by Amanda Heger
ROOM 301: COSMIC COUNCIL CONFERENCE ROOM
ROOM 302: RECORDS, PERMITS, AND DESCENDANT BENEFITS
ROOM 303: CIRCUIT FURY
Between the rooms, bulletin boards full of community announcements proclaimed that local elections were on the horizon. “Look.” Eliza pointed to the sign. “The deadline for submitting your name is next week.”
Jake didn’t quite meet her eye. “Yeah. I’ll have to look into it.”
“What do you mean, ‘look into it’?” Eliza laughed. “You have to follow your dumb idea. That’s our thing.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tugged her down the hall. Gods, he made every part of her tingle. “Noted. Now, can we please get to Dionysus before my stomach digests itself? I was too nervous to eat this morning.”
Her stomach rumbled at the mention of food. “What did you have to be nervous about? All you had to do was sign your name.”
“Are you kidding me? Do you know how tough it is to sign all those Department forms? I thought my hand was going to fall off by the time I’d certified that you were fit for duty as a Cupid.”
“Well, I appreciate all your hard work.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” He pulled her a little closer, enough for his hip to settle into the space at her waist as they approached Dionysus. Faint hints of techno music escaped into the empty hall outside the bar. It was dark enough to make her bold, but light enough to tell they were the only two around.
Eliza stopped walking and faced him. “Jake?”
“Yeah?”
Gods, she had a hundred things she wanted to say to him. He’d ruined her for anyone else. He’d made her believe in herself again. He’d made her believe in Love—if only temporarily. But with just a few hours of enchantment remaining, Eliza couldn’t say any of those. Once midnight struck, things would change, and she didn’t want him to feel beholden to her. Like he’d need to let her down easily or try to keep from breaking her heart. It was going to break anyway, so she might as well save him the trouble of knowing about it.
“Thank you for everything,” she said. “I mean it.”
He stood close enough for her to feel the breath hitch in his chest. “My pleasure.” The corners of his eyes crinkled, like he was about to say something very important and maybe even a little naughty when—
“Welcome to Dionysus! Thursday night is Nereid Night, and we’ve got the best specials to celebrate.” The piercing voice sliced through their moment. It belonged to the tall, thin Dionysian who’d poked his head out into the hallway. “Right this way.”
He led them through a maze of chairs and bodies to a table right up against a floor-to-ceiling fish tank—or rather, Nereid tank. Inside, starfish and coral sat at the bottom, while a stunning sea nymph rode through the blue-green waves on the back of a turtle.
“So, this is the famous Nereid Night?” Eliza asked Jake.
“It is. Things get rowdy after midnight, but before that, it’s not too bad.”
“By not too bad, I assume you mean the beautiful, bikini-clad nymphs floating around?”
Jake leaned forward and brushed her hair out of her face. His thumb lingered against her cheek, and the gold in his eyes flickered in the dim light of the bar. “Eliza,” he said. “Does it look like I care about the bikini-clad nymphs right now?”
“Not really.” Every part of her wanted to climb in his lap and bury herself in his arms. Maybe this once—now that he wasn’t her mentor, and the Department didn’t seem to care about her sex life (or lack thereof)—she could give in a little. Enjoy the long glances and soft touches while she still could. She leaned closer to Jake. “Do you want—”
Knock, knock, knock.
Eliza jerked out of her chair, nearly knocking her head on the tank. The Nereid inside smiled and waved brightly, as if she’d been newly crowned Miss Greek Universe. And with that cascading black hair and teal shell top that barely covered any of her brown skin, she looked like she could be a contestant. She also looked like—
“Quinn?” Eliza said.
The Nereid swam to the top of the tank and hung over the edge. Saltwater droplets splattered on the table, and the scent of sea and sand permeated the air. “Hey, you! Long time, no see. When you first sat down I thought, That girl reminds me of Eliza Herman. But then you didn’t knock anything over, so I figured I had it all wrong. But then I heard you talk and I knew—Delta Iota Kappa for life! How are you?”
Eliza looked back and forth between Jake—who had a very amused look on his face—and Quinn, the sorority sister from her college days. “Pretty great, actually.”
Quinn wrung out the ends of her long hair and flipped it over one shoulder. “Same. Ever since this place started Nereid Night, I’ve been so busy. The tips here are great.”
“You two were in a sorority together?” Jake asked.
“Like any of us can go to college and not go Greek,” Quinn said.
“Fair enough,” Jake said. “I’m going to go get us some drinks while you two catch up. What would you like, Eliza?”
“Whatever you’re having is fine.”
“Oh, me too!” Quinn said.
Jake looked like he couldn’t quite figure out what to make of Quinn, but he nodded and headed off to the bar anyway.
“Who is that?” Quinn asked the second he was out of earshot.
“Just a friend. More of a mentor, really.” Eliza explained the whole Cupid license fiasco that had become her life.
“Well, congrats on the test and all that.” Quinn adjusted her shell top. “But that man is looking at you like he wants to rip your clothes off and ravage you right here in Dionysus. I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time that happened, but usually nobody does that kind of thing until after midnight.”
Eliza batted away the (very dirty) thoughts of Jake doing just that. “It’s only because I accidentally enchanted him. He’ll get over it.”
“I’m not so sure.” Quinn wagged her eyebrows. “Besides, you know how it is when you’re enchanted. If you aren’t into something, you aren’t into it regardless. He definitely wants to be into it.”
“Oh gods, Quinn.” Eliza laughed. “If you only knew how much I wanted him to be into it. The other day, I tried to take matters into my own hands, if you know what I mean, and it only made things worse. I swear—”
“Ahem.”
Quinn giggled and ducked underwater, and Eliza whipped around. Jake, all six-foot-something of perfection and muscle, stood less than a foot behind her with a set of drinks in his hand and a wide grin on his face. So that’s what Quinn’s little eyebrow wiggle had been all about.
“Oh, hi,” Eliza said. “We were just, um, talking about—”
Jake reached up and set the drinks on the edge of the tank, well within Quinn’s reach. The movement brought him into Eliza’s personal space, and he put a hand on Eliza’s waist. “Whether or not I’m into it.”
She gulped. “Well, uh, yeah—”
He leaned in, and his lips brushed the shell of her ear. “Eliza, let me reassure you that I am very, very into it.”
Her resolve was melting faster than a snow cone on Kronia. “Enchantment,” she muttered. “Moon cycle, tomorrow, regret.” How could anyone expect her to form complete sentences when his warm breath ran along her neck like that?
“Herman,” he whispered, “stop trying to protect me from whatever you think is wrong with you. You are perfect, and I want you.”
“I’m a mess.”
“A perfect mess. And I guarantee you the only regret I’ll have tomorrow is if I wake up knowing you had to take things into your own hands tonight. But sometime, I definitely want to hear all about that. Every. Last. Detail.” He pulled her closer, and the movement brought back all those memories of that day on the hood of his car. The way his hardness had sent shocks through her spine. How every
thing else in the world had stopped existing. The moment she’d forgotten she was Eliza Herman, World’s Worst Cupid, and simply become one half of their perfect match.
A smart, professional Cupid would take a step back. Put space between them. Remind herself that this was all an enchantment and nothing more.
She was smart and professional.
Mostly.
Sometimes.
But not today.
“Want to get out of here?” she whispered.
“In a minute. I’ve got something I need to do first.”
“Oh, right. The drinks. We shouldn’t let them go to waste.”
She turned toward the drinks, but before she could get that far, Jake’s hand wrapped around her waist. He turned her back to face him and pulled her in for a slow, aching kiss. It made all the blood rush by Eliza’s ears on its way south. She rose up on her tiptoes, silently begging for more, but his lips and tongue taunted her—giving only enough to make her want more. So much more. “Forget the drinks,” he said as he pulled away. “Now I’m ready.”
As Eliza followed him toward the door, she caught Quinn giving her a thumbs-up from inside the tank. Eliza gave her friend a quick wave and took in Jake’s form walking ahead of her. From his brain to his body to his unending belief in her, he was everything she wanted and then some.
“I hope I’m ready,” she muttered.
* * *
Eliza’s shoulders landed against the back of the door with a soft thump. Gods, Jake felt amazing. She hooked her legs around his waist and tugged him closer. Even with all these layers of clothes between them, she slipped a little closer to bliss every time his erection pressed against her center. They’d barely made it through the drive back to his apartment, with their wandering hands and all the lingering kisses they’d stolen at stoplights. And now they’d only just made it inside before she started rubbing herself against him like she couldn’t get enough.
His mouth strayed along her jaw and lips and neck. His warm breath on her skin made her dizzy and giddy and desperate.
And it was the best thing she’d ever felt in her life.
Jake broke their kiss—the deep, frantic sort she felt all the way in her toes—and set her feet on the floor. “You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. You?”
The groan that escaped his lips reached all the way to her core. “I could be better.” He laid a soft kiss on her neck before working his way up to her lips.
“How’s that?” she asked when they came up for air.
“Better,” he murmured. His thumb tugged her bottom lip before he caught it between his own. “Much better.”
The lust in his eyes overwhelmed her. She’d never felt more beautiful. More wanted. She shifted her hips to press harder against him.
“But you know—” His hand slid beneath her shirt, warm fingers spread against her skin. “I could be even better.”
“Really?” She looked up at him through her eyelashes. She couldn’t fathom anything better than this.
“You could be naked and wrapped around me. Or naked and sprawled wide open on my bed. Or naked and on my kitchen table…”
“I’m sensing a theme here,” Eliza said.
“The theme is you. Naked.” He turned her, pressing her back against his hard chest and planting his lips at the nape of her neck. The movement forced her gaze to the clock, where the minute hand seemed to move in slow motion toward midnight. Five minutes left in the enchantment.
Five minutes until judgment day.
Or at least until she’d know if he really wanted to see her naked or not.
She slid away, even though every inch of her skin sobbed in protest, and turned toward him. “Jake?”
“Yeah?”
She nodded toward the clock. “I think we should wait until midnight. Just in case.”
His fingers skimmed the curve of her hip. “I’ll wait as long as you want, but I promise you, in five minutes—in five days, weeks, whatever—the theme is still going to be Eliza: naked.”
Please, gods, let that be true.
She glanced at the clock again. Less than one minute had gone by. If she didn’t know better, she’d think the universe had conspired to stop time just to torture her. She took a step away from Jake and forced her focus onto the two tall bookshelves in the corner. Dozens of spines—some perfect, some cracked—lined each and every shelf. Most appeared to be textbooks or study guides, but a few well-loved novels sat among them. And interspersed were a few framed photos. Jake with friends in an assortment of far-flung locations. Jake with his parents—who looked considerably older than the last time Eliza had seem them. Jake with—
“Is this us?” She picked up the black wooden frame and stared at the familiar kids smiling at the camera. Well, Elijah, Jake, and the others in the photos—names and faces Eliza had long forgotten—smiled. Eliza looked one hundred and ten percent miserable. Which had been an inaccurate representation of how she’d felt that night.
She’d been one hundred fifteen percent miserable.
“Yeah.” He glanced over her shoulder at the photo. “Our seventh-grade Halloween dance. I believe you went as—”
“The Fruit of the Loom grapes. Surrounding myself in a giant pile of balloons seemed like the best way to avoid accidental enchantments.”
His voice softened. “That was one of the last times we ever hung out. After that night, you…just disappeared. Why?”
She put the photo back on the shelf. “I’m a magician, and I was practicing my magic act?”
“Eliza.” Jake caught her hand between his. “What happened back then? Why did we stop being friends? Best friends.”
Why did this discussion make her feel twelve years old all over again? Awkward and sweaty and deliriously attracted to Jake Sanders. “I started feeling things. For you, I mean.”
“Me?” He seemed genuinely shocked by her revelation.
“Yes, you. And I knew that if we kept spending time together, I’d eventually accidentally enchant you.”
He laughed. “So?”
“So, when I accidentally enchanted you and discovered you weren’t attracted to me, I would have been devastated. I couldn’t stand the idea of having my heart broken and losing my best friend all because of one clumsy move.”
“That wouldn’t have happened, you know.” His voice was barely a whisper. “Because all those feelings you were having? I was having them too. For you.”
The sadness in his expression poked the darkest recesses of her heart. If she could only go back and shake some sense into the preteen version of herself… They’d wasted so much time. She’d wasted so much time.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“You’re forgiven.” He skimmed her cheekbone with his thumb, all tenderness and nostalgia. “I’m glad it didn’t work out back then.”
“You are?”
He nodded. “Teenage Jake would have screwed things up somehow. Then I probably wouldn’t be here with you. Right now. At twelve-oh-two in the morning, wondering if I’m ever going to convince you that you’re it for me, Eliza.”
“Twelve-oh-two?” She whipped around to look at the clock again. Sure enough, the seconds had begun ticking by at a normal pace once again. Rich, buttery relief flowed over her. They’d made it through to the other side, and if the way Jake was looking at her was any indication, not a thing had changed.
“Enchantment officially done,” he said.
She closed the space between them, sinking into his warmth and hardness all over again. But this time she made space in her brain for that little voice that kept telling her things could be different this time. Maybe it didn’t have to end in heartache and disaster.
“Enchantment officially done,” she repeated.
Chapter 15.5
Calif. CCR § 107.12. For malpractice purposes, Cu
pids shall not be legally liable for affection-related mishaps occurring on or after midnight on the last day of the applicable moon cycle.
I stare at her face, looking for the smallest hints in the flicker of her dark lashes, a tiny clue in the way she purses those delicate lips. Nothing.
Eliza features are blank in a way I’ve never seen before. I’ve pictured this moment a hundred times in the last few weeks, and blank-as-the-Jetsons’-robot was never the expression I’d planned on—or hoped for.
“Twelve-oh-two?” she whispers again.
I nod slowly, like I don’t want to spook her. “The enchantment is officially gone.”
“And?”
I gnaw at the inside of my cheek, trying to find the perfect words. And I feel exactly the same as I did two minutes ago? Not true. Two minutes ago, I Loved her a little less, because every second that I spend in her presence makes me fall harder than ever before.
And the harder I fall, the scarier things get. What if she’s the one who changes her mind? Will she somehow lose interest now that the enchantment’s gone? Am I going to end up in some flashback-to-the-seventh-grade scenario, where I end up at home, alone, holding my heart in my hands?
“Eliza?” I ask.
“Do you still want me?” Her voice shakes a little at the end, and she’s shifted her weight away from me and toward the door.
Time to leap out of the plane headfirst and pray my chute opens.
“I still want you, Eliza,” I finally say. I duck my chin so I can stare straight into those wide brown eyes. I don’t want there to a single drop of doubt clouding what I’m about to say. “It doesn’t matter that the enchantment is over. I still want you. Mentally, emotionally, physically. I want you curled up on the couch next to me, watching old game shows. I want you leaving a toothbrush in my apartment. I want you calling me first when Ron Weasley decides to crap out. I want—”
“Hey, Ron does his best.” A grin splits her face. The kind of grin that makes me ache everywhere but especially below the belt line.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think even that damn car is in love with Eliza. Not that I could blame it. She’s gorgeous.
