This chapter is longer than the others, and also leans more toward plot and adventure than sexytimes... although that happens, too. Bit of a walk for it, but it happens.
You'll note I'm kind of fussing with the job title, as it were. "Herald" isn't strictly about delivering messages, but that's still the common view and so it doesn't really work. "Agent" is frustrating because it points back to some other media. So I'm fussing between things like agent, favorite, and champion. You'll see. The inconsistency isn't an oversight.
Enjoy!
CHAPTER SIX
Scott felt underdressed almost as soon as he arrived. The purple silk shirt, black slacks, and accessories from his boss looked and fit fine, but most of the men trickling into the event wore suits. He even saw a few tuxedos. Women dressed in a range from business-classy to glamour and gowns. The neighborhood itself felt out of his league, too; he walked between many-million dollar homes with privacy walls and ocean views, heading for the grandest one he'd seen yet. The place belonged on one of those reality shows about the
really
wealthy. About the only thing it lacked was plentiful private parking--but the streets all around had signs reserving curbsides for a private event and a few staffers in uniform polos to monitor it.
My minimum-wage-and-public-assistance ass does not belong here,
he thought as he followed a trickle of guests to the four-story megamansion. Hell, it looked more like a modern art museum than a home. Another thought repeated for the third time since Jessica dropped him off around the block:
I am out of my league.
The first look he got from a lovely, thirtysomething blonde in a backless glittering black gown put a crack in that thought. The suited, probably wealthy man at her side didn't notice. She stole a long, up-and-down glance at Scott, unconsciously licked her lips, and had to remember her footing before taking the next step. She was gorgeous. Maybe an actress, maybe a trophy wife or girlfriend, maybe just beautiful regardless of the rest of her life. The same could be suspected of other women in sight.
Some of those others looked, too.
Not out of my league with everyone. Aphrodite's favorite. All that luck on my side.
Encouragements from the goddess herself and the other he'd just been with rebounded in his mind. So did all his other flings.
I could have a good time here.
Another woman, another interested look. Long, dark brown legs showed through a slit in a gold sequined dress, with a clutch in her equally dark hands, and curves as Scott's eyes rose. Stacked and Black and beautiful. She was with someone, but she looked at him. Grinning.
No,
Scott decided.
I'm
gonna
have a good time here.
Later, though. Once I've found my "task" and--
"Hi, excuse me," said a thick-shouldered man in a dark suit. The flat-top haircut punctuated the image, but at least he smiled. "Are you here for the event?"
"Yeah." Scott pulled the cell phone from his pocket to show the invitation QR code. "I'm the plus-one, so... I guess I undershot the dress code?"
The security guy scanned the QR code, saw a green light, and then flashed a half-reassuring grin. "Doesn't bother
me.
I'm sure you're fine. You're not the only one short of formal. Are you looking for your companion or waiting?"
"She should be here already. 'Lower bar,' she said? Uh... Is this a home or a resort?"
"Kind of both, actually. It gets rented out sometimes as a private resort. Not my first event here. Go through the foyer, keep going past the green waterfall, and then turn right. You'll find it. Have a nice night." It was a nicer reception than Scott expected--not exactly warm, but the guy flipped from "bouncer" to helpful and polite once he saw an invitation. Flat-Top moved on to speak with other guests while Scott continued through the small but ornate front garden.
Only one other person at the door asked for his invitation--despite probably seeing his interaction with Flat-Top. Scott supposed he could be annoyed or indignant, but divine horny magnetism aside, he
didn't
belong here. Their vigilance was warranted.
Inside, Scott found more dazzling wealth. The spacious foyer had abstract sculptures and fancy-framed mirrors. The "green waterfall" was, in fact, an indoor waterfall along a wall covered in vines and other plants, carefully engineered for direct sunlight through multiple windows. The room had an ocean view, too. Only a few people lingered in the front rooms to take in the décor or chat. Naturally, he found more people in the bar--a spacious room with modern styles, grey marble tiles, and low but upbeat music. One wall hosted a curving countertop bar with stools, a fully-stocked shelf, and two bartenders.
Guests kept to the same patterns he saw outside. Scott had to be the youngest person here, but the crowd tended toward the young and relatively slim. He saw exceptions to both, but not many. He wondered if that was deliberate selection or unconscious bias.
These people have the money to look good, and to be picky about who they bring,
Scott supposed. It might be unfair of him. It might also be true. The men trended a little older than the women, or so he guessed, but little of this money he saw seemed like
old
money.
Scott scanned the room for his... contact? Companion, as Flat-Top put it? He had only a little to go on: "She'll have red hair and wear a dress in gold," Aphrodite had told him. "Her name is Kaitlin. You'll know her when you see her."
He didn't see her yet. He'd seen a gold dress outside, but not red hair. Not until a couple bodies at the bar parted, revealing red locks and golden silk hugging a figure that stopped his heart. Again. That was happening a lot lately.
Most of the dress started from the chest down in the front and the waist down in the back, except for the tie-strands crisscrossing her back and running to her shoulders and neck. Slits up the side showed some leg, too. She had a great figure and even more impressive definition in her limbs. Her legs, arms, and shoulders showed deep tone and fitness--along with a slim waist, an arresting ass, and an equally endowed chest as she turned--
Turning!
