by Marie Medina
“I know you’re right. I can’t stand being away from her right now. It’s making me nuts.”
Ares got up. “Welcome to being in love. Time’s going to go very slow for a while. It’s worth it, even though it doesn’t always feel like it.”
If he hadn’t missed Iris so much, he would have asked Ares if he’d ever been in love. He felt he’d already pushed his luck enough, though; plus, he didn’t need another can of worms in the mix.
After Ares left, he finished his wine and threw some money on the table before leaving. The air was brisk, but not too cold. Not only did he miss Iris but he was also worried about her. She’d seemed so upset. He couldn’t figure out what he’d done. How long had she had feelings for him and had to sit back and watch him acting like a jerk, seducing other women? What did she see in him? He couldn’t understand it. Ares was right. He could think of lots of gods who would have tried to win Iris if they’d thought they had a chance. That didn’t make him feel better. He only felt more inadequate. Didn’t she deserve someone who wouldn’t cause her pain? Someone who hadn’t already caused her so much?
He kept walking. He wasn’t going to feel like going home for a while.
Chapter Six
Layla looked across the table and handed Iris the bowl of chocolate-covered cherries. She poured herself and Iris coffee and sat back.
“You’re going to have to talk eventually,” Layla said.
“You don’t understand. Eros spent centuries looking right through me. Poseidon was completely enthralled from the first moment he saw you.”
Layla blushed, but then giggled. “The first time he saw me, I was wearing a bikini and touching myself. Most men would have been enthralled.”
Iris sighed. “Okay, you aren’t a great example. But he noticed you immediately. Before you started…well…anyway. There’s a difference.”
Layla nodded. “Yes. You were already in love and didn’t hold out any hope of your love being returned.” She popped a chocolate-covered cherry into her mouth.
“Exactly. My hope didn’t increase because he was suddenly paying attention to me.”
Layla finished chewing and swallowed. “But why not? Isn’t that what you were trying to do all along, get his attention and show him what he was missing running around like a mortal teenager?”
Iris had to admit it was a pretty good question. He’d seemed interested from their first conversation, despite her telling him off. For a while, she’d thought she could get his attention when he began coming to her restaurant. However, she soon found that he saw every girl but her. That had to mean something. His interest had remained unpiqued until he’d discovered she was a goddess.
She finally replied, “Because he only noticed me when I went right up to him and asked him why he’d kicked one of my tables. He thought I was hot, so he gave me his attention. Then Hera and Aphrodite cooked up their little scheme.”
“So you wanted to just sit around and wait for a man to fall at your feet?”
“No.”
“Then what are you saying? He’s immune to love spells.”
Iris groaned. “Everyone keeps pointing that out. I know that already.”
“So you think he’s an idiot who would fall for any girl as long as she was in his line of vision for a long enough period of time?”
Iris picked up a chocolate-covered cherry and bit into it, chewing thoughtfully. “I don’t know.”
“Ask Aphrodite.”
“Ask her what?”
Layla rolled her eyes. “Ask her if Eros is in love with you. She knows true love. And who would know him better?”
Iris felt cold again as she thought of what Aphrodite had said to her. She didn’t know if it was safe to tell Layla or not. She didn’t want to put her friend in even a little bit of danger. Aphrodite rarely had a quarrel with anyone, but when she did it was quite an event.
“Iris, are you okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah. It’s just something Aphrodite said to me.” She paused. “It freaked me out, for more than one reason.”
Layla leaned forward and whispered, “What did she say?”
“She said if I broke Eros’ heart, I’d need Hera’s protection.”
Layla paled. “Whoa. Are you serious?”
Iris groaned and stared across the table. “Of course I am! But don’t you see what that means?”
Layla looked down, but then she looked back up with wide eyes. “I sure do! Why the hell are you sitting here complaining to me? If she thinks he’s in love with you, how can you doubt it?”
Iris didn’t answer.
Her friend groaned. “I don’t understand. What you are afraid of? You’re on the verge of getting what you want.”
“And what happens when I lose it?”
Layla gave her a confused look. “How can you be thinking of that? His record isn’t great, but I think it’s pretty obvious this is different. I don’t blame you for being wary, but how can you deny all the evidence that he’s serious?”
Iris shrugged. “I can’t help it.”
“Well, stop it right now. You had the man you love literally at your feet telling you how much he adores you. But instead of loving him back, you sent him away so you could feel sorry for yourself.”
“Layla! That’s not fair.”
Layla waved off her comment. “For such a domineering person, you have no confidence whatsoever. Why aren’t you with him right now? This should be the most romantic time of your relationship. Everyone is scared a little at this point. Do you really want to go to bed without him tonight?”
Iris thought, and then shook her head. “He’s not going to want to see me after I sent him away like that, though.”
“Go see him and find out. Even if he’s angry right now, at least tell him you’ve rethought all this ‘time off’ you supposedly need.”
“It won’t be easy.”
“Yes, it will. Just this morning you were making love to him. He told you how he feels, and you finally confessed your love to him. He’s not going to turn away from you, even if he is feeling frustrated by all this.”
Iris nodded, knowing Layla was right, and yet she still couldn’t shake the image of Eros walking away from her without looking back.
Eros didn’t want to talk to anyone, so he wasn’t happy when he saw Zeus and Hermes walking toward him. Hermes nodded and walked off, but Zeus kept walking toward him. The dominating god was better than Hera or his mother, but only a little. They hadn’t spoken since Valentine’s Day, and he doubted Zeus had forgotten their conflict.
“Moping, I see.” Zeus looked around the garden. “Not a bad spot for it, at least.”
“I’m not moping. I’m having some time to myself since Iris needs time to think. I’m sure you already know that.”
Zeus widened his stance and folded his arms. It annoyed Eros that the king of the gods always looked like he was posing. Despite the fading of mortal belief, Zeus was still very impressed with himself. “I didn’t know that at all. All I know is your mother is worried about you.”
“What did she say?” He couldn’t believe his mother had started running around and telling everyone every detail of his personal affairs already.
“She didn’t say anything to me. She was talking to Hera. She’s a bit of a wreck.”
Eros scowled. “You’re not going to convince me of that.”
“You have never appreciated how much your mother loves and cares for you.”
Eros jumped up. “My relationship with my mother is not your concern.”
“If that’s the way you want it. Aphrodite knows a lot about love and broken hearts. She’s concerned.”
“Yeah, well, this is her fault. Iris won’t believe I love her because of mother’s schemes.”
“She believes you. She just has her doubts.”
Eros narrowed his eyes. “How can you know that?”
“Well, speaking for myself, I haven’t been ignoring her my whole life. I’ve been chasing my share
of mortal women, but I’ve never been one to ignore the beauty in my own backyard.”
Eros felt his blood rush. He knew he’d end up in a cow pasture again, but if Zeus said he’d slept with Iris, Eros knew he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from punching him.
“And what do you mean by that?”
“I mean your lady is not only beautiful, but kind and charming. Everyone loves her. You break her heart, and there will be a line of people to answer to twisting all the way around Mount Olympus.”
“I broke her heart a long time ago. She’s seen me at my worst. I’m a big disappointment to her.”
“If that’s true, why does she still love you?”
“There’s no way she loves me. Maybe she did once. She’ll get over it.”
“You two are unbelievable!”
They turned to see Aphrodite quickly walking toward them.
“I’ve never met a man and a woman more in love or more afraid to admit it!” she said with a huff.
“I admitted it, and it scared her to death! She burst into tears and told me to go away!” Eros said in his own defense. If he could work things out with Iris, he was determined to stay with her in the mortal world and steer clear of Olympus for a very long time.
“She was scared, but only a little. She only needs time. Once she looks into her heart, she will accept and welcome your love and give you hers in return.”
“Lovely. Most eloquent,” Zeus said, bowing slightly to Aphrodite.
She rolled her eyes at him. “Oh, shut up! Your teasing will not help any of us.”
He put his hands on his hips. “I am here trying to help.”
“Well, go help Hera. Hephaestus forged her some new bed restraints, and I’m sure she wants to try them out.”
Zeus had disappeared at the words “bed restraints.”
Eros turned back to his mother. “Please just leave me alone. Leave Iris alone. We’ll work this out.”
“You two sure need a few good pushes.”
“And how have you been pushing her?”
Aphrodite bit her lip, and then smiled mischievously. “Well…”
“Oh gods, what?”
She held up her hands. “Nothing bad. I simply used an unorthodox method to make her believe you love her.”
He felt cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. “Tell me.”
“I told her she’d have me to answer to if she broke your heart.” She shrugged. “No big deal.”
“No big deal?” he repeated. He wanted to strangle her. “I can’t believe you. You probably scared her to death! Hera won’t like that, no matter how you look at it.”
She shrugged off his objection. “She won’t care. It was her idea.”
Eros tried to stay calm, but it was a major struggle. “You two are crazy. Just leave me alone before you fuck up my only chance at happiness.”
Aphrodite looked down and didn’t respond for a while. “Okay. But can I tell you one thing?”
“I guess.” He wasn’t sure he wanted to have a touchy-feely scene with his mother right now. His emotions were running a little too high.
“She really loves you. And you really love her. It won’t be like last time.”
“Last time was different.”
She looked up at him. “I’m proud of you.”
He kicked at the dirt and turned away. “I don’t want to talk about this.” He wanted to stay mad at her, but he never could when she was like this.
She laughed. “You’re adorable, but it’s too late. I already said it. I’m proud of you, darling boy. You’ve made yourself worthy of such an admirable goddess.”
Aphrodite’s praise was rare, as were her serious moments. Eros couldn’t help blushing. “Thank you. Now I just have to believe it.”
Aphrodite kissed him on the cheek. “It won’t be long.”
She snapped her fingers and disappeared.
Eros sighed. His chest felt tight. His mother’s words gave him hope. If she had such confidence, anything was possible.
Iris looked at the clock. It had been almost twenty-four hours since Eros had come into her office and asked her to go to dinner. Saying yes had changed everything. When he’d stepped into her office, she had still been the one in control. Now she had relinquished it completely. He knew everything, and she had no way of knowing how he had reacted. Had he gone to his mother? To someone else? What was he thinking? After getting over the shock and hurt feelings, he would probably be angry with her.
“One way to find out,” she said to herself. She picked up her cell phone and dialed his number.
Before it had even rung twice, Eros was standing in front of her desk.
He held up his own phone between two fingers for a moment as if it was something disgusting, and then stuck it in his pocket without even opening it. “I never answer this thing. I only resisted smashing it because Hera thinks they’re cute and insists we all have them. It’s not as if she couldn’t find any of us any time she wanted.”
Iris had hoped for a little more time. She’d thought that the first step would be seeing if he answered and then analyzing how he sounded. She’d planned to go from there and gradually work up to being face-to-face with him.
“Oh. I have one for work,” she said, looking down and hitting the End Call button.
“I didn’t think you’d want to contact me so soon.”
She looked back at him. “Well, everyone keeps telling me how silly I’m being.”
He grinned. “Now you know how I feel. Not so great, huh?”
He seemed to be in a pretty good mood. Did that mean he wasn’t upset? Or did it mean he no longer cared? Even if it had only been less than a day, it had been a long one.
“No, it isn’t. I’m supposed to be the levelheaded one. I’m not supposed to be the total mess who overreacts.”
His grin broadened. “You’re admitting you overreacted?”
“I guess so. You don’t have to look so happy about it.” She didn’t want to get angry, but the smirk on his face was just too much. “Do you even care how upset I was?”
“You did seem upset. You must have had a thing for me for quite some time.”
He was teasing her. He was actually making fun of her. She’d poured her heart out to him and let him see right into her soul, and now he was acting like this. She wanted to throw him out the window.
“You arrogant bastard! What is wrong with you? How can you tell a woman you love her and then treat her this way? You haven’t changed at all!”
He walked around her desk and took her in his arms. “I think you’re overacting again.”
She tried to get out of his arms, but he held her tightly against his body. Being so close to him flustered her even more. “Let me go!”
“Can’t you take a joke?”
She stopped struggling and stared at him. “A joke?”
He pulled her closer and kissed her quickly on the forehead. “You aren’t embarrassed now, are you? You’re so mad you’re not thinking about it.”
“I’m thinking about how infuriating you are!”
“See? You aren’t nervous at all. You’re not worried about what to say because the words are coming very naturally.” He stroked her cheek and quietly said, “I’m sorry, but you looked terrified when I showed up. I was so happy you’d called I couldn’t resist having a little fun.”
She couldn’t deny the sincerity in his voice, but she had to say, “You’re still a bastard.” She wrapped her arms around him and held him close, burying her face in his chest. “So I’m assuming everyone knows everything by now?”
“Yeah. I’d say they’ve all kept each other very well informed. I daresay we’re being spied on, but we can put a stop to that right now.”
When Iris opened her eyes, they were standing outside a small blue house in the middle of a garden. She raised her eyebrows. “This where you take all your girlfriends?”
“This is my new home. It’s about time I moved out of my mother’s home. The priv
acy will be nice.”
“And what do we need privacy for?”
He pulled her close. “Well, the place does need christening.”
“Ah. That’s why we’re here.”
“Sort of. I just wanted to go to one of our homes so no one could spy on us like they can when we’re in the mortal world.” He opened the door and motioned her inside. “Come on. Let’s talk about this.”
Iris sighed. She still hadn’t had time to think about what she wanted to say. They sat down on the couch, and both remained silent. She looked around, noticing the furniture and decorations were simple and contemporary, just like her own home.
“I figured I’d let you redecorate if you wanted.”
She smiled, but still remained silent.
“Seems pretty simple to me. I love you. You love me. I don’t think you would have called me if someone hadn’t convinced you of that.”
“I know it’s true. No one really needed to convince me.”
He looked surprised. “Then what’s the holdup?”
“I was scared. I still am. It’s as simple as that.”
“And what can I do?”
There were so many things she could say. Silly things and serious things, but none of them seemed right. “How about showing me what a great boyfriend you can be?”
“And what a great lover,” he said, pulling her close.
“I’m already convinced of that.”
He moved one hand up her thigh, under her skirt. “I want to be sure you’re convinced.” The desire in his voice and his eyes was irresistible.
“You have a new argument to present?” She opened her legs and let him touch her. His warm hand made her want to kiss him, but she leaned back and kept looking into his eyes.
“I have a whole case to present, point by point.” He moved forward and kissed her neck as his fingers explored her.
She moaned. He’d already learned how to touch her, just where to caress, where to put pressure. She pulled gently on his hair to bring his lips to hers and kissed him slowly.
“I never knew you’d be this perfect,” he said when she released him.
“I knew you would be.”
