by MK Mancos
She didn’t know whether to be flattered or offended. “How do you know I’m not already in a relationship?”
He gave her a cocky smile. “Because you don’t seem the type to accept an escort to the biggest social event of the season when you already have a man waiting in the wings.”
Damn, he had her there.
“You’re right. I wouldn’t.” She pulled her hand back from the steady caress of his fingers over hers. That simple gesture alone was beginning to turn her on. If he didn’t put a squelch on it, she’d end up in bed with him.
He’d already as good as admitted the fact.
I want you. I don’t want to wait.
A thought occurred to her then. He still hadn’t explained why he had such a miserable time with Maribon. Lucilla raised a brow, cocking her head to the side. “What happened tonight to make you swear off another date with Maribon?”
Jager blew out a long-suffering sigh and backed away from her. “Are you sure she’s a selkie and not an octopus?”
A comical vision of Jager trying to fend off the selkie’s eager hands filled Lucilla’s mind. “A little too forward?”
“And then some.” He ran a hand through his hair then leaned against the coffee table. “I’m not embarrassed to admit I’m a very sexual man, but I want to at least get through the first date before I’m stuck to a tentacle. I’d pretty much decided never to see her again before the salad course arrived, but when she attacked me at her door, groping me like I’m a ten-dollar gigolo, it proved she wasn’t the type of woman I’d waste my time to see again.”
Lucilla laughed. “Most men would feel privileged to say they’d taken a woman as beautiful as Maribon to bed.”
“I’m not most men. If all I wanted was a conquest, I wouldn’t be here now.”
Lucilla took a deep breath and let it out slowly. If he wanted something more from her than a few dates and a quick tumble, he’d picked the worst person in the world to pursue. She doubted she needed to remind him of the feud between their peoples, but there were aspects of it they did need to discuss.
“Have you thought at all about the ramifications of a relationship between us? I may not have talent, but my family won’t be pleased.” She looked at her hands. “I couldn’t even tell my aunt who my tentative date for the Legion Halloween Dance is when she asked.”
“I didn’t think it bothered you.” His voice had dropped to a near-whisper. “Does it?”
Her gaze met his. Emotions too potent to deny swirled between them. “Not for myself. Any woman would be proud to be with you. It’s my family’s reaction that worries me. I’ve been such a disappointment to them…”
“How?” Jager demanded. He rose again, pulling her from her chair and into his arms. “You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. No one who knows you could ever believe you’re a disappointment.”
She swallowed. Twice in the same night, handsome, incredible men sought to tell her of her worth. She offered a gentle smile. “I was to my family. They had such high hopes for me, and I’ve failed them on so many levels.”
“But it wasn’t your fault,” he protested.
The way he defended her against the injustice of her lot made her heart swell. History showed he knew all too well about being blamed for something that wasn’t his fault. To be branded and pigeonholed for something beyond his control.
She’d blown out of the box the witching circles put her in when she’d opened her agency. Jager had started anew when he moved from fallen god to businessman. They really did have so much in common.
Lucilla rose up on her tiptoes, pulling his head to hers. Their mouths met in a kiss as hot as it was comforting. After she pulled away, she looked up into his gorgeous eyes. “You still have one more date to get through. That’s the bargain. But I’ll make it easy on you. I have a date tomorrow evening. If you want, we can make it a double and you might feel a bit more at ease meeting Esmeralda.”
“And if she isn’t available tomorrow night? Are you still going on your date?”
“Of course,” she teased. “I don’t break my agreements.”
He gave a low growl in the back of his throat. “I’m not going to enjoy watching you with another man.”
Well, if he thought he’d have a hard time watching her with another man, she wasn’t going to have a good time knowing he was with a djinn. But she’d made the offer to get him through the date, so she’d follow through. And as a chaperone, she could ensure they didn’t have too good a time.
Her ethics had been taking a nosedive ever since Jager Cronus walked into her office, but damn if he didn’t fit her own profile match at close to one hundred percent.
Chapter Seven
Why did I let her talk me into this?
Jager looped one side of his tie around the other. A double date? What was he thinking? He didn’t want to sit across the table from Lucilla and another man, pretending he wasn’t jealous as all Hades.
At least he wouldn’t be sitting at home wondering what she was doing and who she was doing it with. He’d already been doing that for months. However, he’d never been able to put a face to that shadowy vision he had of the man he thought she was with.
He wished he knew her date, or at least what to expect. After being blindsided by the hostile takeover of his unearthly reign, he promised never to be caught unaware again. Where did her tastes in men lie? Did she date Norms, or non-talent Paras?
The memory of her hot, sweet mouth pressed to his sent spirals of heat straight to his groin. She’d clung to him, her small delicate hands buried in his hair.
The doorbell rang, pulling him back to reality.
He walked downstairs, putting the finishing touches on his tie. The staff had the night off, so he was reduced to answering his own front door. The mighty had fallen far and wide. There was a time when he’d lived among the clouds on Mt. Olympus, before his life turned upside down. Everything he’d ever conceived was his at a thought. Now, he had to open his own freaking door.
A brief smile touched his mouth. Lucilla didn’t have servants at all, or any powers to make life easier. She did it all herself. Maybe she indulged in a cleaning service, but that was it.
He looked out the peephole at his visitor. Zeus! What was he doing here?
Jager opened the door, but stood to block his visitor’s entrance. “Hello, Zeus.”
“Father.”
“To what do I owe this unprecedented visit?”
“You didn’t return my call. We have something very important to discuss.”
“I thought it was your mother. But whatever it is, it will have to wait. I’m on my way out.”
“Another of your agency dates?”
Surprise stole Jager’s voice. He had no idea his contract with a matchmaking agency was public knowledge. But then his perfidious son probably watched him with an eye to taking over Jager’s company as he had the heavens. What would Jager do then? Turn him over to the SEC and see him in a Norm jail?
“What I do with my private life is no concern of yours. Or your mother’s.” He waited a beat to let the hostility of the words sink in. “Tell you what, call my office in the morning and make an appointment with my secretary. I’ll be glad to discuss your problem during normal business hours.”
“This can’t wait,” Zeus insisted and pushed past his father to stand in the foyer. “Please. I’ll only take a few minutes.”
The light blond hair and gray eyes were something only a godly being could possess, they appeared so frighteningly unreal. Those were the only vestiges left from his traditional appearance. The trademark long beard and hair were gone, replaced by a smooth chin and hair gel. There was a soul patch just under his wide bottom lip. A Grecian map was tattooed on his right upper arm.
He considered the man to whom he’d given life before him. Was it such a small thing for a father to expect respect from his son? Was it too much to ask of one’s progeny?
Freaking mama’s boy.
Jager
indicated the well-stocked wet bar. “Help yourself while I get my jacket. I don’t intend to let you make me late.”
He hurried to retrieve his jacket from the wardrobe. When he returned to the living room, Zeus was seated on the sofa, staring at a mural of The Odyssey painted over the fireplace.
“I love that story. It really was Homer’s best.”
Jager raised his brow, skeptical of Zeus’s motives. “If you remember the tale, Odysseus’s son fought side by side with his father in the final battle with the suitors. He helped his father keep his house together. He didn’t dishonor him by trying to take the throne. Sons do that when they care for their sires.”
Zeus looked down at his hands, linked between his spread knees. “She led me astray, you know?”
“That’s not exactly a newsflash.” Jager shrugged into his suit jacket. “Tell me why you were so anxious to see me.”
“I think mother’s planning a coup.”
Jager paused in pulling his shirtsleeves through his jacket. “Who does she want to overthrow now?”
Zeus shook his head in disbelief. “I can hardly get my mind around it.”
“Who?”
Clear gray eyes held Jager’s.
“The Witches Council.”
Why did everything always have to be so damned complicated?
Jager sipped his wine, looking over the table at Lucilla. Soft candlelight made her glow like the heart of a flame. He wanted her all to himself. Unfortunately, her date had the same idea. The djinn had excused herself from the table for the fifth time since they’d ordered their meal, so he was left to sit and watch while Aramis Blacktalon oozed wit and charm and all the traits her family would love in a suitor.
That was only part of the reason his mood turned sour as an unripe lemon. He needed to tell her about Rhea’s bid to overthrow the Witches Council. Granted, he still didn’t like the idea of one Para body having more power than another, but the Witches Council had done well in keeping all the Paras from being discovered by the Norms. They’d been doing so since the rise of paganism so many centuries before. As far as he knew, none of the other Para-kind actually cared that the Witches Council governed. It wasn’t like any of the other groups organized and set up any form of self-administration. It was actually the sensible thing to do. If Rhea wanted to govern something, she should have put all her energy into organizing the Titans into their own council, rather than rallying them to war.
“Is something the matter, Jager?” Lucilla finally tore herself away from her date to notice him sitting at their table.
“I think Esmeralda had something more important to do tonight.” Not that he cared, but it was something to say so as not to draw attention to his skyrocketed jealousy and worry over the possible Titan takeover.
Lucilla frowned. She pulled her napkin from her lap and set it on the table. “I’ll go check on her.”
Damn, now he’d be stuck at the table alone with a rival. What was he supposed to say to Aramis that didn’t include a dissertation about how the wizard needed to back off from Lucilla?
Jager watched as Lucilla wound her way through the maze of tables to the ladies room.
“She’s gorgeous, huh?” Aramis caught Jager’s gaze as they turned back from admiring the view.
“Very lovely.”
Aramis smiled like he had a dirty secret he wanted to share. Jager wanted to plant his fist in the guy’s smug kisser.
“You’re one of her clients?”
“Apparently.”
“How’s it going? Is the service worth the price?”
“She’s the best there is.” It was hard to speak around the ball of anger in his throat. Aramis made Lucilla sound like an overpriced call girl, not a professional matchmaker.
“I’ve heard that about her.”
“You should sign a contract. She has a wide variety of potential matches to suit any taste.”
“Are you writing her ads? I thought you were into Paratrading?” Aramis smirked then wiped the look off his face when the women returned to the table.
Smarmy character. What did Lucilla see in the guy?
Esmeralda—no last name—sat down at the table and tucked her cell phone into her jewel-studded handbag. “I’m sorry. I promise I won’t leave the table again. The phone is turned off.”
Jager shot a look to the djinn and then to Lucilla. Her lovely face was pulled into a frown. The mighty matchmaker must have laid down the law. “No problem, I know the demands of a high-pressure job.”
Esmeralda turned a little red then glanced nervously at Lucilla and Aramis. “Yes. The job is very stressful.”
Tension clung to the air like a rancid smell. Esmeralda squirmed in her seat, avoiding everyone’s curious glance.
Lucilla returned her napkin to her lap as their food arrived. “What are you doing now that your commitment to your last master is fulfilled?”
Esmeralda twitched in her seat again. “Oh, this and that. Consulting mostly.”
The vague answer didn’t sit well with Jager. There was a lot more going on with her evasive answers than she let on. “Who do you consult for?”
She looked up from her plate, her eyes wide. “I’m an independent.”
Aramis raised his brow, his fork poised halfway to his mouth. “On what?”
At least Jager wasn’t the only one feeling the sense there was something going afoul during the less than cozy dinner. He turned his head to watch Esmeralda’s reaction.
She shrugged a bare shoulder, flipping dark hair over her shoulder. “A lot of different things. When you’ve lived as long as I have and served so many different masters, you pick up quite a lot of expertise on a variety of subjects.”
The maître d’ approached the table. He spoke in a low voice to Esmeralda.
She stood. “I’m so sorry. I have to go.” The apology fell from her lips like a hasty act.
After she left, with the sharp tang of exotic spices in her wake, Jager gave Lucilla a pointed look. “You’re a witness. Did I do anything at all to send her running away?”
Lucilla shook her head as if trying to process what occurred. “I don’t understand it. You two had such a high probability match rate. I’m so seldom wrong about these things.”
“You’ve been wrong for months,” he reminded her.
Lucilla winced. “Jager—”
He held up his hand and gave her a slow promising smile, one that her date couldn’t possibly miss the inherent meaning of. “I hope you know that fulfilled my obligation.”
She lifted her wine glass and swirled the Merlot around before taking a sip. She looked over the rim of the glass, capturing him in her gaze. “I know.”
Aramis raised a brow and studied first one then the other. “Am I getting in the middle of something here, because I’m definitely picking up some strong sexual undercurrents.”
“Lucilla has agreed to be my date for the Legion Halloween Dance.” Take that, Spellboy!
Aramis gave Jager a smile that only annoyed him more. “Is that right?” He turned to Lucilla. “How does your family feel about that?”
Lucilla covered her mouth with her napkin and gave a discreet cough.
“What was that?” His eyes twinkled in mischief.
With much dignity, Lucilla raised her gaze to meet Aramis’s. “They don’t know yet.”
“That’s what I thought.” His words came out with a punch of laughter. “Think they’ll mind?”
“I don’t know. It’s a dance, not a handfasting.”
Jager felt the stem of the wine glass shatter in his hand. A jagged piece cut his finger, sending a drop of blood splashing on the white tablecloth.
“Jager?” Lucilla started to rise, but he waved her back down.
Jager took his napkin from his lap and wrapped his finger in it.
Stupid. He should have never let either of them see how much hearing her say that bothered him. The little matchmaker already had him tied up in knots and they hadn’t even gone out y
et.
Jager waited for the waiter to replace and fill the glass before he turned the tide of the night. Now that his date was no longer hopping back and forth between the table and the foyer, he was in desperate need of a diversionary tactic. He dropped the bomb he’d been holding onto all night.
“Zeus came to see me this evening.”
Lucilla gave him a cautious smile. “Really? You don’t look pleased.”
“I’m not.” He directed his attention to Aramis. “I understand you are moving up the ranks of the Witches Council.”
“I’m up for the next vacancy, why?”
“Because Zeus claims Rhea is organizing the Titans into a coup to bring down the Council.”
Their reactions varied. Lucilla gave him a blank stare and Aramis rose from the table with a hasty excuse, sticking Jager with the check. But it was worth it. He now had Lucilla all to himself, even if by default.
After a moment of strained silence, Lucilla leaned over the table. “Are you sure? Do you trust Zeus?”
“I’d rather listen to him on this and look a fool if it’s a lie, then stand by and do nothing while the Titans rip the Council apart. Granted, I know there have always been hard feelings between the Titans and witches, but nothing to make me want to see them harmed.” He signaled for the waiter to bring the check.
“It’s more than hard feelings, but you’re right. If the situations were reversed, I’d have done the same thing.”
The words gave little comfort to Jager as they left the restaurant. But maybe his honesty would see the way clear for her family to accept him into the fold. It was a huge gamble, but he hadn’t gotten so rich in the Paramarkets by playing it safe.
Chapter Eight
Lucilla stood on her porch, looking up into Jager’s tense face. “You did the right thing.”
“Then why do I feel like I’ve just let my entire race down?”
She put her hand to his face, cupping his cheek tenderly. “No, Jager. I think you saved it.”
He didn’t look convinced.
“Look, the only people you’ve undermined are Rhea and her underlings. Even Zeus came to you for help. That says something.”
