Tall, Dark and Divine Read Online Free PDF Page A

came out to run along her top lip. “How?” she asked.
    He moved his gaze up to her eyes, forgetting for a moment what they’d been talking about. “Excuse me?”
    “You said you know me. How?”
    Oh. “You work in the dog bakery on Steinway. My office is across the street.”
    “The law office?”
    He shook his head and watched the realization dawn in her eyes. They widened. “The matchmaking agency?”
    He nodded. And waited for her to speak. When she did, it wasn’t what he’d expected to hear. “Unusual job for a man. But I guess with a name like yours, you didn’t have much choice.”
    Not really, no. Although not for the reason she imagined.
    She added, “How come I haven’t seen you before?”
    “You haven’t worked there very long.”
    “Two years.”
    Well, yes. In human terms, that was a long time.
    “I don’t get out much.” Eros shrugged.
    She nodded sympathetically. Opened her mouth and then seemed to think better of it. Her cheeks colored again.
    “What?”
    She shook her head. And took another sip of the Cosmo. And coughed.
    “Maybe you should go easy on the drinks,” Eros said.
    She swiped at her eyes again. “Because I can’t hold my liquor?”
    That. And: “Because Dion seems to have mixed that one with rocket fuel. I don’t want to have to carry you home and pour you into bed.”
    There was a beat of silence where all she did was stare at him, while Eros wished he’d kept his mouth shut.
    “I thought you said I wasn’t your type,” Annie said eventually.
    “Actually, I said I wasn’t yours.” Although she wasn’t his, either. Another mortal. Innocent, fragile, impressionable, beautiful…and tipsy. No way. “But someone has to make sure you get home safely.”
    “I can take care of myself,” Annie said. “I’m twenty-eight years old. I’ve been on my own a long time.”
    Not as long as he had. And twenty-eight years—that was barely more than a blip of time.
    “Besides, I’m not ready to leave yet.” She turned away from him and picked up the glass for another sip. A more cautious one this time.
    “That’s fine. I’m not, either.” And if he played this right, he wouldn’t be the one taking her home and pouring her into bed, anyway. It wasn’t like he wanted the job, after all. “So what are you looking for?”
    He picked up his own glass and swirled the wine around. It was full again. How was Dion doing that? He wasn’t even here. He was—Eros twisted on the barstool to scan the room—over there, talking to Silenus and Ariadne. Or talking to Silenus while looking at Ariadne. Len seemed oblivious to the tension, grinning up at his foster son, but Ariadne eyed Dion the way she would a piece of chewing gum stuck to the bottom of her shoe. A piece of unpredictable chewing gum that might at any moment jump up and adhere itself to some other part of her.
    Eros shook his head. One of these days he’d have to deal with those two. He’d put it off for a while—centuries—hoping they’d work things out on their own, but it looked like that wasn’t going to happen, and his intervention would be needed after all.
    “What do you mean?” Annie said, drawing his attention.
    “Excuse me?”
    “What makes you think I’m looking for something?”
    Oh. “You’re here.” A single woman, drinking alone in a bar at night. In the middle of New York. Getting more and more tipsy every minute. “I assumed you were looking for company. That’s what most people want when they go to a place like this.”
    Especially the ones wearing clingy dresses and red shoes that screamed, Take me now.
    She tilted her head to look at him. “Is that what you’re looking for? Company?”
    Eros hesitated. “I guess. Like I said, I haven’t gotten out much lately.”
    She nodded.
    “I was sick of staring at the same four walls. And I’d run out of wine.”
    She smiled. It was a small smile, but it was genuine.
    “My wife left me.” He wasn’t sure why he said it. Except…he