Be Careful What You Wish For Read online

  O’Shea held up his hands, palm up. “I didn’t take advantage of you—I simply had to increase the flow of power in order to overcome the voice loss spell the trows had laid on you. I apologize if the sensations were uncomfortable for you but I didn’t want to leave you half healed.”

  Uncomfortable? Uncomfortable?” Cass stared at him in disbelief. “You said I might experience ‘some mild pleasure,’” she accused him, her voice shaking. “You never said anything about…about…” She broke off again, too embarrassed to continue.

  Jake O’Shea looked intrigued. “So you experienced more than mild—”

  “Hell, yes,” Cass cut him off angrily. “It was like…like you were touching me all over from the inside-out. Like you were stroking my entire body until I was just about to…to…”

  She stopped abruptly as she realized that he was staring at her with an unreadable expression on his strong features. She wasn’t sure if she saw amusement or heat smoldering in his leaf green eyes but either way it pissed her off.

  “Are you really going to have the nerve to pretend all that—the way you made me feel, the way you…you touched me even though you weren’t really touching me—wasn’t on purpose, you big jerk?” she demanded.

  “Cassandra, come here.” O’Shea’s voice was a menacing rumble and his black eyebrows were drawn low over the intense pale green eyes.

  “No.” Cass stared at him defiantly and kept her arms crossed tightly over her chest. She wasn’t getting anywhere near him again. She’d had enough of his bullshit for one day.

  Moving faster than she could have believed possible, O’Shea reached out and pulled her to him so that she was standing between his thighs once more. He didn’t try to pull her onto his lap again but his grip on her arms felt like iron and Cass realized she was trapped.

  “Let me go, asshole!”

  She didn’t bother with trying to yank against his unbreakable grip—there was no point in flushing what was left of her dignity. Instead she glared at him and O’Shea glared right back.

  “Listen to me, Cassandra,” he growled. “If I wanted to touch you, I promise you, you would know it. But I’ve already told you I have no interest in doing so. You’re involved with someone else, you’re a client and you’re part fairy—which means I’d have to be an unprincipled fool to make advances on you.”

  Cass was angry for a whole different reason now.

  “So I’m completely beneath your notice because you’re prejudiced against half-breeds—is that it?” she demanded. “I guess I don’t qualify as fae enough to tempt you since I’m only one eighth fairy.”

  “I am not in any way prejudiced against humans with fae blood or vice versa and I’m not saying that I don’t find you attractive. You’re bloody gorgeous and you damn well know it.” O’Shea sounded exasperated. “I’m just saying—“ He broke off shaking his head. “Do you realize a moment ago you were angry because you thought I’d molested you and now you’re angry because I’ve just told you I’m not interested in doing any such thing? It doesn’t make sense.”

  Cass didn’t care if it made sense or not. She just knew she wanted to slap him but he was holding her arms too firmly for her to get free.

  “Forget my half-breed status for a minute,” she said furiously. “You say you have no interest in touching me but you were…were kissing all over my throat a minute ago. Are you trying to tell me that was no big deal—all in a day’s work for a hard-working elf attorney?”

  O’Shea looked slightly uncomfortable.

  “I didn’t…I don’t usually heal my clients in the course of a day’s work,” he admitted at last. “I did when I lived in the woods of the Realm with my people but it’s been years since I decided…” He stopped abruptly. “The point is, I was only trying to help you and I apologize if you felt taken advantage of. It was certainly not intentional. And now I have to go.” He released her and stood up abruptly, forcing Cass to stumble backwards if she didn’t want to be chest to chest with him.

  Cass wanted to say something cutting and sarcastic but she couldn’t come up with anything bad enough.

  “Don’t forget your jacket,” she said tightly, nodding at the corner of the bed where his pinstriped navy blue suit jacket still lay.

  “Thank you,” O’Shea said stiffly, reaching for it. “I expect to hear from you tomorrow morning if anything goes wrong with your birthday wish.” He cleared his throat and straightened the cravat at his throat, which had gone slightly askew. “It’s possible your fairy godmother has been cowed into being more careful with her magic but if a disaster occurs, you only have to call my name. Say, ‘Come Jacobin O’Shea for my hour of need is near,’ and I will find you. Do you understand?”

  “Yeah, right.” Cass crossed her arms over her chest again and patted her bare foot on the floor. It’ll be a cold day in Hell before I ever yell for help from you, you bastard. But she had a feeling if she told Jake O’Shea off and let him know she had no intention of calling him no matter what happened to her birthday wish, she’d be in for another fight. And right now she just wanted him to go and never come back.

  “Very well.” O’Shea seemed about to hold out a hand to her and then he reconsidered and simply nodded. “I’ll speak to you later, Cassandra,” he said quietly, fixing her with one last intense stare. There was a whooshing noise and her bedroom was suddenly full of roiling clouds of navy blue smoke that smelled like leather and masculine spice and pine needles.

  Cass coughed and ran to open the window before the clouds set off the upstairs smoke detector.

  “Not if I have anything to say about it, asshole,” she muttered.

  Come Hell or high water, she was never going to ask him for help. As far as she was concerned, Jake O’Shea was out of her life forever.

  Twelve

  “Crap. Damn. Shit. F—”

  “Language, Cassandra!”

  The voice behind her caused Cass to drop the paintbrush. She turned guiltily to see not her Nana, but her little sister Rory standing in her doorway, a mischievous grin playing around the corners of her mouth.

  “Rory, damn it! I’m trying to work,” she complained, bending to retrieve the brush.

  “Hey, your voice is all better.” Rory came in and plopped herself on the bed, pushing her long red hair out of her eyes. “That Mister O’Shea fixed you right up.”

  “Yeah, he fixed me all right.” Cass ran a hand through her black curls and sighed.

  “How did he do it?” Rory, wanted to know with her usual insatiable curiosity.

  “None of your business,” Cass snapped. She could feel her cheeks heating and she turned away quickly so her sister couldn’t see. “Is there something I can do for you?” she asked pointedly, hoping Rory would take the hint and leave her to her unfinished painting and her confused thoughts.

  “Uh-huh. You can tell me why you’re blushing.”

  “I am not blushing!” Cass whipped around, putting both hands to her hot cheeks. Inwardly she cursed her snow-white skin that always showed her emotions the minute she got upset or angry.

  “Sure. I guess you just got a sudden severe sunburn then.” Rory sounded smug. “Or maybe you’re just thinking about our court-appointed elf.”

  “That jerk!” Cass said vehemently. “I could care less if I ever lay eyes on him again and I’m sure as hell not going to waste my time thinking about him. He’s gone—out of my life, I mean, our lives forever as far as I’m concerned. And that’s the way I like it.”

  “He’ll be back pretty quick if the FG screws up your birthday wish,” Rory pointed out. “And I’d say there’s about a ninety-nine point nine percent chance of that happening.”

  Cass glared at her.

  “Since when did you turn into a Vegas odds expert? And anyway, I don’t give a damn what she does—I’m not calling him.”

  “What?” Rory looked concerned. “But you have to, Cass! And anyway, I heard you—you practically promised him you would.”

  “What?