My Date From Hell (The Blooming Goddess Trilogy, #2)

Game On (Part 2)

"Note the tiger loving me." Hannah was lit up, enthralled.

Theo and Festos shared an uneasy glance.

"Yeah, awesome," Festos said. He didn't sound convinced.

I pushed my insecurity aside. It made me happy to see Hannah in her element. "Who knows, maybe Jack will have a pet Komodo for you to examine."

Hannah shook her head at me sadly. "Really? In Thailand? You're thinking of a water monitor."

I stood corrected.

Festos grinned at Kai and I saucily. "Now that you kids did that voodoo that you do so well and broke the power illusion, we can traipse on over to Hermes'. Because uncle Festos is parched and would love a cool drink. I am not a camel. I require frequent topping up."

I motioned to the tiger. "Still need to lose Rory here."

Hannah batted her eyelashes at me. "You named her? Does that mean we can keep her?" Her eyes widened. "Whoa, what are you doing?"

Kai waved her off as he snaked his way toward the tiger. "She's good. Aren't you, girl?"

The tiger ducked her head. Almost coy.

"Don't fall for his charm, my feline sister." I took a step toward them and Rory roared full-blast at me.

"She doesn't like the competition," Hannah explained.

"Yeah, thanks. I got that."

Kai shot me his trademark arrogant grin, then knelt down beside the tiger.

Rory presented her head to be petted. He scratched her ears, glancing back at me with his smirk intact.

I rolled my eyes. It was good to remember how much I wanted to smack him sometimes. Kept everything in perspective.

The cat rolled over and showed her belly, rolling slightly from side to side. Kai rubbed it and she began purring so loudly we could feel the vibrations from where we stood.

"She makes the same sounds as you," he teased.

Theo stiffened—but at a look from Festos—kept silent.

I rolled my eyes. "In your dreams."

"Often," he replied.

"Standing right here being brain damaged with the TMI," Hannah intervened.

Not that I would give Kai the satisfaction but, "You gotta admit, that's pretty swoon-inducing," I murmured to Hannah, watching Kai and Rory playfully tussling.

"I wonder if Pierce has any animal friends," she whispered back, head cocked, fascinated.

I placed my hand on her shoulder. "We gotta stop. We're about ten seconds away from a kink there'll be no coming back from."

But I indulged a bit longer, watching Kai play with the deadly tiger. Seriously, how was any other guy supposed to compete?

Kai looked up at me and smiled slowly, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.

There was no way he could be in my head. But just in case, I thought some choice phrases at him.

He laughed, likely at my scowl and not because of any psychic abilities on his part, then rose and gave Rory a final pat. He motioned for her to go away. To my amazement, the tiger scampered off into the trees. "Impressive, yes?"

"Somewhat," I conceded.

Kai held out his hand to me. "Now that the beast is gone, we can head to Hermes' place."

Hannah, Theo, and Festos took off in the direction of Jack's house.

I did too, grasping Kai's hand as I passed.

He ran his fingers lightly over my belly. "It's much more fun tussling with a goddess," he murmured.

Eyes narrowed, I shot him a considering sideways glance. Kai had no problem with the physical part of us. Okay, neither did I. But I wanted to know that I wasn't totally deluded about what I'd felt between us.

I'm mostly positive I would have had the guts to broach the subject had Hannah not rejoined us.

"I swear, first chance I get, I will hold you hostage to my unfettered PDA and make your life a misery," she promised me.

I threw her a cocky smile. "What? We were discussing strategy."

"Nice try." She took hold of my other hand and yanked me with her. Kai didn't let go so we were essentially a train heading across the ridge of the mountain.

"Pow-pow-pow-plant powers at optimum again?" she asked me, ducking under a low tree branch. "Ooh, look! A rosary pea. Super poisonous," she enthused.

I glanced at the the leafy fronds and bright red small berries on the plant. "It appears to be choking the life out of that poor teak tree."

Hannah grinned at me. "I love all your botany knowledge. You're such a nerd now. So, your powers?"

I laughed. "Yeah. Guess my sheer terror was enough to short circuit whatever illusion Jack had cast. But 'plant powers' is a terrible name. Whaddya think of my 'blooming hells?'" I jumped over a fallen, half-rotted log.

"Because you rain foliage down on their asses?" Kai asked in a strangled voice.

"I'll keep working on it," I muttered. "Get any useful data from the boys?" I asked Hannah.

She frowned. "The more I learn, the more complicated the decision becomes."

"You'll get there."

When we reached Jack's house, I fully expected there to be one last trap we'd have to navigate through.

Instead, the host himself greeted us. Jack was a a paunchy, middle-aged, bald guy with intelligent brown eyes. He wore a light green linen short-sleeved shirt with slightly darker linen pants. He eyed Kai and me, still hanging on to each other. "So, you're Kyrillos' latest piece of—"

"Watch it," Kai growled.

"Work," Jack finished up.

I put on my best no-nonsense voice. "We're here to talk about—"

Jack took a step closer to me. "Whatever it is, how about we discuss it over dinner? You're a little young for me, but I bet you've got a very fine looking mother. You could tell me all about her."

I shuddered at how much Felicia would salivate to meet this guy. "Thanks, but no thanks."

"Eh. Her loss. Okay kidlings, run along. Daddy's got important business to attend to." He pivoted and walked into his house.

I shot Kai an incredulous glance.

"I vote for fry him," Festos said.