"I never thought it'd be this hard to bond bunnies," I admit as I sit on the floor of my apartment with Penelope next to me and a large laundry basket in front of us with two bunnies inside. Truth is, these two bunnies are turning out to be about as easy to match as Penelope and Trevor. I guess I'm as bad of a Bunny Cupid as I am a Human Cupid. It's humiliating, really.

Penelope smiles at me, and I instantly feel better. "It can be difficult. Imagine throwing two random people into a house together and shutting the door, just expecting them to get along or fall in love."

I won't lie. That is a tactic I have considered for her and Trevor during my low moments. With their match percentage, I still can't understand why the match isn't happening. Something must be wrong. It frustrates me that Fate won't even entertain the idea that someone could have made a mistake somewhere.

"The more time they spend together, the more they will—hopefully—end up liking each other." Penelope leans in over the laundry basket to examine our captives. They're still firmly on opposite sides, refusing to get close. Brian makes a feeble attempt now and then, but Leonard just isn't having it.

"Forced proximity turning into love?" I can't help but imagine Penelope and Trevor in an enormous laundry basket.

"Something like that." She laughs, and as always the sound warms my insides. It's unsettling.

"Wine?" I ask, standing up, hoping that some distance between us will return my equilibrium. The taste of her lips is still a faint memory on mine since Friday, and I can't seem to stop thinking about it. Or stop wanting her. This was definitely not part of my plan. Or Andris's plan, I imagine. Which reminds me, he has been ignoring my calls. I need to ask him about this.

I walk over to the kitchen and get out a bottle and two glasses. It's Friday again and we have already ordered takeaway. One of Penelope's colleagues got the flu, and she ended up working every day this week, so I haven't seen her since running into her and her friend at the pool. Remembering her in the hot tub is not helping my composure.

Uncorking the wine, I glance over at her to see her separate the bunnies after another failed attempt at friendship from Brian. What am I going to do? I worry about kissing her again because I seem to completely lose myself in her. At the same time... Fuck, do I want to kiss her.

I want to lift her up on the kitchen counter and kiss her until she thinks of no one else. I want to take her in my arms and tear those clothes off her body, then I want to kiss every inch of that body until nothing exists in the world except us. I want to—

Fuck! Where is Andris? I need to know if this is a normal reaction to humans. He's been with several through the years, so he should know. It's definitely unlike anything I've ever experienced. While I've never been with a human before, I've not exactly been chaste. It never seemed like much of a challenge on account of them finding Cupids irresistible. But with Penelope, it's all flipped—I find her irresistible now that I've had that first kiss.

I make a last call to Andris in my head, hoping he will finally respond, before I go back to sit with Penelope, handing her a glass of wine. When our fingers touch, I linger a moment longer than necessary, enjoying even this simple touch. At least I'm not the only one affected. Penelope's gaze flies up to mine, and I can see my desire mirrored in her green eyes.

"How's it going?" I ask, nodding toward the bunnies.

She smiles. "About as well as can be expected. If we keep doing this, though, they should eventually get used to each other. You might want to set up some pens for them where they can see each other but not touch, to get them more used to one another."

I take a sip of wine. Seeing each other but not touching sounds like torture to me right now. But I'm not a bunny. And Penelope doesn't sit on my face when I get too close. I choke on the wine as the thought takes a completely different turn.

"Are you okay?" She gives me a concerned look and I nod through my coughing, eyes watering.

"Fine," I wheeze. "Just went down the wrong throat."

There's a knock on the door, and I gratefully get up to retrieve our takeaway. I need a moment to get that mental image out of my head. Opening the door with a few bills in my hand, I'm shocked to find Andris on the other side.

"One minute," I call to Penelope as I step outside and close the door behind me. Giving Andris a wry look, I ask, "Since when do you knock?"

"I peeked and saw you had company." He shrugs. "What did you want?"

I cross my arms over my chest and lean back against the wall. "Where have you been? I've been trying to get hold of you for a week."

"We're not all on a holiday," he says pointedly, and I'm offended. This isn't a holiday! As if he senses my dissent, he amends, "Sorry, I know, I know. You're trying to avoid horns."

"Exactly."

He gives me an odd look. "Horns isn't the worst thing that could happen, you know."

"No one wants to be a Harbinger. They're the worst."

A flash of white as he chuckles. "True. They kind of are. Anyway, I don't have a lot of time. What can I do for you?"

Suddenly awkward, I make a face. "So... When you've been with humans—"

"You haven't seduced her yet?" He stares at me and I scoff.

"Don't look at me as if I've grown horns already. I don't want to go too fast. She needs to be at a point where Trevor will be a likely rebound."

Andris nods. "True. You have a point. I was just surprised. In my experience, humans are easy to seduce. They can't resist us." He grins.

"Right." I stare at a spot just above his dark head. "So... What about us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do we... React to humans in any particular way?"

He frowns. "No. They're no better or worse in bed than anyone else."

Not quite what I want to know, but it's as good an answer as any. If humans are like catnip to Cupids, he would have said. That I'm the only Cupid reacting like this is embarrassing, to say the least.

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason," I mutter, not wanting to admit to my peculiar weakness. What kind of Cupid am I to find humans so irresistible? At least I assume it's all humans and not only Penelope. That would be even more bizarre.

"How is the plan coming along? I get that you haven't seduced her... but are you getting close?"

"Close enough. We're taking it slow."

"Such a human term." Andris's handsome face scrunches up into a grimace. "Maybe you've been down here too long."

"It's only been two weeks. I still have plenty of time before H-Day," I say defensively.

"Just don't take too long. It's boring without you back home."

Flashing my friend a grin, I nod. Truth is, I'm a little wary of taking the next step with Penelope if kissing alone has this effect. How doomed will I be if we go further?

I'm saved from the troubling thoughts by the delivery guy appearing with our Chinese. After handing him the money, I turn to Andris again. "How about you come back down one evening and we go for a drink somewhere?"

"Sounds good," he says. "I like human bars. Maybe we can get you your first human so it doesn't seem like such a big deal."

When he winks, I muster a half-hearted smile. I don't really savor the idea of being addicted to two humans. One is bad enough. Especially when that one is the very one I need to fall in love with another human.