New Fic-Wishful thinking -10

This time, I braced myself for whatever identity Jaze adopted. I hardly blinked as I summoned my genie, pressing my fingers together, calling out his, her, whatever's, name. I was prepared for the swirling colors. I was braced for the coalescence into a living, breathing apparent-human.

And I barely skipped a beat when I realized Jaze was getting in touch with her feminine side. Her very feminine side. That leather corset would have had trouble covering up her…assets, even if it didn't have those slashes that bared her rib cage. Fishnet stockings had to leave her legs freezing in the October wind. At least she had a blanket of tattoos to cover her exposed flesh—she sported so much ink, I barely recognized the flames around her wrist.

I wasn't sure if she was supposed to be a street walker or a refugee from some downtown nightclub, but I was determined not to let her appearance derail our conversation. "I'm ready to make a wish," I announced.

She tossed her mane of dyed black hair out of her eyes, pausing to pick something from between her teeth, using one of her scarlet talons. "I'm all ears."

Well, that was obviously a lie. Jaze obviously had a lot more than ears.

For some reason, I felt like I needed to justify myself. "I know I got in trouble with my last wish because I was being selfish. But I really did mean to help someone else. To help Rob."

I swallowed hard, determined not to think about the restaurant shift I'd just finished, the longest eight hours of my life. Rob had said nothing all night long. Well, nothing of consequence. He told me when I picked up his black-and-blue burger for table seven by mistake. And he let me know we were out of Cold Spring.

But he certainly didn't mention the kiss that we'd shared in the kitchen.

I shuddered, determined not to think about that as our last kiss.

Grimly, I pulled myself back to the conversation at hand. "I want to do something for someone else."

Jaze's sharp features twisted into a grin. "Any particular someone?"

I nodded. "My father."

My genie's eyes slitted with the shrewd suspicion of a hooker—or a party girl, for that matter. "Giving up on your boyfriend?"

"No!" My shout was loud enough to surprise us both. "I—I just need a little time to patch things up there."

"Patch," Jaze said with a leer, and I didn't even want to think about whatever she was imagining. "Uh-huh."

"Look, I'm ready to try this wishing thing again, okay?"

"Oh, yes," Jaze said with a suggestive wriggle. "I'm yours to command." She was a hooker. Definitely.

I'd thought this wish through. I'd measured out the implications. I wasn't going to get blindsided, the way I had the first time. "I wish that Mike's Bar and Grill would become the most successful restaurant in the theater district."