Page 5 of The Perfect Matchmaking (Cupids & Goddesses #2)
WHERE ROMANCE TROPES ARE ENUMERATED AND (PREMATURELY) DISCARDED
S o she had several problems.
But she’d been through worse.
She’d been forcibly married to a man she despised.
She’d been made to cheat on him in order to escape the loveless marriage, only to be discovered by the whole world and blamed for the wretched ordeal.
She’d been betrayed by her lover and left to shoulder the consequences of their affair alone.
She’d been used by pretty much every god in their own interests as a pawn.
She had survived.
She chose to completely ignore the rising of yet another anxiety-induced frisson at the memories of her trauma.
Yes, for the upcoming week, she’d be surrounded by the very people who had abused her.
Yes, they still made her skin crawl. Yes, to this day she could barely raise her eyes to Zeus lest the fear of the new torment he’d come up with return.
And yes, she had to go fulfill her duty. Preferably within the next ten minutes.
Aphrodite looked at herself in the floor-to-ceiling mirror and nodded as much in approval as to reassure herself. From behind, Erato placed a wrap around her naked shoulders and gave her a decidedly lascivious once-over.
“For what it’s worth, you look hot, Boss.”
Aphrodite winced. Not that she didn’t intend to appear hot .
She always looked the part of Goddess of Love.
The fairest of them all. Paris had not given her the damn apple for nothing, starting the entire Trojan War over her beauty.
And tonight, at the Opening Ceremony, she’d need all the ammunition she could conjure to stay strong and withstand whatever harebrained plan Zeus had concocted. But it was costing her a lot.
“And I don’t understand why you’re worried. The cupids never really bothered you before. Do you actually think they’ll take Zeus up if he issues his challenge?”
“I’d say we have several problems, Erato. You and I know that an arrow alone won’t make me fall for anyone. And a couple of arrows do not make for a perfect match, regardless of whether the people in question have feelings for each other.”
Erato’s blank face did not inspire any confidence in Aphrodite that she was being understood.
“Okay, how’s this? Problem number one: the cupids will make fools of themselves, me, and whomever they choose to pair me with.
Problem number two: if they fail, Zeus and the rest of them will be smug and awful and interfere with my affairs all the time, and probably take over the whole damn business, since they’ll see it as proof that I cannot run the love affairs of mortals.
Problem number three: I have to endure this motley crew of self-involved prima donnas for a whole week. ”
She was conveniently side-stepping the real problem. Interfering in her job of governing over love and cupids was one thing, but forcing her hand to choose a mate she had no desire whatsoever to… She shivered, pushing the images further from her mind.
“What about problem number four, which is actually a real issue? What if the cupids, just by their sheer numbers, stumble upon your perfect match? And masses of nincompoop cupids aside, Sabine Goddard is here, and she does not miss.”
Erato gave her a look that was suddenly a touch too insightful, which was disconcerting for some reason. Aphrodite preferred when her assistant was less perceptive.
“Sabine is a little upset with me. You may have been on to something about how I summoned her. Let’s just say, she is not amused.”
Erato clucked her tongue in a gesture Aphrodite knew too well meant she was trying to keep herself from saying ‘I told you so’.
“Okay, realistically, who could they pair you with? Is this Heph’s play to get you back? A second chance kinda thing?”
They looked at each other in the mirror and both shuddered before shaking their heads.
“Artemis then?”
“Please, Erato, she’s one of my best friends. I can’t ever see that happening.”
“You couldn’t see the whole Zeus challenging cupids to a perfect match showdown happening either. And friends to lovers is a popular trope.”
Aphrodite raised an eyebrow. “Trope? Are we doing romance novel clichés now?”
“Both you and I and all those thousands of cupids are romance novel clichés.”
Aphrodite again caught her assistant’s self-satisfied glance in the mirror and smiled back.
“Fair enough.”
Erato stroked her chin before continuing. “Okay, Ares? Didn’t you say he was being gross to you during dinner? Isn’t that just him flirting? Seriously, the taste in men you have, Dite.”
“Well, if his mother had her wish, this could be the power play. Hera has always wanted to have me under her thumb, and getting her favorite son to marry me…? I can’t even entertain the idea.
But he is a horn dog like his dad. He won’t be opposed, although I thought he was enjoying his freedom. What’s this trope, enemies to lovers ?”
“Hmm, you two were never quite that. How does one actually become enemies with a total fool?” The muse rolled her eyes before continuing.
“On the other hand, you actually were sworn enemies with someone else. A certain academic currently hailing from cold and foggy New England. Tall, lanky, big horn-rimmed glasses, tweed jacket with corduroy elbows. Ring any bells? And speaking of elbows, I heard her arms are lick-worthy, all sinewy and muscled…”
Aphrodite almost choked on air at the mention of Athena. And not just any mention, but the detailed description of what the Goddess of Wisdom looked like, and especially the enumeration of all the points that had drawn her own attention last night.
“Please,” she waved her hand at Erato, “she’s a relic. And I’m not at all interested in a Greek Lit professor from Yale. Spare me the boredom.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say all that. I heard she’s not quite as boring as people think…”
“What do you mean? What have you heard?” Belatedly, she realized she’d very obviously given herself away when Erato flashed a predatory grin, showing her canines.
“For someone ‘not at all interested’ in the supposedly dull academic, you are kinda hot under the collar right now, Boss.”
At Aphrodite’s glare, Erato just laughed.
“I don’t know much, but I heard she and Clio were an item.
And that it was all very very steamy there for a brief minute.
Well, more like for a couple of years, but what are a few trips around the sun for us?
Nothing really. Still, Goddess of Wisdom, the Muse of History, you’d think they were a perfect match. ”
Aphrodite actually had to force a very unpleasant set of images away.
Clio was extraordinarily intelligent. And beautiful.
And she could clearly see those long-fingered hands of Athena’s, still bearing chalk and ink stains, running through Clio’s beautiful, red tresses.
And two years? Sure, nothing in the life of an immortal, but a considerable amount of time to savor certain aspects of a relationship.
Argh, she so didn’t need those visions in her mind’s eye right now!
Damn Erato and her gossipy ways. But she had questions. Questions that pertained to herself as well, since she was beginning to see parallels emerge between her situation and Athena’s.
“And Zeus just allowed her to get involved with a muse? And to actually have a real relationship?”
“Oh, wow, I did not expect you of all people to be this discriminating!” Erato mock-clutched her chest. ‘Would you listen to this? A muse! How the mighty have fallen!”
Aphrodite was getting tired of the amateur theatrics.
“You know what I meant. Quit the performance, Erato.”
“Fine, fine. I was messing with you, sheesh, you are wound tight. Maybe, you know, ask for a helping hand? Or if a hand is too much, just a couple of fingers?”
Aphrodite’s mouth twitched, and Erato’s grin blossomed fully.
“Athena was completely free of Zeus and his bullshit by the time she hooked up with Clio. You bet she’d never have been allowed to otherwise.
He’d have used her differently somehow, everyone knows that.
Her and Clio make a lot of sense together, but not to him.
No power play, alliance-making, or any of the other stuff he cares about, you know? ”
Aphrodite knew. After all, all her serious and long-term alliances had been pre-arranged, engineered, made to happen in some way.
No, Zeus didn’t care for her dalliances with the nymphs or muses or even mortals.
So yes, she knew. And envied Athena a little bit for the freedom she possessed. To choose. To be. To just breathe.
She shook her head. They weren’t the same. And she needed to stop thinking about those kind eyes, for surely they were pitying her, because Athena was free and Aphrodite never would be.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Erato tried and failed to raise an eyebrow. She had never learned the maneuver. Good, it served her meddlesome self right.
“It doesn’t.” She couldn’t believe she was about to justify herself to this particular muse, famous for her indiscriminate sexcapades. “I hadn’t seen her in centuries, so don’t be ridiculous. She took me by surprise. That’s all.”
“I’m just saying. There are only so many tropes in Romancelandia. And in my humble opinion, enemies to lovers is the best one. With opposites attract challenging it for the top spot, though.”
Aphrodite finally turned away from the mirror, hugging the wrap closely over her generous décolletage. Erato’s eyes predictably followed the folds of the fabric. Well, some things still worked just fine to distract her—at times—too perspicacious assistant.
“Nothing humble about you, Erato. Don’t sell yourself short. And eyes up. Let’s go deal with the descending hordes. And the thousands of cupids.”
“You’ll best them all. Love always wins. And you are Aphrodite. ”