"A DATE?" Mailah managed to ask, her voice barely above a whisper.
"A date," Grayson confirmed, though his eyes held a hint of uncertainty, as though he wasn't sure she would want such a thing after everything she'd learned about him. "If you'll have me."
The vulnerability in his request made her chest ache with tenderness. Here was a centuries-old demon, powerful enough to level buildings with his supernatural energy, asking her permission like a nervous teenager.
"Yes," she said softly, then surprised herself by adding, "but I get to choose where we go."
Something flickered across his expression—surprise, perhaps even relief. "Of course. Where did you have in mind?"
"There's a little family restaurant about twenty minutes from here," Mailah said, thinking of the cozy Italian place she'd discovered during her lonely weeks exploring the area. "Nothing fancy, just... real food, real people. The kind of place where supernatural politics and succubi ex-wives don't exist."
