Page 106 of Dragon Her Heels

While I hadn’t acted selfishly yet to get a new phone, I had put all my employment information onto the device I had. While the Destroyer of Georgia was technically my boss, he paid Lucifer to handle my employment, resulting in me working with both of them—and my dragon of a boss allowed Lucifer to borrow me if he was willing to pay my hours separately.

Lucifer hadn’t actually made use of me.

I tapped on the appropriate places in the app to check on my sick days, discovering I received an equal number of sick days as I did vacation days, and my sick days had a mental health category I could select when claiming one. “Oh. Apparently, I get mental health days as part of my package.”

“You didn’t know what days off you get?”

“I only cared about the vacation days and paid hours,” I confessed. “This is nice. I assumed I was getting five. I will absolutely be making use of my sick days and making certain I take a mental health day when I get to the point where killing off my boss feels like a good idea. At my old place of employment, that was at least once a month. For good reason. They were not kind people.”

Once again, I grieved for Belinda, and I hoped when she found her way back into the world, she had a life full of love and happiness.

“From what you’ve told me, they really, really weren’t good at all—or even decent. You should use your sick days to rest if you need rest, especially if it might prevent you from attempting to kill your boss.”

I waved my hand in a dismissive gesture. “Is anything actually capable of killing that old dragon? One of the perks of employment is being able to grab his tiny ass when he’s pissed me off, take him to the lake, and punt him back to his castle. Then he goes on his spire to sulk over having become the plaything of hundreds of baby alligators. He should be paying me a raise for me telling the local wildlife dragons are not edible. Playthings? Yes. Snacks? No.”

“Have you told him that?”

“Why would I tell him that? Half the fun is watching him bail for his castle like a bat out of hell when every alligator in the lake goes after him like they mean it.” I smiled. “He has no chance against me. The lake and everything in it, excepting him, is mine. He snoozed. When you snooze, you lose, and I was making myself at home while he was napping. He lost. It’s cute he thinks he can conquer me, though. Thwarting him is my second favorite hobby. My horses are my favorite hobby.”

“How do men you’re dating fit into your hobbies?”

I giggled, and I snuggled with his beauty of a mare, determined to be her friend. “Should such a man mystically appear in my life, he would slot into the lifestyle category, which is separate from hobbies. I wouldn’t punt a boyfriend into the lake unless he is really weird, likes it, and wants me to. I mean, if that’s a kink, it’s one I’d be happy to help him with should he happen to have a diminutive form. My boss? He’s basically a winged squeaky toy the same size as a football. Sometimes, he squeals all the way to the water, and there’s little as satisfying as that little protest of his splashing to a halt.”

Yuless bowed his head, and a moment later, he chortled. “When you describe it that way, I can understand the appeal. I wonder if we could talk Lucifer into becoming a winged squeaky toy we can take turns punting into the lake.”

I lifted my head and regarded him with wide eyes. “I bet we could get an entire supply of winged squeaky toys in the form of demons, devils, and fucking assholes who have lost the Devil’s favor.”

A pop announced the arrival of a hellish guest. Yuless’s black beauty squealed and kicked at our visitor.

Lucifer wisely dodged, and he conjured a treat to earn the mare’s forgiveness, which she accepted. “You want to do what to whom?”

I burst into laughter and brought him up to speed on our conversation.

“I’m refusing your kind invitation to serve as your winged squeaky toy, but if you want to take your groom on a date to punt sentient beings into your lake so they can be ambushed non-lethally by your adoring swarm of alligators, might I recommend the twenty-two dragons loitering at your manor? Perhaps show some mercy on the castle’s owner, as he has been punted plenty already.”

I couldn’t deny I’d taken more than a few frustrations out on my boss. “Maybe I overdid punting him a little, but it’s so much fun, Lucy.”

“I do believe that’s why he tolerates you grabbing him, dragging him to the lake, and sending him home with a little more force than most prefer.”

I shrugged. “Gabriel coerced me into going on a date with Yuless, and he has picked a restaurant. Apparently, he’s providing appropriate attire. I’m not sure how he’s going to handle all this while tending to my horses.”

“Darlene is handling the attire, and he delegated the transportation to me,” Lucifer confessed. “Under normal circumstances, I would have declined, but the last thing I need is most of the women in my life sobbing because a baby horse perished. As such, I’m distracting most of the women in my life while my brother makes certain the baby horse is cared for, and as my brother cannot be in multiple places at once, he turned me into a mule.”

I would need to thank Gabriel somehow later. “I don’t suppose you can help me figure out how to date? I went on like one in high school, and the boy just wanted some sex, which I declined through the use of my knee.”

Yuless sighed. “I wouldn’t be interested in dating in your shoes, either.”

“I want to say I got over it, but I clearly did not.”

“I recommend therapy,” the Devil stated, and he patted my shoulder. “But speaking of dates, apparel, and transportation, you’re going to have to put your horse in her stall now and get ready to go. Darlene has finalized her decisions on what you both will be wearing and has appropriated them in the correct sizes. Once you’re dressed, you’ll head out.”

“Can we release the female beasts in one pasture and the male beasts in another?” I asked. “I’d rather not keep them in stalls unless necessary.”

“They’ll be moved out to the pasture once you’re on your way to your date and I’ve assigned appropriate guards for them. There’s so much temptation in my fields right now it’s enough to drive me into acts of blatant theft.”

“Steal any of my horses and Darlene is going to have to reassemble you like you’re a bloody puzzle,” I replied in a cold tone.

“Your horses are safe. This little lady?”