Goddess of Light (Goddess Summoning #3)(67)

She shouldn't. She knew she shouldn't. She didn't want to be loved by a god. She had liked things the way they were before he had suddenly become an all-powerful immortal. She wanted her Phoebus back...

"Fine," she said suddenly. "We'll have to buy you a shirt on the way out," she glanced at Artemis. "At least you're okay dressed like that. We'll just say you're in costume." She faltered, "Just... just stay there. I'll hurry."

She closed her bedroom door and rested her head against it. He was Apollo. Her insides shivered as the reality of it settled into her. Her lover was the Greek god, Apollo. He had lived for eons. Temples had been built to honor him. Songs had been sung of him. His hands, which had stroked every part of her body, were the same hands that had brought music to the ancient world. And he said he loved her. She pressed a trembling hand to her mouth, overwhelmed by a sudden surge of shock and disbelief and awe.

She should tell Faust she didn't want the job, get on a plane and fly directly back to Colorado. She should forget this weekend ever happened. That was the smart thing to do. But she already knew she wasn't going to do the smart thing.

The God of Light said he was in love with her.

"I'm probably making the most gihugic mistake of my life," she whispered.

They were standing outside the revolving doors that swished into Caesars Palace exactly twenty-five minutes later while Pamela's stomach churned like she was just getting ready to bungee jump.

"Remember, you're Phoebus Delos, a specialist in ancient Roman architecture. I called you in to help advise me on this project. And you're his sister, Diana. You - "

"Have the beauty of a goddess," she broke off Pamela's nervous repetition of instructions. "Yes, yes. We know our parts. We're immortals, not imbeciles."

"I was going to say that you are to remember to be nice," Pamela said.

"My words will be so sweet that they could make honey in my mouth like the brown bees of Greece," Artemis with an innocent bat of her long eyelashes.

"Okay, you're giving me a headache," Pamela told her. "Just be normal. Is that too much to ask?"

"She will keep her oath. You need not worry, sweet Pamela," Apollo said.

"Don't call me that. You're just supposed to be my employee," she said, and then hated the hurt that she saw flash across the god's handsome face. The god... How in the hell had she gotten herself into this situation? She was dating Apollo.

She was doomed.

She'd read the literature. Even though she didn't remember it too exactly or too well, she knew what happened to mortals who caught the attention of the gods - especially mortals were also happened to be females. Never a good ending, especially for the woman. Besides that, what was she going to do with him all week? She already knew the two of them had no money. She'd found that out when he'd reached into his pocket to pay the cashier for the shirt he'd worn out of the store and discovered that somehow (possibly during the hasty extraction of his clothes last night right before he screwed her against the marble column) he'd lost the four thousand dollars he'd filched from the slot machine. So he didn't have a dime. Neither did Artemis. And the portal wouldn't reopen for five really long days.

"Good morning, Miss Gray."

Pamela jumped. She hadn't even noticed that the silver vintage limo had pulled up in front of them.

"Oh, good morning Robert." He opened the door for her, and she paused, cleared her throat, and put on her best businesswoman's smile. "These two will be joining us today. They are my assistants."

Robert looked down his slender nose at the golden twins. He sniffed once.

"Very good, madam," he said, holding the door open and helping first Pamela and then the costumed woman to enter the limo. When the tall man hesitated, Robert gave him a very British look (cool and polite without being overly concerned). '"Is something amiss, sir?"

If Apollo still had his powers he would have used them at that moment to open the ground beneath him so that he could be swallowed out of sight. From the inside of the metal beast Pamela and Artemis were watching him with mirrored expressions of curiosity. Then his sister suddenly seemed to understand.

"It really is very nice in here," she called out to him. "It's nothing to be worried about." She patted the seat next to her.

"I am not worried," Apollo spoke with tight control. He took a deep breath and entered the maw of the thing.

"Please help yourselves to the mimosas. The trip to Mr. Faust's estate in Red Rock Canyon will take approximately thirty minutes." Robert closed the door.

To Apollo it seemed that he had only taken a couple of short breaths, and then they were moving forward, gliding like a smooth-limbed reptile out into the street. There was an awful rolling feeling in his stomach, and his ears were ringing. He couldn't stop staring at the world outside as it whizzed by at a dizzying pace.

"Are you okay? You look pale," Pamela said.

"She's right, you do," Artemis said. "Perhaps something to drink would help." She started to reach for the ice bucket, which held a bottle of champagne and a slender glass pitcher of orange juice.

"No! I don't want anything to drink." He had the oddest feeling inside of him, and he was afraid if he tried to drink something, it would come right back up.