I didn’t add that in the books, the fake relationship always turned out to be real in the end. Because that was impossible. Aside from the fact he was a demon, Cas was only on This Side for a handful of days. The fake relationship idea was too silly anyway, but he was rubbing his chin, wearing a thoughtful expression.
“Go on.”
“Well…there’s this guy at my work. I started to tell you about him earlier. I’ve had a major crush on him since forever, but he doesn’t know I exist.”
“Why not?”
“Well, look at me, for starters.”
“I am looking at you.”
He was. Cas’s guarded, hard expression softened in the dim light of the pub, and his gaze roamed my face, drinking me in like wine, devouring me like the food he ate with bottomless hunger…
Silly Lucy, you’re just drunk.
“I’m not exactly a super model.”
“No, your body is fuller than the images in your magazines.”
I hunched over my drink. “Gee, thanks. As if I’m not bombarded with that fact every day of my life.”
“I have offended?” He frowned. “You are healthy and strong. Is that not valued now as it was in Sumer?”
“Yes and no,” I said blushing up to the roots of my hair. “I don’t know what they thought in Larsa, circa 17th century BCE, but in this era, the standard of beauty is not me.”
“Then it has no standards,” he spat.
I blinked, warmth flooding my chest. No one had ever said something like that to me before.
“Does this guy at your work subscribe to the same shallow perceptions?”
“Um, no, he’s not shallow or superficial,” I said. “To him, I’m just the quiet girl in the corner. But if you showed me attention, it might make him curious.”
“He’ll want what he can’t have, you mean,” Cas said sourly. “I may not have read your romance novels, but I’m familiar enough with male pride.”
“Guy isn’t like that,” I said. “He’s not a possessive jerk, but I think if he got to know me, he might see we have a lot in common.”
“He is a good man?”
“Very. He works tirelessly on ocean preservation and always has good ideas. He’s very popular around the office. He loves dogs…”
I dove back into my drink to stop rambling.
“And you believe if he sees you as the object of another man’s interest, he’ll grow interested himself.”
“Maybe.” I let my hair fall over my face. “Maybe not. No, definitely not. It’s too risky and not monumental enough. We need something else—”
“How does this work, then? I pretend to woo you in front of this man…what’s his name?”
“Guy.”
“His name is Guy?”
“Yes…”
“Rather redundant.” The demon smirked. “Is his last name Human?”
I giggled. “Guy is a real name. It?