He took the plates away and came back with two loaded with a light orange cake and what I was assuming was frozen yoghurt based on his normal menu.
Poseidon put one of the pieces down in front of me."Would you like some coffee to go with it?"
"I'd probably better not," I responded."I want to be able to sleep tonight."
"And Greek coffee is strong," he responded, sliding into the seat opposite me.
"I have heard that."I picked up my spoon and pushed it through the cake, surprised by how dense it was.I took a bite, surprised by the explosion of sweetness and citrus that hit my tongue."Oh wow, that is good."
"It's one of my favourites," he admitted."I had it for the first time in a bakery in the south of Greece, and when I asked for the recipe, I thought that the woman who'd made it was being difficult because it had phyllo pastry in it."
"It does?"
He nodded."I was surprised too.But when I made her recipe, it came out almost as good as hers, so I realised she was telling me the truth."
"Then it was a good job you didn't smite her," I quipped.
Poseidon let out a hearty laugh, a pleasant sound that I wouldn't mind hearing more of."It's a good job I didn't," he agreed before eating some more of his cake.
At least, I thought it counted as a cake, despite havingpiein the name.It truly was delicious, and the way the syrup had soaked into it made it even better.It was hard to believe I'd never had this before.
"Maybe next time, you'll have to make an Indian dessert," he said.
"I'm going to do the same as you did and hire it out," I joked."I can cook savoury food, but baking and I have never been good friends."
"I think that would be acceptable."He grinned at me and finished off his dessert."So, why theParanormal Gourmet?"
His question took me off guard for a moment, but I knew that it was a reasonable one, especially when it was my work for the magazine that had led me to analmost datewith him."They're the only publication geared towards paranormal establishments.I don't mind going to human ones, but there's something extra special about knowing there's a hint of magic involvedsomewhere.And it's so much easier to write an article when I don't have to lie about knowing that the chef is a Greek god, for instance."
"It would be a shame if you had to hide my nature," he joked.
"It's hard to when you're walking around introducing yourself as Poseidon," I pointed out.
He shrugged."If people don't know I'm the god, they just assume that it's my chef name, or that I've got an ego."
"A reasonable thing to assume," I countered.
"Indeed.And I do.But most of it is directed towards cooking these days."
"Then I shall avoid insulting your cooking more than I already have."
He reached across the table and touched my hand, even the briefest contact making a small gasp escape from me.I looked up and met his gaze, surprised by the intensity I found there.
"I always want you to be honest with me about my food," he said earnestly.
I swallowed hard."I will be."
What was going to be harder was keeping my mind on the food, though perhaps with our upcoming date to Dionysus' vineyard, I didn't need to keep my mind as clear of the other things as I had first thought.
Chapter8
POSEIDON
The courtyard was warmly lit with tiny lights strung up between the trees.
"This is beautiful," Laila said, leaning back into the hand I'd placed on her lower back.
"It is," I responded."And here's our host."
