“Just saying it like it is. Just because you want something doesn’t mean folks will hand it over. People can be self-centered and greedy.”
“Like you?”
“Yep.”
I hated that Keanu managed to instill a hint of doubt. Would Apollo balk, or worse, refuse? He’d better not.
“I need his wealth to start my hoard,” I grumbled.
“What can you offer him to make it seem like it’s in his best interest?”
“His life?”
Keanu chuckled. “Pretty sure he’s not scared of your puny butt.”
“I can promise him a high position in my retinue, that of personal protector. Only Iolana, who is my primary caretaker, and myself would be above him.”
“A position that won’t mean shit until you get mighty, and for that, you need his money. There’s got to be something you can tempt him with.”
It hit me suddenly. “Iolana.”
“What about my granddaughter?”
“Apollo lusts after her. I shall forbid their mating unless he agrees.”
Keanu blinked a few times before slowly saying, “Are you saying he wants to bang my granddaughter?”
“If that means copulate, then yes. Given their strong attraction, and how males are willing to do just about anything when it comes to bedding their female of choice, I will offer him Iolana in exchange for his wealth.”
Kean coughed. “Um, your plan has a few problems.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to balk because she’s related to you?”
“What? No. I’d love to see her shacking up with someone rich like Apollo. Your problem is gonna be Iolana. She hates outsiders. Even if she thinks he’s handsome, she’s stubborn enough to say no.”
“How do we convince her?”
“I have an idea.” Keanu grinned, a wicked thing that soon also tugged my own mouth as my servant and newly promoted chief strategist relayed his plan.
Chapter Eleven
I hummed while I worked, like some happy freaking dwarf. I’d enjoyed a nice evening with Apollo and had another to look forward to. Hopefully with another kiss. Mmm, that kiss… Just thinking of it had me tingling.
Kill me now. I’d become a cliché giddy girl mooning over a boy.
Make that a man, a man who could have anyone he wanted, supermodel, actress, someone as rich as him, but he chose me. Yeah, it stroked my ego. It also made me squirm in a way I’d never really experience, which, in turn, had me anticipating tonight’s date with more excitement than… well… anything I could recall.
My practical—and admittedly more bitchy side—kept trying to remind me Apollo represented everything I hated. Wealthy outsider. Client. A dude most likely getting his kicks from flustering the local girl. The latter was what scared me most.
Did I represent a challenge to Apollo? Did the fact I’d not immediately swooned in his presence lead to him pursuing me? Would I simply be a conquest? AKA, once we did the horizontal tango, would he move on to his next victim?
Truthfully, I had no way of knowing. The man I’d been getting to know seemed genuine, and I’d always prided myself on having a pretty decent bullshit radar. Even if he did play me, did I care? Fact was I needed some fun in my life, and I could do with some sexual relief. I’d been working hard and barely socializing these last few years, making me well overdue for a fling, and who was to say I wouldn’t be the one to end things? After all, a woman could take her pleasure and walk away.
I allowed myself only a few breaks that day, determined to finish the two side tables. Once I’d completed those, I could then tackle the bigger one, get it done and delivered, and then Apollo would no longer be a client, removing at least one obstacle. Not much I could do to change the rich part; however, it helped to know he’d earned his fortune rather than inherited.
At lunch, I entered to find Tigger and my grandfather huddled in front of the computer, cackling.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
