WhiskeyBottleLover by Robin Leigh Miller Read Free Book Online Page B

of masters
wanting power over others. They got the power but in the end they also received
everything that came with it. Hate, vengeance and ultimately death at the hands
of those who were controlled. The more she read, the more she realized this
genie and wishing business could be dangerous.
    Okay, she got the message loud and clear. Karma played a
large part in this risky game. You got what you wanted, but tenfold. “Careful
what you wish for, you might get it,” she muttered. What about the story he
gave her about being wished free? Was there any truth to that?
    Her fingers flew across the keyboard but she found very
little on that matter. So Hayes had reason to believe it wouldn’t happen for
him. How sad. Chance yawned, laid her head down and stared at the depiction of
a genie on her screen. He didn’t look anything like the man who claimed to be
her genie. No similarities at all. This guy looked exotic, regal, too damn
pretty for her taste. Arrogance rolled from his drawn features.
    Hayes had an antique Southern charm along with rugged
masculinity. A gentleman if there were actually such a thing. She could almost
see him living in the eighteen hundreds. Her eyelids lowered, slow to open
again. Yeah, she bet the women of those small towns did their share of looking
when he rode by. Who wouldn’t? She yawned again, blinked and this time her eyes
didn’t open.
    * * * * *
    After a night of casual observance, Hayes decided this
wouldn’t be a bad time to live in. Better than fifty years ago. It would take
some learning but he could figure out how to operate these handheld devices
everyone talked into. Even the automobiles were plentiful. Hell, he remembered
being around when the first ones rolled onto the road. Learning to drive one,
well, he’d risk it.
    He certainly liked the independent, self-sufficient ladies
of this time period. He always liked a woman with brains. That reminded him, he
should be getting back to Chance. He could only stray so far before being drawn
back to his master and bottle. Tonight he pushed those boundaries.
    Hayes materialized back in her kitchen and found Chance
sleeping, her face crunched up against her arm and the table. She’d been using
one of those strange electric devices with words and pictures on the screen. A
computer if he recalled right. He grinned when he saw what she’d been reading
about. It didn’t surprise him in the least that Chance would find out as much
as she could about genies.
    The smile faded. Exactly how much could be found out? There
were things she didn’t need to know, secrets he needed to maybe one day free
himself. It wouldn’t do to have this little woman discovering his weaknesses.
As he studied her face he thought maybe he had her all wrong. This woman, she
didn’t intend to harm anyone. Live and let live, that’s the way she looked at
things. He learned a great deal about her through their sparse conversation.
    She had every reason to despise this world, being abandoned
as a baby, raised by multiple families, never having anything to call her own.
He’d seen people with plenty whining they still didn’t have enough. Time would
tell though. After her first wish, he’d know if Chance was unique in this world
or the same as the rest.
    Right now, though, he couldn’t let her sleep all crumpled up
like this. He whisked them both back into her room, settled her down on the bed
and pulled the covers up, all without touching one hair on her body. With a
simple thought he doused the lights and was caught by the sight of her in the
silver stream of moonlight beaming through the window.
    He’d never had the pleasure of meeting an honest-to-goodness
angel, but from the knowledge he absorbed through his shackles he knew what
they looked like. Chance, she resembled one. Innocence and wisdom, kindness and
a raw toughness, it all reflected on her pretty face.
    Hayes stood there in the dark, watching her sleep, wondering
what it would be like to have a woman