“You have that look of a wholesome good girl,” Lola had said. “Artists use contrast to give depth to their work and you in a leather skirt is the perfect bit of living contrast.”
When Ashley had put it on later at home, James had screwed up his mouth and said, “Please don’t wear that. Leather is not classy.”
So Ashley put it in the back of her closet and forgot about it.
Until now.
She pulled the skirt from the closet along with a sleeveless white silk blouse.
After toweling off, she reached inside her dresser for panties and spotted the black lace thong James had bought for her two years ago. There was a matching bra too.
James had only wanted her to look classy on the outside.
Thinking she’d just try the matching set on and then quickly shuck them off, she slipped into the panties, then clasped the bra and wiggled it around. She eyed herself, a bit embarrassed in the full-length mirror in the corner of the bedroom.
Well...she didn’t look half bad. In truth, she hadn’t spent as much time on herself as she should have these last few years. She’d grown soft around the hips and her belly wasn’t exactly flat anymore.
When Ashley’s father left her mother, her mom stopped trying. Her work clothes became baggier and frumpier. Her weekend clothes became sweatpants and zip-up sweatshirts. She gained forty pounds and rarely left the house for anything other than work and grocery shopping.
She was still like that nearly fifteen years later. She still blamed Ashley’s dad for all of her troubles.
“Look at what he’s done to me,” was her favorite line.
Ashley was a huge fan of leggings and sweatshirts, but she would no longer feel sorry for herself, or blame James for the choices she made.
If she wanted to feel comfy in sweats, so be it. And if she wanted to feel sexy, she would do it for herself and her alone.
Mind made up, she kept the black lace bra and panties on. She tugged on the faux leather skirt next and then tucked the blouse into it. Though she wasn’t the steadiest in heels, she decided the outfit couldn’t possibly work with anything other than the five-inch stilettos she’d splurged on for her thirty-sixth birthday and rarely ever wore.
Hair done, makeup on, and outfit complete, she appraised the final look in the mirror.
What would James think of her now?
She laughed.
Who cared?
Not her.
Chapter 8
ASHLEY
When the elevator door slid open, Ashley stepped from it and immediately made eye contact with Isla.
Ashley had always admired Isla in a quiet, remote way. Isla had better taste than Ashley. A better sense of fashion. She was funny and vibrant. She was the kind of woman that was comfortable in any gathering, no matter how mixed the company was. She was the kind of woman who almost every other woman aspired to be.
She could have had anyone she wanted. So why did she choose Ashley’s husband?
Ashley was not the type of person to covet what was not hers to have. Where was Isla’s sense of decency? Did she not have any?
It was clear what James saw in Isla—she was gorgeous and younger—but what did Isla see in James that she didn’t have in her husband Matthew? Matthew was younger than James and fitter too. James had never been good with money, so it wasn’t like he was rich. Matthew came from a wealthy family who had a summer “cottage” in Nantucket.
It just didn’t make any sense to Ashley.
Ashley wasn’t going to let Isla get away free. She was not going to be nice or civil. She’d been nice and civil her entire life.
“Good morning,” Isla said. A headset sat on her head, the microphone bent to her mouth. She was wearing bright red lipstick, which should have clashed with her fiery orange hair and freckled skin, but somehow looked chic and fabulous.
Ashley crossed the front lobby high on her heels and said in the cheeriest voice possible, “Fuck off, Isla!”
Ginny, one of the ad execs who’d been lingering at the front desk, nearly choked on her coffee. Isla’s mouth dropped open. The phone started to ring.
Those were officially the three most powerful words Ashley had ever spoken.
Chapter 9
DAE
Dae checked his reflection in the office bathroom mirror. He was wearing a tailored navy-blue suit and a burnt orange stripped tie. He looked like a pompous asshole with a tiny dick and too much money.
Perfect.
His magic swirled around him keeping the illusion in place.
If Poe’s gift was sensing the specifics of a desire, then Dae’s talent was in illusion.
All djinn when invoked had the ability to manifest things. Their magic—ether magic if one wanted to get technical—could create and uncreate, but casting illusions was harder to pull off and not everyone had a gift for it.
But Dae did. It was how he came to earn the nickname The Trickster in the supernatural world.
He left the bathroom and took the stairs down to the fourteenth floor of Edmington & Walsh. When he darkened the doorway of James’s office a few minutes later, he gave the door a quick rap with the sharp point of his knuckle. “Got a minute?”
James looked up from his computer and saw, not Dae, but the ad agency’s CEO, Kenner Edmington. Dae’s djinn magic cast a tight illusion and sparked in his peripheral vision. The air smelled heavy of spices.
“Mr. Edmington!” James said. “Hello! Yes! Of course! Come in!”
Dae hated it when men spoke as if they were using exclamation points at the end of their sentences. Men shouted. They yelled. They growled. They did not exclaim.
Dae closed the door and sat, crossing one leg over the other. Blackwater’s business district spread out beyond James’s office. He wasn’t incredibly high up on the food chain here, as Dae had learned, but he wasn’t a lowly exec either. He had a great corner office.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Edmington?” James said.
Dae noted the slight sheen on James’s forehead. He noted the way James was hunched forward like he was trying to make himself seem smaller. Or maybe he was trying not to vomit.
“I just heard what’s been going on down here on the fourteenth floor and James, I have to say, I’m not happy about it.”
James swallowed. “Oh? What do you mean?”
Dae propped his elbow on the chair’s arm and curled his fingers around his chin. “Don’t play dumb with me, James. Divorcing your wife to fuck the receptionist? It’s embarrassing. We’re a family-friendly company!”
James went pale.
The power of the ruse ran through Dae like a fucking drug and his skin tingled. He wasn’t sure at what point the focus of this deal had gone from granting Ashley’s wishes to fucking with James’s mind, but Dae had a sudden urge to ruin James, starting with his confidence.
“Okay. Okay.” James’s head bobbed up and down. “I admit, I’m not proud of my actions. All I can say, Mr. Edmington is that I followed my heart and I’m very sorry that it happened here at Edmington & Walsh. I’m sorry that Matthew and Ashley are caught in the middle but—”
“Matthew?” Dae said because he had yet to hear that name.
“Yes…” James frowned and then said, “Isla’s ex? Account exec? Of course, you probably don’t know all of the personal lives of us here on the fourteenth floor! I…well, I suppose that makes it worse, but I assure you, that it will not effect my performance—”
Blubbering fool.
“I’m not worried about your performance,” Dae said. “I’m worried about how this will look.”
“I...I...I’m not sure what else to say. We did not have an affair. It was completely above-board.”
Dae wasn’t sure if he believed that. “James,” he said, “you’re making yourself look like a spineless pussy who thinks with his cock and not his brain.”
James opened his mouth to respond, then snapped it closed again. A few seconds later, he finally found words. “Mr. Edmin
gton, I love her.”
Dae shook his head. “You love her pussy.”
“That’s not true.”
“Sure it is.”
“Mr. Edmington, I assure you. That is not true. She is the love of my life.”
For a split second, Dae felt bad for the idiot. He really did believe that this new woman was True Love. But Dae knew after seven hundred years that True Love was the same thing as Fairy Tale.
“Okay,” Dae said, “then tell me, what does this woman have that your wife doesn’t?”
James blinked and looked away. He thought for a minute and sat back in his chair, folding his hands across his middle. “Well...she listens to me, really hears me. She makes me feel like a man. It’s this primal feeling, like I’m saving her. The way it should be. And she’s classy, but also sexy as hell.” He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. “Just...curves in all the right places and...” He opened his eyes and looked at Dae. Or rather, Mr. Edmington. “I’m sorry.” He cleared his throat. “That was inappropriate.”
Dae was stoned-faced. “Yes, it was.”
“I know. I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t want to hear that any of this mess has effected productivity for the office. And be discreet, for God sake!”
“Of course.”
Dae stood up and buttoned his suit jacket. “Have you cleared the air with your wife?”
James looked away and shook his head.
“Well what are you waiting for? At the very least you should be civil with each other here and if you’re not speaking that’s not civil.”
“I understand.”
“I passed Ashley on my way here—she was headed to accounting. Give her a few minutes and pop into her cubicle. It’ll help the office atmosphere for them to see you on speaking terms.”
“I will.”
“I mean it, James.”
“Of course, sir.”
Dae pulled the door open and sauntered out.
Mortal men were so fucking predictable.
Chapter 10
ASHLEY
“Ashley!”
Ashley straightened. Who was calling her name across the entire office?
She shoved her chair back and stood.
Matthew, her supervisor, was in the doorway to his office looking right at her. “My office,” he said. Not an ask.
Ashley swallowed. The entire work place had gone decidedly quiet. Her face flamed with embarrassment. This was just one more tangled knot in the current status of her life. She could only imagine the things they were saying behind her back. Probably there was already a special Facebook work group created where they could all gossip about the latest news.
The walk from her cubicle to Matthew’s office seemed like a twenty-six-mile hike. When she stopped in his doorway, Matthew coaxed her over to the computer. “I’m having trouble formatting this document. Can you take a look?”
“Oh?” Relief filled her. “Sure.” Okay, so she wasn’t being fired for leaving work early yesterday, but why had he called her? They had an IT department and Ashley was definitely not IT.
She went around the desk and Matthew scooted aside, giving her space. She took a look at the Word document. “What kind of formatting are you looking to do?”
“The regular kind.”
Ashley glanced at him. “The regular kind?”
Matthew smiled and then in a blink, Matthew was gone and Dae Blackwell sat in his place. The dark hair, the green eyes, the cunning smile, the sharp cut of his jaw. He was still in Matthew’s dark suit and white button-up, but everything else about him had shifted. He even occupied more space than Matthew did. Bigger arms, broader shoulders.
Dae Blackwell.
Dae Blackwell was here.
Oh God.
Last night had been real?
Now, suddenly she remembered the deal, the wind that had whipped her hair around her face, the light that had emitted from Dae’s hands and then...
She’d wished to make James jealous and...and now Dae was here at Edmington & Walsh.
“How is...how are you—”
“Magic,” he said easily as if the word was not, well...magic, and instead something plain and innocuous like ketchup or paperclip.
Ashley could smell the clove and cinnamon smell of him. Her body responded in a way it hadn’t in a very long time. Her stomach went fizzy and buoyant. Her thong made her feel bare and slutty all at the same time. Could Dae tell she was wearing sexy panties underneath this outfit?
Her skin erupted in goosebumps. Her sex clenched as Dae’s eyes strayed from her face down her body. He lingered at the hem of her skirt, at the peek of her thighs.
He twisted in his desk chair, angling his body toward her. He inhaled sharply and his eyes flashed red.
All of it was real.
She had made a deal with a djinn.
With Dae Blackwell.
“It’s time, love,” Dae said, snapping her from her thoughts.
“What? Time for what?”
He became Matthew again. It was a change so swift that she couldn’t tell how one facial feature became another. Dae-Matthew grabbed her roughly by the hips and spun her around so that they faced each other. His fingers grazed her ass and a thrill ran up her spine. Had he meant to do that?
“Pretend I said something extremely funny,” Dae said as he positioned her on the edge of his desk—Matthew’s desk—and then scooted up close to her so that their knees touched.
“Why?”
“Three seconds, love.”
“To what?”
“Laugh.”
“Hahahahaha!”
He furrowed his brow, but the corners of his mouth quirked up, like he was trying really hard not to laugh with her.
“Ashley?” James said from the doorway. “What are you—"
Ashley froze. She looked at Dae-Matthew. He winked at her.
“What are you doing?” James finally got out as he came into the office.
Ashley twisted to meet his gaze. He looked pissed and her heart lurched. The grit of his jaw, the tightness of his eyes made her feel like a caught child.
But she wasn’t doing anything. She certainly hadn’t had sex with Matthew while under the guise of trying to figure things out.
A thread of steel straightened her spine. “Matthew and I were just talking.”
James looked at Matthew. “About what?”
Dae leaned back in his chair and curled a finger along his jaw. “Well, James, if we’d wanted to include you in the conversation, we would have invited you.”
James didn’t like that. Not one bit.
His face flamed. He clenched his hands. He looked right at Ashley and said, “I was coming here to apologize.”
“For what? For leaving me without telling me? For fucking someone else without telling me we were actually over?”
“We were separated!”
“But not divorced!”
James sucked in a breath. His nostrils flared. “You’re acting like a petulant child.”
“I think that might be enough for today,” Dae-Matthew said and stepped around Ashley, shielding her from James.
But James came closer, appealing to Ashley with that face he always made when he knew he’d done something wrong. It was a combination of wide-eyes and downturned mouth.
“I want to make this work,” James said. “Please, Ashley, let’s be adults about this. This...” he lowered his voice, “this is our place of employment and we have a job to do.”
“No,” Dae-Matthew said, “you had a job to do. To be a good husband and you fucked that up.”
James scowled. “How the fuck are you even part of this conversation?” James looked between Matthew and Ashley, something like suspicion crowding in his eyes. “Are you two sleeping together?”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Ashley said.
“Well,” Dae-Matthew said, “I don’t think ridiculous is the right word. You are very, very sexy.”
“Is this you
trying to get back at me?” James said to Matthew. “You told me once that you thought Ashley dressed like a homeless librarian.”
“What?” Ashley squeaked as his cheeks turned read. “What does that even mean?”
Dae-Matthew said, “I believe what I said was harmless librarian.”
“Who fucking cares?” James shook his head. “You don’t like Ashley. This is just revenge, but I’m telling you it won’t work.”
“Clearly it already is,” Dae-Matthew said. He looked at Ashley. “Would you like to grab breakfast?”
“Umm...” Was he being serious? Was he asking as Dae or Matthew? A thrill caught fire in her stomach.
What would happen if she said yes?
Well, she knew what would happen if she said no.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“I am rather hungry,” she said.
“You can’t just run off like this!” James said. “It’s the middle of the workday!”
“Well I don’t really care,” Dae-Matthew said. “Ashley, do you care?”
She thought for a beat, and realized no, she absolutely did not. So what if she got fired? With everything that had happened in the last 72 hours, keeping this job was really the lowest of her priorities.
“I’ll grab my bag,” she said.
“Ashley!” James said.
She breezed past him and Dae-Matthew followed her out.
Everyone in the outer office area wasn’t even bothering to pretend to work. Ashley went to her cubicle, locked her computer, and grabbed her bag. Dae-Matthew joined her as they walked out together, heads popping up from their cubicle boxes like moles from their holes.
And just when Ashley thought the day couldn’t get any better, Dae-Matthew whispered to her, “Laugh again,” as they entered the reception area.
Ashley hung her head back and laughed. It felt more natural the second time around and she immediately sensed Isla’s eyes on them. Isla was Matthew’s ex-wife. And now that she really thought about it, had Dae purposefully chose to impersonate Matthew because of that connection? He must have. What else did he have up his sleeve?
Midlife Wish (Blackwell Djinn Book 1) Page 4