Duada nodded slowly, looking at her with a quizzical expression. “Interesting. I always thought that was the main attraction for human females. Some human said to me recently that bigger was better when it came to that. So, I’ve taken the liberty to reserve the creme de la creme just for you.”
“Where did you hear that?”
“In a bar somewhere.”
“I’m sure that was meant as a joke. For your information, we’re not all that shallow,” she retorted, rolling her eyes. “I’ll have you know that bigger isn’t always better.”
“Oh? Do elaborate. So you prefer slightly bigger than average but slightly smaller than Hayden?”
“Duada, please.” Jasmine covered her face with her hands. She was mortified at the direction this discussion was taking. From the way he appeared to be enjoying himself, Duada was clearly messing with her. Didn’t she hear somewhere that faefolks had a macabre sense of humor? “Can we not talk about male genitals anymore, please? Like, ever?”
She heard him chuckling.
“Well! I can see this topic is too delicate for your sensitive ears. But I must admit, you’re more entertaining than I originally thought,” the fae said, clapping his hands together.
“What about Hayden?” she asked.
“What about him?”
“I kinda ran away from the party once I discovered…” She gulped. “It was cowardly of me after he was so nice. He took me out for a wonderful dinner and introduced me to his friends…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”
“You will?”
“I’ll erase his memory. I can make tonight’s date as if it never happened.”
“Oh. Thank you, I guess.”
“I shall do my best to find you your perfect gentleman. Time for you to get some sleep— you’ve got a big day tomorrow with your next date!”
She let down her hands and eyed him with suspicion. “I changed my mind. I don’t want another date.”
“Oh, but you must!”
“I have a feeling you’re just yanking my chain.”
“Yanking your what? Jasmine, I’m not a human and most importantly, I’m not a female. You must pardon me if I didn’t get this thing right the first time. Nobody’s perfect in the beginning.” He got up and slowly straightened himself in full height. His gaze zeroed in on her, his eyes blazing.
She found herself shrinking in her seat as he leaned down to her. At that very moment, he looked so goddamn dangerous.
“Besides,” he breathed in icy tone, “you and I are bound by the covenant. I can’t leave Earth until I complete my task. The sooner I can get you your man, the sooner I can return to my Queen’s court. Do you think I enjoy playing matchmaker for some unfortunate human? Me, a high fae of royal birth?”
“I-I suppose not.”
“Then, you shall meet your next date tomorrow. You want a man with a golden heart, yes? Sensitive, caring and passionate, yes?” Duada quickly slipped back into his cheerful mood.
Jasmine made a mental note not to directly confront this fae prince. He was more dangerous than he looked.
“Oh, tomorrow already? How did you do it so fast?” Jasmine floundered, shaking her head.
“Ah. Don’t question my methods,” he said, shaking a finger at her. “Off to bed with you!”
Before she could protest, Duada disappeared into thin air with a faint crackling sound, leaving nothing but a lingering scent of roses.
Jasmine sighed and slumped on the armchair. That was close. What would Duada do if she pissed him off? Maybe playing along with him seemed a better choice. He was right, the sooner she found herself her perfect man, the sooner that fae prince would leave her alone. She trudged off to bed, wondering when the fever dream that had become her life would end.
Four
The next day, she woke up and went to work just like she would any other day. In fact, everything was so normal that she began questioning whether yesterday had just been one long, vivid hallucination. Duada was nowhere to be found, and Jasmine was beginning to assure herself that none of it had even happened. But then, as soon as her shift ended, she walked out into the parking lot and was greeted by yet another outlandishly attractive man holding a bouquet of flowers, waiting by her car. He smiled and waved at her, and after glancing back to make sure there wasn’t someone else behind her, Jasmine realized he must be there for her.
Her second date. And here she was in her grimy work uniform…
Except that she wasn’t. Jasmine looked down at herself in utter shock to find that she was no longer dressed in her khakis and coffee-stained work shirt—she was now wearing a nice pair of jeans and a sweater. A little warm for the weather, perhaps, but it would all make sense before long, she reasoned. Unless Duada was just continuing to play games with her.
“Nice to meet you! My name is James,” the handsome guy greeted her, grinning sheepishly from behind the bouquet in his hands. “Are you ready to go? I hope you like ice-skating. I wanted to impress you but I was really nervous so I looked up cool date ideas and this is what I came up with. I hope you don’t hate it.”
All of this came tumbling out very quickly, and Jasmine instantly wanted to turn and walk away. If there was anything she detested in a potential lover, it was a lack of confidence. And this guy seemed positively rattled at the idea of taking her on a date. But she restrained herself. After all, she had asked Duada for a more sensitive guy, so maybe she needed to give him a chance.
“Oh, ice skating sounds wonderful,” she replied with a smile.
James looked relieved. “Is it alright if you drive? I-I prefer not to drive since it’s so dangerous, you know,” he revealed with a nervous chuckle.
She couldn’t hold that against him. A lot of people were afraid of driving, right? Totally not a reason to dump somebody. So they piled into her little car and drove to the ice rink by a public park downtown, strapped on some blades, and hit the ice. As it turned out, James was a fantastic conversationalist once you got past the brick wall of his insecurities. Jasmine made a mental note to be more patient with him. And besides, ice-skating was a pretty cute date idea—she hadn’t been to a rink since she was a kid. It was fun in a nostalgic kind of way.
Until James started rambling about how dangerous it was.
“I’m so sorry, I should’ve done more research,” he mumbled. “We strapped our feet to razor-sharp blades! What if we fall and slice our arms off? What if the ice cracks?”
“You know the ice won’t crack, right? We’re not ice skating on a frozen lake,” Jasmine explained, struggling to restrain her annoyance. “Don’t worry. Let’s enjoy this. I’m having fun.”
“No. I’ve made a huge mistake. I shouldn’t have brought you here. I’m sorry! This was a terrible idea. Oh, what have I done? This is too dangerous. We could get frostbite!” he burst out, causing a group of small children skating nearby to stare.
Jasmine blushed, feeling her patience wear thin. “You’ve got to stop apologizing,” she said.
“Sorry!” he blurted, then instantly realized what he’d done. His eyes welled up with actual tears and Jasmine had to fight the urge to turn and skate away from him altogether. But she swallowed her pride and sucked it up.
“It’s fine. Let’s just try something a little less, um, nerve-wracking, okay?” she suggested.
James nodded enthusiastically. “Great! What about a walk in the park?” he piped up.
“Perfect. Let’s go,” Jasmine agreed, leading him away.
They changed back into their shoes and set out for a lovely stroll through the park. It was a beautiful evening, with crickets chirping in the bushes, and the stars gleaming and vibrant above. As they walked, James told her about his job at a no-kill animal shelter. Admittedly, his eyes did get a little teary when he described the puppies he’d saved, but Jasmine couldn’t exactly fault him for that. If there was anything worth getting over-emotional about, it was puppies.
“Beautiful night, isn’t it
?” she remarked, smiling up at the twinkling stars.
James shivered. “Bad things happen at night, though,” he began.
Oh no, thought Jasmine, please don’t start. But to her dismay, he went on.
“And we’re awfully vulnerable walking around a public park at this hour. We could easily get mugged! Or murdered!”
“Don’t you think you’re getting a little paranoid?” she asked.
But he was long gone. “I knew I should have brought my pepper spray! Oh god, we’re gonna die out here,” he muttered, visibly trembling.
“James. Please just… try to relax, okay?”
“Relax? I can’t! I’m sorry, oh god. We’re all alone out here. There could be muggers or murderers anywhere and we wouldn’t even know it until it was too late! Oh my god!” he exclaimed, clapping a hand over his mouth, his beautiful eyes wide with horror.
This was just getting ridiculous. Sweet guy or not, Jasmine’s patience had run out. Clearly this was yet another prank Duada had pulled on her, and this time she was ready to really let him have it.
So she walked the handsome but regrettably fearful man to the road, called him a cab, and they went on their separate ways without so much as a goodnight kiss. As soon as she got home, she was greeted by an overly excited fae.
“How did it go? Was he the one?” Duada gushed.
Jasmine dropped her things at the door and marched directly past him into her bedroom, pulling the door shut behind her. However, the fae merely materialized in her room a moment later, looking miffed.
“That was terribly rude after everything I’ve done for you,” he said, looking surprisingly intimidating. He was standing in the bathroom doorway, blocking her way through, his enormous frame taking up the whole space. He stood with his hands on his hips, glaring down at her with those blazing purple eyes.
“Rude? Are you kidding me? All you’ve done is waste my time with two guys you know good and well I wouldn’t really like. Penis guy was abnormal. And Mr. Trembles today was a total joke! Look, I don’t care who sent you. I don’t want your help anymore, okay? Just let me live my lonely, miserable life and stay out of it. Tell your queen I’m not interested in dating anyone and if she doesn’t like it that’s too damn bad!” Jasmine ran her fingers back through her hair in frustration.
Duada stared at her for a moment, blinking in surprise at her response. Clearly he was not accustomed to anyone denying him anything, and especially not a human woman. For a second, she was afraid that he might fly into a rage and cast some horrible spell on her. After all, there was no telling what kind of powers he really had stored away. But instead he merely heaved a long, drawn-out sigh.
“I understand that you are frustrated. But don’t you think perhaps your standards are too high? From what I’ve observed of human males, you can’t expect very much,” he said cautiously, as though he genuinely felt sorry for putting her through two such horrible dates. As though he’d had no idea how exhausting it was for her until now.
Jasmine bit her lip, trying to size up just how genuine he was. In a softer tone she said, “Look, if those guys are really the best you can do, then maybe I am better off alone.”
“You can’t give up so easily,” Duada replied, shaking his head. “One more try. Please.”
She got the sense that he didn’t normally say “please” either. “No, I’m done.”
“One more date. You must allow me to redeem today’s unpleasantness.”
Why? Why should she? She gritted her teeth, ready to chew him to the bone, but one look at Duada’s handsome face and her anger melted away.
Gah, damn him!
She hated herself because she couldn’t stay mad at Duada. Why? Why was she so weak? Just because this stupid fae was so good looking. Okay, he was breathtaking. Damn. Just because he was so breathtaking, she should let him do whatever he wanted. Why should she even bother? Like, really? Why?
Why?
It’s just because I like you even though you’re a jerk. But I believe beneath that glorious façade, there’s goodness in you, somewhere, buried inside. If you were a bad fae, I’m sure I wouldn’t be here talking to you right now. You would have already done something far more sinister to me and laughed it off like it was nothing. Aren’t faefolk notorious for their shenanigans?
Jasmine frowned. Her feelings clashed with her voice of reason.
Duada noticed her pout and put on a serious face. “Shall I remind you that I’m stuck here until you find your perfect man? Think about it, Jasmine. I can see that you’re barely able to tolerate my presence. Can you imagine if I was attached to you forever? You’d be seeing me in the morning, afternoon, evening and night. I’ll be the bane of your existence until our covenant is fulfilled.”
“Fine!” She wrung her hands in exasperation. For some strange reason, she itched to wrap her hands around his beautiful throat and squeeze. She struggled to control her emotions. One, two, three. She took a deep breath and calmed down. “One more date. That’s it. And this time, just try to think about what I would really want. Or what you would want if you were in my shoes. Okay?”
Duada looked to be already leagues deep in thought. “Yes. Tomorrow then. And I’ll clear your schedule at that beverage dispensary where you work,” he said slowly.
“Hey, I need the money!” she protested, but he held up a hand to silence her.
“Ask and ye shall receive,” he said cryptically before disappearing yet again.
Gah. That was one more thing that ticked her off. He popped in and out of her life as he pleased. She very much wanted to show up where he lived and start to harass him.
By the way, where was it that he lived anyway?
Jasmine sighed as she trudged away to take a shower before falling into bed. She fantasized about what it would feel like to reach up and touch the faery’s face, the image of his sparkling eyes watching her intently.
Why am I attracted to such a jerk?
If she thought about it, things had gotten pretty interesting since he showed up. And the disastrous dates he set-up were kind of hilarious. Had Duada had something to do with Hayden’s abnormal junk or James’ neurotic behavior? Duada couldn’t be that oblivious. Women were basically the same in every race, be that human or fae.
Her mind wandered to Duada. What was that stupid jerk doing right now?
“Greetings!”
Jasmine screamed and fell off the side of the bed.
Duada had suddenly popped into her room, like usual, without warning.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Jasmine threw pillow at him. “You scared the hell out of me.”
He ducked the pillow and tsk-ed disapprovingly. “A young woman like you shouldn’t use that coarse language.”
“Duada. I swear to God each time you’ve showed up, you took off five years of my life. You’ll be the death of me.” She got up off the floor and sat at the edge of her bed.
“I’m bereft.” He gave a mock bow. “You’ve got to be the first female who resents my presence. Usually women can’t get enough of me.”
“Cut the crap. What do you want?”
Duada gave her his charming smile, the one that could melt the heart of everyone who gazed on him.
Stop that. I hate you.
Yeah, right. Liar, liar, pants on fire.
“I’d like to apologize for setting you up on two bad dates. I’ve come bearing a peace offering.” He produced a pint of ice cream out of nowhere and two spoons with a magician flourish.
Jasmine blinked. He totally caught her off guard. “What’s that?”
“Hagen-Daz. I am told that human females like to consume this frozen sweet whenever they feel down.”
“Who told you that?”
“The storekeeper. There’s a little shop called Seven-Eleven that caught my attention on my way here, so I stopped by and perused it. The short man suggested this treat as a cure to your woeful malady. Don’t you like vanilla? Vanilla is your favorite flavor, yes?”
&
nbsp; Her eyes widened. “How did you know that?”
“From your dossier.”
“Dossier? You have a dossier on me?”
“Naturally.”
“Dude, that’s an invasion of privacy.”
He shrugged it off like it was no big of a deal. “How am I supposed to help you if I know nothing about you, hmmh?” He wriggled the ice cream in front of her. “Hagen-Daz?”
Jasmine snatched it from his hand. “Thanks, I guess.”
“You know, pouting doesn’t become you.” He dropped onto the bed next to her and eyed the ice cream expectantly.
“What? You want this too?” Duh, obviously. He had two spoons.
“The storekeeper told me of this women’s ritual of sharing ice cream while discussing the source of their woes. It’s supposed to help them feel better.”
“Yeah. Women. The last time I checked you’re not one.”
He waved her off dismissively. “Gender isn’t important. The gist remains the same.”
“Maybe. How am I supposed to discuss my woes, considering you’re the source of my woes?”
Duada watched her carefully, and his sharp gaze reflected the shrewdness beneath the devil-may-care mask he wore.
Her face heated all of a sudden. He couldn’t possibly know what she was really thinking, could he? He wasn’t a mind reader, was he? It was hard to tell what kind of power he wielded as the prince of faes.
“You’re really don’t like me, do you?” he asked.
“How very observant of you, Captain Obvious.” Jasmine let sarcasm drip with every word. She opened the lid of the ice cream and peeled off its plastic seal as a distraction so she didn’t have to look at him. She grabbed a spoon from his long tapered fingers and shoveled in a mouthful. She cringed a heartbeat later. Brain freeze. “So. I’ve been wondering why your Queen gave you such unpleasant task as playing my matchmaker. What exactly does a prince do where you came from?”
Faery Godlover: BBW Paranormal Romance Page 5