Page 43 of Cupid's Last Arrow

“Breathe.” Eros kisses my temple. “You won’t have to worry about money if you work for me.”

“At all?”

My mouth falls open when he nods.

“Dude, you should have led with that bit during your job offer.” I smile, releasing a lot of the mounting tension about my uncertain future.

“I want people who will do it for love, not money,” Eros says as he picks out some expensive coffee beans. “If I knew that was part of what was holding you back, I would have told you sooner.”

“Wait, you can make clothes appear out of thin air, so why do you need tobuygroceries?” I ask.

“Clotho makes the clothes for me as a favor, but they will fade and disappear within a few weeks or so,” Eros explains.

I gasp. “Hold up, one of the Fates makes my clothes?”

Eros shrugs like it’s no big deal. “She’s into fashion trends now. We have an arrangement. Since she’s tapped into humans’ futures, she senses when and what I will need.”

“Well, I will appreciate thethreadsmore now.” I nudge him playfully. “Get it?Threads?”

Eros shakes his head but chuckles becauseIthink I’m funny. “As far as the food is concerned, when Iconjurefood from nothing, it doesn’t have any nutritional value. It’s an illusion like the clothes, but harmful since I’d essentially be starving you if that’s all I fed you. Besides, I don’t like to steal the real stuff. That’s bad karma.”

I glance at my ring. “Is this just an illusion too?”

“No. The ring is created from my personal magic.” Eros takes my hand in his, looking into my eyes. “Hephaestus captured my essence and forged it into this ring.” Eros runs his thumb over my knuckles and the large, heart-shaped ruby set within the gold band.

“So it’s like a part of you,” I say, awed that I’m wearing the essence of a god.

“Part of my heart.”

Holy crap! I’m literally wearing a god’s heart.

Eros smiles wistfully and changes the subject. “Back to the job. Can you sense where the match potentials are in this store on your own?”

I scan my surroundings. There are several people around in the bakery section. My attention narrows to two women standing side by side. They are both inspecting the freshly baked cookies. They don’t necessarily strike me as being into women, but my gut tells me it’s them.

“Them?” I ask.

Impressed, Eros’s eyebrows shoot up. “Very good. I didn’t think you’d get that match.”

“So what now?” I ask conspiratorially.

He waves his hand, and the stacked boxes fall. The women both quickly move to catch the cascading baked goods, allwhile laughing with each other. Eros pushes his cart away after grabbing some cookies for himself.

I glance back at the women chatting up a storm. “That’s it?”

“Most people just need a nudge to open up and talk—connect.”

Thinking back on what I have seen in my life, I suppose that’s how most friendships and relationships are made. Someone takes a chance to speak to another person. “Are all love connections that simple?”

“They can be… for most people,” Eros says pensively. There seems to be something deeper going on in that statement, but I don’t press to find out. It’s likely me, since my supposed love connection isn’t simple.

After we return home, Eros insists on unpacking our new food hoard while I catch up on some of my work. I have several inquiries in my email inbox for potential gigs—four weddings, a family photoshoot, and a pregnancy announcement.

I rush out, bouncing with joy, telling Eros the good news. “I have so many new jobs!”

He pulls me into a hug and kisses my forehead. While I give him the rundown, he grins widely, listening attentively to my news. “You’re very talented and have extremely reasonable rates, so it’s no wonder you have so much work coming along.”

“It’s more than ever!” I shiver with happiness, then a thought hits me. “Wait. Did you have anything to do with that?”

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