Djinn in Love (Mystical Matchmakers #4)

Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

After last night, Jasper was beginning to understand Veronica a little better. She was still a mystery to him in so many ways, but he’d learned something important during their dinner.

Not because of the words she spoke or the way she answered his questions.

It was the way she braced for his reaction when she shared that she was an empath. She expected him to withdraw from her. Maybe even tell her that he changed his mind, and he didn’t want her to come with him to the wedding that weekend.

She was so used to being rejected that she automatically expected it.

It had enraged him. She was a beautiful woman. She was kind and gentle and everything that a man could want. Not a man. Him. Everything that he wanted.

He also hadn’t missed how she shivered when he’d kissed her cheek and wished her a goodnight. She had her defenses up with him, but she was affected. Even if she didn’t want to be.

That was why the first thing he did after he got to the office was order flowers. He remembered what she said yesterday about becoming easily overwhelmed and made sure to choose a bouquet that didn’t have any blooms with a strong scent. He also asked that the flowers be in pastel colors.

He was just finishing the order when his brother walked into his office without knocking. Jasper shot him an exasperated look and turned his back while he talked to the florist.

When he was done, he disconnected to face Milo.

“What are you doing here, little brother?” he asked. “Aren’t you supposed to have the week off to prepare for the wedding?”

His brother slouched in one of the chairs facing his desk, his legs sprawled out in front of him. “Mom called me at six a.m. this morning and insisted I come in to finish some paperwork.” He chuckled. “I really think she just wanted to get in a few last-minute instructions before the wedding festivities begin on Thursday.”

Jasper had to grin. That sounded just like his mother. He’d inherited his control freak tendencies from her. In fact, his mother made him look adjusted. As far as Leila Bayat was concerned, no one else could do things without her input.

Jasper had learned a long time ago to laugh about it rather than let it bother him. It was laugh or let her drive him insane.

“She also asked me again if I knew who you were bringing to the wedding,” Milo said, smirking at him.

Jasper rubbed his forehead with two fingers. “You didn’t tell her anything, did you?”

Milo tilted his head back to rest on the chair. “No, but only because I don’t know anything.” His smirk turned into a huge smile. “I’m beginning to think you’ve made this woman up just to get Mom to leave you alone. Though, I think you’re old enough by now to know how that will backfire on you.”

Jasper scowled at his younger brother. “I didn’t make her up. She just required…convincing.”

Milo’s grin became absolutely toothy. Jasper wondered if that’s what smaller fish saw right before the great white shark chewed them up. His brother might seem more mellow than the rest of the family, but he had the same killer instinct they all shared. Only he dressed it up with a friendly smile and twinkling black eyes.

“I’m guessing the flowers you spent the last ten minutes ordering are for her,” Milo said.

Jasper didn’t answer, mostly because his brother didn’t give him a chance. Though it was clear Milo had been eavesdropping outside the door before he came inside.

“I’m also wondering why you didn’t just have Margot send a bouquet for you. She has excellent taste, and she usually handles this sort of thing, right?”

Margot, Jasper’s assistant, had been with the company since his father started it. She was a siren and, even at the ripe old age of four hundred and three, she looked no more than forty. She did have excellent taste. And she also ordered flowers for the women Jasper dated.

But Veronica was different.

His brother sat up straight in his chair, his smile fading. He looked shocked. “Oh, wow. You really like this one, don’t you?”

“She is…” Jasper wasn’t sure how to describe her to his brother. He had too many words rather than too few. “She’s exactly who I’ve been looking for.”

“And you’re bringing her to my wedding? Are you nuts?!” his brother exclaimed, jumping to his feet to pace in front of Jasper’s desk, waving his hands as he spoke. “Her first introduction to Mom and Dad will be while we’re surrounded by our crazy family. Auntie Samira is coming, and she’s bringing Cousin Mina. Dad’s entire family will be here, and you know how they are! They’re going to have the two of you betrothed and making appointments to look at wedding venues before the rehearsal dinner is even over!”

Jasper shrugged. He didn’t really have a problem with any of that.

His brother’s eyes opened wide. “You don’t just like her. She’s the one!”

“Lower your voice before Mom ends up in here,” Jasper hissed, leaning over his desk.

Milo mirrored his position until their faces were only a foot apart. “I’m right though, aren’t I? She’s the one. That’s why you ordered the flowers yourself. And why you’re bringing her to the wedding. Wait.” He paused. “Didn’t you say earlier that she needed convincing ?”

Knowing where this was going, Jasper sat down in his chair and leaned back. “Yes. She did.”

His little brother threw his head back and laughed, making Jasper wish they weren’t in the office so he could sucker punch him in the gut. Unfortunately, his mother had forbidden that type of behavior as soon as they started to work at the family business.

Not that it stopped them completely, but they did try to keep any… friendly violence out of the office. Their mother had a point when she said their employees wouldn’t respect them if they acted like children.

“Why did she need convincing?” Milo asked, grinning at him from across the desk. “And how did you manage it without scaring her off?”

Jasper shrugged. “She works at the matchmaking office.”

“Matchmaking office? You went to a matchmaker?!” Milo chortled with glee. “Does mother know?”

Glowering, Jasper shook his head and came around from behind his desk. He went to office door, peeking out to make sure his mother wasn’t lurking nearby. She didn’t exactly spy on her sons, but she wouldn’t hesitate to eavesdrop if she overheard them having a discussion that sounded interesting.

Satisfied that his mother wasn’t going to overhear, Jasper shut and locked his office door before he turned back to his younger brother.

“No, Mom doesn’t know,” Jasper answered, “because if she did, she wouldn’t be speaking to me right now.”

“I think she’d be pleased,” Milo retorted, settling back into the chair behind Jasper’s desk.

The little shit had parked his ass on it as soon as Jasper turned his back.

Ignoring the obvious bait for his reaction, Jasper settled a hip on the front edge of his desk, his side turned toward his brother.

“No, she wouldn’t. She’d be pissed because she’s a control freak, and she thinks she knows best when it comes to who we should be dating. Hell, she practically handpicked Prema for you!”

Milo nodded. “That’s true, but she was right. Prema was perfect for me.”

“She is, but Mom always understood you a lot better than she understood me.”

“That’s because you’re just like her,” Milo retorted, which made Jasper roll his eyes. His brother smirked as he continued speaking, “You’re a control freak, too. That’s why you can’t trust her to find you a woman. And why your first reaction when she tries is resistance, even if the woman is perfect for you.”

Jasper scoffed. “None of the women she picks out are perfect for me because they’re all just like her.”

“And?”

“And you’re right. I’m more like Mom than I am Dad. I don’t need to marry someone just like me. We’d kill each other within months. I need someone more like Dad. Someone who calms my fire, not matches it.”

His brother made a face as he considered Jasper’s words.

“What?” Jasper asked in exasperation when the silence went on too long.

Milo grinned as he pushed himself to his feet. “Oh, nothing. I’m just enjoying the fact that you admitted I was right about something.” He pretended to buff his fingernails on his chest. “It’s the best wedding present you could’ve given me.”

“Fuck you,” Jasper replied, but it was without heat.

Milo came around the desk and clapped a hand on his older brother’s shoulder. “You’re also right that you need someone who calms your fire instead of feeding it. A woman like Mom or you would go head-to-head with you on everything. Considering how tightly wound you are here at work, that’s the last thing you need at home.”

“Double fuck you.” Despite his words, Jasper laughed.

“I’ll back you up with Mom this weekend,” Milo assured him. “And I can’t wait to meet the girl who required convincing. You’re almost as pretty as me, so I find that shocking.”

Jasper couldn’t let that insult go. His fist shot out and connected with Milo’s ribs. His little brother grunted, hunching forward at the contact.

“One, she’s a woman, not a girl. And two, I’m not pretty, I’m handsome.”

“It was a compliment,” Milo rasped.

“Sure, it was,” Jasper said.

“What’s her name anyway?”

“Veronica. Veronica Salt.”

“Like the chick from the movie about the chocolate factory?” Milo asked.

“No, that’s Veruca Salt . And don’t bring that up because I’m sure she gets it all the time,” Jasper insisted.

Milo raised his hands in surrender. “No worries, big bro. I’m sure Mom will go there before any of us ever could anyway.”

Jasper let his head fall forward and pinched the bridge of his nose. By the fire in his veins, his brother was on a roll today with his observations. Because he was right again. Leila Bayat would be the first to make a snarky comment about Veronica’s name.

Shit. Maybe he should have pursued Veronica well before now so he could have introduced her to his mother in a calmer setting. A setting that he had complete control over so he could whisk Veronica away if it was clear that his overbearing mother would be too much for her.

Milo patted his shoulder again, this time in sincere sympathy. “I mean it, Jasper. I’ll have your back with Mom at the wedding. And Aunt Samira. And the others.” When Jasper lifted his head, his younger brother squeezed his shoulder. “Besides, as soon as they realize how much you like her, they’ll go straight from making sure she’s good enough for their precious baby boy to trying to mold her into the perfect Bayat bride.”

Jasper had no words as his brother sauntered to the door and unlocked it.

“See you Thursday night at the resort,” Milo said, waving a hand before he left the room.

Jasper stared at the empty doorway for several minutes, trying to figure out the best way to move forward. It was already Tuesday. There wasn’t enough time to arrange a casual drink or meal with his parents and Veronica before they left for the resort Wednesday morning. Milo, his fiancée, and their parents would be at the resort the day before the weekend festivities began on Thursday. What began as a small family wedding had become a gigantic extravaganza with every person Milo and Prema or their parents knew getting an invitation.

His only option was to make sure that Veronica was as comfortable as possible with him before they left. If she trusted him, she would lean on him when she needed it. Or tell him when she needed a break.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket. He needed to see her again. Today.