Page 43 of Hades and Persephone: Keeper of Sins

“She’s just—she’s judgy, I guess.” I sigh, pushing potatoes around my plate. “The worst part was Addison,” I pause to explain. “One of the guys I work with, well, he heard it all. And then he saved me from her.”

Hades tenses. It’s faint, but it’s there. “How did he save you?”

“I was paired with him today. Normally, he’s flirty and easygoing. Today, during the call, I saw a different side of him. He gave me an excuse to hang up on her that I wouldn’t have to pay for later. But after the call, he stayed serious. He was someone I could actually talk to, you know? Just different from his usual. Still, I had a hard time feeling like myself after that call, and Addison respected that.”

Hades studies me a moment too long. Discomfort blooms over my skin and I shift in my chair as I pick at my chicken.

“Is he someone you can see yourself with?” His voice is smooth, but there’s an undercurrent of something dark and dangerous. A riptide that threatens to pull me under.

“You mean romantically?” Hades nods and I shakemy head. “I’m not sure. I don’t have a lot of romantic experience.”

He raises a brow. “No?”

I blush. “No.”

“Are you attracted to him?”

I’m attracted to you.“He’s handsome.”I shouldn’t be attracted to you.“And age appropriate.”

I can’t believe I said that. What the hell is wrong with me?

Hades’ grin is ruggedly delicious. “Age appropriate?”

I slide off the stool. “Dinner was delicious, Hades, but I can’t eat another bite. Thank you.”

He sips his wine and watches as I clear my plate into a container for lunch tomorrow. By the time I’m finished, his plate is cleared so I busy myself with loading the dishwasher, happy to do something to earn my pay.

When I turn around, I see that Hades has refilled my wine glass, and is already walking into the living room. Swiping my glass from the counter, I follow him. I take a seat on the massive sectional, careful to put space between us.

I’ve been losing the plot lately when it comes to Hades. After the night in the pool, and then this morning—space is smart.

I need space.

Without space, I’m liable to do something stupid.

“Tell me about Addison,” Hades says after a moment.

I frown. I’m surprised he’s still thinking about Addison. “Um, I don’t know what to say.”

“You think he is attractive.”

“Well, I mean, I think every girl thinks he’s attractive.” I blush a bright shade of cherry red and sip my wine in another foolish attempt to cool down. It does nothing but heat my blood. “He’s kind of an Adonis.”

Hades makes a noise of surprise, for the first time since I’ve known him, losing his composure. “What did you say?”

“You know the expression. A player. A man all the women swoon for.”

He clears his throat. “Do you swoon for him?”

I consider. “Not really, no.”

I’m kind of stupidly obsessed with fantasizing about my very unattainable boss.

“But?”

I don’t know how the man always knows when there’s more. He can read me like no other. Not even my parents, who have known me since my very first breath, know me like Hades seems to know me. It’s disconcerting and yet not. Under all the bewilderinghow’s, there’s a comfort in being so easily read by someone else.

“I’m going to be twenty years old, Hades, and I’ve never been kissed.”Okay, I don’t know why I tell him that.Must be that weird ability the man has to pull every truth, uncomfortable or otherwise, from the deep of me. I shift, unnerved. “I’ve never had a boyfriend or experimented or—” I loose a shaky sigh, pushing a lock of hair behind my ear as I resettle myself on the couch. “It feels nice to have someone want me, I guess. To be interested in me.” I can’t believe I’m saying this. “And I think I’m just a little curious.”

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