He gestured for me to follow him into the oasis. “It isn’t really necessary when we’re dealing with gods and angels,” he said.
“Right, because you’re all perfect specimens.”
“Immortality helps,” he admitted. “But then so does being a witch.”
The look he gave me suggested that he thought I was just as beautiful as any of the dozens of goddesses I was certain he’d dated in his past.
“So, who are we photographing first?” I asked.
“We’ve got Orion coming in a few hours, and Kuaket after that.”
“Orion?” I echoed. “As in the hunter from the stars?”
“That’s the one.”
“I’m not sure I’m going to be able to do this,” I muttered.
“Of course you are, they’re just people,” Baal assured me. “They have their flaws and their bad qualities, just like you and I do.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you trying to tell me that you have flaws?”
“It’d be very arrogant of me to assume otherwise,” he pointed out. “Which would be a flaw in itself. But as for real flaws, I’ve been told that I brush things off too easily sometimes.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Is that a flaw?”
“If people think I don’t care, then yes. I care a lot, but after a few thousand years, you kind of start to realise that some things are out of your control and it’s easier to let them slip by without you obsessing over them.”
“How very zen of you.”
“I used to be much more hot-headed,” he promised me. “You don’t become a weather god without a certain temperament.”
“That explains Zeus.”
He snorted. “Great guy, actually.”
“I’m reasonably sure you’d say that about everyone.”
“Of course. Just like everyone has their flaws, everyone has their good points too.”
“What are yours?” I asked, unable to help myself.
“Well, I’d like to think that I’m charming, and I can take a really good picture.”
I let out a small laugh. “So you’re just going to casually skip over the abs?”
“Is that what you’d like to do?” He looked at me out of the corner of his eye as if trying to gauge my reaction.
“I’d pay lots of attention to your abs.” The words slipped out before I thought about whether they were a good idea.
“I’m sure that could be arranged.” He grinned. “Though now I’m starting to question whether it was wise to introduce you to other naked gods.”
“They’ll be through a camera lens.” And there was a part of me that hoped he wouldn’t be.
“Right, this is us,” he said, gesturing to a gorgeous lake and the camera equipment set up in front of it.
“Wow,” I whispered, turning around to get a good look at my surroundings. Somehow, I’d allowed myself to get distracted by his presence rather than paying any attention to where we were. “Who owns this?” Even I could hear the wonder in my voice.
“Menhit.”
I frowned. “I vaguely recognise the name.”
“She’s a Nubian war goddess, she’s on our roster for tomorrow, so you’ll get to meet her.”
My eyes widened. Somehow I hadn’t considered that there would be beautiful goddesses naked in front of Baal. Or worse, that one of them could be his ex.
“Just so I’m aware, do you have history with any of the people we’re photographing?” I asked.
He raised an eyebrow. “Are you asking because you want to be prepared for the drama, or because you’re jealous?”
A little bit of both, but I didn’t say that out loud. “The drama.”
He chuckled knowingly, probably because he could see through my thinly veiled half-truth. “No exes here,” he promised, confirming what I’d suspected. He knew exactly why I was asking.
“Good, I like the idea of sticking to drama-free photoshoots.”
“Me too,” he said. “And I don’t think Horus would like it if his calendar was tinged with drama either.”
“Wait, we’re shooting this for Horus, as in...”
“Who did you think Horace was?”
“A random guy.” I threw my hands up in the air. “Is anyone not a god?”
He let out a bemused laugh. “There are plenty of people who aren’t, but most of the gods know each other fairly well, the pool is small when you’ve been alive for so long.”
“Mmm.” I sighed.
“I could show you the cameras,” he said, moving me over to where several tables were laden with equipment.
My eyes widened as I took it all in. “We can use all of these?”
“Of course. Whatever you think will get the best pictures.”
“I’ve only ever dreamed about seeing some of this in real life.” I reached out to touch one of the lenses. “I don’t think we really need all of these if we’re just shooting people.”
“We’re not,” he responded. “We’re also shooting shifted forms, partial as well as full, and some pets.”
My eyes widened. “Really?”
He nodded. “This is a calendar for an animal sanctuary.”
“How are you going to make any money if people are partially shifted?” I asked. “Surely it can’t be sold to humans then.”
“Can’t it?” A mischievous expression crossed his face. “If you took a photo of me with my horns out, would a human believe they were real, or would they just think that it had been photoshopped?”
“You have horns?”
“Is that what you’re focusing on?” Amusement danced in his tone.
“Right now, yes.” I cocked my head to the side and tried to imagine what they’d look like.
“Maybe I’ll show you them later.” His voice was low and inviting, making it seem as if it was something very intimate he was promising me.
Perhaps it was, I had no idea how gods felt about those parts of their bodies.
“You should pick which of the cameras you want to use,” Baal said.
“You want me to shoot?”
“It would kind of defeat the point if you didn’t.”
“You really did offer me this because you thought it would help my career.” The awe in my voice was hard to cover up.
“Partly,” he admitted.
“What was the other part?” I asked, almost dreading the answer and what it would reveal.
“I wanted to spend more time with you.”
Surprise filled me.
“You weren’t expecting that,” he said.
“No, I guess not,” I responded. “I suppose there’s a part of me that doesn’t think someone like you could be interested in someone like me.”
“Someone like me?”
“Well, look at you.” I dragged my gaze up and down his body without thinking it through. My mouth went dry as I paid more attention to the way his shirt clung to his broad chest than I should.
“Enjoying the view?” he asked with an impish grin.
I cleared my throat. “You know what I mean.”