Stupid Cupid (2 page)
Authors: Melissa Hosack
The man turned from the stove with two plates of food in his
hands. Making his way over, he placed one in front of her before sliding into
the seat across the table. “What did you wish for?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You said you had cake. I’m assuming there were candles and
singing as well. What did you wish for?” He arched a brow in question and held
a fork out to her.
“That is none of your business. A wish is personal.” Despite
her defensive comment and haughty tone, she snatched the fork from him.
“Come on,” he wheedled as he shoveled a forkful of scrambled
eggs into his mouth. “A wish can be a very powerful thing. Let me hear it.”
slice of bacon from her plate and stared at him over it. “Oh, all right,” she
finally said with a huff. “I wished I could meet Cupid, so I could tell him
what a jerk he is to his face.” She rolled her eyes with a snort. “I wanted to
tell him off.”
He was suddenly choking on his food. He grabbed for the
carton of orange juice in the center of the table and downed half of it in
three long gulps. Coughing, he pounded at his chest. “That’s quite the wish,”
he finally managed to wheeze out.
“I’m insane. I know.”
He shook his head with one last cough and sat the carton
down between them. “You’re not insane. There’s nothing wrong with being
frustrated. So Miss…” He arched his brows, silently asking for her name.
“I’m
She grabbed for the orange juice carton and took a challenging swig. Her eyes
were transfixed on his, daring him to comment. Thankfully, he kept his thoughts
on her dining etiquette to himself.
“So Miss Lincoln,” he said slowly, “what would you say to
Cupid if ever given the chance?”
“Well, Mr....”
“Valentine.”
“Well, Mr. Valenteen,” she said, stretching out his name.
“My friends just call me Valen.”
“Okay then. Valen.” She paused. “I would tell Cupid that
he’s an arrogant jerk.”
“Arrogant, huh?” His lips twitched with the hint of a smirk.
“Totally arrogant. He plays with people’s lives and hearts
as if it’s a game. He doesn’t care who gets hurt in the process.”
“You’ve been hurt by Cupid before?”
“Have I ever!”
important talk. I think I’m about to be proposed to, but instead Dirk
blindsides me with the admission that he’s in love with a flight attendant.
After helping him through college, he leaves me for some bimbo who serves
cocktails in the sky! My boyfriend before him cheated on me with his
ex-girlfriend. He claimed he suddenly realized he couldn’t live without her.”
She made a sound of annoyance. “Cupid has been screwing me over for years. The
guy…well, he’s an ass.”
Valen’s grin turned downright devilish. “Feel better?”
know what? I do.” She dug into the scrambled eggs in front of her with
enthusiasm. “Still doesn’t explain why I’m here.”
He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Let’s just chock that
up as a mystery.”
She snorted and bobbed her head in agreement. “It can be one
of those wild adventures we tell our friends.” She smirked at him as she added,
“I’m still telling people you kidnapped me, though. It makes the story more
interesting.”
He chuckled with a shake of his head. “Fair enough.” He
motioned to her plate with his fork. “Now eat your breakfast so I can drive you
home.”
Chapter
Two
dreaming. It was a nice dream about a sexy man named Valen who was currently kissing
the curve of her neck while his large hands ran over her hips and stomach.
Arching against his palm, she gave a soft, encouraging murmur.
That sound drew her out of sleep. Slowly, she returned to
consciousness with a reluctant groan at having to leave such a pleasant dream.
Then her eyes popped open as she realized the hand caressing her hip was real.
There was an unmistakably male groan as the person next to
her slid his hand up her ribcage until he cupped a breast. He shifted his hips
and the erection he sported pressed against her thigh.
“Okay,” she trilled nervously as she slapped the hand away.
“That’s enough of that!” She whipped her head toward the invasive hand’s owner
just in time to see Valen’s violet eyes snap open.
“What the—” He was out of bed in an instant. His feet
tangled in the sheets and he nearly fell to the floor in his haste to get away
from her. “Holy crap!” As he struggled to get himself loose of the sheets, he
pointed an accusing finger in her direction. “You climbed into my bed! Are you
insane?”
dropped and her eyes narrowed. “I didn’t climb anywhere!” As her mind whirled
with confusion over how she had once again gone to sleep in her own bed and
woken up in this man’s house, she couldn’t stop her eyes from lowering to his
red boxer briefs. She quickly averted her gaze, but it was too late. A blush
heated her cheeks at the sight of his muscled abdomen and strong thighs.
His eyes widened at her ogling and he snatched the sheet up
to cover his lower body. “Did we…did we…”
She shook her head so hard it hurt. “No!” She hesitated. “At
least, I don’t think so.”
His eyes lowered to her pajamas, a red silk negligée that
stopped at mid-thigh and a pair of tiny silk shorts. “No. I would have
remembered that.”
She tried her best not to show her unease. “I’m pretty sure
we didn’t…do that, but then I don’t remember how I even got here. Again.” She
gasped as a horrible thought occurred to her. “Did you chloroform me?”
“
What
? Why in the
world would I do something like that?” In his anger, he’d dropped the sheets to
the floor.
followed his hands as they went to his hips in irritation. She blinked slowly,
unable to believe how amazing his body was. A man that hot should walk around
in his underwear all the time. As she took in the magnificence that was his
physique, she had to admit it seemed unlikely he would kidnap her. Guys like
him had no need to kidnap a woman…unless he was some kind of psychotic mental
case. “What’s going on here?” Her tone was full of overwhelming wariness.
Absolutely nothing about this situation made any sense.
Valen let out a sigh and ran his hands over his face. “I
thought telling me off yesterday would fix this, but apparently I was wrong.”
“Huh?”
He shook his head, holding up a hand to keep her from
inquiring further. “Come on. Let me get dressed and I’ll explain while I make
you breakfast…again.”
After he climbed into a baggy pair of sweatpants and pulled
a t-shirt over his head,
microwavable kind either. He was making homemade pancakes from scratch.
him over to the stove. Hopping up onto the counter next to where he stood, she
gave him a thoughtful look. “So what’s going on? You sounded as if you might
have an idea why I keep winding up here.”
Valen grimaced. “I have a hunch as to what’s going on.” His
frown deepened as he poured some of the pancake batter into a skillet. “I’m
going to need you to keep an open mind.”
“Okay,”
listening.”
Valen avoided eye contact as he continued with his cooking.
“I think you keep popping up here because of the wish you made.”
“The Cupid one?”
stared at him as she awaited an answer.
“I told you. Wishes have power. You made that wish, so now
you keep popping up here, looking to tell Cupid off.”
“Okay,” she drawled. “That makes absolutely no sense.” She
arched a brow at him as she dipped her finger once again into the batter.
“It makes perfect sense.” Valen snatched her hand out of the
air when she attempted to eat some of the batter once again. He stared at her
for a moment over her batter-dipped finger before saying, “I’m Cupid.” Then he
closed his mouth over her finger, sucking it clean of pancake batter.
fluttered closed, and she made a soft whimper of pleasure as his tongue flicked
along the pad of her fingertip. Then his words sunk in, and even his sex appeal
couldn’t make her ignore his claims. “You’re Cupid?” She couldn’t hide her
incredulity.
He shrugged. His hand still held hers, though her finger was
no longer in his mouth. “The one and only.”
“You’re Cupid?” She repeated the statement just to make sure
she’d heard him correctly. “You traipse about shooting people with arrows for
fun while wearing a toga?”
“First off, I haven’t worn the toga for years.” While
hard arrogance that had set up shop on his face, Valen continued. “Secondly, I
get paid good money by the supernatural community to do what I do.”
“The supernatural community?” she asked skeptically. “Like
Santa Claus and vampires and stuff?”
Though it seemed impossible, his expression became even more
arrogant. “As a matter of fact, I helped introduce Chris Kringle to his wife.”
eyes in exasperation. “Okay, you’re insane.” She hopped off the counter and shook
her head in disappointment. “This is why I’m still single. I’m attracted to men
who are no good for me, nutjobs and cheaters.” She was so busy with her spiel
she didn’t notice he was moving toward her until it was too late.
Valen was suddenly pressing her against the counter, his
hips moving seductively against hers. “How do you know I’m bad for you until
you’ve had a taste?”
Her breath caught in her throat at the feel of his hard body
pressed against her, but she managed to say, “I know chocolate glazed donuts
topped with sprinkles are bad for me without having a taste. Same rules apply
here.”
“Do they?” he murmured against her ear as his palms slid
along her hips.
“They sure do!”
“I taste much better than chocolate donuts,” he promised,
his breath hot as it brushed against the side of her neck.
She was finding it very distracting the way his hips rocked
ever so slightly against her own. His nuzzling made her feel as if he wasn’t
listening to her protests. “Crazy men who think they are Cupid are just as bad
for me as chocolate donuts.”
“But you’ll enjoy me while I last.” His fingers inched under
the edge of her shorts, sliding the silk up higher on her thighs.
squeak of alarm and managed to squiggle out of his grasp. “Hey now! I didn’t
say anything about the groping this morning because you were half asleep, but
this—”
“This is a conscious decision,” he finished for her.
She nodded. “Yeah.”
He was now leaning back against the counter, staring at her
with interest in his eyes. “Waking up with you curled against me in bed was a
green light if I’ve ever seen one.”
flushed in embarrassment. “I didn’t climb into bed with you! That was…was…”
“Magic.” With a sigh, he pushed off the counter and offered
her a plate of pancakes. “Well, let’s get this over with so I can move on to
seducing you.” He waved a hand toward her, and then picked up his own plate.
“Lay it on me. Tell me off.”
took her plate to the kitchen table. Sinking into the same chair as the morning
before, she began slicing her pancakes into tidy squares. “You’re insane.”
He grinned and set down a bottle of syrup in front of her.
“Come on. You said it helped yesterday.”
She rolled her eyes as she snatched up the syrup and began
pouring it over her food. “You’re not going to give this up, are you?”
He shook his head with a wicked grin and slid into the seat
across from her. “Nope.”
chunk of pancake and shoved it into her mouth. Before she could speak, she had
to close her eyes and give a low groan of appreciation.
When she opened her eyes, Valen was grinning at her.
“Enjoying yourself?”