As soon as she teleported back to the apartment she shared with Hera above the ButterNut Bakery, Demi sank into the nearest chair, smiling at the message on her phone.
“What are you so gleeful about?” Hera asked, and Demi practically jumped out of the chair with surprise.
“Nothing,” she blurted out, more out of instinct than anything else. She felt like a teenager who’d just been caught kissing a boy in her room with the door closed, only she hadn’t actually kissed anyone at all.
“Nothing?”
“No, not nothing,” she giggled. “I don’t know why I said that.”
“Who did you meet?” Hera asked knowingly, as if she could read her sister’s mind.
“It’s probably not going to go anywhere, but his name is Charles. He looks like a movie star, but like, an old school, classic leading man. The kind you look at and think, I thought they didn’t make them like that anymore.”
“Please tell me he doesn’t have a Clark Gable mustache.” Hera rolled her eyes, and Demi remembered how skeptical she’d been about the whole speed dating thing. She couldn’t really blame Hera for not being convinced, but the evidence spoke for itself. Eve and Aphrodite clearly knew what they were doing.
“No, he doesn’t have a mustache, but he could definitely pull one off if he wanted to.”
“Well, now I’m intrigued. What is he?”
Demi cocked her head to the side and considered the question carefully. She’d clearly asked him what kind of a being he was, but he’d avoided the topic and just talked about his job instead.
“You know what, I’m not entirely sure. I asked him, but he kind of dodged the question. I wonder if he’s a demon. He certainly has the looks of one. The weird thing is that when I told him I was a goddess, he didn’t really react to it, like maybe he didn’t really take me seriously, or thought I was kidding. For the record, he works at a hedge fund.”
“Didn’t take you seriously? I don’t like the sound of this guy,” Hera said protectively, pursing her lips. “Also, I don’t know if there are any demons with the patience to work in finance. Did he say which firm he works for?”
Demi shook her head. “Charles Buchanan is his full name. He might not be a demon. He might be a demi-god, or a vampire maybe. Maybe a shifter. Hard to tell.”
Hera pulled out her phone and did some quick typing. “Huh, according to Google, Charles Buchanan works at... Oh no. You’re not going to believe this.” Her eyes widened, and Demi fought the urge to reach out and snap the phone away from her.
“What?”
“He’s not a demon. He’s not a god or a shifter. Not only is he mortal, but... he’s human.”
Hera let the words sink in dramatically, and Demi sat staring in disbelief for a moment.
Human?
That’s impossible.
He’s too good looking to be human!
“No, that can’t be right. I mean... how could he... unless. Oh my god. I’m going to kill Aphrodite and Eve.”
“Well, strictly speaking, I’m not sure that’s possible, but I understand why you might want to. I guess that explains why he didn’t understand what you meant when you asked him what he was. He probably thinks you’re pretty full of yourself after, you know, calling yourself a goddess and all that,” Hera teased, clearly enjoying the pickle her sister had gotten herself into.
Demi bristled and heat filled her cheeks.
Of course this is what happens the instant I decide to get into dating again.
I should’ve taken a refresher course or something.
“I say let him down easy. Tell him you aren’t feeling it, or just say you’re not ready to date again, after all. It’s speed dating, the stakes are pretty low, anyway. See, this is why you should’ve let me set you up with someone! Pan has been asking about you for ages, and you should see the new body he got for himself. The word chiseled does not do it justice.”
“I don’t know,” Demi said thoughtfully, shaking her head. “I... I think I want to see this guy again. Maybe it doesn’t matter that he’s human. There was a spark, a... I don’t know, a something. I felt something shift in my chest, and I think I need to follow through on that. You’re probably right. We’re probably not right for each other, and I’ll probably change my mind the instant we go out, but it’s a mistake I’m willing to make. What have I got to lose, right?”
Hera raised her eyebrows again, and Demi could feel the judgment pouring out of her.
“You’re really going to go on a date with a human?”
“Well, I’m going to cater one of his charity events first, and then maybe I’ll date him.”
Her sister burst into laughter. “Well, if nothing else, I guess we’ll get a contract out of this! Well, you let me know what you need from me, and I’ll be right here when it all turns into sulfur. Night, night, sis.”
Hera swept out of the room, the tail of her dressing gown floating behind her, leaving Demi to soak in the bashful hilarity of her situation.
Ugh.
I have a crush on a human.
Who let me out of the house?
A week later, Demi rushed around her room, trying to find the back up dress she’d picked out after deciding the one she had on wasn’t quite right. It was too revealing, and this was a work function, after all. She needed something that was sexy but classy, stylish but would still allow flexibility.
Luckily, there was a catering staff who would be doing the actual serving for Charles’ event, but she still had to be ready to jump in if needed, and carry all the containers into the kitchen from the truck. Normally, Demi was able to rely on her powers to help her out with mundane tasks, but in this case she was going to have to do her best to appear human.
Skirt.
Let’s do a skirt and blouse combo.
That sounds like something a human woman would wear.
Flats?
I want to wear heels, but I’m not sure anyone would work in heels.
Meh.
Heels it is.
If he thinks I’m a bit extraordinary for working an event in heels, so be it.
I am pretty extraordinary.
Not wanting to run into Hera on the way out and have her sister judge her based on her outfit choices, Demi magicked herself and all her supplies outside to her cloud blue and purple van with ButterNut Bakery embossed on the side, and drove to the nearest large gate to the topside. Having one that allowed only vehicles to go in and out so close to home was a definite plus.
The light to the teleportation tunnel turned green on her approach and she floored it, navigating the company van over a bumpy entrance with a sharp swing to the right as she hit topside in Los Angeles, shooting out of an alley and straight into traffic. Cars honked and swerved around her, but Demi deftly weaved her truck into action and joined the flow of traffic without attracting too much of the wrong kind of attention.
Driving in heels, well that’s a conundrum I never thought about.
Luckily I don’t have to worry too much about that.
The truck knew exactly where to take Demi, and it wasn’t long before they were pulling up to the convention center where the event was to take place.
The lobby was huge and almost as beautiful as if a supernatural had designed it, with cascading crystal chandeliers lining the ceiling.
“Billard & Tex Breast Cancer Awareness Event on 3rd Floor,” she murmured under her breath as she read the sign in the foyer.
Demi looked over to the pile of stacked, perfectly baked mini quiches, upscale pigs in blankets, croissants, mint julep cupcakes, and double chocolate fudge bars. After a darting glance to make sure no one was watching, she teleported herself into the open doors of the elevator, and sighed happily when everything reappeared again perfectly in place.
Third floor, okay.
Here we go.
Just as she was about to press the button to close the doors, a man’s hand came into view in the doorway that just happened to have a very nice watch attached to it. Sliding her gaze up toward the head attached to the handsome suit, she saw that it was none other than Charles joining her in the elevator.
“How’d you manage to get all this into the elevator with you alone?” he asked cheekily, flashing her a smile that almost made her stumble back into a swoon. Thankfully, goddesses don’t stumble.
“Oh, it just takes time,” she answered smoothly, fiddling with her necklace and realizing for the first time just how tall Charles was. She hadn’t expected to run into him like this, but instead thought she’d have the chance to spruce up her makeup and fluff her hair.
“Well, I can help you take all this out when we get to the third floor. I think it’ll still be about fifteen minutes before the catering staff arrive. I can’t thank you enough for doing this. It’s all for a good cause, of course, but I... Well, I should be asking you to be my guest for this kind of thing, not the staff,” he said sheepishly with a conciliatory half smile.
She didn’t need the apology as she, in fact, felt quite a bit more comfortable under the guise of work than she did on a real date. This was a nice way to ease her into the real thing, and give her a chance to observe him from a distance. An entanglement with a human was not to be entered into lightly, though it did occur to Demi that Charles might be a fun fling, if not a serious prospect for her.
“That’s sweet of you to say, but I really don’t mind at all. As you say, this is a good cause, and I always love a chance to show off what I do. I have to say, I’m impressed that you showed up early. Not many sponsors usually do.”
“Well, I like to help out with setup in any way that I can. Plus... I may have had extra incentive in the form of more time with you. Oh, looks like we’re here!” Charles took off his jacket, tossing it over the back of a nearby chair, and rolled up his sleeves, giving Demi a good look at his forearms, which she noted were bigger than most humans, as far as she could tell.
“Shall we?” he asked, picking up two of the large tupperware containers easily and gesturing toward the open elevator doors.
“Right, yes,” Demi answered, focusing back on the task at hand.
The room already had all the tables set up and a silent auction arranged around the perimeter. It was almost as beautiful as the lobby, with the same chandeliers and floor to ceiling windows that afforded a view that stretched out for miles and over some body of water Demi didn’t recognize. Honestly, it took her breath away, as she’d been expecting some kind of grim hotel conference room.
“This is gorgeous,” she murmured, forgetting about the pile of baked goods still in the elevator. When she turned around, Charles had already taken them out. “Oh, thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”
“Are you kidding me? It’s the least I can do, really. I’m going to go see where the catering staff are, and they can help you arrange all this. They’re probably just in the kitchens getting the drinks together.”
Demi watched him go, hardly immune to the impressive sight of his ass in that suit. With his hand in his pocket, sleeves rolled up, and his blazer now slung over a broad shoulder, he looked like the kind of man she’d read about but didn’t know still existed. As long as he wasn’t too wrapped up in traditional ideas and could accept a goddess into his life, then maybe they could be a real thing.
She laughed to herself at the thought.
There’s no way he’s not going to freak out if he finds out who I really am.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun in the meantime…