Page 4 of Matchmaking With Cupid

CUPID

The door of my office opened and I looked up in time to see Aine striding in with easy confidence that could only come with being the CEO of a successful company like Jinx. And of someone who was equally satisfied with the other aspects of her life. Nobody was confused about what she and Min got up to when her office door was closed. Apparently, she had no such worries about walking in on me.

"Do you have a minute, Cupid?" she asked.

I nodded and leaned back in my seat. "You're the boss."

She pulled out the chair on the visitor's side of the desk and sat down. "I wanted to talk to you about Valentine's Day."

I scowled, unable to help myself. "That nonsense?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to believe in it?"

"Why? Because they draw me as a cute little baby on all the cards and tell people that Cupid will hit them with his arrows?" I bunched my hand into a fist and tried to ignore the annoyance rising inside me. I don't know who it was that started that trend, but I hated it. With a passion.

"Have you ever done that?"

"Only to people that annoyed me," I responded offhandedly. "And they didn't fall in love, they just bled out."

A small smile quirked at the edges of her lips. "They do say that all is fair in love and war."

"They'd be wrong." I'd seen enough of both to be certain about that.

"Mmm. Anyway, even if you don't like Valentine's Day, we're a dating agency, we can't ignore it," she pointed out. "What do you need in order to put together an event?"

"I thought you had a team for that?" I had no idea why she was asking this of me when I was in charge of the matchmaking arm of Jinx and had nothing to do with any of the events that were held here.

She sighed. "I do. But I need a love god to helm it."

"You're a love goddess," I pointed out. "And it's also Min's domain." Though I supposed he was technically a fertility god, but most people considered that as being a love god, especially when he was part of the Council of love gods.

"Neither of us are well known enough," she countered. "At least, outside of the god realm. I could ask Aphrodite..."

My scowl deepened at the mention of the Greek goddess.

"But she's only a contractor, I'd rather have a god who worked for Jinx be the one to host the event," Aine continued, either not noticing my reaction or outright ignoring it. It could go either way.

I sighed. "Fine. But Aphrodite can't be the event organiser."

"I'll make sure it's someone else." If anything, Aine looked a little relieved, which I suspected might be because she wouldn't have to deal with a potential battle of the wills between a Roman and a Greek god. It was fair. Iwasa Roman god and I didn't want to deal with it.

"Are you thinking of a general mixer, or something else?" I asked, resigning myself to the reality of having to head a Valentine's Day party. What was good for the company was ultimately good for me. I enjoyed my job, and I wanted to do more of it. I hadn't had a chance like Jinx in a very long time.

"Whatever you think is best."

"That's how you end up with orgies," I muttered.

"Okay then, whatever is bestandkeeps people's clothes on until they're out the door. Once they're there, they can do what they want." She probably wouldn't mind if people took their clothes off afterwards, it would likely count as the sign of a good party.

"And I'm guessing you don't want any animal sacrifices?" I checked though I wasn't really serious. She'd never approve of that and I doubted most of our guests would either.

She raised an eyebrow. "What exactly did you use to do in Rome?"

I shrugged. "It would have been Lupercalia rather than Valentine's Day. I was never technically involved, that was all Lupercus."

"Ah." Understanding dawned on her face. Probably because she'd met the Roman fertility god herself and knew what he was like. That was the thing about love gods, most of them knew one another. And not just in a friendly way. I'd tried my best to stay out of it, even though it was sometimes easy to fall into temptation.

"Priests would sacrifice goats and dogs, and then there'd be whipping, nakedness, and matchmaking," I said.

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