“Hey there, Ladybug,” he says, and I blink at him. He waits for a long moment for a response, and when I just stare at him, he gets off my desk and stands straight. “I was hoping to have a chat with the big man.” He attempts to go around my desk, and I push out my leg. His ankle catches on my heel as he almost goes tumbling to the ground, his downy wings the only thing preventing him from falling face first onto the floor.
Unfortunate.
“You don’t have an appointment, Arrow.”
“We need to discuss?—”
I stand from my desk, my pink heels clicking on the marble as I adjust my pants legs and crouch next to the cupid.
“I know you’re new here, but if there’s one lesson you ought to learn, it’s that I’m not someone you should fuck with. Would you like to make an appointment?” I say in an eerily calm tone.
The male cupid blinks at me and slightly backs away. “Yes, I’d like to make an appointment.”
I sit back in my chair and look over the ledger, ignoring multiple openings and skipping to August.
“August tenth,” I say, picking up my gel glide pen that I covet dearly. If anyone so much as tried to steal this pen, I’d probably ruin their life.
“That’s months from now.”
“Would you like me to push it to October?” I ask sweetly.
“Fine. August,” he grumbles, and I give him a wide smile that makes him take another step back.
“Would you like an appointment card, or are you capable of remembering your obligations?”
The cupid swallows and nods his head before retreating to the elevator. I smile to myself as I color coordinate Cupio’s appointments for the next month. He’s too accommodating with his time, and if he needs me to put these unaware, self-absorbed cupids in their place, I’m fine taking that job.
It’s blessedly quiet in reception for a few moments until the elevator dings. I expect Love to come strutting in with her giant reaper boyfriend, just letting everyone in Cupidale know that she isthecupid. But I’m surprised when a different reaper is standing next to her, walking toward my office.
He whistles lowly. “This is the head honcho’s office?”
He isn’t wearing the ridiculous robes the other reapers wear, instead he has on a tight black t-shirt and matching black pants. He doesn’t carry the same pretensions about him that I’ve seen from other reapers. He also doesn’t seem like the happy-go-lucky cupid next to him.
He seems different, and for the first time in a long time, my curiosity is piqued.
When they reach the edge of my desk, Love gives me a gigantic smile, while the reaper next to her tilts his head like a confused Doberman. I shouldn’t find it endearing, yet there’s something about him I find intriguing and different.
I say nothing, forcing Love to speak first.
“Right, hello, Ladybird. I have an appointment with Cupio,” she says happily.
“Yes, you have an appointment with Cupio. The reaper isn’t on the meeting agenda.”
The man in question smiles, a dimple forming in his cheek as he shows off his shining white teeth. His dark hair is short,nearly buzzed to the head, and I imagine what it would feel like under my fingers.
“You’re different, cupid,” he says, his dark gaze appraising me like I’m a puzzle to be solved.
When was the last time that someone looked at me with anything besides dismay or irritation?
I push my glasses up my nose and clear my throat. “Being average is boring,” I reply, and his smile widens.
“I thought all cupids were happy little?—”
Love smacks a hand over her reaper friend’s mouth and she squeaks. “Right, about that meeting, I brought him as a reaper liaison.”
“You can go in. Your little friend?—”
“Gloom,” he interrupts, ripping Love’s pink hand from his face. “My name is Gloom.”
