Page 14 of Spiral Lies

Emelia's expression softens. "He likes you."

"Yeah, I think so. What am I going to do?"

"Grab that grouch by the devil horns and—"

"Don't say it!"

"Ride him off into the sunset!" she shouts anyway.

I groan, scowling at the screen. "I'm hanging up on you now."

"'Kay. Bye. Love you!" She blows me a kiss, completely unapologetic.

"Love you too." I disconnect and then close my laptop before reaching for my purse. My hand trembles when I pull out my phone, powering it back on. Almost immediately, five missed calls and four texts from him pop up.

Satan's Boss: Are you okay in there?

Satan's Boss: Angel? You good?

Satan's Boss: Your car is gone, so I'm assuming that means you are, too.

Satan's Boss: You don't have to talk to me if you aren't ready. I just need to know that you're okay, angel. If I hurt you, I'll never forgive myself. Please let me know that you're safe.

My heart clenches, tears springing to my eyes. He isn't mad. He's worried about me, worried he hurt me.

Me: You didn't hurt me. I'm safe. I just…I panicked. I'm sorry.

I wait for him to text back, but after half an hour, he still hasn't. I toss my phone down with a sigh and haul myself to my feet to go shower, praying I didn't royally screw up everything.

Chapter Six

Stone

Seraphina's text should reassure me, but it doesn't. I'm worried out of my fucking mind that I hurt her, or that she's already having second thoughts about the two of us.

I pushed too far today, asked for too much too soon. She barely had time to wrap her mind around the fact that I had feelings for her before I had her on top of her desk, fucking her raw. And then she had no time to process what we'd just done before Hector walked in.

If our roles were reversed, I'd have panicked, too.

I'm nervous as hell on the drive to her place. She may very well kick my ass out of there and refuse to ever come back to work. It's going to kill me if that's her choice. I need her in my life. I've come to that conclusion every damn day for the last six months. Finally realizing that maybe, just maybe, I had a shot of making it a reality instead of a pipe dream felt like winning the lottery.

If I fucked it up already, I won't recover.

I pull into her driveway with my heart in my throat. My steps are heavy as I jog to her door, praying she doesn't slam it in my face and tell me to fuck all the way off.

My fist thumps against the heavy oak. I don't think I breathe, not even when I hear her moving around on the other side of the door.

"Angel," I rasp…the only word I can say when she pulls it open. Her hair is dripping wet, her body wrapped in a fluffy blue robe, and nothing else. She looks even more edible than she did two hours ago, sprawled on her desk and whimpering my name.

"I'm sorry!" she cries, flinging herself against my chest hard enough to knock me back a step.

My arms immediately surround her, pulling her up against my body. I bury my face in her damp hair with a groan, stumbling inside her place. I nudge the door closed with my foot.

I see glimpses of bright colors and soft fabrics from the corner of my eye, but all of my attention is on her.

"I didn't mean to run off, Stone," she says, her voice muffled where she's got her face pressed against my throat. "I panicked."

"Hey. Hey." I cup her cheeks, tilting her head back until her eyes meet mine. "You don't owe me an apology, Seraphina."