Page 32 of Matchmaking With Cupid

"What?" The world spun around me. I supposed we hadn't been the most covert in our interactions with one another. "I'm just working with him on the Hades account."

"Mmhmm. No one will care, by the way." She headed inside and started off her morning coffee.

I wasn't really sure what to do with myself. There was a part of me that wanted to deny everything she was saying, but that also felt like a risky strategy, especially when things seemed to be going well with Cupid.

I went over to my desk and started with my work. I was somewhat surprised by the lack of message from Hades about the date on Friday, but then, things had seemed to be going well for the two of them from what Cupid and I saw, so maybe they'd decided to give things another go. It would certainly be a victory for the matchmaking department if we managed to get them to reconcile.

I moved on to some of the other jobs I had to do, only pausing to smile at Cupid when he came back from whatever errand had him out of the office.

It was almost lunchtime when the doors swung open and Aine strode inside. Seeing our big boss in the matchmaking department wasn't unheard of, but it was still intimidating to have a love goddess in our midst.

"Is Cupid in?" she asked Sasha.

"In his office."

"Good. I'll see him now." Her gaze landed on me. "You too, Ms Finch."

I swallowed hard. She'd probably just found out about mine and Cupid's match and was here to remind us to fill in the relevant paperwork. Even as I thought it, I knew that was wrong. It could easily be sent in an email rather than coming in person.

I got to my feet and straightened out my dress, following the goddess into Cupid's office.

He looked up surprised, his expression turning to concern when he saw me.

"Close the door," Aine said.

I did as she asked, not moving away from it.

"Would the two of you like to explain to me why I came into the office to complaints from HadesandPersephone that they'd been set up on a date by our matchmaking department?" Aine asked, looking between the two of us.

I swallowed hard. Clearly that was why we hadn't heard from Hades this morning.

"Hades is our client," Cupid said. "Persephone has just joined the service."

"I understand that, but why were they set up on a date together? Isn't your algorithm meant to stop exes from being matched?"

"It was an accident," I said.

She whipped around to look at me. "An accident?"

"Yes. We didn't realise it had happened until they'd both accepted the date." I tried not to think about exactlyhowthat had happened. She was a love goddess, she'd probably be able to sense something about the way I was responding. Maybe. I didn't actually know how it worked.

"It was my fault," Cupid said. "I knocked a button on my computer and didn't realise."

"You knocked a button?" The disbelief in Aine's voice was evident to everyone in the room. "Just what were you doing that you didn't notice?"

Cupid's gaze slipped to me and I looked away, refusing to look at him and give it away. "It won't happen again," he promised.

"It had better not," Aine said. "And this needs fixing. We're refunding them the fee they've paid and you're to find them both good matches by the end of the month."

"That's not enough time," Cupid said.

"Make it happen," Aine responded. "I don't want to hear from either of them again unless they have glowing things tosay about this department." She didn't wait for either of us to respond and strode past me to the door.

I let out a shaky breath and leaned against the wall.

"Are you okay?" Cupid asked.

I nodded. "You didn't have to take the blame."

---