Lesson in Love (Olympians, 2) (10 page)

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?”