by Tina Folsom
“That view alone is worth a hundred plumbers.”
Her hand trembled when she set the half-empty coffee mug on the counter. “I should really get going.”
“Have a great day at work.”
“Thanks.” She quickly turned.
“Oh, and your truck is fixed,” he called after her.
She looked over her shoulder. “It is?” She’d fully expected to take the bus to her shop again.
Eros winked at her. “Another favor I called in. It was just the starter. Nothing major.”
“I really don’t know how to—” She stopped herself when she saw him smirk.
“As I said…” It appeared he enjoyed teasing her with sexual innuendos.
With a flushed face, she rushed out of the house. Outside she was grateful for the crisp morning air that helped cool her heated body. Another second in Eros’s presence and she would have jumped him right there in the kitchen. How could this man have such an effect on her? She barely knew him, and already she couldn’t keep her hands off him. What was happening to her cool head? To her resolve not to get involved? She had to pull herself together. Eros didn’t want a relationship. He’d made that clear from the start. Just like she didn’t want a relationship.
It was probably just the effects of the strong physical attraction that lay between them, the lust that was barely hidden beneath the surface, that made them both act like randy teenagers. It would settle soon; they’d lose interest in each other once the newness of it wore off.
Convinced of that, she headed for her truck, which started on the first try. Thankful for another problem Eros had solved for her, she pulled out of the parking space and drove off.
~ ~ ~
Eros had just emptied the remaining coffee in the sink, when the doorbell rang. He lifted an eyebrow. He rarely had visitors, however, when he reached the front door, he could already sense who was outside.
He opened the door. “Why so formal?” he asked Hermes, who stood outside, waiting patiently.
Hermes peered inside the house. “Wasn’t sure whether you were alone or not. Didn’t want to, you know…”
“I’m alone.” Eros stepped aside to let his fellow god enter.
Hermes marched inside, his winged sandals peeking from beneath his long pants as he walked. He went nowhere without them. And with good reason: if the sandals weren’t in his possession, or indeed the possession of any god, all gods would lose their power to teleport. It had happened once when his sandals had been stolen by a mortal, and Hermes was making sure there would be no repeat of that incident. In fact, Hermes had gone a step further: he’d married the thief. His old friend was nothing if not thorough.
“How have you been?” Hermes asked casually as he walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator like the place belonged to him.
“Fine. You?”
Hermes was fishing, that much was evident. But Eros wasn’t going to make this easy on him. If he wanted to make sure his friends believed he was dating Psyche, he had to pretend to hide that fact. It was all about reverse psychology.
“Good, good.” Hermes glanced around the kitchen, his eyes falling on the two coffee mugs that sat in the sink. He grinned, pointing to them. “I see you had an overnight guest.”
Eros shrugged, neither denying nor confirming his friend’s assumption. “What do you want?”
“Well, we’re having a little party tonight. To celebrate Penny’s first year of tenure at the university. Just a few couples. I was wondering if you wanted to come.”
“I thought that was a few days ago. Didn’t you tell me you got Hera to babysit so you and Penny could go to some fancy faculty thing?”
“We did, and we went. But this is a private event, not the big bash her department put on. This is just for us and our friends.”
“Hmm. I assume you’ve been planning this for a while?”
Hermes lifted his hands in defense. “Honestly, I wanted to invite you earlier, but Penny said since it was couples-only, you might feel ill at ease. But today I thought, well, that’s stupid. So I was thinking, what if I invite that new lecturer who’s working in Penny’s department, so you won’t be the only single person there? She has a really good personality.”
Eros shook his head. “Really? Hermes, really? You think I can’t scare up a date for a party that’s better than just somebody with a good personality?” Because he knew all too well what good personality was code for and what Hermes was trying to do: goad him into admitting he was seeing somebody—which incidentally played right into Eros’s hands. He wouldn’t have to come up with an idea on how to stage another performance with his pretend girlfriend.
“No, of course not. But given how things have been with you, I didn’t want to assume—”
“I’m bringing a date.” Eros shooed him toward the door. “Now get out of here. I’ve got things to do.”
Hermes walked toward the door. “Seven o’clock sharp.”
“You cooking?” Eros called after him.
“Course I am. With a little help from upstairs.”
It was no surprise that Hermes was calling upon the help of the fairies, the pint-sized servants of the gods. Which reminded him: his place needed a little tidying up, too.
“Fairies,” he called out, and a moment later three of the tiny, magical creatures appeared in front of him. They would have looked human, if not for the delicate, glittering wings sprouting from their backs.
“How may we serve you, oh mighty god Eros?” they asked in unison.
“Make the beds, clean the bathrooms, tidy up. I’ve got things to take care of.”
The three fairies bowed at once like a synchronized swimming team. “It shall be done, oh mighty god Eros.”
Eros smiled. It was good to be a god.
18
Eros took Psyche’s hand when he stopped at the front door of Hermes’ house. The sun had set, but a motion-sensor light had come on, illuminating the entry. He turned to Psyche. She looked stunning in a simple black dress that hugged her figure like a glove. Making it through dinner without dragging her off to some intimate, dark corner would be quite a challenge.
“Let’s play things down, like we’re trying not to make a big deal of the fact we’re dating.”
“If you think that’ll work,” she said.
“Anything too obvious, and they’ll know we’re trying to fool them. And be careful: my friends have probably talked their wives into cornering you and asking about us. If they do, just say it’s too early to say where this will lead, and that we barely know each other.” Which was true in a way. It was nobody’s business how intimately they’d gotten to know each other the previous night. Besides, all that was separate from their fake relationship and had nothing to do with their deal.
“I’m ready,” she whispered.
He nodded and rang the doorbell. Eros barely had enough time to take a breath, before the door was ripped open by Ariadne, who held her son Thoas in her arms. The boy was dressed in his pajamas. She appeared a little frazzled. Music and voices came from the living room, and the clatter of dishes could be heard coming from the kitchen.
“Oh hi, Eros,” she said, then cast a smile and a nod to Psyche. “Come in, guys.”
Eros put his hand on the small of Psyche’s back and ushered her indoors, then closed the door behind them.
“Psyche, this is Ariadne, Dionysus’s wife. Ari, this is Psyche.”
Ari nodded. “Hi, Psyche, nice to meet you. Dio mentioned meeting you recently.”
“Nice to meet you, too, Ariadne.” Psyche hesitantly held her hand out. “I didn’t realize that Dio was short for Dionysus.”
Eros exchanged a quick look with Ari, indicating that he would handle this. “Yeah, funny name, but everybody just calls him Dio.”
Thoas was grouchy, and was twisting and turning in his mother’s arms, and for once Eros was glad that Dio’s son was providing an excuse not to go into further details about Dio’s full name.
&
nbsp; Ari cast an apologetic look at Psyche. “Sorry, I’d shake your hand, but I’ve gotta get this boy upstairs. We couldn’t find a babysitter on such short notice, so we had to bring him. Excuse me.” She set one foot on the first step. “Oh, and the kitchen is off limits right now. You know Hermes when he’s cooking.”
Oh yeah, he knew all too well how Hermes cooked: he issued orders, and the fairies executed them to a T.
As Ari rushed upstairs, Eros turned to Psyche and whispered to her, “Just as I assumed. They threw this party together after Dio saw us at the restaurant the other night. They want to see if their matchmaking worked, or if they need to toss another woman in my path.”
Psyche sighed. “Are your friends really that devious?”
Eros pulled one side of his mouth up and tilted his head. “If you knew my friends, that wouldn’t even be a question.” Then he pointed to where the voices were coming from. “Come, let me introduce you.”
At the door to the living room, Eros stopped and peeked in. He saw his fellow gods, Dio and Triton, as well as Sophia and Penny, Hermes’ wife. But there were more guests than he had expected: Francesca, one of Sophia’s friends, was present with a man in tow, and there was another couple, most likely friends of Hermes or Penny. His friends had gone through the trouble of finding a few extra people to make the party look real. He had to hand it to them, they went all out when they wanted something bad enough. The question was: why did they want him to be in a relationship again?
Dio suddenly spotted them and waved, drawing the attention of the rest of the guests onto Eros and Psyche.
His hand still on Psyche’s back, Eros guided her into the room. “Hey, guys. Are we late?”
“Eros, about time,” Dio said, glancing at Psyche with a grin. “Nice to see you again, Psyche.”
“Evening, everybody,” Psyche said. She smiled at Triton and Sophia. “Hi, nice to see you.”
Sophia smiled warmly. “Hi, Psyche.” Then she turned her head to Eros. “Eros, why don’t you introduce your date to everybody?”
“Sure, where are my manners?” he replied. “This is Psyche, uh…” He hesitated on purpose, before he added, “A friend. Psyche, these are my friends: Triton and Sophia you know, of course. And you’ve met Dio.” He then pointed to Penny. “This is Penny, Hermes’ wife, and our host.”
Psyche took a step toward Penny and shook her hand. “Thank you so much for the invitation. You have a beautiful home.”
“Thank you, I’m glad you could come.”
Eros looked at Francesca and her date. “This is Francesca, a good friend of Sophia’s.” He addressed Francesca directly. “Haven’t seen you in ages. You look great! But I don’t know your date’s name.”
Francesca pointed to the man next to her. “Oh, I thought you knew Leo. We work together.”
“Hi, Leo, nice to meet you,” Eros said politely, before Psyche greeted the two. Then Eros turned to the other couple in the room and extended his hand. “I don’t think we’ve met.”
Penny jumped in with an introduction. “These are our neighbors, Rick and Barbara.”
Eros shook their hands. “Nice to meet you.”
Psyche followed suit.
Then there was silence for a short moment, before Penny said, “How about some drinks? Dio, why don’t you open another bottle?”
While Dio followed the suggestion, Penny smiled at Psyche again. “Dinner should be ready in a few minutes.” She pointed to the door that led into the kitchen. “I’d better check on the progress.”
When everybody had drinks in their hands a few minutes later, Ariadne came back into the living room.
She snatched her husband’s glass of wine and took a large sip. “Phew, I needed that. Dio, pour me one, will you?” Then she turned around and offered her hand to Psyche. “Sorry I wasn’t able to greet you properly earlier, but when Thoas is tired, he’s more than a handful.”
“How old is he?” Psyche asked politely.
Ari laughed. “Twenty-three months going on five years.”
“He’s growing up really fast,” Eros chimed in, inserting himself in the conversation.
“He’s the brightest little boy in the world,” Dio said from behind him and handed a glass of wine to his wife.
Eros rolled his eyes and winked at Psyche. “Only Dio can make such a claim and get away with it.”
Psyche chuckled softly, and the sound sent a pleasant tingle down Eros’s spine. “Wouldn’t any father?” There was a humorous sparkle in her eyes.
“See,” Dio replied, his chest puffing out with pride. “Your girlfriend gets it.”
Eros cleared his throat and pinned Dio with his gaze. “Psyche and I are just—”
“Dinner is ready,” Penny interrupted from the door to the kitchen.
~ ~ ~
Psyche felt her nervousness melt away during the lively dinner conversation. All of Eros’s friends were witty, smart, and, at times, loud. But most of all, they were charming and extraordinarily friendly to her, including her in the conversation as if they’d known her for years. She sensed their connection to each other, their friendship and respect for each other, despite the fact that the men were constantly exchanging verbal jabs. The women laughed and occasionally rolled their eyes at their husbands’ boisterous behavior, when it was clear that they were telling tall tales.
Psyche hadn’t enjoyed herself like this in a long time, realizing that even though she’d made a few friends in Charleston since she’d moved here, none of them were really close. What Eros had here was very different. It felt like family, and she, watching them as an outsider, felt a yearning for the same kind of belonging.
One thing had, however, stunned her when the introductions had been made earlier: she’d suddenly realized that all of Eros’s friends had Greek names, just like Eros himself. And not only that. She seemed to recall from the little she knew about Greek mythology that Eros, Hermes, and Dionysus were the names of Greek gods. She wasn’t sure about Triton, but recalled that there’d been a Triton on some mermaid movie, and from what she could remember, he was a god, too. Strange.
“You okay?” Eros suddenly murmured to her while Triton and Hermes were telling a joke at the other end of the table, constantly interrupting each other and claiming their version was the correct one.
“Yeah, this is great.” She met his eyes. “They are all very nice.” She leaned closer to him. “Are you sure they wouldn’t understand if you just told them—” His hand squeezing her arm stopped her.
“I know my friends.” Then he chuckled. “Besides, this way everybody is having fun.”
Psyche laughed softly. “You’re terrible.”
“I know.” He slowly dropped his hand underneath the table and placed it on her thigh. “I can be even worse.”
A shiver raced through her. Both his touch and his words ignited a spark inside her. “Behave,” she begged.
“I will—while we’re here. But once we leave…” He let the sentence hang there and withdrew his hand. Then, as if nothing had happened at all, he lifted his glass. “We haven’t toasted to Penny yet.”
Everybody raised their glasses.
“Congratulations on your first year as a tenured professor,” Eros said.
All the guests toasted to Penny and repeated the wishes.
“Thank you all so much,” Penny gushed. “But I couldn’t have done it without my wonderful husband, who’s been so supportive all this time.” She leaned over the table and Hermes did the same, kissing her tenderly.
“To the best Greek mythology professor in the world!” he said loudly, then added more quietly, “And the most wonderful wife any man could have.”
“Okay, you two, get a room,” Eros suggested with a grin.
Psyche took a sip from her glass. Penny was teaching Greek mythology? What were the odds of a Greek mythology professor being married to a man who was named after a Greek god?
Hermes turned his head. “I have a better idea. How about you guys
get out of here.”
Penny rose, shaking her head at him and laughing. “You’re terrible. We still have dessert!”
Her husband shrugged, chuckling. “They can have it to go.”
Still laughing, Penny walked into the kitchen. Hermes grimaced at his guests. “Guess you’re all getting your dessert before I get mine.”
The entire table broke out in laughter, when Psyche suddenly noticed a movement in the hallway. She turned her head. A stunningly beautiful woman with long dark hair was standing outside the dining room. She was dressed in tight jeans accentuating her slim figure, and a rather fetching tunic that shimmered in different tones of gold and silver. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties. Her eyes searched the dining room, before they finally fell on Hermes, and she made her presence known.
“Hermes?”
Everybody turned their heads, and the laughter quieted.
Hermes jumped up as if he’d been stung by a hornet. “Oh, Hera, is something wrong with Panos?”
“No, nothing,” she said quickly. “He’s sleeping now. I think it’s time for me to leave.”
Just then, Sophia got up and grabbed a few plates. “Better make some room for dessert,” she said.
Psyche felt awkward not helping, so she jumped up, too. “Let me help you.” She gathered a few plates and followed Sophia into the kitchen, but paused at the entryway, feeling the stranger’s eyes on her. She glanced back; the woman was looking her up and down as if to assess her. Oddly intimidated by her gaze, Psyche entered the kitchen. She stacked the plates on top of the ones Sophia had placed in the sink.
“You know what I realized tonight, Sophia?” Psyche said in a low voice.
Sophia turned her head to her and looked at her expectantly. “What?”
“Your husband as well as Eros and their other two friends all have the names of Greek gods. Isn’t that funny?”