Aphrodite's Kiss by Julie Kenner

well... I’ll understand perfectly if...” She took a deep breath while Zoë watched, her mouth hanging open and absolutely no idea where the conversation was going. “Sweetheart, you do like
men,
right?”
    “Mother!” Zoë leaped to her feet. “Of course I do!”
    This keeping secrets thing was getting way out of control. “Men are great. Men are way up there on my top-ten list.” Especially certain adorable dark-haired men. “In fact, I even have a date for tomorrow.”
    Tessa blinked. “A real date?”
    Zoë frowned. In Mom-speak, there was a big difference between platonic buddy for her possibly lesbian daughter and potential son-in-law material.
    “Of course.” She mentally crossed her fingers. “Definitely real.”
    “Have I met him? What does he do? How long have you been seeing him? Why didn’t you tell me?”
    “This is exactly why I didn’t tell you.” Zoë swept her hand, indicating the room now filled with her mother’s excitement. “You’re gonna terrify the poor guy. Not to mention making me incredibly nervous.”
    “Sorry,” Tessa said, but she didn’t look it. Instead she looked like the cat who’d just swallowed the canary. “You just date so rarely.” She grinned. “Are you nervous?”
    Zoë pictured Buster. “A little.”
    “Do you want to talk about it?”
    Yes
. “No. Thanks, Mom, but I’m fine. And Deena’s on her way over, so I should—”
    “I get the message.” Tessa stood up, tucking her purse under her arm. “I’ll meet him tomorrow, then. Six sharp. Don’t forget.”
    “We won’t,” Zoë said, then coughed. “He’s looking forward to it.”
    Hoo-boy
. She followed her mother to the door, then held her breath through a quick peck on the cheek. She shut the door, flipped the lock, then sank to the floor and hugged her knees to her chest. She hated lying to Tessa, but lately it was getting harder and harder not to. The council, boyfriends, the whole shebang.
    The affidavit might be major problem number one, but she didn’t have to turn it in until Tuesday night. Compared to the few hours she now had to find a date for tomorrow, that was an eternity. Which meant that—at least for the evening—her serious lack of male companionship had been bumped to the number one trouble slot.
    Sighing, she rested her chin on her knees and eyed the phone again, hoping Buster Taylor was the telepathic sort. She’d been an idiot last night for not getting his number. Now she knew better.
When confronted with the object of your lust, forget the cool and distant approach. Always take down the vital stats
.
    Now, unless Buster picked up the phone and dialed, he wasn’t in the running for potential date material. Which raised a whole new problem. Where on earth was she going to find a date in time for the Andersons’ party?

    “Come on. Give.” Deena slammed through the door, then slapped her hand over her mouth when she saw that Zoë was on the phone. “Sorry.”
    Zoë held up a finger, silently promising she’d be off in a minute, and listened as vice principal Tandon explained, in excruciating detail, why he couldn’t take her to the Andersons’ party. “It’s okay, Billy. Thanks anyway.” Finally she hung up and leaned back against the wall, shaking her head. “Billy Tandon talks more than anyone I know.”
    “Is he helping with the library?”
    “No. I need a date.”
    “I knew that. We had this conversation yesterday.”
    She drummed her fingers on the countertop. “Yesterday.
Remember?
Explanation? Full disclosure? I want to know everything. Can you fly without that?” She nodded toward the cloak on Zoë ’ s kitchen table. “Can you fly with me? Do you have laser vision? Superhearing? Can you leap tall buildings? Are you from another planet?”
    Zoë laughed. “You’ve been watching too much television.”
    “Well? Are you?”
    “No.”
    “What about the laser vision?”
    “Not that I know of.” Her mouth twitched.
    “What?” Deena asked,