Chapter 14
ELOISE
There was something strange about walking into the office with a secret, especially when that secret was that I'd spent most of my weekend at my boss' place, and there had been a lot of nakedness during that time.
I let out a sigh and pushed open the door, almost running into Cupid as I did.
"You're going to have to stop doing that, or I'm going to think you're trying to run into me on purpose," he teased.
I laughed. "I'm sure that could be arranged."
He flashed me a smile. "How are you?"
"Good," I responded, checking around us to make sure no one else was paying us any attention. "It was a little disappointing to wake up in my own bed this morning though."
He chuckled. "Maybe tomorrow morning, I could wake up in it too."
"That wouldn't be so bad," I responded.
"I have a meeting at five about the Valentine's Day party, but we could have dinner after that?"
I nodded. "I'll message you my address. Unless you've looked it up in the personnel files."
"I didn't even read your profile fully, I can assure you that I haven't looked up any of your files."
"Okay, then I'll message you. I'm guessing you'll have a lot of meetings about the Valentine's Party this week?"
"Mmhmm, at least until Saturday when the party is. You'll be coming, right?" he asked.
"Of course. I wouldn't want to miss a Jinx party, or a chance to see you in a tux. Though I still need to find the perfect dress to wear."
"You'd look beautiful in anything," he responded.
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and tried to ignore the blush that was no doubt creeping over my cheeks. "I'm glad you think so."
Sasha appeared in the stairwell and the two of us broke apart and moved a little further back.
Cupid cleared his voice. "You should come to my office after lunch, we need to have a debriefing call with Hades."
"Of course," I responded, knowing that it was probably true even if he was using it as a cover for why we were talking.
"Great. I'll see you then." He waved and headed out of the office.
Sasha gave me a strange look. "Flirting with the boss now you know you're a match?"
"No, what makes you say that?" My voice came out a bit squeaky.
She laughed. "Please, it's so obvious that the two of you are into one another, you've been spending time with him in the office all week."
"What?" The world spun around me. I supposed we hadn't been the most covert in our interactions with one another. "I'm just working with him on the Hades account."
"Mmhmm. No one will care, by the way." She headed inside and started off her morning coffee.
I wasn't really sure what to do with myself. There was a part of me that wanted to deny everything she was saying, but that also felt like a risky strategy, especially when things seemed to be going well with Cupid.
I went over to my desk and started with my work. I was somewhat surprised by the lack of message from Hades about the date on Friday, but then, things had seemed to be going well for the two of them from what Cupid and I saw, so maybe they'd decided to give things another go. It would certainly be a victory for the matchmaking department if we managed to get them to reconcile.
I moved on to some of the other jobs I had to do, only pausing to smile at Cupid when he came back from whatever errand had him out of the office.
It was almost lunchtime when the doors swung open and Aine strode inside. Seeing our big boss in the matchmaking department wasn't unheard of, but it was still intimidating to have a love goddess in our midst.
"Is Cupid in?" she asked Sasha.
"In his office."
"Good. I'll see him now." Her gaze landed on me. "You too, Ms Finch."
I swallowed hard. She'd probably just found out about mine and Cupid's match and was here to remind us to fill in the relevant paperwork. Even as I thought it, I knew that was wrong. It could easily be sent in an email rather than coming in person.
I got to my feet and straightened out my dress, following the goddess into Cupid's office.
He looked up surprised, his expression turning to concern when he saw me.
"Close the door," Aine said.
I did as she asked, not moving away from it.
"Would the two of you like to explain to me why I came into the office to complaints from Hades and Persephone that they'd been set up on a date by our matchmaking department?" Aine asked, looking between the two of us.
I swallowed hard. Clearly that was why we hadn't heard from Hades this morning.
"Hades is our client," Cupid said. "Persephone has just joined the service."
"I understand that, but why were they set up on a date together? Isn't your algorithm meant to stop exes from being matched?"
"It was an accident," I said.
She whipped around to look at me. "An accident?"
"Yes. We didn't realise it had happened until they'd both accepted the date." I tried not to think about exactly how that had happened. She was a love goddess, she'd probably be able to sense something about the way I was responding. Maybe. I didn't actually know how it worked.
"It was my fault," Cupid said. "I knocked a button on my computer and didn't realise."
"You knocked a button?" The disbelief in Aine's voice was evident to everyone in the room. "Just what were you doing that you didn't notice?"
Cupid's gaze slipped to me and I looked away, refusing to look at him and give it away. "It won't happen again," he promised.
"It had better not," Aine said. "And this needs fixing. We're refunding them the fee they've paid and you're to find them both good matches by the end of the month."
"That's not enough time," Cupid said.
"Make it happen," Aine responded. "I don't want to hear from either of them again unless they have glowing things to say about this department." She didn't wait for either of us to respond and strode past me to the door.
I let out a shaky breath and leaned against the wall.
"Are you okay?" Cupid asked.
I nodded. "You didn't have to take the blame."
He shrugged. "I told the truth, I just left out a few details."
"Do you think she'll forgive us?"
"Almost certainly," he assured me, making his way around from behind his desk so he could pull me into his arms. "It'll be fine."
"Except that we have to figure out how to find matches for both Hades and Persephone now. And we know that none of the ones we have now are good enough for Hades."
"Mmm, true. But we'll find someone," he promised. "Maybe at the Valentine's Day party."
I raised an eyebrow. "You're trying to use it to get new clients?"
"That's what every Jinx party is for," he pointed out. "You had a couple officially start dating the other week, right?"
"Yes."
"We should send them an invite to the party. Would you let me know their contact information? I'll get Damien to send an invite. And to some of the other success stories we've had from the matchmaking department. If we get them talking and mixing with people at the event, then it should get some people interested."
"Okay. Sure. I mean, if you think it'll work."
"It will," he said.
I paused for a moment. "We're a match," I whispered. "From the system."
Surprise crossed his face. "I thought you'd think it was too early."
"It is, but if it's going to help for our jobs..."
"No," he said firmly. "I mean, in the future, yes. But we're not going to take ourselves public for work. We'll do it in our own time and we won't rush ourselves."
I let out a relieved sigh. I didn't think I'd mind people knowing that I was dating Cupid, it would be better to wait a little bit longer. "Thank you."
"It's my relationship too," he reminded me. "I know that good things come with patience."
A small laugh escaped me. "Sorry, but you have to know how that sounds."
He chuckled. "I didn't mean like that."
"Even if it's true?"
"Mmhmm. Even if it's true." He brushed a strand of hair out of my face. "I'm sorry it went down like this."
"It's not your fault," I said. "We got carried away and accidentally matched someone. It won't happen again."
"It won't," he promised.
"Because next time, we'll make sure to lock your computer screen beforehand."
He laughed. "Next time?"
"You think we can work together and never get carried away in the office?" I responded. "There's definitely going to be a next time."
"Good." He leaned in and kissed me softly. "But now I should get going to my meeting with Damien about the party. I'm already late."
"I thought that was this evening?"
"Oh, it is. We're having multiple meetings a day all week. I can't wait for Saturday and it to all be over."
"Good luck." I kissed his cheek.
"Thank you. But believe me, I wish I could stay here with you."
"Me too. But you're not the only one with work."
"Ah, fair point. I can't distract you too much. Let me walk you out?"
I nodded and watched as he grabbed his bag and came back to the door. He held it open for me and I slipped past, meeting his gaze for a fleeting moment. It was going to be good when we were away from work later and could be affectionate without worrying about who else saw, but at least we could have the occasional stolen moment at work too.