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the top of her hand and placed a gentle kiss in the middle.
    Viola’s body tingled from the point of contact on her hand, spreading slowly up her arm, and trickling through the rest of her body. Her breasts felt heavy and her toes curled into the carpet. She felt his fingers caress her wrist, a contact so light she’d question later if he’d done it.
    Jerod raised his head but didn’t pull back from her hand. The blacks of his pupils grew so large they threatened to swallow the crystal blue.
    “Now, I can’t go back on my word.”
    “Why?” she whispered.
    “Magic.” He winked at her.
    Viola felt her head begin to spin. She couldn’t keep up with this. Jerod smiled as he placed her hand back at her side.
    “What do you wish for?”
    The phone rang. Viola jumped at the sound, but didn’t move. It rang a second time and all she could do was stare at it.
    “What’s that?” he asked.
    “A telephone.”
    “What does it do?”
    She looked up at him and shook her head in disbelief. “You talk to people.” 33

    “I knew that, but I was wondering if you did. Going to answer it?” Her brain kicked in and she bolted across the room. She tripped over her sandals but still managed to answer it in time. She could hug whoever it was on the other end. Things had gotten way too intense for her.
    “Hello?”
    “How’s my favorite Way to Go gal?”
    Who the hell…
    “Bill!”
    Viola’s heart did a flip and the rest of the world focused in on the phone. Bill was calling her. Her! Maybe he missed her. God, please let him have missed her.
    “How’s the resort so far?”
    She caught Jerod out of the corner of her eye. He was sitting on the ottoman again.
    She had an awesome view of his abs.
    “This place is full of surprises. What can I do for you? Is everything all right?” A pause before he coughed. “Well, I know this is supposed to be your vacation, but I had some questions about the Foster account, and I was hoping you could answer some questions for me. If you’re not busy that is?” Oh no . “Sure I can. What is it?”
    “That’s my girl. It’s just a few things I need clarified.
    She spent the next ten minutes explaining her comments on the account, trying to clarify what his next steps should be. Viola felt the flutter build in her stomach at the sound of his voice, the casual compliments he gave her on the quality of her work.
    “I have to say I’ll be happy when you’re back in the office, Viola. I miss having your keen eye around here.”
    “Really?” This was awesome! The fact Bill actually noticed she was gone, that he’d gone through the effort to call her when she was away, meant she was finally starting to make an impression on him. “I didn’t think you’d miss me.”
    “Of course, I am. And I really appreciate this. Promise I’ll make it up to you when you get back. Deal?”
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    Oh yeah, baby . “Deal. Thanks, Bill.”
    “No, no. Thank you.”
    Viola’s mind was racing when she finally set the receiver back down in the cradle.
    “Yes!” She jumped in the air and landed facing Jerod. A sudden paranoia hit her square in the gut. “You didn’t do that did you?” Jerod rolled his eyes. “If I had, I would be as excited as you. This is the longest I’ve ever had to wait to grant a single wish in the past five hundred years.”
    “So no?”
    “No.”
    “Yes!”
    Viola proceeded to bounce up and down again. The sorry excuse for a bathing suit nearly fell off, prompting her to calm down. Her mind revved at a thousand miles an hour.
    “This is big, you know. Bill doesn’t just call people when they are away on vacation.
    He misses me. Me! ”
    Jerod rolled his eyes, snapped his fingers and began to float in the air. “I think the only thing he misses is the fact he doesn’t have someone there to tell him how to do his job.”
    “That’s not fair at all. You don’t even know him.” That’s when it hit her. She felt a nervous shake zing though her, but she kept it