Lesson in Love (Olympians, 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

of
asking me out.”
    “ How do you know I’m
asking you out?”
    “ What else could you be
doing?”
    “ I mean I literally just
want to prove to you I’m not a bad guy. Spend some time with me.
Let me show you what other women see.”
    Iris thought quickly. Her problem with
him had always been that she didn’t see what other women saw. When
she looked at Eros, she saw past the looks and charm. She saw his
potential. He was so good at making others happy because he liked
doing it. She also saw how lonely he truly was. She knew she wasn’t
fooling herself on that point.
    She finally asked, “What do you have
in mind?”
    He paused, and she wondered if he’d
expected her to flat out say no.
    “ Well, maybe a walk on the
beach? Nothing formal like dinner. Just spend some time
together.”
    “ All right.
When?”
    “ Tonight?”
    “ Okay. Come and get me at
midnight.” She got up and walked back to her office. Walk on the beach, huh? And perhaps a bit of
frolicking in the waves? He was going to
have to do better than this.
    * * * *
    Eros made sure he showed up exactly on
time. Being early would make him look anxious, and being late would
be inconsiderate and irresponsible. She most likely expected him to
be late, given her opinion of him, so he planned to be on his best
behavior.
    He appeared outside her office and
knocked lightly before walking in.
    She stood and picked up her sweater.
“Are we ready to go?”
    He nodded. “Yeah. I’m ready if you
are.”
    She nodded and walked out of the
office. She waited for him to follow her out and then locked the
door. She waved to the girl cleaning up behind the bar before they
left.
    “ Are we driving?” she
asked.
    Normally he would show off one of his
cars, which he changed depending on his mood, but after a moment’s
thought he decided against it. “We can just go there. Much
quicker.”
    He snapped his fingers and they found
themselves on a deserted beach. She smirked, but then coughed to
hide it, and he knew she was laughing because he’d snapped his
fingers. His mother and Hera did that all the time, but most of the
other gods never did. He had no idea why he’d done it. For all he
knew, his mother had implanted the idea deep in his subconscious.
He took a breath and decided to try to forget about it. Iris would
never think he was a good guy who deserved a chance if he started
pouting because she’d laughed at him.
    She looked out over the water. “I know
where we are.” She pointed to the opposite shore. “Layla’s cottage
is over there. We’re right above one of Poseidon’s
lairs.”
    Eros sat down to take off his shoes
and roll up his pants. He tried not to imagine Iris down there with
Poseidon. He didn’t want to think about her having ever been with
Poseidon at all. Everyone knew about his taste for bondage and
other erotic games, so his playroom was no secret. Eros simply
didn’t like the idea of the other god making love to
Iris.
    Iris put one foot up on a rock and
undid her sandal, kicked it off, and then did the same with the
other. “It’s a nice evening.”
    “ Yeah, it is.” Small talk! We’re making small talk! He tried to think of something to say to spark a
conversation, but he drew a blank.
    She took a deep breath as he stood up
and they walked across the sand. He expected her to say something,
but she just walked by his side. She obviously meant for him to do
all the work. She was giving him the chance he wanted, but her
standards had been set pretty high. Or so it seemed to him. Her
silence made him nervous, so he was probably just
paranoid.
    “ So…do you like the sea?
It seems like you would.”
    She nodded. “I do. I didn’t for a long
time. My father is a sea god, my mother an ocean nymph, and my aunt
Amphitrite was married to Poseidon at one point. I hardly knew life
away from the sea. I jumped at the chance to be Hera’s messenger.
She said I would be perfect. Rainbows connect the sea and the land,
the water and the