by Tina Folsom
“A while.”
“How long?”
She swallowed. “A few weeks.”
“And it’s still not repaired? Can’t you find a plumber and a handyman to fix it? I can recommend some people if that’s what’s holding—”
“It’s not that. I have a plumber, but as long as the insurance company refuses to pay for the damage, I can’t get it fixed.”
“They’re refusing to cover it?”
She nodded. “They’re saying it was a pre-existing issue, and that it’s therefore excluded from coverage.”
“A burst pipe? That’s not pre-existing. It just happens.”
“That’s what I told them, too. But then the insurance adjuster saw the mold.”
“What mold?”
“The mold underneath the floorboards. They said the pipe must have been leaking for months to create that kind of mold. So they’re telling me to go and deal with the previous owner.”
“What’s the previous owner got to do with it?”
“I bought the place only a few months ago. They say the home inspection should have revealed the problem, and I should try to sue either the home inspector for negligence or the previous owners for hiding a known problem. Either way, I’m screwed.” She reached for the bag again. “But that’s not your problem. I’m working on it. It’s just gonna take a little while.”
When she tried to pull the bag from his grasp, he put his hand over hers, not relinquishing it. “You can’t stay here. There isn’t even a shower. Or a kitchen.”
“I shower at the Y.”
He shook his head. “That’s not a solution. Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“Back to my place. You can stay there.”
“No.”
He met her eyes. “I promise you that you’ll be safe there. I won’t barge in again. I swear. I only did so because I thought you were a burglar. I’m not in the habit of spying on women in the shower, I can assure you that.” No matter how hot that particular woman was, or how much he’d love to get another glimpse of her perfect body. He meant what he said. She’d be safe in his house. And definitely more comfortable than in this dump.
“That’s not why I can’t accept your offer. I don’t want to inconvenience you. Clearly, you don’t need a housesitter.”
“Stay as a guest. The house is so large, I won’t even notice you’re there. And I’m gone a lot anyway. You’ll have the guestroom and your own bathroom, and you can use the kitchen and the rest of the house as you please.”
“I don’t want to intrude on your privacy. I’m really fine here.”
Eros tossed a disgusted look at the couch. “Yeah, that couch looks really comfortable.” He rolled his eyes. “Come on, Psyche. Just move into the damn guestroom and stay there until your apartment is livable again. Do me that favor. Or I’ll feel like a total shit for having tossed you out after Triton promised you that you could stay at my place.”
“Triton should have never made promises he couldn’t keep.”
Eros grimaced. “Yeah, well, I’ll have a word with him about that. But that doesn’t mean you should suffer the consequences.” He motioned to the door behind him. “Let’s go. It’s late. And I’m sure you’re tired.”
She gave him a very long look. Was she assessing him to see if she could trust him? After all, he was a stranger to her, and he had barged in on her when she’d been taking a shower.
Finally, she nodded. “I don’t know how to thank you for your hospitality.”
He could think of a few things off hand, but he was smart enough not to voice them. Because making a play for Psyche would be a very bad move. A woman like her could get under his skin, and that was the last thing he needed in his life.
10
Eros had slept rather badly. Whether it was the fact that he knew that a very sexy young woman was sleeping only yards away from him, separated only by a few walls, or whether it was the fact that he was annoyed with his friends for trying to con him, he wasn’t sure. Maybe it was a combination of both.
When he finally got up at the crack of dawn, he took a long shower and got dressed. Normally, he would have simply teleported to Triton’s house, but since he had a houseguest, he thought it more prudent to go about his life as if he were a mortal. He couldn’t afford being exposed as a god. Besides, maybe it was time to live like a mortal, considering he had no intention of fulfilling his godly duties ever again. It was only fair he not use his godly powers either.
As he waited for the coffee to brew, Eros opened the French doors leading to the terrace and looked outside. Across the pristine lawn and beyond a wooden fence he could see the back porch of another house. It was almost as large as his but older and in need of paint. The family who lived there had moved in a few years before he’d bought his own house. They had one child, a boy of about ten years, Justin.
Through the open kitchen window of the other house, he saw the boy eating his breakfast at the kitchen table. Like so many mornings he’d watched him, Justin looked unhappy. It was evident that he wasn’t keen on going to school. In fact, over the last few weeks, he’d noticed a distinct change in the boy. He seemed to become less talkative and more solemn every day.
Justin’s voice drifted to him now as he asked in a whiny voice, “Do I have to go?”
“I thought you liked school,” his mother replied and took his empty bowl of cereal.
“But it’s sports day. I’m not missing anything. And I don’t feel well. My stomach hurts,” he continued to complain.
“You look fine to me. Now get ready. Your dad has to leave in a few minutes, and if you don’t want to take the bus, you’d better be ready.”
His mother turned away to tidy up the kitchen. The discussion was over. Justin dropped his head.
Eros sighed and turned to check on the coffee machine. The coffee was ready. He poured himself a cup and took a sip. Most kids didn’t want to go to school at one point or another in their lives. It wasn’t anything new, but still he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was bothering Justin, and that the boy didn’t have the courage to tell his parents.
By the time Eros was done with his coffee, he heard footsteps on the second floor. Psyche was awake. But he thought it better to avoid her as much as possible. No need to put himself in the path of temptation.
He grabbed his car keys and rushed out of the house. Minutes later he pulled up in front of the Olympus Inn and parked the car. The house was already full of activity. As he entered, the smell of bacon and homemade grits wafted to him from the kitchen. He walked toward the smell and found Alice, the cook, working on breakfast for the guests.
“Morning, Alice!”
She looked over her shoulder, smiling. “Morning, Eros. What brings you here so early? Want some breakfast?”
He patted his stomach, grinning. “No, no, I’m good. Can’t afford to lose my boyish figure.”
She rolled her eyes and said good-naturedly, “You could stand to gain a few pounds.”
“So you keep saying!” He laughed. “Is Triton up yet?”
She pointed toward a door to her left. “He’s checking through the supplies in the storage room.”
“Thanks!” He sauntered to the door and opened it, then walked along the short corridor to another door, which stood open. He stopped in the doorframe and leaned casually against it, crossing his arms over his chest and watching Triton heave a box onto a stainless steel shelf.
When Triton turned, he stopped in his movement, startled. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
Eros continued leaning casually against the doorframe as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “You mean why am I not still in bed, screwing the woman you and the others decided to place in my house?”
“What are you talking about?”
Triton was trying his best to look outraged at the accusation, but Eros knew his longtime friend far too well to fall for such a performance.
“Give it up, Triton! You told Psyc
he to housesit for me, and then Dio called me and told me I had a burglar, so I rushed back… and found her.”
“Hey, I had nothing to do with what Dio did. All I did was give Psyche a place to stay since you were gone anyway. When you said you were going to visit Hades, I expected you to be gone for a few weeks, not just a couple of days. And I take offense at being accused of pulling a fast one on you.” Triton huffed indignantly.
Eros pushed off the doorframe and narrowed his eyes in suspicion, not believing a single word. “Don’t play the good Samaritan. It doesn’t suit you.”
“Why are you always so suspicious?”
“Because I know you. And clearly you and the other two idiots who call themselves my friends are planning something. I can smell it.”
“You’re paranoid. Why would I do such a thing?” Triton shook his head. “I’m your friend. We’ve been through thick and thin together. I apologize for not asking you whether it was okay to have somebody stay at your house while you’re gone. But I would have sent one of our maids over to clean. I wasn’t planning on inconveniencing you. And Dio didn’t know, so it’s no wonder he thought there was a burglar. I had no idea he was checking on your house. I just wanted to help out Psyche. You know. She’s got issues with her place right now. So I figured…” He shrugged. “I guess no good deed goes unpunished.”
“Hmm,” Eros grunted. So his friend intended to continue lying to him. The question was, why? “Fine.” If Triton wanted to play this game, Eros would, too. He would get his friends off his back with a little deception of his own. That would teach them not to screw with him.
“So, we’re good?”
Eros nodded. “No problem. Next time, just tell me when you do something like that.”
“Sure. Of course.”
Eros turned on his heel.
“Wanna stay for breakfast?” Triton called after him.
“Can’t. I’ve got stuff to do.”
~ ~ ~
Triton sighed in relief. The moment he heard Eros leave the house, he teleported to Dio’s place, appearing in the living room.
Ari, Dio’s wife, dressed in a bathrobe, shrieked when she saw him. “Damn it, Triton, I wish you’d ring the doorbell like a normal person. What if I hadn’t been dressed? Do you ever think of that?”
“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. It’s the last time. I promise. But I’ve gotta talk to Dio. It’s urgent.”
She motioned to one of the bedrooms. “He’s getting Thoas dressed.”
“Thanks.”
Without knocking, Triton entered the kid’s bedroom and found Dionysus crouched down on the floor with Thoas giggling as Dio tried to pull a pair of shorts over the kid’s thighs.
“Morning,” Triton said.
Dio snapped his head to the side, immediately alert. “Did something go wrong?”
“Almost. But I think I saved the day.”
Dio tipped his chin up. “What happened?”
“Eros is one suspicious dude, I tell you!”
His friend rolled his eyes. “Did he see through the set up?”
Triton shook his head. “He accused me of playing him, but I think I convinced him that I had no idea he was coming back so early from visiting Hades. I told him you didn’t know that Psyche was staying at his house, so of course you’d assume there was a burglar when you saw the lights on. We’re covered. He bought it.”
“Are you sure we shouldn’t have come clean and told him what’s at stake?”
“Absolutely. If he finds out that we’re trying to set him up to fall in love, he’ll fight it with everything he has, just to spite us and Zeus. You know him. You know how stubborn he can be. He needs to be the one in charge. And if he thinks we’re behind this, he’ll never go for her. And I’m telling you: she’s perfect for him. Looks, temperament, the whole package.”
Dio managed to feed his son’s legs through the pants legs and zipped him up. “Yeah, she is, but what if he doesn’t fall in love? What then?”
“Gods don’t need his arrows to fall in love.”
“I know that. But what I’m saying is, what if he’s still too hurt to allow himself to open up?”
“It’s been over a fucking year! How much could Gloria possibly have hurt him? If he’s that fragile, then frankly, he’s a pussy!”
“You’d better not let him hear that. He was in love with her. Doesn’t matter that she wasn’t the right person for him. When he got to be her knight in shining armor, because he helped her out of a bad situation, he got sucked right into her scheme. Buddy, when it hits you, it hits you. Nothing anybody can do. And some people just need longer to get over it.”
“Fine, whatever you say.” Triton shrugged. “I just want to make sure you stick to the story we discussed. You had no idea about Psyche. In fact, the only time you’ve seen her or heard about her was the other day in my garden.”
Dio lifted his hand. “I know the drill. No need to rehash.”
Triton nodded. “Can you update Hermes? I’ve gotta get back to the inn.”
“Sure. I’ll stop by after I dropped Ari off at In Vino Veritas.” He pulled a T-shirt over Thoas’s head. “So, what happens now? Where’s the woman? Is she still at his place?”
“I don’t know. Couldn’t exactly ask him without raising any more suspicion. I’ll get Sophia to ask Psyche herself. That’ll be much less suspicious. But in the meantime, we have to lay low.”
“I’m good with that.” Dio lifted his son up onto his feet. “There you go, buddy.”
The boy smiled up at his father and clapped his hands. “Zip-zip!”
Triton chuckled. “He’s totally into teleportation, isn’t he?”
Dio rose. “Addicted is more like it. I’m worried I won’t be able to send him to preschool when the time comes. What if he slips up?”
“By then he’ll understand enough to know that it has to be a secret.”
“I hope so, or we’ll be in even deeper shit with Zeus.”
Triton gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder. “You’ll figure it out in time.”
“Your word in Zeus’s ear.”
Already turning, Triton said, “Which reminds me: how are you and Hera getting along these days?”
Dio shrugged. “She hates me just as much as she ever has. Why?”
“Because if we can’t change Eros’s mind about love, we might need her help. So maybe you want to suck up to her a little, how about it?”
Dio rolled his eyes. “When has sucking up to Hera ever worked?”
“Just saying.” He pointed to Thoas. “You’ve got a cute son. Use him. Didn’t you hear Hermes say that Hera was babysitting Pan for them? She’s got a soft spot for kids. Let’s exploit that.”
“I don’t see you pulling your weight in that direction,” Dio remarked with a smirk. “You’ve been married for longer than the rest of us, and you’ve still got no offspring to show for it.”
Triton chuckled. “Trust me, it’s not for a lack of trying.”
“You selfish bastard! As a god you can get your wife pregnant anytime you want. You just don’t want to, do you?”
Triton shrugged. “I enjoy having her to myself.”
“Well, don’t wait too long. You promised me that my kids and yours will be playmates like we used to be.”
“Working on it.”
“Get out of here!” Dio said with a grin. “I’ve got father duty today.”
“See you later,” Triton said and left.
11
Eros waited until the customer left Psyche’s shop before he crossed the street and entered. He’d thought long and hard about this and had finally made up his mind. There was only one way to get his friends off his case: by beating them at their own game. And Psyche was going to help him achieve this.
The little bell over the door jingled, announcing his arrival to Psyche. She turned around with a smile and a greeting already on her lips.
“Good afternoon, how—” Surprise registered on her face. “Oh
, hi, Eros. I wasn’t expecting you here.”
He smiled. “I wanted to talk to you.” He cleared his throat. “About our, uh, arrangement.”
Her face fell. “Oh.” She turned away and busied herself by wiping plant cuttings off the counter. “Well, I guess it was too good to be true. I’ll pack my things after I close up the shop tonight.”
Stunned, Eros touched her forearm, making her look at him. “Why?” He shook his head. “That’s not why I’m here. Of course you’re staying. I’m not going back on my word.”
Her eyes widened and a tentative smile started forming on her lips. “You’re not? But then what do you want to talk about?”
He was still touching her arm, and she didn’t seem to notice, or surely she would have pulled it back by now. He squeezed her arm in reassurance. “I have a favor to ask. And you can refuse, of course. I wouldn’t want you to do anything you don’t feel comfortable with. It’s just…” He hadn’t really practiced how to present his proposal in a way to make it attractive for her.
“What is it?” she asked eagerly. “Did something happen?”
He shrugged. “I went to see Triton.”
“Oh. Did you have a fight?”
“I wouldn’t call it a fight. I told him point blank that I believed the only reason he asked you to stay in my house was so that I’d fall for your charms. And we’d hook up.”
A soft red blush colored her cheeks. “What did he say?”
“He denied it. Like I expected. But I know him too well. He’s playing with me. My friends have banded together, and they won’t stop with their games until they’ve found a girlfriend for me.”
Psyche sighed. “I’m sorry, Eros. Don’t they understand you at all? You can’t force stuff like that. Did you tell him you’re not interested in women?”
“So many times I’ve lost count. They’ll continue to toss women in my path until I convince them that I’m not available anymore.”
Her forehead crinkled. “What do you mean?”
“If they think I’m in a relationship, they’ll give up.” He paused. “That’s where you come in.”
