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together. Viola cleared her throat and smiled.
    “I know what I want for my first wish.”
    Jerod looked to the sky and sighed. “Finally.” Her hands shook from excited nervousness. “What do I say?” Jerod shrugged. “Simply say I wish for whatever it is you want.”
    “Okay, genie, I wish for—”
    “My name is Jerod.”
    Viola stopped short. “Pardon?”
    He placed his hands on his hips and Viola thought she saw a flash of annoyance on 35

    his face before he seemed to regain his control.
    “Jerod. Not genie, please.”
    “Oh, sorry.”
    Viola licked her lips, said a silent prayer that she wouldn’t say something else wrong, closed her eyes and let the words fall out of her.
    “Jerod, I wish for you to show me how to make Bill fall in love with me.” 36
     

Chapter Three
    Viola hadn’t thought there was anything she could wish for that would surprise a genie, but apparently that wasn’t the case. The look on his face couldn’t be described as anything less than shock. He seemed to recover quickly, the muscles in his jaw clenching before a loud groan burst from him.
    “I told you, I can’t make anyone fall in love with you,” he said as he threw his hands in the air.
    “You did?” Her mind raced back to try to remember exactly what he had said. Shit, he had. Viola crossed her arms and raised her chin a fraction of an inch. “Well, that’s not what I wished for.”
    “No?” His half-amused smile returned to his face.
    Viola licked her dry lips and tried to keep her gaze from slipping down to his chest.
    “No. I want you to show me what I need to know to seduce Bill and make him fall in love with me. I’ll be doing all the work. Not you.” That didn’t seem to help. Jerod still sat cross-legged, floating in the air over to where she stood. The sight of his magically perfect body nearly took her breath away. His abs were tight, accented by the light as it glinted off the shiny fabric of his pants. His biceps were muscular, framed by the cuffs of his vest, revealing more than they hid. The sight made her mouth water.
    “So you want to learn what it takes to seduce a man? Specifically William Clarence Roberts from Halifax, Nova Scotia?”
    Viola crinkled her nose. “His middle name is Clarence?”
    “Change your mind?” Jerod asked smugly.
    “No. Jerod, please grant my wish.”
    Jerod sighed and dropped his head to his chest. “Granted.” 37

    “Woohoo!”
    Viola felt a surge of adrenaline rush through her. This was it! She was going to get the man of her dreams to finally acknowledge she existed. Prove that she was the sexiest damned employee Way To Go Travel had. Her mind began to spin out of control, whizzing through the possible things Jerod could teach her. What the hell did Bill want in a woman anyway? God, she hoped she wouldn’t have to waste one of her wishes on getting bigger boobs.
    “Okay, so how do we start? What do we do? Tell me everything.” Jerod dropped his feet to the floor to stand before her. This time when he looked at her, she did squirm. As his gaze traveled over her body, Viola felt it like a caress on her skin. Her faced heated and she felt a quiver of sexual awareness deep in the pit of her stomach, traveling lower. He walked around her in circles several times, poking her side, flicking the back of her ponytail and pinging her bikini strap again.
    “Hey!”
    “I see we have a lot to work on.”
    “Excuse me?”
    He ignored her and lifted her arm up to examine her biceps. When he lifted his gaze to hers, Viola knew he was teasing her. She jerked her arm out of his grip and placed her hands firmly on her hips.
    “Well?” She used the same tone on Jerod she’d learned when taking William through doggie school.
    Unlike her dog, Jerod didn’t seem fazed. He took another step forward and, reaching out, tucked an errant strand of her hair behind her ear. Viola shivered, suddenly finding it very hard to breathe. They stood there, staring at each other for