Second Chances: A Romance Writers of America Collection (Stark World 2.50)

Award-winning romance author Kerri Carpenter writes contemporary romances that are sweet, sexy, and sparkly. When she's not writing, Kerri enjoys reading, cooking, watching movies, taking Zumba classes, rooting for Pittsburgh sports teams, and anything sparkly. Kerri lives in Northern Virginia with her adorable (and mischievous) rescued poodle mix, Harry.

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Second chances you never knew you wanted ...

JAKE CARDINAL WOKE UP with a massive hangover, an empty whiskey bottle, and a genie sitting on his windowsill. He groped for the glass of water that wasn't on his bedside table, shoved the whiskey bottle out of his bed, and closed his eyes against the blinding glare of the gorgeous genie in all her purple-haired, pink-sequined glory.

And then he groaned. "Not again."

"You're not my fantasy man, either, Cupcake," she told him. "So get your ass out of bed and make your damn wishes, and then I can get on with my life."

"Coffee. I need coffee to deal with this," he mumbled into his pillow. "Also? Never going on a family vacation again."

"The coffee. Is that your first wish?"

He heard the glee in her voice and decided to thwart her, just because he could. And it had been kind of fun, the last time. Not "hot, naked woman in Tahiti" fun, but ... intriguing.

Intriguing was enough to propel him to roll over and shoot her a look. "No, that's not a wish, Princess. It's a need. Like, for example, your need to periodically pop in and ruin my life."

She glanced out the window. "Feels like you're doing a fine job of that all by yourself. Is this ... a log cabin? What happened to the penthouse suite?"

She'd said "log cabin" in the same tone of voice that most people would use to say "rotting corpse." Or, in his case, today, "morning breath."

"Hold that thought. I've got to brush my teeth." He sat up and groaned again when something inside his skull started playing the bongos. "I'm going to kill my cousin-in-law."

He rolled off the bed, stood, and headed for the bathroom. Behind him, he heard her start laughing.

"Nice ass, wizard. But maybe next time you can put your pants on first."

"So don't look."

"Is that a wish?"

"Ha. Not a chance."

"Barbarian," she grumbled.

Jake filled a cup of water, tossed back a couple of Tylenol, and brushed his teeth until death breath was only a distant memory. Sadly, the bloodshot eyes looked like they might hang around a while.

He pulled on his shorts and opened the door, half hoping that she'd be gone.

Half hoping that she'd still be sitting on his windowsill.

She was in the kitchen, instead. "Coffee?"

"Is it magic?"

"No, it's Folger's," she drawled. "That's all you had in this nasty little kitchen."

She was holding the fridge door open, bending down, which gave him a really terrific view of her really terrific ass. Damn, but she was beautiful.

"Look, Ruby--"

In one smooth move, she straightened and tossed a carton of milk at him. "It's not Ruby this time. Smell that and see if it's fresh."

He sniffed, recoiled, and recapped the carton before tossing it in the trash can. "Two points. We could go out to breakfast ... Amethyst?"

"Not Amethyst. But--" She went completely still for a second, not blinking, not even breathing. She had the bluest eyes he'd ever seen. Dreaming, drowning, summer-sky-just-after-a-rain blue. He almost forgot to breathe.