Not Your Ex's Hexes (Supernatural Singles, #2)(97)
And his feelings were growing. Exponentially. There was no doubt about it, especially after he saw the way she’d handled Jasper with such calm-headed tenderness.
Damian was falling in love with her, and as if karma had a mean streak and thought he needed reminding that it was a bad idea, it’d put Callie in his path, too.
Fueling what he already knew, his demon pushed uncomfortably close to the surface. His senses shifted, heightening as they did when the bastard was seconds away from making a resurgence. With a low, chesty growl, Damian pushed him back … and then stopped.
There was one last thing he needed to do, and although he hated the idea of it, the bastard was the best non-human for the job.
He needed to break things off with Rose.
End their FB arrangement. Now. Before they took their relationship an inch further, or he developed even an ounce more feelings and Callie’s hex went into full effect.
He knew firsthand what happened in relationships in which he let his beast take the lead. Rose deserved more than he could give her. Literally. Because of the Soul Hex, he’d never be able to give her his whole heart, and if he did, that demon bastard would snatch it all away.
Completely.
His humanity. His heart. Rose. All of it gone in a blink, and he knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t accept it easily. Like him, her stubbornness knew no limits. To make sure she had a chance at happiness, he needed the demon prick to sever the ties.
It was the last thing he wanted to do, but the only thing he could do.
To refrain from reaching out and touching her, he shoved his hands into his pockets and turned her way. She frowned, reading his tense body posture. Tension escalated when he devoured the sight of her standing against his messy desk, hay stuck to her gold-flecked gown, her hair loose and hanging down across her bare shoulders.
Her outfit probably cost more than he earned in six months, and yet she hadn’t balked a second as she’d stepped into Jasper’s dirty stall.
Rose watched him carefully. “We caught the infection early enough that Jasper will be okay, right?”
He cleared his throat. “After a round of antibiotics he’ll be good as new. Catching it early was key though. If it had gone unchecked much longer, it wouldn’t be as easy a recovery.”
“Then what’s with the frown? Do you need me to come over there and turn it upside down?” She smirked sexily.
“No.” Shit, that came out a bit too abrupt.
Rose’s smile tightened, and Damian cursed silently, hating her now-guarded expression.
He softened his voice but pushed himself to get this over with. “We need to talk, Rose.”
“Rose? Not Ro, or little witch?” She kicked up single eyebrow. “Then you mean a talk, and not just a talk.”
“Our arrangement needs to come to an end.” Unable to fully face the hurt in her eyes, he shifted his attention to the stack of files on his desk. “It’s not working for me anymore, and since your service hours are almost fulfilled, it seems a natural thing to do. Don’t you think?”
She studied him in silence, her face a blank slate. He couldn’t read a damn thing. Not a frown or an eye-twitch. He grabbed her time log from the nearby file cabinet, and after scribbling his signature, handed it over.
It took a few thunderous heartbeats for her to accept it, and when she did, her emotionless mask cracked. Anger lightened her eyes with little gold flecks as her fingers clenched the form. “You’re releasing me from my community service?”
“I’m not dismissing you. I’m certifying that you’ve completed them.”
“I still have a week.”
He pushed himself to keep going, but fuck … “You haven’t considered all the hours you put into things like the sanctuary cam, and the time you’ve spent organizing the adoption fair. Speaking of which, if you email me everything you’ve planned so far, we can use your blueprint to take it from here.”
Magic lit up her palms, and at this point, he wouldn’t blame her for setting his ass on fire. Hell, he’d do it himself if he could.
“You don’t want me working the adoption fair, either?” Hurt softened her voice, and damn if he didn’t ache to pull her into his arms.
“Your time could be better spent elsewhere. I’m sure there are other lost causes you could help. It’s a big city.”
“And that’s it…”
“That’s it.” Damian forced the words to fall from his tongue. “And thank you for everything you’ve done around here.”
“Well, you’re not welcome.” She waited a beat, studying him before turning around and storming to the door. As she reached the threshold, she whirled back around. “Oh, and Damian? Fuck you. I didn’t do any of it … the cam-feed, the fair … none of it for you. I did it for the animals. So you can take your gratitude, your fake indifference, and tough-guy exterior, and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.”
She stormed away. He casually followed, stopping at the doorway when he heard her murmured conversation with Olive and Julius.
His brother looked directly at him, his mouth turned into a disappointed frown.
Olive said something that Julius agreed to, and then the three of them left. No glares over the shoulder. No second looks. Rose was there one moment and gone the next.