Page 2 of Djinn in Love

For the next few weeks, he’d tried to move on and find another woman to take to his brother’s wedding, but every datebecame less and less appealing. Especially when he spoke to Veronica after each one to give her feedback.

Now, he had a little more than a week until his brother’s wedding and no date. He could already hear his mother introducing him to every single woman at the reception and pushing him to dance with all of them.

Shuddering, he put his car in drive and left the restaurant parking lot. He couldn’t endure that. Not for the four-day event that would be his brother’s wedding party.

No, he needed a date.

And it had to be Veronica Salt.

As he pondered the dilemma during his drive home, an idea popped into his head. One that should have alarm bells blaring in his mind, because the concept was unhinged.

But there was one thing he excelled at, in business and in life, and that was getting what he wanted.

He knew how to work hard. He wasn’t afraid to take risks either.

This plan would require both of those things to be effective, including a huge risk of this blowing up in his face.

But, if he succeeded, the reward would be the woman he’d wanted since the first moment he saw her.

Oh, yes. Jasper was going to go through with his plan.

Because she was worth it.

Monday,he implemented the first step.

He left work an hour early and headed to the offices of Mystical Matchmakers. He would go in and tell Veronica that he no longer wanted his membership because the only woman hewanted to date was her. Then, he would find a way to convince her to give him a shot.

He glanced through the front windows as he approached the office and stopped. There was a man standing in front of Veronica’s desk. He was smiling as he spoke to her. Then, the man winked at her and a pretty pink blush spread across her cheeks.

The fire that constantly burned in his belly, the fire of the djinn, flared. He fought his body’s urge to expand with magic, wrestling with the instinct to turn the man into a toad. Or a braying jackass.

Jasper marched away from the window, his plan razed to ash. Instead, his fire ruled him.

He pulled the door open just as the man was exiting. The guy nodded at him, and he managed to return it. Barely.

When he walked through the door, the first thing he saw was her. The sun coming through the window highlighted the hints of purple in her hair even though it was pulled back into a long braid that draped over one shoulder.

All he could look at was her. He headed straight toward her desk, stopping just in front of it.

He hated the way her spine stiffened up when she saw him. It made the fury in him swell, even as it made his chest tight. He didn’t want to cause her tension.

“Mr. Bayat.”

“We need to talk.”

He heard how loud his voice was, but there was nothing he could do it about it. He was barely hanging on to his control.

A tall blonde woman moved into his line of sight and held out her hand. “Of course we can chat. I’m Dominique Proxa, the owner of Mystical Matchmakers. I’m sorry we haven’t met before.”

He looked down at her hand, tempted to ignore it. Only knowing that Veronica would disapprove of the behavior had him wrapping his fingers around hers and giving it a short shake.

“Hello. I’m Jasper Bayat. It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Proxa, but I would prefer to speak to Veronica.”

He noticed that she was looking at Veronica and did the same. Veronica’s posture was still ramrod straight and her face seemed pale. He didn’t like that she seemed afraid. Of him.

He fought to tamp down his roiling emotions. To regain control.

She didn’t know him well enough to understand that his anger wasn’t directed at her. And he wasn’t very good at hiding his emotions because he never bothered before. He had no doubt that she could see what he was feeling.

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