Counterfeit Cupid (Mt. Olympus Employment Agency: Cupid #2)(25)

A woman in white stood above me, fussing with my pillow. “Ah. Good. You’re back.” She took my pulse. “Excellent. You’re doing great. We’ll give you a few minutes, then get that IV out of you. The doctor said you can go whenever you’re ready.”

“Go?” I frowned. That seemed rushed. Shouldn’t a doctor see me? How long had I been out? Wasn’t there some sort of observation period? I opened my mouth to ask all my questions, but she’d already turned away and left the room.

“Half an hour.” Josh’s voice made me jump. He sat in the corner on the other side of me.

“I didn’t see you there. Half an hour of what?”

“You’ve been out for half an hour. I figured the first thing you’d want to know is how long you’ve been out. I lost you in the car and rushed you in here. We’ve been here about fifteen minutes.”

I frowned. “That’s nowhere near enough time to stitch me up and put in an IV, let alone give it time to work on me.”

He shrugged and smiled. “Sure. In the mortal world. We’re in Mt. Olympus. This is the employee medical clinic. They have…other ways of taking care of us.”

I blinked at him. “You said you were taking me to the hospital.”

“I didn’t say which one.”

“I guess that’s fair.” I sighed. “I guess we’re going to see your boss after this. Time for me to pay for my crimes.”

He chuckled. “I’m sure it’s not so bad. Ellen’s actually very nice.”

“If you say so.” I felt the bandage on my arm. “Thanks for taking care of me.”

He smiled. “I couldn’t let you bleed to death. You’re far too pretty to die tragically.”

I laughed. “Well, you’re too cute not to make a heroic rescue.”

We stared at each other for a long moment. Butterflies fluttered in my belly, and my palms felt slick.

“I’m going to kiss you now.” He moved from the chair to the side of my bed.

“Thank goodness.”

His lips met mine in a soft kiss that made all that fresh blood in my body pump faster. My breath caught, and he pulled me closer, crushing me against his chest. I wrapped my arms around him, inhaling the scent of clean laundry and freshly mown grass.

When we parted, I sighed, content. No more first dates. No more waiting.

My true love was a Cupid. Somehow, it seemed fitting.





13. Josh


Ellen lectured the hell out of Annie when I took her up there to face the music. I prayed to the gods they wouldn’t decide to wipe her memory. But I was determined that if the worst happened, I’d move to Dallas and win her over again from scratch. She’d shown me that true love was real, so I wasn’t the least bit worried that she wouldn’t fall in love with me again if that’s the way it went. She was my One, and I was hers. It would work out.

That was the moment I realized I’d been had. My special mission to save true love had been Annie all along. It was our love that was in danger. The Fates were tricky like that.

Ellen laughed at me when I asked about the blood test for Annie. “Honey, don’t you know by now everyone has at least a drop of god blood in them? If somebody needs to work here, we use the god-blood thing as a reason. But it’s a bluff. Everybody qualifies.”

She stamped some paperwork and pushed it toward Annie to sign.

“What’s this?” Annie picked up a pink pen with a feather on the end and pulled the papers toward her.

“Expedited application forms. I’m afraid your paychecks are going to be a little light for awhile, though.” She glanced at the destroyed wings in the corner. “We can excuse the blood in the line of duty, but the glitter and craft stuff is willful destruction of department property. A shame, because I think they were probably a lot prettier your way, but I’m just middle management and don’t make the rules.” She pointed at a spot on one of the papers. “And there’s the Cleaning Agents from the Protection department having to be called out. Somebody’s got to pay for all those Hummels and Precious Moments they had to replace.”

Annie stared at the application. “But how will I pay my bills?”

I chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’m betting even with the deductions, you’ll probably make twice what you make at the hotel.”

“Oh.” She started to sign then looked at Ellen. “Really?”

Ellen nodded. “You’re going to be happy here. I promise.”

*

And she was. With proper training, Annie became one of the best Cupids they’d ever had, rivaling even Ellen’s record.

Annie’s first job had been to go back to her apartment complex and finish undoing the bad matches she’d made. Of the twelve she’d made, eight—including the roommates Dwight and Daisy—had been keepers. And none of the bad ones had been so terrible they drove the couple into a heated madness that made the try to kill each other.

Ellen took Annie’s side on the matter of Stuart and Michelle. She told her to let the match stand, but keep an eye on them. Those two still had some issues to work out.

To my surprise, I actually enjoyed working in the Underworld. At first, I’d taken it as a punishment, but realized by the third day of running souls across the river Styx, it was just a job like any other. And this time, I liked what I was doing.