Page 9 of Dragon Her Heels

TWO

Lucifer clearly lived in a different world than I did.

Lucifer showed me where the castle would rise from the heart of Lake Hancock before herding his daughter and son-in-law to the limo and leaving. I remained on the lakefront while baby alligators swarmed my feet and attempted to cuddle me into submission. In time, they’d grow to be monsters, assuming they survived, but for the moment, I petted each one before returning it to the water and sending them off to do what gators did on a sunny summer day.

Storms would roll in by the afternoon, and I’d go up to the fourth floor to enjoy nature’s show over the lake. The horses would retreat to the pasture shelter I’d installed near the barn gate at the first rumble of thunder. Otherwise, they’d enjoy the rain, find some mud, roll around, and enjoy being groomed back to perfection.

My curiosity over the contents of the briefcase drove me into my home and to the fourth floor, where I made use of my favorite office overlooking the lake. Once upon a time, I suspected the spacious chamber had been a library with a massive window. As the thought of sunlight hurting my books bothered me, I’d moved the libraries into interior rooms where harmful UV light wouldn’t damage fragile covers and pages.

My previous apartment hadn’t had space for books, and I made a point of buying a new one every time I went out, which was usually once a week.

I placed the briefcase on my desk, unlatched it, and opened the lid to discover a new laptop still in its sealed box, the kind CEOs tended to get for themselves due to power and brand prestige. Raising a brow, I picked it up and set it to the side. Four manila envelopes waited for me along with three white letters. To my amusement, I discovered each had been labeled with a number to indicate which order to open them.

Being a secretary meant balancing what my boss wanted, efficiency, and accuracy. After the first year, my boss had learned my job wasn’t to be perfectly obedient.

My job involved making certain he could do his job without facing consequences of unseen mistakes. I fixed as much as I could without his awareness, even if it meant I did the work in a way he hadn’t anticipated. Several of my bonuses had reflected when I’d bailed my boss—and the whole company—out, sparing them millions of dollars. I’d run the risk of being fired one time in particular, but upon discovering what my work had accomplished, I’d been given five hundred thousand in stocks, stocks that had vested six months after being issued.

They liked vesting stocks quarterly over a four year period of time for the most part.

Those specific stocks had paid for my home.

I picked up the white envelope marked with number one, grabbed my letter opener, and sliced it open. Inside, I found a sheet of paper and a folded check. According to the amount box, Lucifer intended to pay me a hundred thousand. The memo flagged it as an inconvenience bonus.

I supposed being forced into a job counted as an inconvenience.

I set the check aside and read the letter, which informed me the bonus was intended to give me an opportunity to acquire anything an executive secretary might need as he had no idea if I owned the appropriate apparel and did not wish for me to suffer unnecessarily.

My previous job had required a professional wardrobe, which I’d kept and washed once a month to keep it in good condition. If looks mattered, I could pull it off with a small sliver of the check.

Lucifer clearly lived in a different world than I did.

I set the note aside and picked up the second envelope, another of the white ones. Inside, I found a list of responsibilities for caring for the dragon, whom Lucifer described as headstrong, possibly useless, and in dire need of training on consideration. I laughed at the wording, which indicated the dragon had somehow vexed the Devil.

Some viewed living in interesting times to be a curse.

I would have considered paying for the joy of witnessing someone driving the Devil absolutely wild.

If the dragon, who hadn’t even made his appearance yet, could trip Lucifer’s trigger, I couldn’t wait to see what would happen when he showed up.

I reviewed the list, which boiled down to standard executive secretary responsibilities, scheduling, trip planning, recording of the minutes, and reviewing contracts before sending them over to legal. The note that I would be expected to join the dragon on his adventures around the world would cause some issues, but I would negotiate for caretakers for my estate while I was gone.

Setting the list to the side, I moved to the next envelope, one of the manila monsters. Inside, I found a thick stack of papers. Someone had scribbled a phone number at the top for any questions. The next line included my salary, and the number stopped me in my tracks.

Before bonuses, I would be paid half a million a year to handle the dragon’s affairs.

I did the math: if I worked three days a week for an average of five hours, I would be earning over six hundred dollars an hour to rule over a dragon and make him dance to my tune.

I reached across my desk, picked up my landline, dialed the number on the top of the page, and listened to the ringtone.

“You have a cell phone, yet you’re choosing to call me from your desk phone?” the Devil asked.

“Yes. My cell is in my pocket, the desk phone is right here. I wish to open negotiations.”

“Already? You haven’t opened everything yet.”

I smiled at the confirmation the Devil knew more than I anticipated. “The responsibilities list includes travel. I will require someone who will care for my estate and all animals, wild and domesticated, on my property. My garden and orchards will also need to be tended. As the travel is mandatory, you—or this dragon, whoever is paying the bill for my employment—should handle that.”

“Excellent. I see you are no novice to the art of negotiation. Your request is reasonable and I accept the addition to all the offers I’ve already given you. How do you like the base salary offer?”