"So tell me how it is that you have become the most beautiful architect I have ever cast my eyes upon," Apollo said.
Pamela made a little hiccupping laugh. "You shouldn't have already described my competition as a bunch of old men if you wanted me to be complimented by that. Actually, I'm not an architect, but understanding architecture is an important part of my job. I'm an interior designer."
"An interior designer." Apollo repeated the strange title, searching for its meaning. What was it she designed the interiors of? He had no idea. And then Apollo, God of Light, master of music, healing, truth, and lover of innumerable mortals as well as goddesses, found himself doing something for the first time in his existence. He struggled to think of something to say to keep himself from sounding like an ignorant fool.
He blurted the first question that came into his mind. "Architecture is important to an interior designer?"
"Of course." The tiny frown lines were back between her brows. "It only makes sense that in order to properly decorate a space the designer must first understand the building's architecture. I mean, please. Me not understanding the structure of a building would be like a chef not understanding in what order to mix the ingredients to make a souffle. Besides that, there are lots of times that I work directly with builders and am involved in the design of a project from the time the foundation of the home is laid all the way through to when my clients move in and host their fabulously successful housewarming party."
Apollo's mind swiftly sifted through the strange wording of her answer, focusing on familiar ideas. It seemed Pamela's job involved decorating mortals' homes. Perhaps she was like Zeus' sister, Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth. Ancient mortals invoked Hestia's aid when erecting a new home and in many villages women tended ever-burning flames dedicated to her as a symbol of their desire for safety and harmony within their households.
"You make home a pleasant place in which to live," he said thoughtfully. "That must be a rewarding job."
Pamela grinned. "Well, I try. I especially enjoy owning my business. I like to call the shots." Her smile faltered as her expression grew more serious. "I've decided that it's better to be in control of my life than to constantly try to live up to someone else's expectations."
Apollo nodded thoughtfully, thinking of how lately he had begun to feel stifled by the role he had played for eons. It seemed he was eternally viewed as the great God of Light, and never seen as himself. He met Pamela's eyes and surprised himself by speaking his thoughts aloud.
"I envy your independence. I know what it is to be restricted and controlled by what others expect of you."
"It's suffocating," Pamela said softly.
"Exactly," Apollo said.
They studied one another as they sipped their wine, pleasantly surprised at finding common ground so easily.
Pamela's smile returned. "Well, even though I own my business, some jobs allow me more independence than others. For instance, the job that brought me to Vegas is feeling like one of the others."
"You do not live here, in The Forum?"
"You mean Las Vegas?" She automatically corrected him. "No way. This is my first time in Vegas. I'm from Colorado." Her wry look took in the fountain and the area surrounding it. She shook her head. "Manitou Springs is about as different from Las Vegas as you can get. How about you? I don't recognize your accent, but it's obviously not from around here."
Wishing he'd given himself more time to fabricate answers to simple questions like who he was and where he was from, he took another drink of wine while his mind searched around for a response Pamela would find reasonable.
"I can not really say I am from only one place. I consider both Italy and Greece my home."
At least that accounted for his unusual name and the accent, she thought.
"It seems we have more than our love of independence in common. I am new to Las Vegas, too," he said. It was a stretch of the literal truth, but not by much. His two previous visits had been brief and confined to Caesars Palace. He had basically followed his sister's lead and tried to appear as if he was enjoying himself.
"So you don't usually pretend to be a god?"
Apollo's smile was slow and enigmatic. "I can assure you that I have never pretended to be a god."
"Really? Then how did all of this" - she gestured at his costume - "happen?"
Apollo's smile widened as he decided to tell the truth. "I blame it entirely on my sister. I believe she thought I had become too serious, so as a favor to her I came to Las Vegas. Hence, what you see before you."
Pamela's laughter delighted Apollo. It didn't have the perfectly musical sound of an amused goddess; instead it was filled with earthy joy and brought to mind images of hot firelit nights and slippery entwined limbs.
"Now that makes total sense. I have a brother myself. He's a big, tough fireman, and he never lets me forget the time I talked him into dressing up as a Star-Belly Sneetch and reading Seuss to some local preschool kids. How was I supposed to know the media would get wind of it and snap a picture of him climbing out of the fire truck in costume?" Remembering, Pamela laughed so hard that she snorted. "His buddies had the picture blown up, laminated and posted at all the fire stations. Sometimes I still call him Fireman Sneetch, but usually only when I am well out of reach." She giggled at her own rhyming minitribute to Seuss.
Apollo had no idea what she was talking about, but her laughter was incredibly infectious, and when she snorted he had a sudden, irrational desire to lean across the table and kiss her squarely on her adorable nose.
"So I understand perfectly the trials a sister can impose upon her brother." She wiped at her eyes and caught her breath. She really should slow down on the wine. "What do you do when your sister isn't torturing you?"
Apollo considered and discarded several answers before he replied. "I do many things, but I like to think of myself predominately as a healer and a musician."
He was a singing doctor? Was that anything like a singing cowboy? The giggles bubbled up through her chest again. She drowned them in a gulp of wine, which did absolutely nothing to help her teetering sobriety.
"What kind of doctor are you?" she finally asked when she was sure she could speak without dissolving into giggles.
"I believe I am an excellent one," he said, surprised at her question.
Laughter spilling over, she shook her head. "I think we have a translation glitch, and this" - she flicked a fingernail against her almost empty wineglass - "is definitely not helping."
"Perhaps, you would like to walk with me?" He pounced on the opportunity to guide the conversation away from questions about himself. "Taking in the night air would be an excellent way for you to clear your head."
She pointed to the perpetually daylight sky of The Forum. "But it's not night out there."
He leaned forward. "In a land such as this, can we not imagine it night?"
In a caress so soft that she felt the heat from his body more than the pressure of his touch, he stroked one finger down the back of her hand. It was only a brief meeting of skin, but the small, intimate gestured seemed to pull her forward. The world around them fell away, and Pamela submerged herself in his eyes. He was just so damn outrageously gorgeous. She was flooded with a sensation that it took her several heartbeats to identify. Desire. How long had it been since she had felt the hot pull of lust for a man? Years - it had been years. And she was only thirty. It was like she'd let herself become dried up and old and passionless. Well, no more. She loosed her breath in a rush.
"Okay. I'll take a walk with you," she proclaimed. "Are you staying at Caesars Palace? I can wait here while you change your clothes."
"No. I - I am..." He mentally flailed around. Thank the nine Titans that he managed a credible excuse. "I am staying with my sister."
"Oh." She frowned at his costume. "Well, I suppose you don't really need to change."
This was something he understood perfectly. Her words said one thing, but her body language said another. Mortal women and goddesses had this form of communication very much in common.
He glanced around The Forum. Modern mortals dressed so oddly. How had he not noticed earlier how out of place he was? Poorly carved statues were the only things in this world attired like him. He suddenly realized with a start of shock that he must look like a buffoon to her. A buffoon was unlikely to romance anyone, and he must romance her to grant her desire and to break the bond her invocation had forged. In the back of his mind a thought whispered that there was much more to this than the completion of an invocation - that he wanted her to take him seriously for an entirely different reason. The thought was strangely intriguing.
What was he going to do about it?
Then Ms eyes widened. The answer to his dilemma surrounded him.
"I will simply purchase the correct clothing," he said.
Pamela's lips quirked up in a surprised smile. "Just like that?"
"Of course! Are we not surrounded by shops?"
She raised her brows and nodded. "We are, indeed."
He stood, and then he realized he needed to do something he had never before had to do. Until that moment the God of Light had never had to ask a woman - mortal or immortal - to wait for him. Gently, he touched the back of her hand again. "I will not be long. Will you wait?"
Pamela took her time considering. A naughty smile played at the corner of her well-shaped mouth. She ran one finger around the rim of her crystal wineglass while her eyes met his.
"I suppose I could wait. For a little while."
He smiled, took a couple of steps, stopped, frowned and returned to the table.
"Which shop would you suggest?" he asked in a low voice.
"Well," she said, dropping her voice to match his. "It's lucky for you that I am a shopping expert. I have instant recall when it comes to couture." She squinted her eyes, considering. "I remember an Armani's just around the corner there." She pointed to her right.
"Then I go to Armani." He took her hand in his and lifted it to his lips. "���ͦ�?��, �æ˦Ԧʦ�? Pamela," he spoke the ancient language against her skin. Then he turned and strode away around the corner.
As soon as he was gone, she bolted for the ladies' room and quick-dialed V.
"Please tell me that you're calling because you just won the million dollar jackpot," V said instead of hello.
"Oh my God! I think I have, but I'm not talking about money."
"Get out of town! You actually sound giddy. Wait, let me sit down. If you tell me you're speaking to a man, I may faint."
"I'm not speaking, I'm flirting..." Pamela breathed the word like a prayer, and then she dissolved into giggles that ended in a snort.
"You're drunk," V said.
"I am not. I'm tipsy."
"Oh, good God."
"That's exactly what he looks like. V, you wouldn't believe it! I was wiping up the spilled wine, well, then I cut my finger. Which hurt like hell, by the way. And I even said it. Admitted it out loud. I want romance in my life." She enunciated the words slowly and distinctly before gushing on. "And then there he was. He's dressed in some kind of Greek god costume, but that's because of his sister. You know, like Richard and the Star-Belly Sneetch. Anyway, we've been talking, and as soon as he buys new clothes we're - are you ready? - going for a walk."
"Uh, Pammy," V said. "Where are you right now?"
"In the ladies' room."
"And where is he?"
"Buying new clothes."
"Okay. Listen to me. Sober up. He might be a freak," V said.
"He's not a freak. He's a singing doctor."
"Has lack of sex completely deteriorated your brain? You're talking like a crazy woman." V wanted to reach through the phone and shake her.
"It's not as weird as it sounds," Pamela said, chewing at her bottom lip. "V, I like him. He makes me feel again. And... and I have some kind of connection with him. I know it sounds crazy, but there's a spark between us. It's like we understand each other."
Vernelle opened and closed her mouth. She stifled the litany of warnings that were running through her head. "Pammy, I think that's wonderful."
"So I'm not being stupid?"
"No, doll. You're being young and single. There's not a damn thing wrong with that," V assured her. "Go for a walk with the tripod. Flirt your cute little butt off. But no more wine tonight, okay?"
"I've already cut myself off."
"Good. And use a condom."
"Vernelle! I am not going to have sex with him."
"Pamela!" V mirrored her friend's shocked tone. "Here's a news flash - if you want to have sex with him, you can! What I want is a full report tomorrow. Good-bye, Pammy."
Pamela was picking at the Band-Aid when Phoebus walked back around the corner. She felt her eyes widen, and a thrill that was liquid and hot ran the length of her body to settle deep inside her thighs. In his god costume he had been handsome and exotic in an unbelievable kind of way, like an actor to be "fallen in love with" during a movie. In normal clothes he was no less gorgeous, but now he was suddenly real and no longer something unattainable. He had become a living fantasy. He was wearing cream-colored linen Armani slacks that hugged his sleek waist and hips, and a silk knit pullover that was the same amazing blue as his eyes. Those eyes locked with hers as he approached her. He stopped beside her stool. For a moment he didn't say anything. Then he pulled nervously at his shirt and smoothed both palms down the front of his pants. His smile seemed uncertain, which totally baffled Pamela. How could someone who looked like a Greek god be worried at all about his appearance? The silence stretched between them. He fidgeted with the collar of his shirt.
He was definitely nervous, which was undeniably adorable.
"Do you like the new clothing?" he finally asked.
"You look like a walking Armani ad."
"Is that a good or bad thing?"
"Good. Definitely good. What did you do with your outfit?"
The worry that had tightened his face relaxed. "I left it with the Armani servant. I will retrieve it later. As for now, shall we walk?"
He held out his arm for her to take, just like she was a princess. Or maybe, she thought, glancing up at his profile, a goddess. She placed her arm through his and slid off the stool. She could swear that she felt every nerve ending on her bare arm prickle where it touched his.
"The servant at the Armani shop told me that if we leave Caesars Palace, turn to the right and cross the street, we will come to pool of magnificent dancing fountains."
"The Bellagio fountains. I've heard about them, but I haven't seen them."
"He said it is but a short distance." He raised his eyebrows and looked expectantly at her.
What in the hell was she supposed to do? Of course she wanted to go with him, but would walking to the Bellagio fountains at - she glanced at her watch - at almost 11:00 P.M. be smart? Of course 11:00 P.M. Vegas time was like prime time anywhere else. The streets would be filled with people rushing from casino to casino. Wouldn't they? It should be okay.
On the other hand, she didn't want to make the mistake of being one of those women who acted too stupid to live. And she certainly didn't want to be hacked up into little pieces by a gorgeous but crazy serial killer and have a tragic CSI episode based on her last hours.
"Pamela," he unlinked their arms to take her hands in his. "You have nothing to fear from me." His eyes caught hers and held, and he read the indecision there. It pained him to think that she did not trust him. If only she knew who he was! He quickly cast aside the fleeting thought. If she truly knew who he was, she would also know his past and how he had seduced and discarded countless mortal women. If she knew the truth, she would surely turn from him. And he could not blame her for doing so. But she didn't know who he was; she thought he was a simple mortal healer. She had no reason to turn from him. His jaw tightened with resolve. This time he longed for it to be different. This time it would be different - he would make it so.
Apollo spoke before he could stop himself. "I would never harm you, nor would I allow anyone else to cause you pain. ���Ϧ� ��?�ͦ� �ӦϦ� ?�Ѧʦ� �̦Ϧ�."
The foreign words seemed to linger in the air around them, and for a moment Pamela imaged them as tinged with a bright golden light. Then she blinked, and the image dissipated like smoke in shadow.
"What did you say?" she asked.
"I said that I give you my oath. You should know that in my homeland, the giving of an oath is a sacred thing, broken only by one who has no honor."
His words touched her, but more than that, he touched her. His physical allure was obvious, but she was drawn to more than just the beauty of his body. There was something about him that tugged at her insides, something she recognized. Her heart skittered around in her chest as she realized what it was: she saw herself in him. In his eyes she saw the echo of something she had carried around within her for years, the longing for more... and the inability to find it.
"Why aren't you involved with some nice woman, instead of here asking a virtual stranger to go out with you?"
His smile was like dawn breaking the gloom of night. "I am with a nice woman. I am with you."
She sighed and slipped her arm back through his. "Then I suppose I have no choice but to go to the fountains with you."
"You do," he said, starting to walk, "but I do not think any other choice would be a wise one."
"Just so that you know, I'm holding you to that oath of yours."
He smiled down at her. "I would have it no other way, Pamela."