Free Eros by Helen Harper Page A

painful for Apollo to experience total loss and devastation before the searing hurt of jealousy.
    ‘Love is a cruel mistress,’ Coop said aloud, before smiling again and amending his statement to, ‘Love is a cruel master.’
    ***
    It took Skye ages to work out how to open the garage. She spent what seemed like forever hunting around in the darkness before she found the light switch, then she had to open the door so she could drive out. At least she located the nearest town easily enough but it took half an hour to find somewhere to park Mr Kamadeva’s monstrosity of an SUV. He clearly wasn’t someone who worried too much about the environment, she thought sniffily, when she finally found a space large enough.
    Things didn’t improve when she located the shops and the local market. She managed to get figs and strawberries easily enough, along with some orange juice, milk and coffee. But she couldn’t find the sodding cheese for love nor money and, whenever she tried to ask anyone, they looked at her in alarm when they realised she didn’t speak a word of Greek and backed away. Irritated with herself for not using the internet to find out what cheese was in Greek before she left the house, she eventually gave up and returned defeated to the car, only to find a motorcyclist had parked next to her and somehow managed to scrape its handlebars along the SUV’s gleaming paintwork.
    Wetting the edge of her sleeve with saliva, Skye tried to rub off the mark, but only seemed to make it worse. Her heart sinking at the thought of telling the boss she still hadn’t met that she’d ruined what was probably his pride and joy, she clambered back into the car and drove off, momentarily forgetting she was supposed to drive on the other side of the road and almost taking out an elderly cyclist. Cheeks reddening in embarrassment as he gesticulated at her in a fashion which left absolutely no doubt as to its meaning, Skye felt utterly crushed.
    By the time she found her way up the winding road and through the hills to Mr Kamadeva’s house, her shoulders were slumped and she could feel a hard lump of tears building up inside her chest. Skye threw the keys back down onto the kitchen counter, where they landed with a clatter, and began to pull out the rotting food from the fridge to make way for the new stuff, cursing aloud all the time.
    Coop, returning from the last of his mother’s tasks, took one look at her dejected frame and reached out for her without thinking. He only just managed to draw back his hand in time before it connected with her cheek. The list he’d given her had been intended to occupy her time and make her feel needed, not to upset her. He was so absorbed in watching her and wondering what he could do to make her feel better that he almost jumped out of his skin when the phone in his pocket began to ring.
    Skye, hearing the ring from right behind her, jerked her head up and banged it painfully on the roof of the fridge. Yelling in pain, she twisted around, assuming that the mysterious Mr Kamadeva was there. But when she looked, the kitchen was empty and the ringing had stopped abruptly. An oddly appealing smell of earthy cedar lingered in the atmosphere.
    ‘Mr Kamadeva?’ she called out. ‘Hello?’
    There was a thump from another room. Skye followed the noise, her eyes narrowing. It wasn’t possible that the billionaire had run away because she was about to turn around and see him, was it? Skye was shy – but even she wasn’t as bad as that. Was anyone?
    She felt an uncomfortable prickle across her shoulders and down her spine. Everything about this just felt wrong. Perhaps she’d made a huge mistake by coming here. She wandered through every room, peering into each one, until all that was left was the large door leading to the forbidden East Wing. Skye pressed her ear against it, but whatever – or rather whoever – had been making those noises and owned that phone had fallen completely silent.
    Coop