Page 5 of Beneath My Skin

Dax was staring at me. Staring through me. “I’m apologizing to you. I didn’t mean to give you a scare, and I certainly didn’t mean to materialize near your car.” He turned, flicking his gaze toward the damaged fender and clucking his tongue. It looked like I’d backed into a boulder. “At least it’s only a little dent. My fault entirely.”

“A little dent? Your fault entirely? Are you crazy?” My lips flapped but I couldn’t find the right words. “You came out of nowhere!”

He smiled. “I did.”

“You just—” My eyes went wide, my mouth rounding like a fish. I tried to make a popping sound and failed, the airy garble coming from my lips sounding like someone opened a bag of chips left over from the Cold War.

“Yes, I did.” His smile, if anything, burned brighter. “And yes, my fault entirely. For the car and for giving you a scare. What you just witnessed was a hit job gone wrong.”

“A hit job?” The squeaky voice couldn’t belong to me. Could it?

“I do so apologize for the inconvenience, Miss. I’m Dax Parker.” He swept an arm behind his back and bent low at the waist. “Pleased to make your acquaintance,” he finished in that lovely lilting tone.

“Um, sure. I’m Mariella. Nice to meet you…no, wait. Wait a minute!” I was already reaching out to offer my hand when I remembered the damage. “You hit my car. Or something. And that man tried to murder you.” I fumbled and inched in the opposite direction, face warming. Embarrassed heat crept up the back of my neck.

“No, that wouldn’t have happened. The man was an idiot. He had no chance whatsoever, which is probably why I was dispatched to speak to him in the first place. Honestly, who tries to kill a djinn with a knife?” He said it and immediately chuckled as if the humor was obvious.

“You’re…a genie?” It seemed ridiculous to repeat, but repeating it helped cement it in my mind. Or tried to. Somehow, I couldn’t get the insinuation to stick.

“Speaking of genies,” he said, shooting me another easy, dazzling smile, “let me see what kind of magic I can work on your car, shall I? I’m pleased to see you’re not one of those women who faints at the sight of a paranormal being.”

I’d lived my life with an intimate acquaintance of the paranormal. I could handle a djinn. Couldn’t I?

Dax took another look at the crushed bumper while I tried to gather my thoughts. “Goodness!”

His exclamation took me by surprise. “What?”

“Your poor car. I just noticed the busted back tail lights, too. You must have hit me harder than I thought.”

Funny guy. How curious. He really did have gorgeous eyes. And gorgeous accent. And gorgeous body. And— Danger, danger! That kind of combination begged for complications. I’d lived my life staying far away from complications. I wasn’t built for them, and it had taken learning it the hard way for me to realize it.

“Obviously, I’m responsible for any damage. I feel awful about what happened. My aim isn’t quite what I want it to be. I used to be able to materialize on the back of a coin tossed into the air.”

I struggled with how to best respond. How to hold out against the grin and the intense look on his face. My brain turned to sand. My tongue tied itself in a knot. Cer said nothing. “Why would you materialize right in front of a man trying to kill you?”

“Good question.” Dax shoved his hands into the pockets of his tight, tight jeans. “I’ll tell you this. The man and I had a business deal where I decided it was better for all involved parties if I didn’t give him what he wanted. I call it bending the rules.”

His non-answer was giving me a headache. “The Apache helicopter…”

“Yes. He’s some sort of retired U.S. Military colonel who wanted to use the machine to launch a mission in Iraq.”

“And you just decided he didn’t need it?” I asked.

“Yes, I did.” Dax shook his head. “I’m sorry, I can’t stop staring at the car. Of course, I’ll pay to have the bumper repaired and handle any kind of internal damage that may have occurred.” Amusement touched his face. “A beautiful woman like you shouldn’t have to deal with insurance companies at Christmas time.”

I shuddered at the thought.

“Miss Mariella, I hope you don’t think I’m out of line, but I wonder if I might be allowed to buy you a little something to eat?”

“Buy…me…” The rest of my brain fizzled and I struggled to keep up. “I don’t understand.”

Dax tipped his head sideways a little. No more than an inch. Something in his eyes changed and warmed. “Don’t you? Sharing food is a universal symbol of fraternity. It would help appease my guilt.”

He couldn’t be hitting on me. No way. I wasn’t exactly the type of woman men hit on. Especially not handsome men with wildly attractive accents in a superstore parking lot.

I remembered the rapidly increasing fall of snow. Shit. “I can’t. I have to get home before…before the weather gets worse.”

“Ah, yes.” Dax raised his face toward the sky. “The snow is supposed to come down hard this afternoon. It should be gone by tomorrow. If you insist—”

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