“How can I help you, Mr. Adair?”
“Can you do me a favor and order a whole breakfast special to Ruby’s room? She’s not up yet, and I want to surprise her. Can you let me know when I can take it up myself?”
“You want to take room service to yourownroom?” Una asked, bewildered.
“Yup. Thanks.”
“Ocho won’t like it,” she warned under her breath. “You should just let him take it up and wait by the door.”
Ethan turned and watched as Ocho continued to mess with the demons, taking nearly all of the candy corn in one shot. The shifter couldn’t help but laugh. The imp had some good skills.
“You think he’ll calm down if I give him a nice snack to stand there quietly while I bring up my own food?”
“You’re gonna start something there,” a man said.
Ethan turned and noticed that Lou, the bartender, had popped out from behind the desk. “Excuse me?”
“Ocho and the candy. If he starts getting tips simply for standing there, it’s gonna become impossible to keep him on staff. Angry imps aren’t exactly good for business.”
“I wouldn’t know. Ocho is the first and only imp I’ve met.”
Lou chuckled. “Lucky you. He’s one of the nicest imps I’ve ever met, and I’ve met all of them.”
“All of them?” Ethan frowned. “How?”
The goateed man waved him off. “Doesn’t matter. Whatdoesmatter is keeping all the staff happy, and that means not creating a sugar monster out of Ocho. Come on, I’ll take you to the kitchen. You can grab whatever you want for little Ruby from there and take it up to her yourself.”
Ethan was shocked that one of the bartenders would have so much power in a resort of this size. Yet, there was something about Lou that screamed power and authority. He was obviously a man who was used to getting his way. Ethan recognized it. He had seen it in his father.
Lou led them through a service door and down a long and narrow hallway. “I’ve seen you hanging around with Ruby quite a bit since you showed up. And now breakfast in bed?” he nodded in appreciation. “Not a bad move.”
“A move? It’s not a move. It’s how Ruby deserves to be treated.”
“Is it now?” Lou’s grin wasn’t malicious, but it reminded Ethan of a kid who just stole a cookie. “Is Ruby giving you a hard time?”
“Not exactly.” Ethan didn’t know how to answer because he knew there would be a pretty big obstacle to any relationship with Ruby.
“Ah,” Lou nodded knowingly. “You didn’t come here to find something serious, and now that you’ve met Ruby, you're confused.”
Ethan considered telling the man to fuck right off before walking away, but there was just something overly friendly about the bartender. There was a look about him that just screamedspill your secrets, this is a safe space…but I could learn it all if I wanted to.
With another inhale to clear his thoughts, Ethan gave a curt nod. “She’s got me confused, all right. But she told me a bunch of times that it isn’t real. Something about her succubus powers. I won’t pretend to understand. I keep trying to tell her that it’s got nothing to do with her mojo. I’ll eventually convince her I’m in it for real,” he added under his breath, more like a wish than anything else.
“Ah, yes. The succubus powers. Those are pretty intensegiftsour girl has. Do you think it’s possible for a succubus to get confused by her own magic?” Lou’s question was loaded … or maybe it just felt that way to Ethan.
“Are you asking me if it’s possible that Ruby is the one who has no idea how she really feels about me?” Ethan ran a hand over his mouth. “I sound nuts, don’t I?” All of his wolf instincts told him that Ruby was into him, but his logic was pretty damn sure she couldn’t walk away from her Hell job.
“No, I don’t think you sound nuts,” Lou shook his head. “I think you’re adorably smitten.”
“Ah, come on, Lou. Don’t call me adorable. There’s a guy code about shit like that.”
The bartender pointed a finger toward himself. “Demon. Not a guy. I can say whatever the hell I want and not feel any shame.”
The resort kitchen was a bustle of activity, and there were all kinds of foods for all kinds of different folks. There was a vat of what looked a little too much like blood over a very low flame. There was also a questionable pile of something else Ethanreallydidn’t want to look at. A pile of bacon and a massive stack of pancakes caught his eye.
“That’s more my speed,” he said under his breath as he piled a whole bunch of breakfast goodies onto a few plates. These were then placed on a silver tray which was then secured into a cart.
“Ruby has quite a life. She’s an important person to many people that I hold near and dear.”