“I had to fire Alan,” he said.
“Alan?” Hassan asked, glancing at Desmond in the rearview mirror. “Puppy-dog Alan?”
Desmond pursed his lips and blew out a breath through his nose. “Alan who turned out to be more loyal to Matthew than to me.”
“Ouch,” Hassan said, wincing at Desmond through the rearview mirror. “What’d he do?”
“He has been in continued contact with Matthew, against company policy, and he let a Valentine’s Day singing telegram person sent by Matthew into my office in a vain, and I mean that in more ways than one, attempt to win me back.”
“Unbelievable,” Hassan said, shaking his head.
“I’ll say,” Desmond laughed humorlessly, shaking his head.
He might have said more, but he happened to look out the window to see none other than Cupid himself, albeit in ordinary clothing, standing on the curb, looking as miserable as he felt.
A zing of…something hit him as if the actual Cupid had nailed him with an arrow. The attraction Desmond had unexpectedly felt was still there, and with it, a shameful amount of guilt.
“Stop the car, Hassan,” he said, perhaps a bit too suddenly.
Hassan stopped immediately. “Sir?”
“That’s the singing telegram,” he said, gesturing to Cupid.
“Do you want me to pick him up or run over him?” Hassan asked.
It was exactly the twist of dark humor Desmond needed to diffuse the maelstrom of anger, regret, and anxiety in his gut. “Pick him up,” he said. “But I’ll do the talking. Just get me closer to him.”
“Yes, sir,”
As soon as Hassan drove the limo up to the curb, placing it perfectly, Desmond rolled down his window. Guilt immediately eclipsed every other emotion that had been fighting inside of him at the sight of the man. Cupid still had a full face of make-up, which had always been Des’s kryptonite, and even though he’d changed clothes, the glitter that had painted the man’s incredibly impressive body was still there.
The icing on the cake was that, despite it being the first half of February, Cupid wore only a thick, long-sleeve shirt. That shirt was now soaked and plastered to his chiseled body, hiding nothing.
“Could I give you a ride somewhere?” Desmond asked, hoping he could be kind enough now to make up for his atrocious behavior earlier.
Cupid stared at him like Des might bite his head off. He then glanced up at the downpour, sighed, then said, “Yeah, thanks.”
“Sir, do you want me?—”
“No, I’ve got it,” Desmond rushed over Hassan. He shifted toward the door, then opened it, beckoning for Cupid to jump inside. He even grabbed the man’s bag so he could move faster.
Cupid settled stiffly into the car and gave Hassan an address as the driver pulled away from the curb and turned up the heating. “I’m sorry I’m ruining your car,” he said, picking at his wet clothing and looking supremely nervous. “And I’m sorry I ruined your day.”
“No, no,I’msorry,” Desmond said, shifting to the other side of the seating area to grab a towel from one of the discreet compartments. He handed it over to Cupid, who looked surprised. “I’ve been caught in the rain a few times myself,” he explained, gesturing with the towel for Cupid to take it. “I travel prepared now.”
Cupid accepted the towel and dried off as best he could in the cramped space. He was especially careful not to smear hismake-up all over the white towel, though he couldn’t help but get glitter everywhere, dabbing like he knew how to preserve his face instead.
“You did not ruin my day,” Desmond said, watching the tall man awkwardly as he dried off. “Matthew Evers ruined my day.”
“I’m sorry about that, then,” Cupid said, looking genuinely penitent. “If I had known more about the situation, I never would have taken the job.”
Desmond grunted in acknowledgement. “If I had suspected Matthew would pull a stunt like that, I would have tracked you down and warned you. I do hope he paid you fairly for that…that….”
“Debacle?” Cupid said, moving on to drying his torso. “Humiliation? Travesty of song?”
Desmond smiled. He couldn’t help himself. If Cupid had been weepy and apologetic, it would have turned him off. If he’d oozed apology and tried to kiss Des’s boots out of some sense of shame, he might have stopped at the nearest Tube station and kicked the man out. But the way Cupid immediately acted like the two of them were in the mess together was…intriguing.
“You do have a lovely voice,” he said instead.
