“As you wish,” the waiter said with a thin, victorious smile.
“That smarmy son of a bitch,” Darrak snarled.
She felt a growing surge of antagonism inside of her, which was odd since she wasn’t outwardly angry with the mustached jerk, just annoyed. But the very next moment, as the waiter walked past, after taking Ben’s order, her leg shot out and he tripped, almost crashing to the floor before righting himself with a grunt. He looked confused at what he’d tripped on and didn’t seem to suspect it was her leg.
She hadn’t extended it on her own.
What the hell?
“Okay, that was really cool,” Darrak said. “I didn’t know I could do that. But if I get all riled up enough I guess I can have some control over your body. What do you think about that?”
She didn’t think much of it, actually. She pressed her lips together and forced a smile as she looked at Ben. Luckily, he hadn’t noticed it was her leg that did the damage.
Ben looked a bit stricken. “You’re sure you don’t want to leave?”
Eden shook her head. “We’ll extract our revenge when it comes time to tip him.”
He nodded in agreement. “Vengeance is sweet.”
“But promise me we won’t come back here next time.”
The grin returned to his face. “Next time?”
“Sure.” She smiled, although it was forced. She didn’t like the idea that Darrak had any kind of control over her bodily functions. The thought made her tense up. Darrak must have felt it, too.
“Just relax,” the demon told her. “I’m not going to make you go all Linda Blair. I wouldn’t want to strain that pretty neck of yours by twisting it around backward.”
She forced her jaw to unclench.
Ben grabbed a French roll from the breadbasket and buttered it. “So, you work at a detective agency. Have you done the gumshoe routine for long?”
“I don’t like the way he’s belittling what you do,” Darrak said.
She ignored the hypersensitive demon. Ben wasn’t belittling her. “I recently inherited half the agency from my mother. It’s the reason I moved to the city.”
That and wanting to get away from her old small-town life, which included her ex-fiancé. Then again, her fresh new start hadn’t exactly worked out the way she’d hoped it would so far.
“Inherited?” he repeated.
“My mother died last month.”
Ben stopped buttering and his expression turned concerned. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She got a strange twisting feeling in her stomach thinking about it. They’d never been close, but the thought that she was gone forever, with no chance for a reconciliation, was hard to swallow.
“It’s rough to lose a parent. Is your dad still around?”
She shook her head. “Never knew him.”
“Oh.” He looked distraught again. “Sorry.”
His reaction made her smile. “Don’t be. And don’t worry about me. I’m not going to have a breakdown here. I’m used to being on my own. In fact, I prefer it that way.”
All on her own. No unwanted roommates. No one lurking at the corners of her mind primed to judge her dates. Those were the good old days.
“Is golden boy for real?” Darrak asked. “I thought you were the awkward one. I stand mildly corrected. This guy might look GQ on the outside, but he’s a total dork on the inside, isn’t he?”
Actually, she found it oddly endearing to find a tiny bit of rust on that shiny suit of armor. The fact that Ben wasn’t as perfect as she’d thought made him infinitely more likeable to her.
Ben’s handsome face was now flushed. “I’m a bit out of practice at this.”
“At what?” she asked.
“Dating. Conversation. At least, outside of work. But that’s probably evident by now, isn’t it?”
This surprised her. “Really? I would have thought you’d have women lined up.”
“Oh, you thought that, did you?”
“I mean, not that I’ve thought about it that much, but…” She cleared her throat. “Well, I did hear some women talking when I was at the precinct a couple weeks ago.”
That got his attention. “And what were they saying?” “That you weren’t dating anyone at the moment.”
He shook his head and poured more wine for the both of them. “Well, yeah. I’ve been sort of out of the social scene for a little while.”
“How long’s a little while?”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “About five years. Give or take.”
“Five years?” Handsome Ben Hanson had been out of the dating game for five years? That was very hard to believe.
He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s just…” He blew out a shaky breath and took a sip of his wine.
“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”
Ben looked at her, his face tense. “No, it’s okay. It’s not a secret, anyhow. I was engaged for a while to… to someone. She… was murdered.”
She swallowed hard. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry.”
“It was a long time ago. It’s one of the reasons I’m so dedicated to my job. Sometimes too dedicated. I get in trouble for doing things my way instead of following the rules to the letter. But socially… I just haven’t really gotten back on the horse, you know? I’ve been focusing completely on work and the time has just slipped through my fingers.”
“I totally understand.”
“I’m sure you’re sorry you agreed to come out with me tonight, aren’t you?”
She covered his hand with hers. “If you think that, then you really don’t know me very well.”
Ben smiled at her. “I’m glad you feel that way. But so much for light dinner conversation, huh?”
“Small talk’s for wimps.”
“Eden,” Darrak said. “This guy is damaged goods. I wasn’t sure what was off about him but now I know. He’s not right for you. Too much baggage. You don’t want that. Let’s get out of here.”
Not a chance.
“Hello? Are you listening to me?” Darrak asked after a moment.
“More wine?” Ben asked.
“Please.” She held out her glass. “And let’s toast to new beginnings.”
He nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
The waiter, now limping a little from his near fall, delivered the food soon after. Eden found that she was able to hold up her end of the conversation even without help from her inner demon.
Ben had been through a lot. It made her feel really lucky that she was the girl he wanted to go out with after all this time.
Damaged goods. Darrak was so unbelievably insensitive.
Considering the price of the food, the no-substitutions-allowed pasta was bland. So was the fish. Instead of complaining, she salted and peppered the food liberally.
“You probably shouldn’t do that,” Darrak said. “Too much sodium is unhealthy.”
She added extra salt just to be contrary.
“Fine, ignore me. But just know that salt and demons don’t go together so well. It’s actually a well-known fact. You might feel strange if you try to eat that.”
She tried not to roll her eyes and took a bite of her fish. It tasted much better now. But Darrak was right, the now salty food made her tongue tingle a little.
“Is there something wrong?” Ben asked.
“Wrong?”
“You’re… um…” His brow lowered and he gestured toward his mouth. “You have a little something… uh…”
She brought her hand up to her mouth and felt something wet. And foamy.
Oh, my God, she thought. I’m foaming at the mouth!
She brought a cloth napkin up to her face and wiped, which took care of the foam and all of her lipstick. More foam immediately surged forward.
“I must be allergic to something in the pasta,” she said, her voice muffled by the napkin and the continuing stream of disgusting foam pouring out of her mouth
.
“Yeah,” Darrak replied. “It was all the salt you put on it. Like I said, not a good combo. Now I’m feeling extremely dehydrated.”
“Excuse me, Ben.” She got up from the table and quickly made a beeline to the restroom. The mirror confirmed she looked like a rabid hound from Hell. She rinsed out her mouth with water until the foam stopped flowing freely. It took a while.
When it was taken care of she glared at her reflection. The restroom was otherwise empty. “That wasn’t funny.”
“Wasn’t my fault. I warned you.”
“You didn’t tell me what would happen.”
“Then consider this a lesson in what not to do when you’re possessed by a demon. No salt, even out of a shaker. Bad. Very bad. Imagine what would happen with tons of the stuff.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Salt is used to either trap a demon or keep the demon out of places.”
“How does it work?”
“What do I look like, a walking encyclopedia? I don’t know. It just does. I’ve never seen anyone possessed eat it and get that particular and oddly entertaining result though. I guess you’re just special.”
“So you didn’t do that on purpose to make me look stupid?” she asked, feeling her anger quickly slipping away.
“Why would I want you to look stupid?”
“It’s just…” Eden studied her reflection in the bank of mirrors set into the blue-tiled wall. “You said you’d help me out a lot more than you have. I feel like all you’ve been doing is sitting back tonight and heckling the performance. That wasn’t exactly our deal, was it?”
There was a long silence. “You’re absolutely right. And I’m sorry. I had every intention of helping, but…”
“But what?”
“I don’t like golden boy.”
“His name is Ben.”
“Whatever. I don’t like him so I am having a hard time helping because of that.”
“What don’t you like about him?”
“I don’t like the way he looks at you.”
She frowned. “The way he looks at me? How does he look at me?”
“Like he wants to have sex with you.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“Don’t you see it? He was undressing you with his eyes.”
“I’m actually okay with that.”
“Now I’m grateful you decided against the red dress. That was much more alluring than this blue abomination.”
“Look, Darrak,” she studied her reflection. “I like him. I like him a lot. And I really want tonight to go well. I want Ben to be a part of my future so I don’t want to scare him off with any strange behavior. Please. I promised to help you and you promised to help me. And how can you be so cruel after everything he’s been through?”
“Yeah. And the fact he’d bring up a dead fiancée during a first date doesn’t strike you as a play to get the sympathy vote? Women love a good sob story. Five years without dating anyone. Sure. I believe it.”
“Darrak!”
“Sorry,” he said, sullenly. “I’ll behave myself. It just won’t be easy. And I’m still going to call him golden boy.”
“You can call him whatever you want. Just try to be nice.”
She heard a toilet flush and her back stiffened. She’d thought they were alone. Slowly the stall behind Eden opened up and a blond woman emerged. She looked confused.
“Oh, I thought maybe you were on your cell phone,” she said. “But were you just talking to yourself?”
Eden gave her a frozen smile. “Bad habit.”
“Okay.” She cleared her throat nervously. “None of my business, of course, but I have a wonderful therapist. If you want her card, I have some extras in my purse.”
“Not necessary. Really.”
“If you say so.” She washed her hands and then dried them on the pyramid-shaped stack of folded towels on the counter. “Have a nice evening.”
“Yeah, you, too.”
The woman left with a last concerned glance over her shoulder.
Eden looked into the mirror and shifted her purse to her other shoulder. “People think I’m insane.”
“Maybe you are. Maybe I don’t exist and I’m just a figment of your psychotic imagination.”
“I wish.”
She glanced at the stalls behind her. She hadn’t used the bathroom yet while Darrak had been “present” in her mind.
“How do I get some privacy from you?” she asked.
“Why? Do you need to use the facilities?” His previously sullen tone turned amused.
“Maybe.”
“Don’t worry about me. I don’t mind.”
“Well, I do mind.”
“Then I suggest you find a way to hold it until tomorrow morning.”
“There has to be some way to block you… what’s the term?”
“Dampen.”
“Yeah, there has to be a way to dampen you out for a while.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Afraid I can’t help you.”
Her brows drew together. “Why did you pause there? Is there a way?”
“If there was, it wouldn’t really benefit me in any way, would it?”
She crossed her arms and peered at her reflection. “Tell me.”
“Nope.”
“This has to do with your instinct to protect yourself, right?”
“Can we talk about something else?”
“Is it anything like when I forced you out of my body yesterday? I was just all determined and single-minded about it. Can I dampen you, too, if I wanted to?”
“You’d better get back to golden boy. He’s going to wonder if he should call the Humane Society to pick up his rabid date.”
She gritted her teeth. “I’ll figure it out.”
“Good luck with that.”
She left the bathroom and returned to the table. Ben looked up at her anxiously.
“Are you all right?”
That was a tricky question.
Her cheeks flushed. “I don’t know what happened. I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be.” He stood up. “This restaurant is horrible. There must have been something in the food that you reacted to. I told the waiter and he was less than helpful, but I got the impression this wasn’t the first time. Maybe I should have flashed my badge.” He shook his head. “Forgive me.”
“Forgive you? For what?”
“For being lousy at picking restaurants.”
“It was fine, really. Besides, I’ve, uh… recovered.”
“Let’s go somewhere else. Your choice this time.”
She waited for Darrak to say something to that. He didn’t.
“Sounds good to me,” she said.
“Great.” He put a hand against the small of her back as they left the restaurant and made their way to his car.
Then he turned to her. “I really wanted to make a good impression on you tonight.”
“You have.”
“Do you think it was an allergic reaction? I can take you to the hospital.”
“Seriously, Ben. I’ve completely recovered.” She couldn’t help but smile. “You wanted to make a good impression on someone you consider a crazy psychic troublemaker?”
He laughed a little. “Did I use those exact words?”
“Not the crazy part. But I think it was implied.”
He reached in his pocket for his keys as they stood by the trunk of his LeBaron. “I’m so out of practice at this dating thing.”
“You think you’re out of practice? I was the one foaming at the mouth.”
He grinned. “I’m surprised you didn’t psychically predict you were going to do that.”
“Like I said before, I really should have checked my horoscope this week. I’m sure it would have read: Gemini—stay away from seafood restaurants unless you want to foam at the mouth.”
“That would have been very specific.”
“Besides, m
y abilities, such as they are, seem to be only applicable to tarot cards or sensing the location of people or things.”
“Clairvoyancy without the ghost whispering.”
She smiled. “You’ve done your research.”
“I have indeed.” He moved around to her side and leaned against his car door. “So, can you see ghosts?”
“Nope. No ghosts. Just little white dogs. And serial killers”—and really good-looking but annoying and insensitive demons—“and a friend once lost her keys and I was really helpful there, too.”
“You know, you’re different.”
“I’ve heard that one before.”
“I mean different in a good way. You seem so—I don’t know. Like everything about you is right on the surface. Like you don’t hide anything. You like to get it all out front and center.”
She could have sworn she heard Darrak snicker inside of her. She ignored him.
“Well, thanks,” she said. “I have been going through some stuff recently, but I’m going to do whatever it takes to fix it.”
“You’re all determined.”
“I get that way about the things that matter to me.” Eden studied the pavement for a moment. Then she looked up at him, realizing he was right next to her now. He brushed her long hair back over her right shoulder and brought his hand to her face. She forgot to breathe for a moment.
“I really want to kiss you right now,” he said. “Is that wrong?”
Her breath caught and a shiver ran down her arms. “Aren’t you afraid of catching my rabies?”
“Surprisingly, no.” He grinned and lowered his mouth to hers.
A moment before his lips would have brushed against hers, she slapped him.
His eyes widened and he stepped back from her.
Wait… no. She hadn’t slapped him. Her hand had acted all on its own. She had nothing to do with it.
Her eyes narrowed. Darrak.
“Huh. Just like your leg earlier,” the demon in question murmured inside of her. “Didn’t realize I could do that, but I really didn’t want him to kiss you right now. Don’t be mad.”
A flash of white rage moved across her vision. He’d made her slap Ben before he kissed her. Because he didn’t want him to?
She tried to contain her anger and not let it show on the outside. It was a struggle.