Page 21 of Looking for Seth

"Me too. I've never regretted it for a second, even when he demands two am walks."

She raised an eyebrow. "Does he do that often?"

"Maybe you'll find out one day."

Hope flashed over her face, making it clear where she was in terms of our potential relationship. It was good to know I wasn't the only one who was hoping for something more. All I had to do now was make sure I could deal with the fact she was a goddess. Though I had to admit that it was easier to forget than I thought it would be.

"I'm glad you could come on a date on a random Thursday, by the way," I said.

"Being an artist has a lot of perks," she responded. "Being able to set my own hours is one of them. Though I don't feel that way when I have a commission deadline creeping up on me."

"Ah, I can imagine not. I always hate it when deadlines creep up on me for building plans."

"Right, you're an architect. How did you get into that?" she asked.

"I always have been. I always admired the way Ptah worked with his builders, and when I was needed less because of the rumours about me, I actually went and studied in one of his temples. He doesn't know that, but it was very educational," I responded.

She gave an impressed whistle. "So you've been an architect for a few thousand years?"

"I've taken some odd jobs here and there. I trained as a lawyer in eighteenth-century England, and I did a brief stint as an archaeologist in the nineteen-thirties."

She raised an eyebrow. "In Egypt, no doubt?"

I grinned, letting a hint of mischief through. "There was something deeply amusing about watching people uncover monuments that revealed things about my past and that of people I knew. I grew bored of it quickly, though. No matter what happened, I always seemed to find my way back to architecture. I don't know what it is about it, especially as it often involves the opposite of chaos to bring a building and plans together, but I love it."

She reached out and touched my arm gently. "I can tell. The way you talk about it makes it clear that's where your passion lies. I'm glad you found it so early."

"Is that what you did with knife-making?" I asked, curious about her choice of profession, much like she was about mine.

"Not really. It was more necessity that made me turn to it at first. I don't know what you know about my domain..."

"A little. You're a war goddess from Nubia."

"You know enough, then," she responded. "I've always taken care of weapons, and fixed a lot for other people. I started making my own when I realised that no one would ever be able to make a knife better suited to me than I could. Once there was no longer any use for me as a war goddess, I had enough experience that I started making knives for other people. It kept me in steady employment, even if I sometimes had to bribe a man to be the front for my business in years gone by. I haven't had to do that in a while."

"So it's not a passion?"

"It is now," she said. "But originally, no. It was just something I was good at because of my experience, so it's what I turned to. Now it's different. I mostly work on bespoke knives, and they're normally deeply personal to the person that commissioned them. It makes it a much more enjoyable process. And I can charge a small fortune."

"Meaning that you can have random Thursdays off work in order to go on dates."

"Precisely. What about you? Why are you able to come on a date on a Thursday?"

"I normally do overtime so I can have some days off here and there. I like to be able to take Tut on long walks when there aren't as many other people around."

"Ah, that makes sense."

I glanced down, seeing our hands close together and had to resist the urge to reach out and take hers in mine. I wasn't sure how she was going to respond to that, and I didn't know whether I was ready for it either.

Somehow, this was a lot more complicated than I'd imagined dating Menhit to be. Though that was in part due to the fact I'd previously believed she was a human, and that was a whole other ballgame.

"We should find somewhere to eat," she said. "Unless you know of somewhere."

I shook my head. "I've never been on a picnic here," I admitted.

"Ah, then it's a first for us both. What about over there?" She stopped walking and pointed to where a tall tree overhung a picnic bench.

"It looks perfect," I responded.