Page 17 of Djinn in Love

Jasper wondered if it was because she wanted to save money or if it was less stressful to eat at her desk than to go to a crowded restaurant and try to eat with people around. He wouldn’t ask though.

Instead, he said, “I was thinking I could pick something up for both of us and bring it to your office. We need to discuss details for the weekend since we’re leaving Thursday afternoon for the resort.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment. Then, she asked, “I thought that was why we were speaking tonight.”

Jasper chuckled. “Yes and no. I emailed you the dress suggestions my soon-to-be sister-in-law sent me and the itinerary for the weekend.” He paused. “We’ll need to leave Thursday afternoon around two. Will that be a problem?”

Her silence worried him, until she sighed. “No. Dominique has already given me Thursday and Friday off work.”

She didn’t sound happy about it.

Guilt crept into Jasper’s gut. He was tempted to tell her not to worry about it, that he would attend alone, but instinct told him that he would never get another chance to win her over.

Instead, he asked, “What can I do to make this easier for you?”

“Make it easier for me?” Veronica repeated, her voice cracking the end of her question.

“Yes. What can I do to make sure that you aren’t overwhelmed during the circus that has become my brother’s wedding?”

She laughed a little. “Circus? Will there be monkeys?”

“Absolutely. But don’t tell my little brother that we bought him from that family of chimps, okay?”

Veronica laughed again. This time the sound was freer and lighter. Jasper wanted to hear her laugh like that every single day. It was soft, much like her voice, but warm.

Her giggle died away and silence fell between them. He was just about to speak when she finally answered his question. “It helps if I can take short breaks during long events. If there’s time for me to go back to the room between the wedding and the reception or a chance for me to get away from a crowd for five minutes, it keeps me from being exhausted before the night is over.”

He could do that. He would find her a quiet place to relax every hour if he had to.

“I’m sorry.”

He blinked at her apology. “What? Why?”

“I know you’re probably regretting your decision to take me as your date.”

“No, I’m not,” he stated. He realized that his voice was harsher than he intended and found himself doing something he never did. He explained himself. “I’m not sorry that you’re going to be my date. I would rather take you to the wedding than any of the women I’ve met in the past six weeks.”

He heard her shaky exhale at his words before she replied, “Okay.”

“Good. Now, let’s talk about what you’ll need to know about my family and the different events happening this weekend. I should warn you that everything in my family ends up being over-the-top, so between Thursday evening and the wedding Saturday evening, there are no less than four gatherings. You don’t have to attend all of them, but I’ll have to be there, so we’ll need to figure out how to make it work.”

“Okay,” she repeated. Her answer was stronger this time.

Anticipation buzzedin Veronica’s veins. She shouldn’t be nervous or excited about seeing Jasper. She shouldn’t be feeling any of the things she was feeling. Nor should she believe what he’d said last night.

But she did. Oh, she did.

Her stomach had skittered when Jasper said he only wanted to take her to the wedding. Not any of the other women she’d matched him with over the past few weeks. The way his voice deepened. Just remembering it made shivers break out over her skin.

They had talked until after ten o’clock at night. It wasn’t until she’d yawned a second time that he said he would see her at lunch.

Now, it was closing in on one o’clock and Jasper would be arriving any minute.

Nerves danced in her stomach and chest. This felt like more than a simple meeting to prepare for a weekend of being his fake wedding date. A lot more.

Veronica was trying to concentrate on the computer screen in front of her when the front door to the office opened. She jumped and looked up in time to see Jasper step inside, a large brown paper bag dangling from one hand and a drink carrier in his other.

When he saw her staring at him, he smiled. A smile that widened as he approached her desk, his black eyes sparkling and revealing a small dimple in one cheek. Veronica realized that she’d never seen that dimple before because his smile had never been quite so big.

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