caught my husband’s attention. “What is it made of?”

“We use a quarter inch of Kevlar beneath a layer of micro-weave polyethylene.”

“It’s bulletproof.” Quinn considered my jacket speculatively. “Raise your arms, Bailey.”

I obeyed, and to my delight, my husband frisked me, patting my coat down. “Should we be doing this in public?”

The store clerk laughed. “He’s just confirming the fit in a hands-on fashion.”

No kidding. “Do you like it, Quinn?”

“Like it? I love it. Do you have a second one in this size?” Quinn tugged on the coat.

“We have two more of them.”

“I’ll buy all three, and give me one the size up, too.”

“That’s too much!”