Be Careful What You Wish For Read online

  Jake pulled out her chair and helped her get seated in a gentlemanly way that Cass found she really liked, although she was an avowed feminist.

  Despite promising herself she would stop thinking of her boyfriend, she couldn’t help playing the contrast and compare game yet again.

  When she was out with Brandon he never held doors for her or pulled out chairs or anything like that. Cass was honestly fine with that—she’d never missed such outdated gestures. But Jake had a courtly, old-world charm she found utterly well…charming. He was chivalrous—that was the word. From rescuing her from the soul-sucker, to taking the pain she had earned on himself in Judge StoneThroat’s courtroom, to making her supper, he did everything he could to make her feel safe and comfortable and cared for.

  Careful, Cass or you’re going to start falling for him, whispered a little voice in her head. In fact, I think you already have.

  Cass tried to push the thought aside and concentrate on the meal.

  “This looks delicious,” she told Jake as he ladled some stew into her bowl.

  “It’s a recipe my mother taught me—Halla broth with yarrow root and larrin flowers.”

  “Flowers?” Cass looked down at her bowl in surprise. Sure enough, there were many tiny deep red blossoms floating in the pale blue broth. It looked like some kind of dessert soup you might encounter at a fancy restaurant but when she tasted it, the flavor was savory and spicy and delicious. The tiny blossoms were like sparks of heat that melted on her tongue and the broth was silky and smooth.

  “This is wonderful,” Cass nearly moaned. “You’re an amazing cook!”

  “Well, we all have our talents, I suppose. I’m glad you like it.” Jake smiled at her.

  “Why did you cook it on the stove, though?” Cass asked, taking another sip. “Why not just poof it into existence with your magic?”

  “I could if I wanted to,” Jake said. “But it wouldn’t taste the same. Remember I told you that much of elf magic is about creating? You can use your magical abilities for instant gain—I often do in the course of my workday—but the result is seldom as pleasing or gratifying as creating by hand. The true magic lies in the way things are crafted—stroke by stroke in the case of your paintings or ingredient by ingredient, in the case of my recipe.”

  “That’s beautiful.” Cass shook her head wonderingly. “I mean, I’m not usually much for philosophy but I feel like you just said something out loud that I’ve been feeling for a long time—I just didn’t have words for it.”

  “Oh?” Jake poured some pale blue, sparkling wine into her fluted glass and arched an eyebrow at her. “How do you mean?”

  “It’s like…” She groped for words. “Like this art show I’m preparing for—the one I need a special painting to be the center of. I need to do the show because this one specific art critic is going to be there and if she likes my work, everyone else will too and it might launch me to the next level. But once I get there, I’m sure I’ll have to make sure other people like my art and want to buy it and so on and so on.”

  “So you’re always creating for others, never for you,” Jake said quietly.

  Cass nodded excitedly—he understood her.

  “Exactly! I’m always making art to please other people. When what I really want is to create for the joy of creating—I want to make art for myself just because I love to do it. Not because I hope someone will buy it so I can have enough money to move out of Nana’s house or buy groceries that week. I just want to paint.”

  “Your frustration is understandable,” Jake remarked. “The idea of art for art’s sake—purely for the joy of creating—is well known where I come from. But it is absent from most of the larger fae population and I have not noticed much of it in the human realm either.”

  “So you come from a place where people can be artists full time without scrambling and scratching to make a living?” Cass couldn’t keep the envy out of her voice.

  “I do.” He nodded. “In the elvish lands, artists are revered and the creative impulse is nurtured in children. Those that show true talent are given a monthly stipend and allowed to create as much as they wish for as long as they wish.”

  “Ohhh,” Cass sighed longingly. “That sounds amazing. Why would you ever leave someplace like that to go to work in that awful freaky, fairy courthouse where you can be flogged at any time?”

  Then she realized how her words must sound.

  “Oh, I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to insult you or question your choice of profession,” she said quickly. “You’re a wonderful lawyer—er, Counselor. And I’m very grateful for everything you’ve done for me and my sisters. It’s just…your home town or wherever the elvish lands are sound so amazing.”

  Jake gave her a wry smile.

  “Don’t worry about questioning my professional choices—I’ve been doing that some myself lately.” He sighed. “I should have been the next Spell-Singer of our land but I quarreled with my father, the current Spell-Singer, when I was younger and decided to make my own way in the Realm instead.”

  Cass thought of the two older people she had seen on the U-News—Jake’s parents who were still hoping he might come home.

  “Have you ever thought of going back?” she asked quietly.

  “Not until recently.” Jake caught and held her eyes, looking at her intently. “I would need a reason to go back—a good one.”

  Cass wasn’t sure what he was saying but as she stared into his pale green eyes, her heart started pounding and her palms grew damp. She went to take another spoonful of soup and realized she had somehow finished it all while they were talking. She took a sip of the fizzy, pale, blue wine instead and felt it going straight to her head. Her stomach felt all fluttery and it was hard to get a deep enough breath. God, what was wrong with her?

  “I’d really like to paint you now,” she blurted, not knowing what else to say and desperate to break the intense silence that had fallen between them.

  “What—before you have dessert?” One corner of Jake’s sensual mouth quirked up. “I have a dark chocolate mousse prepared that I think you’ll really like.”

  “That sounds amazing,” Cass admitted. “I love chocolate—especially dark chocolate. But honestly, I’ve been dying to paint you from the first minute I laid eyes on you, Jake. Would you be offended if we put dessert off until later?”

  “No, of course not. Not at all. He motioned to the dishes. “Are you finished with everything?”

  “Yes, thank you,” Cass said gratefully. “Everything was delicious—you’re a phenomenal cook.”

  “I am glad you enjoyed it.” He smiled at her and then said a word of power. Suddenly the table was bare and Jake was rising from his chair. “All right,” he said. “Where do you want me?”

  * * *

  It only took Cass a few moments to set up her gear. She often sketched or painted outdoors for the natural light—although she mostly had to do so in the early morning to avoid the Florida heat—so she was used to toting a portable easel around.

  She thought about posing the big elf on the bed but though she liked the bedroom, she couldn’t stop thinking about the way she had helped Jake heal himself there and she was afraid the naughty memories would make it difficult to concentrate. She also thought about painting him out on his back deck in the light of the Evening Star, but though it was beautiful, it was also very dim and she wanted to show him more distinctly than the natural twilight would allow.

  In the end, she had him stretch out on the blue leather sofa in his living room, right in front of the fireplace. The gold and blue and green flames from the fire shed an otherworldly light over the big elf, making him look like what he was—someone more than human.

  But there was one thing Cass wanted to ask for…although she didn’t quite know how.

  “Jake,” she said tentatively as she arranged her brushes and paints. “Would you mind taking off your shoes—I’d like a more natural look here.”

  “All right.” He