Three Wishes by Jenny Schwartz Page A

said.
    He sat in a leather armchair, his head back while Miriam cleaned his scalp. She’d stopped the bleeding. A white plaster covered the gash on his forehead. Her actions now were about tidying the gore—and perhaps an excuse to touch him. Her body language said she cared.
    Eli released Cali’s arm. “What about the man?” A jerk of his head indicated Andrew.
    Cali blinked. She’d been too upset to remember to go invisible. What was Andrew’s excuse?
    “I’m with Cali.” He stood beside her, evading Eli. “I want to thank David for saving the boy.”
    “I don’t know how he came to be there.” The security guard shook his head. “I checked and double-checked. You should have read the warning signs, lady. Without David you’d have lost your little boy.” He scowled at Cali.
    She crossed the room, ignoring him. It wasn’t as easy to ignore Andrew, who kept pace with her. Hell, her body still simmered with arousal.
    “Eli,” David said in quiet warning and command. “Gentlemen.”
    His clients recognized the invitation to depart.
    “I reckon the public show’s over,” Gary said with sly amusement.
    Cali tipped a statue of Diana standing on a side table. It fell onto the American’s foot. “Reckon so,” she said under her breath.
    He swore. The Israeli and Egyptian made their farewells among murmurs of “vibrations dislodging things.” Eli ushered the three out and closed the door with a click.
    “You missed, Cali.” David blinked as water from the cloth Miriam wielded dripped into his eye.
    “The little boy and you playing hero weren’t my ideas,” Cali said. “It was him, your guardian angel.”
    Andrew stared down at David. “I’m glad you chose life.”
    Miriam’s cloth splashed into a bowl of water. She scowled at Andrew. “You set him up?”
    “He needed to know who he was. To choose.”
    “I detest people who play God.” Miriam put her hands on her hips. “And how dare you risk a child.”
    “I was the child.” Andrew shifted into child form and back. “I was in no danger.”
    Miriam retreated, her knees bumping into David’s legs. He pulled her down into his lap. “You’re really an angel?”
    “Yes.”
    “And Cali’s a djinni.” David smiled wryly, his cheek against Miriam’s hair. “I thought she was the one trying to kill me.”
    “I am. But I’m more subtle than Andrew.”
    “You’ve removed all the weapons, land mines, everything,” he said. “You won’t kill David.”
    “He has one more wish. That means I have one more opportunity.” She leaned against the window, silhouetted by light.
    “I don’t believe any of this,” Miriam said. “Perhaps I’m the one who got hit on the head.”
    “Then how come I’m the one with the headache?”
    Miriam turned in David’s lap, reaching up to touch his forehead. “You have concussion. I don’t want to give you painkillers till I’m sure it’s nothing worse.”
    “It’s not,” Andrew said.
    “And where did you get your medical degree?”
    “I’m his angel. I know. What he needs is sleep. Take him to bed.”
    Miriam blushed. So did David. She wriggled off his lap. Her eyes showed her pride, fear and love for him. Her fingers trembled as she smoothed her shirt.
    He leaned forward, catching her hand, the watching djinni and angel forgotten. “You shouldn’t love me. I’m not a safe person to love.”
    “Who is?” Her hand clasped his. “Love always risks everything.”
    “I meant to scare you away.”
    “You can’t protect me from life, David. Or from love.” She kissed his forehead, then straightened. “Come to bed. A concussion needs rest.”
    He stood and looked down at her with his heart in his eyes. She smiled and put her arm around his waist.
    Cali’s throat tightened. For the first time she saw David, not the master who owned her bottle and commanded her, but the man who loved and was loved yet risked his life to save a child. She saw why Andrew had been so determined to save