Sadly, he had given her a disgusted scowl.
“Thank you, Hilbert. I appreciate you not dry heaving this time.”
He frowned up at her with confusion.
“Remember? Yesterday? When you saw me in the elevator? You nearly threw up.”
“Not true! I was simply…I was…” He tilted his head to one side as if studying her. “I’m sorry for how I treated you. And look, Gola, neither of us are beauty queens, but perhaps this is an opportunity.”
“For?”
“Well, like you said last night. Friendship. We get each other, and that makes for great company. There’s no pressure to be someone we are not. No judgment. And I sense we are both going through a bit of internal turmoil. I would like to be there for you. Maybe inject a little fun in your life, too?”
Hilbert didn’t understand the full situation. This wasn’t her real body, and she needed to confront Zac—know for sure he didn’t feel their connection. Meanwhile, the clock was ticking. And if she didn’t end up with Zac, then the demon king would be pursuing her.
On the other hand, should it matter? Why couldn’t she continue to be friends with Hilbert? She did enjoy hanging around him. He was down to earth. He was kind and didn’t let his ugliness get in the way of going after what he wanted. He’d literally marched into the party last night and demanded a dance from her demon-possessed body.
“So, do we have a deal?” Hilbert asked, trying to brush a lock of her stringy hair from her brow but unable to reach.
“Yeah.”
Loud laughter exploded in the living room.
It sounded like Zac.
Tula rushed out into the hall, following the sound to the living room, where she found Zac peeling off Gola’s clothes.
My clothes. My body! The two were going at it, kissing and grinding. Zac whipped off his shirt and then went for Gola’s bra, grabbing a handful of her breasts.
“Gods, woman,” said Zac to Gola. “How I missed you. I can’t get enough. I’m going to fuck you five different ways, and then we’re getting married.”
Tula stood there in the doorway, her eyes filling with tears. Zac didn’t even notice her standing there. He didn’t sense her presence. Worst of all, he was clearly absorbed in his lust for her body.
A body I’m not in. Tula felt her heart tearing in two.
A warm hand slid into hers. “It’ll be okay, Gola. I promise,” Hilbert muttered.
She turned her head and looked down at the strange little man, his reassuring gaze telling her she wasn’t alone.
“Come on, let’s go get breakfast,” he added.
Hilbert pulled her through the living room, where Zac and Gola were now going at it on the black leather couch. She tried not to look, but she had to. She needed to remember this moment so there were no regrets when she put Zac in her past and never looked back.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Man, that was rough. The devastated look on Tula’s demon face almost made Zac lose the bet with Maury.
Here he was with a piece of information that could take away Tula’s broken heart in an instant, but doing so would have dire consequences. Mainly, he’d be chained to a wall in the underworld while Maury pursued Tula. No way was he going to put her in that man’s path. Still, it hadn’t been easy watching Hilbert taking the clothes off Tula’s body and touching her breasts.
Sure, the woman he loved wasn’t inside that shell, but it had still been hard to look at. Not harder than watching the real Tula have her heart crushed.
Zac glanced across the table at Tula’s broken spirit housed inside Gola’s body, eating away her sadness. This was torture. He was a foot away from the woman he loved, and he couldn’t help her. Not the way he wanted. Instead, the two of them sat facing each other in different bodies, both miserable because of the deals they’d made with Maury.
Fucking demons. They play so dirty. The worst part was how Zac was supposed to be Tula’s protector, and all he could do was hold her hand for comfort and buy her a stack of all-you-can-eat buttermilk pancakes.
Zac watched his woman devour her fifth plate. “Wow. You must have a really big stomach.”
“Yup. I guess so.” Tula slurped up some syrup coming from the corner of her mouth, where a big glob of butter was also stuck.
She really couldn’t control that lip.
“Sir, we are getting ready to seat for lunch now.” The waitress, who was a pretty bottle blonde with a fake tan, chin, and nose, sneered down at them. “Also, we’re out of batter. You two ate us out.”
Zac lifted a brow. “Not I. I only go down on authentic women with authentic hearts.” He flashed a devious smile. “And original parts. Is anything on your face real?”
“Err…” The waitress crinkled her nose. “Here’s your check.” She marched away and disappeared into the kitchen.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Tula said.
“What?”
“You know what.”
“Well, I didn’t like the way she was looking at you, and she did leave herself open for that comment.”
Tula smiled, showing off her giant crooked teeth. What a pair the two of them made in these monster bodies.
“Yeah, I suppose she did,” said Tula. “But you don’t have to be mean to others on my account. And just because a woman had cosmetic enhancement doesn’t make her bad.”
“How can you be so kind when others behave so cruelly?” Honestly, it was something he’d always wondered about Tula. Since the day they met, she’d always found it in her heart to show kindness to those who didn’t exactly deserve it.
Take Cimil, for example. Again and again, Cimil betrayed Tula’s trust—games and lies meant to keep Zac and Tula apart—but Tula defended Cimil and stayed loyal. It wasn’t until Tula died that she began to question Cimil’s friendship. But even now, after everything Tula had gone through, he’d bet his favorite pair of leather pants that Tula couldn’t bring herself to hate Cimil.
“I suppose, well,” Tula cut a chunk of pancakes, shoved it in her mouth, and swallowed, “my mama always told me that filling my heart with hate wouldn’t change a bad person for the better, but it sure could make my life miserable walking around angry all the time. That’s just no way to live.” Tula shrugged.
He supposed she was right.
Tula added, “Also, Mama always said that hating a person had zero chance of changing them. But loving ’em might give them a fighting chance.”
“So tell me something,” Zac said. “Do you think your heart is going to stay filled with love for Zac?”
“I’m not sure.”
That wasn’t the answer he hoped to hear. “What if Zac came to you and said that he wanted something more substantive, a love that was more than skin deep with a woman like you?”
“Never going to happen.”
Not true. But Zac had to tread carefully and not expose himself. “I don’t know. Maybe Zac didn’t see how beautiful you are inside, but given a little time—”
“I don’t care. Not anymore. He’s proven himself unworthy in more ways than one.”
“Oh?” Zac raised his brow.