Page 15

I woke up the next morning intent on finding a loophole.

Those hounds were hot, but I'd had more than my fair share of overbearing men.

Hotness means nothing in that situation.

Having a sexy guy obsessed with you sounds great in theory.

In practice, it's infuriating. Those good looks made it worse.

As if they were ruining their attractiveness.

Yes, that's it. They were ruining their god-given gifts with their alphahole personalities.

And these assholes were supposed to be my destiny?

Ha! All right, so maybe I had antagonized them a little.

But they deserved it. Nope, I wasn't feeling bad about what I'd said to Cyrus anymore.

After meeting Jake, I knew why Hades had been so eager to make this deal.

No other woman would fall for these guys, even with all they had to offer.

But what could I do?

First things first—I needed coffee.

Well, I didn't need it, but I wanted it.

And pastries. And a steak. People had steak for breakfast, didn't they?

I wanted mine smothered in gravy. Oh, maybe a chicken fried steak.

That was the answer. Frying something made it a breakfast food.

I wasn't sure about the intelligence behind that, but I didn't care about my health.

I got into a Maison Margiela dress, slipped on some Fendi sandals, and grabbed the black birkin Hades had provided.

I had other purses I'd bought on my shopping spree, but the birkin won out.

Probably because I knew it would have taken me months of buying scarves and other accessories from Hermés before they allowed me to even touch one of their birkins.

People don't realize how elite those bags are.

Not only do you have to have the cash to buy one, but you also have to prove your loyalty to Hermés first. It was ridiculous.

So much better to go through Boutique Hades.

I grinned at the leather bag—a limited edition accented with snakeskin, no less. Guilt rose to ruin my glee. Hades had more than kept his end of the bargain. He'd gone above and beyond to make me happy. And I was gonna rain on his Cerberus parade.

Possibly.

I locked my front door, then just stood on the porch.

It wasn't as if there was a god court to appeal to.

A divine lawyer. No, I had to do this on my own.

I started toward the side of the house and then remembered something.

Pausing, I glanced over my shoulder. No stalkers in sight—neither the average-looking man nor the hounds.

Good. I looked back at the house. Hades had installed a state-of-the-art security system, but that wouldn't mean much to an obsessed man.

Especially when those obsessed men had magic.

Maybe I shouldn't leave. All of my nice new things were in there, and the thought of some guy pawing through my stuff made me sick.

“It's just stuff.” I went to the car. “And they'll be pawing at more than my underwear if I don't find a way out of this.”

I got in, started the engine, and backed onto the street. Or tried to. A yip and a shout had me stomping on the brake.

“Oh, fuck,” I whispered and put the car in park. I had only done a cursory look in my rearview mirror. It wasn't a busy street. But I hadn't considered pedestrians.

I rushed out of the car and around the back.

“Oh, fuck!” I dropped to my knees beside the guy on the ground.

He was curled into a fetal position, but I soon realized it wasn't to protect himself. A little furry face poked out of his arms and big brown eyes stared at me. A puppy. I had almost murdered a fucking puppy!

“Shit! Oh, fuck. Are you okay? I know I wasn't going that fast. Are you all right, little one?” I stroked the puppy's nose.

“It's been a long time since someone called me little,” a rich baritone drawled.

The man unfolded himself, freeing the puppy, who immediately came over to sniff me.

Absently, I stroked the dog, but I couldn't pull my stare away from the man.

Blonde, buff, and beautiful. A sun god come to Earth.

Just stunning. And like the sun, I knew if I stared too long, it would be bad for me.

I cleared my throat. “I was talking to your dog.”

“I know, sugah.” He grinned, revealing perfect teeth, and pulled up a knee. Crooking his arm on his knee, he relaxed as if he sat on the sidewalk after getting hit by a car all the time. “I think the first inquiry was for me, though. Right?”

“Oh. Yes, of course. I'm so sorry. Are you all right?”

“Well.” He looked himself over. “My shirt has seen better days, and I think I bruised my shoulder when I fell. Maybe my thigh too, though that was from your car. All in all, not too bad for being hit. And as long as Bruno is okay, I'm happy.”

“Bruno?” I looked at the puppy. It was a white puff of silken fur, with a gray V-shaped pattern around its neck that came down its chest, and a gray cap atop its head that went down into another V. It looked as if it had been painted on, but I recognized the breed. “Is this an Alaskan Malamute?”

“Well done! You know your dogs.”

“I know they're mellow dogs, but I didn't know they were this mellow, even as puppies.”

“Most are more playful, but Bruno is an old soul.” He winked at me, then stroked the dog's head, flopping its ears about. “Aren't you, Bruno?”

“He's going to get big.”

“Indeed. I figured he would grow into his name.” He stood up, brushed himself off, and held a hand down to me.

I put Bruno down—I don't know when he had climbed onto my lap, but there he was—and took the man's hand. I swear, I felt a tingle when we touched, but it could have just been hormones. He helped me to my feet, bringing me close, then just stared at me.

Bruno yipped.

Clearing his throat, the man let go of me. “You're absolutely right, Bruno. That was forward of me.” He grinned and held out his hand again. “I'm Ace Pouderoux.”

“Of course you are.”

“Excuse me?”

“I'm sorry.” I shook his hand. “No, it's just a very manly name.”

“Oh. Well, thank you. It's just a nickname. My real name is so atrocious, I can't stand to even whisper it.”

I laughed. “I understand. I'm Salina Haven. Nice to meet you.”

“Of course you are,” he teased. “Truly, it's a lovely name. Sounds like a celebrity.”

“It does, doesn't it?” I smirked. “Or even two.”

“You are an unusual woman.”

“Am I?”

“Oh, yes. I can tell.”

Then I saw the tear in his sleeve. “Oh, damn! I've ruined your shirt.” I touched the tear.

Ace looked at it. “It's fine. Worth it to meet you.”

I blushed. When was the last time that had happened? I couldn't remember.

“I usually meet men in less violent ways.” I glanced at Bruno. “Do you live around here?”

“Yes, just down the street a bit. Are you visiting or did you just move in? I thought this house was empty.”

“I just moved in. It's nice to meet one of my neighbors.”

“If you need someone to show you around the neighborhood, let me know.”

“I'd love that. Uh, how about I buy you some breakfast and maybe a new shirt? I was on my way to get something to eat.”

“Bruno and I were on our way to the park. You could join us.”

“I'm really hungry.” I looked down the street. Audubon Park was literally a house away from me. I didn't mind the walk, but I needed food to be at the end.

“There's the clubhouse. We can get breakfast there.”

“The clubhouse?”

“You've never been there?”

“No.”

“It's not too far. I think you'll be fine, even with your heels. We'll stick to the path.”

“All right. Just give me a second to put the car back in the drive.”

“Sure.”

I parked the car, grabbed my purse, locked up, and joined Ace. “All right.”

Ace crooked his arm and offered it to me. Yeah, there are some things to love about the South.

I took his arm, and we strolled around the corner, past the front of my house, past my neighbor's house, and there was the park.

Lush, full of happy people, and bright with the day.

There was even a lake. We crossed from the street and onto the grass, went straight to the path, and followed it along the lake.

Soon, an island became visible in the middle of the lake.

“Have you been out to the bird preserve?” Ace asked.

It was so normal—walking with him and talking about birds—that it took me a second to process.

“The island?” I asked. “No, not yet.”

“Perhaps we could go on a day when you're wearing more appropriate shoes.”

“The suggestion of a second outing before we've even had breakfast,” I mused. “Hmm, I think I'll wait and see how the meal goes. Perhaps you'll find the courage to simply ask me out.”

Ace burst out laughing. “I guess that was a cowardly way to ask. My apologies. You're a higher class of woman than I normally meet. I'll have to adjust my approach.”

“That might help.” As we came around the curve of the lake, I sighed. “The lake is lovely. I prefer smaller bodies of water to the ocean.”

“They call it a lagoon.”

“No, they don't.”

“Oh, yes, they do,” he drawled. “Names are so important here. Give something a grand name and it takes on a little of that grandeur.”

“Shakespeare would disagree with you.”

“Well, the Bard wasn't from Louisiana. And I think he'd agree with me that Romeo and Juliet wouldn't have the same appeal if they were called Ralph and Jane.”

Bruno barked in agreement.

“I can't argue that.” I thought about my new name. It felt more comfortable now, more than Agnes ever had. Nearly perfect. Something about it . . . it was almost me. What an odd thing to think about a name. Maybe I still had to grow into it.

“It's all about perspective, isn't it?” Ace cocked his head at me. “A married man in love feels free while a man who detests his wife feels trapped.”

“Now, you're talking about marriage? And with such a poor segue too.” I let go of his arm. “Why, Mr. Pouderoux, I think you're moving too fast for me.”

Ace stepped closer.