A Risky Proposition Read Online Free PDF Page A

dimmed the lights and sank back into the supple cushions of the leather sofa, crystal flute of champagne in hand. 
    Waterford, and probably worth about $75 a glass, I noticed with weary amusement.
    I let my mind drift as I sipped the champagne, enjoying the lyrical instrumentals that sighed from the speakers in soft counterpoint to the waves gently rolling onto the beach below.  Before I knew it, I was finishing the bottle. 
    Stifling a yawn, I tipped the last of the champagne past my lips, savoring the bubbles on my tongue before I swallowed.  Then I pulled myself up off the couch, determined to make use of the huge canopy bed. 
    A hint of Sparrow’s clean, woodsy scent lingered in the air, and I wondered if I’d be seeing the handsome Irish detective again.  Probably not if he could help it.  Although, he had seemed to warm up to me a bit toward the end of our conversation.
    I made my way through the kitchen and down the hall to the master bedroom, pausing to indulge my urge to sink my toes into the thick carpet.  I wandered over to the bathroom, hoping to find some toothpaste so I could at least swish it around my mouth.  I was pleased to discover both the paste and a new toothbrush wrapped in plastic.
    I took off my jewelry and laid it on the vanity, dimmed the lights, then stood by the bed for a moment debating about the vulnerability of being naked.  In the end I chose comfort and pulled my dress over my head, dropping it on a nearby chair. 
    I climbed between the soft, silky sheets and pulled the thick, cream comforter up beneath my chin, luxuriating in the feel of being snuggled in a warm cocoon.  My eyes drifted closed and I smiled, exhaling deeply as I released the tension from my body. 
    Amazing…an actual genie…and three wishes , I mused.  And this penthouse was incredible.  I had one more wish to go; too bad I couldn’t make it without losing my immortal soul.  I frowned.  That meant I had already made two.  Sparrow said the penthouse had been my second.
    What had been my first? 
    I began replaying the evening, my mind winding back up out of the comfortable peace it had settled into.  What had I wished for between my first fateful comment to myself in the hotel lobby and my wish to live in the penthouse?  My brow furrowed and my eyes shot open.
    “What the hell did I wish for?” I whispered in consternation, my hands gripping the comforter anxiously.
    “Relax, Sydney,” chimed a tinkling voice from somewhere in the vicinity of my right ear.
    I rolled to the left, nearly toppling off the bed as I frantically searched the room for intruders.
    There, hovering just above the pillow next to mine, was the loveliest creature I had ever seen.  It was a tiny woman, her delicate wings fluttering slowly and shimmering in the subdued light.  She laughed at me in delight, and I felt a blissful grin spread across my face.
    She stood approximately three inches tall, her shining dark tresses falling in cascading waves over her shoulders and down her back.  She was barefoot and wore a knee-length iridescent dress that seemed to shift from blue to purple to green.  Her skin glowed with silvery light, and her small, pointed face shone with happiness. 
    Somehow, in some deep place that defied memory or explanation, I knew exactly who and what she was.
    “Lorien?” I whispered incredulously.
    Her smile widened and pleasure lit her violet eyes as she nodded her tiny head in assent. 
    I had never seen her before, but I had felt her.  I had spoken to her almost every day for as long as I could remember.  I had never heard her answer, but some part of me had always believed that she was real and not just a product of my over-active imagination. 
    A distant memory tickled the back of my mind, of a time when I had simply accepted that faeries existed.  I didn’t have any sisters or brothers, and floating just beyond my grasp were vague memories of the tiny winged beings acting as my playmates when