Read Online Aphrodite's Passion by Julie Kenner - Free Book Online Page B

those were intimate moments. Getting-to-know you moments. Exactly the kind of moments Hale had no in interest in having with a mortal. “Ah, hell,” he muttered, letting his head fall back against the sofa. He’d never thought he was wrong for a mission before, but this time ...
    What had Zephron been thinking?
    “Not that I’m agreeing with my brother’s logic,” Zoë said, looking from him to Taylor, “but we don’t even know that Tracy has the belt. It would probably be premature for him to try and be her roomie.”
    “Exactly,” Hale said, latching on to the excuse. “The belt only blipped on the monitor. We don’t know who has it. It’s probably Tracy, sure, but it could just as easily be in a box at the Salvation Army.”
    “Any reason why we don’t just
ask
her if she has the belt?” Deena wondered aloud. “And if she does, then just ask her to hand it over.” She looked from Hale to Zoë to Taylor in turn. “I mean, unless there’s a rule, shouldn’t you try that first?”
    Hale turned to look at his sister’s friend more directly. One thing he’d learned about Deena: she always said what was on her mind. “Let’s say I ask her for the belt. If she does have it, she’s not going to want to give it up. For one, it belonged to her grandmother. For another, Zephron explained about how she’ll want to keep it. What do I do if she says no?”
    Deena shrugged. “Seduce her, I guess. Isn’t that right up your alley?”
    It was, though after Bitsy, Hale had been a little worried. Not that he intended to explore his concerns with Deena. Instead, he just said, “If I’ve already asked her for it, and
then
I seduce her, she’ll assume I’m only after the belt.”
    “And she’ll be right,” Hoop piped up.
    “Oh.” Deena gnawed on her lower lip. “Well, you could tell her the truth.”
    “Oh, yeah. That’d go over big.” He looked over to where Elmer was asleep on a chair. “Hey, Elmer. You listening to this?”
    A pair of sleepy ferret eyes blinked up at him.
What? Listening to what
?
    Hale didn’t explain. “Let’s see how this would go over, shall we?” He nodded from Deena to Elmer. “Pretend Elmer’s Tracy.” He stood up straighter and said in his most polite voice, “Hi, Tracy. You don’t know me, but my name’s Hale. I’m a superhero. Do you happen to own an ugly belt that’s been imbued with magical powers by Aphrodite? You do? Well, I’m here to take it off your hands.”
    Elmer yawned.
You’re insane. All of you. I can’t believe you woke me up for this
.
    “So, what’s he saying?” Deena asked.
    “He’s calling 911 to have me committed.”
    Deena opened her mouth—probably to argue—but then just nodded. “Okay. So maybe telling the truth isn’t the best idea.”
    “Maybe not,” Hale agreed, as he tried unsuccessfully to grab hold of an idea that was brewing in the back of his mind. “Although the seduction part might be fun.” That, of course, was an understatement. Especially since he had an inkling that the intriguing Miss Tannin just might be the woman to pull him out of his funk.
    Taylor snorted, but didn’t say anything.
    “What?” Hale asked.
    Taylor shrugged. “I just think it’s a little odd that a man who considers mortals so far beneath him spends his spare time seducing them.”
    His eyes met Hale’s, and Hale decided that maybe the man had taken offense to his past mortal-bashing. At least a little.
    The P.I.‘s perceptive, you know
, Elmer chittered, crawling up onto the back of the sofa and letting his legs hang down over the cushions.
    “I like women,” Hale explained. “Mortal. Protector. I just like women.”
    “Uh-huh. Are you sure there isn’t something else going on?”
    “Taylor...” Zoë put her hand on her husband’s arm.
    “Like what?” Hale asked, ignoring her. He was surprised to hear this from Taylor, but he wanted it out in the open.
    “Like maybe you’re scared to hang around longer than a night.