Page 63 of Flowers Near Me

He stroked the back of her hand while still holding it. “Sephy, you’ve fulfilled every piece of the contract you could have so far. You’ve had every reason to fight it. But here you are, working hard and enchanting everyone.”

His willingness to promote her to CEO made absolutely no sense. Why was he trying to give her control of his company? “I don’t have the right experience.”

“I disagree.”

“Then why?”

“Because…” He paused and looked off, absentmindedly licking his lips. His gaze returned to hers. “You’re someone worth investing in. I think you like bringing others’ visions to life, but you deserve the chance to carry out your own desires. I’ve lived a long time, Sephy, and I haven’t met anyone like you. You think like a god but act like a mortal.”

She shook her head. As much as she wanted that to be true, he didn’t understand her one bit. She was scrappy and stubborn. Those traits often presented like better ones—confidence and competence—but at her core, she wasafraid.Afraid of rejection, failure, and loneliness. “I can’t become your CEO, Hades.” She sighed. “I’m keeping my original wager. I’ll go on a real date with you if you win, but if I do then you’ll nurture the app and sell it to Demeter’s Bounty.” This way, she could try to restore things with her mom and get back on track to becoming DB’s president. That’s what she really wanted, right?

“You’ve got it, love. It’s a deal.” He handed her the cup. “Thirteen rounds. Want to go first?”

Persephone shook her head. “I went first last time. You go.”

“I’ll accept your pity.” He smiled and winked at her then rolled his highest scoring roll. “Look at that. We might end up having a real date after all.”

“Ah, there are still many rounds to be played. And I haven’t gone yet.”

He marked his points with the counter as she tossed the dice. Somehow, she rolled three combinations of sevens and scored no points. “That’s not encouraging.” She chuckled to herself as she picked up the dice and handed him the cup.

“It’s only the first round, we have twelve to go.”

Seven rounds later, and Hades had pulled ahead so far that she wasn’t sure it was possible to win or tie with him unless he scored zero points for the remainder of the game. She worried the inside of her bottom lip with her teeth as she counted in her head.

“Sephy, you’ve gone pale. Is going on a real date with me that horrifying? Because now I’m wondering if I should be offended.” He shot her a playful smile as he handed her the cup.

She rolled her shoulders. “I’m not ready to admit defeat just yet. Text your lawyers that they need to draft a seller’s agreement, friend.”

Hades clutched at his chest. “Friend? Oh Fates, Sephy. Just drive a knife through my heart while you’re at it.”

She pressed her lips into a thin line before she replied. “Oh, save it. Besides, would a knife to your heart even kill you? I’m not well versed in how to kill a god.”

His mouth dropped open. “Well, when you say it like that… I’m not sure I want to tell you.” His face quickly morphed into a sly smile. “Keep turning me down and you’ll render me into something worse than dead.”

“You’ll survive,” she said in a flat tone, restraining the roll of her eyes.

“Think of Cerberus, Sephy… He’s only just learned the love of a consistent female figure in his life, the closest thing to knowing a mom that he’ll ever have. You wouldn’t leavehim,would you?” The traitorous pup whimpered at their feet.

Persephone laughed. “You both have Charon and Hecate, you nit.”

“Not living here.”

“Stop distracting me from my roll,” she said as she dumped the cup. Another abysmal result fell on the tray. Her head popped up and she narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you cheating?”

“I’m not Tyche. Luck doesn’t answer to me.”

She mumbled, “That’s not a direct answer,” and rolled again with her remaining two die. A two and a five. No points.

The remaining rounds ended in Hades’ favor and by the time she completed her final roll, she relented.

The beaming smile on Hades’ face made her grin. So they’d go on a real date. It wasn’t going to do any more damage than what he’d already done with that Fates-forsaken kiss at the restaurant.

“Rest up, Sephy. I’m taking you on that date once we wrap our press tour,” Hades said to her, taking their drinks to the kitchen.

“Why not sooner? Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise. Unless you want to barter with a kiss now to find out.” His eyes fell to her lips.

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