Free A Taste of Greek (Out of Olympus #3) by Tina Folsom, Cynthia Cooke Page B

could make it. It would have been a shame if you’d come down with the same virus,” Triton said, craning his neck and looking past Zeus into the distance.
    Had Triton gone completely crazy, provoking Zeus like this? What in Hades was wrong with him?
    “Oh, rats, will you excuse us?” Triton glanced down at his wife, and Hermes caught his conspiratorial look. “I believe that’s Alice waving at us. Looks like an emergency in the kitchen.” With a quick sweeping motion, Triton whisked Sophia away.
    Great! First Triton and Sophia stirred up shit, and then they made a convenient excuse, leaving him alone with Zeus. Hermes was pretty sure that Alice, the B&B’s cook, was nowhere in sight. He glanced over his shoulder just to confirm his suspicion, and just as he’d thought, Alice wasn’t standing anywhere near the kitchen. In fact, now that Hermes let his gaze wander, he saw her merrily chatting to a couple of the guests, enticing them to try some of the Greek tapas Triton had ordered from Olympus.
    He was about to turn his attention back to Zeus when he spotted a dark head of hair. He knew that coiffure. It belonged to none other than his wicked stepmother. The shit was about to hit the fan. Luckily, she hadn’t spotted him and Zeus yet, but it was only a matter of seconds. Time to get the hell out of there.
    “Excuse Hermes’ bad manners for not introducing me,” he heard Zeus say, just as he turned back to him and Penny. “I’m his father, and trust me, I raised him better than that. Call me Z.” He reached for Penny’s proffered hand, but instead of shaking it, he pressed a kiss on the back of it. Without releasing it, he gave her one of his most charming smiles. “And what may I call you?”
    Hermes’ blood started to boil. This was exactly how Zeus started when flirting with women. A quick introduction, a kiss on the hand, a charming smile, a touch that lasted longer than it should. If Hermes didn’t stop this right now, Zeus would snatch Penny away from right under his nose.
    “Uh, I . . . ” Penny stammered, her cheeks suddenly looking heated, attesting to the fact that Zeus’s tactic was already having an effect on her.
    Putting an arm around her waist, Hermes pulled her to him, then gave his father an innocent smile. “But that’s Penny, father, I told you about her the other day. I’m afraid you must have forgotten it again. I’m sorry, I should have probably written it down to help you with your failing memory. I apologize.”
    Hermes could almost see the smoke coming out of Zeus’s ears when he dropped Penny’s hand and glared at him. That would teach the fucker not to make a pass at his woman.
    “So nice to meet you, Z,” Penny replied hesitantly.
    “Well, I’d better show Penny where the food is. Triton and Sophia have outdone themselves again with the catering. Will you excuse us, Father?”
    Not waiting for a reply from Zeus, Hermes turned, indicating to Penny to do the same, and almost bumped into a guest. Or should he call her an interloper? Hera looked up at him and forced a sweet smile.
    She was a tall woman, beautiful, but with an icy kind of charm, her long dark curls piled on top of her head in a sophisticated hairdo. Her figure-hugging dress accentuated her ample curves and her wasp-like waist. Mortal women would kill for a figure like hers. But to Hermes, Hera represented everything he despised: deviousness, coldness, and heartlessness.
    “Hermes, my dear. Aren’t you gonna say hello to your stepmother?”
    He cringed. “Hello, . . . Mom?” For Penny’s sake, he had to keep up appearances, and under no circumstances could he call her by her name. After all, it was bad enough that he’d introduced Triton and himself by their real names. Throwing out any more Greek gods’ names would surely make the Greek studies professor on his arm suspicious.
    Hera raised a surprised eyebrow at his greeting, then turned her gaze to Penny, studying her. “Hello,