Apollo (Luna Lodge #5)(10)

When she turned, she was surprised to find he'd taken off his glasses. The amber eyes she was expecting were glowing a bright yellow.

She leaned in and openly stared at them.

"Beautiful," she whispered.

Val clamped her mouth shut and leaned back when she realized the word had actually slipped out.

Apollo leaned toward her, and she stepped away, pressing her back against the cold door.

"Don't play games with me," he said quietly. "You'll find I don't play well."

She sucked in a shallow breath and tried to regain some control over the situation. This had not at all gone like she would have thought.

Her eyes wandered to his mouth, and she licked her lips. Looking away, she tried to clear her head, but the smell of him was nearly driving her insane. Mustering up everything she had, Val pushed past him into the apartment.

The air wasn't as thick in the room, and she was able to think.

"My neighbor," she said and turned away from him. Just the sight of him was doing something that she really didn't want to think about at the moment.

She felt more than heard Apollo move nearer to her. It was hard to explain, but everything about him pulled at her. Even with her ability to feel emotions, she'd never encountered anything like it before.

"What about him?" Apollo asked.

When she turned, she found him standing on the other side of her chair. She blushed. It had never even occurred to her that she'd effectively just invited him into her bedroom as well.

Having a studio had always seemed like a good idea, but for the first time, she was regretting the decision. Now her whole world was on display for him. Not that she had much. Bed, chair, TV and then kitchen. Never having anything growing up had only prepared her for what she needed to do.

She stared at him and realized he was waiting for her to continue.

"The guy across the hall has been a bit more attentive than I would like," she said and gave a weak smile. "Maybe he'll get the hint."

"What? That you aren't interested in him?"

Apollo moved closer into the room, and she watched him as he wandered around.



       
         
       
        

"Yeah," she said. There really wasn't much else to say.

She watched as he turned to look at her again. His eyes were back to normal now, and despite herself, she almost wished they weren't. The glowing yellow was beautifully alluring in a way.

"I've come to offer you a job," he said and stared at her expectantly.

Business. Now that was something she could do.

"Have you decided to accept the terms of my offer?" she asked, keeping her voice and face neutral.

Apollo shook his head. She frowned.

"Then why are you here?"

She didn't have time for them to play games with her. If she couldn't get the job, she'd have to figure out some other way into Luna Lodge, and soon.

He sighed loudly, and it was clear that he wasn't thrilled about what he had to say. Oddly enough, less irritation than attraction seem to be floating from him now. She thought about using that angle to try and manipulate him, but she just really wasn't that type of woman.

"We have a counter-offer," he said and looked her in the eye. "One week." She started to open her mouth but stopped when he held up a hand. "One week, but you stay with us to save time."

She thought it over. It was a good deal. Better than she would have gotten on her own.

"Plus we'll double the pay."

The air whooshed out of her lungs. She had to sit, or she was going to pass out. Her legs bumped her bed, and she sat hard. Double. That was more than she could have ever hoped for: good money and access to her target.

"Double?" she said, not bothering to hide the incredulity in her voice. She wouldn't put it pass Apollo to just be screwing with her.

He looked anywhere but at her while nodding. Something about the way he acted made her feel like she had done something wrong.

Val looked around and then down at herself. She couldn't really see that it was her. Tank top and yoga pants were what she usually wore when she was cleaning. It wasn't really all that revealing.

That said, the level of arousal she could feel from him only seemed to be growing. She had experience dealing with this sort of thing before. It came with being a woman in a male-dominated area, but the occasional waves she felt from Apollo were intense. She wondered if he just hadn't been getting any lately.

Sure, those thick muscles and gorgeous amber eyes made her flutter a bit and might be fun to test out, but this wasn't about getting laid, even with a ridiculously hunky super-man. She needed to get into the Lodge for other reasons. It had already taken her far too long to get to this point.