Free Aphrodite's Passion by Julie Kenner

Afraid that if you stay with any one woman too long, you’ll start to feel that mortals aren’t so bad after all. Or is it that you’re afraid if you fall for one, you’ll have a weak spot? Your very own Achilles’ heel. After all, Achilles was probably your seventy-fifth cousin twice removed, right? If you fell for a mortal, suddenly you’d be vulnerable. Because if she gets put in danger because of you ...” Taylor shrugged. “Sometimes it’s just easier to keep your distance.”
    “Sweetheart ...” Zoë shook her head.
    “Just calling it like I see it,” he said.
    Hale’s fingers itched to wipe the smug look off his brother-in-law’s face, but he had to admit that the thought of Tracy in danger made his stomach twist. Still, just because he cared about one girl’s well-being didn’t mean he was suddenly desperate to feel something romantic. It didn’t work that way. He was a Protector. He protected. Mortals needed protecting. That was all.
    After a few deep breaths, the blood quit pounding in his ears. With supreme effort, he managed to sound calm and rational when he answered. “You’re barking up the wrong tree, buddy.”
    For a second, he thought Taylor was going to argue; instead, the man shrugged. “Fine. Whatever you say.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Since you’re not worried, then you should have no problem moving in with Ms. Tannin, getting the belt and saving the world.”
    Great
. They’d come back full circle to the roommate idea. “She might not even have the thing,” Hale protested weakly. “And there’s no point in me moving in if the belt’s at Big Bob’s Flea Market.”
    “So find out for sure,” Taylor said. “But if you aren’t certain by the end of the day tomorrow, then see about moving in before someone else does and we lose that angle altogether. If it turns out she doesn’t have it, you can just move out.” He focused on Hale’s eyes. “Unless you think you can’t handle living that close to a mortal. I mean, I know all you superheroes have a few weaknesses....”
    Hale scowled as Taylor trailed off. He’d walked right into this one, and now he was stuck. Stuck with Tracy under one roof.
    “It’s perfect,” Deena said.
    Hale opened his mouth to argue, but couldn’t find the words. Unfortunately for him, moving in made some sense. Tracy Tannin was a woman and their best lead. Tracy needed a roommate. And Hale was nothing if not experienced in getting what he wanted from women.
    Conjuring a smile, he glanced around the room, then at Zoë. They all thought this was funny, did they? Him being saddled with a mortal roommate. Well, let them laugh.
    “Fine. Unless we find out for sure by tomorrow night that the belt’s somewhere else altogether, I’ll see about moving in.”
    He was strong; he could do this. Heck, he was a Protector First Class. A superhero. A direct descendent of Zeus. An experienced lover and a master of women. He could live with a mortal. For the mission, he could suck it up and do it.
    And the only thing that made him the tiniest bit nervous was just how much he was anticipating sharing close quarters with the likes of Tracy Tannin.

Chapter Five

    Barring the brief interlude with the anonymous stranger, Tracy’s evening had continued in the tiger-poop vein. Apparently her life was destined to be little more than large blocks of mortification occasionally broken up by brief stints of lust and longing.
    A bummer, but so far she’d learned to live with it.
    After the stranger had left, Tracy’s day had managed a nosedive from its new high all the way back down into the Guinness Book of Terrible Days, culminating in a run-in with her ex-boyfriend, Walter the Worm, who hadn’t even recognized her. Granted, it had been four years. Also granted, she’d had the frizzy perm from hell when they’d broken up. But that didn’t change the fact that her face was exactly the same—a face that, apparently, was entirely unmemorable.
    Except for one