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Once Upon a Kiss: Be-Wished, #3
Once Upon a Kiss: Be-Wished, #3
Once Upon a Kiss: Be-Wished, #3
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Once Upon a Kiss: Be-Wished, #3

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Livvy thought she lost her chance for a Happily Ever After when she dismissed the wish fairy who knocked on her door, so when a prime specimen of masculinity appears on her front lawn one stormy night, she can't quite believe it. Like a prince in distress, he needs her kiss to bring him out of his enchanted sleep.

After a war injury left him paralyzed, Joe Kimball never expected to walk again, but when he regains the use of his legs thanks to his sexy neighbor, he can't argue when she insists the credit belongs to a wish fairy. Nor does he want to. Arguing is the last thing on his mind now that he is a whole man again.

Unfortunately, a few days of hot sex do not a fairy-tale ending make, and as the magic becomes increasingly volatile, Joe and Livvy realize there's much more at stake than just their happiness.

This novella was first published in 2010 by Ellora's Cave.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 6, 2015
ISBN9781533719362
Once Upon a Kiss: Be-Wished, #3

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    Book preview

    Once Upon a Kiss - Kate Willoughby

    1

    Livvy wondered if it was wise for her friend Mariah to go head-to-head with a being who wielded real storybook magic for a living. She appreciated what Mariah was trying to do but didn’t think it was worth getting turned into a toad over.

    I demand to know what happened, Mariah said.

    Davina, the wish fairy, scoffed as she sauntered over to the freezer and poked her nose inside. Who died and made you boss? the fairy asked Mariah. Pulling out a pint of ice cream, she wrinkled her nose when she saw the flavor, tapped the lid of the container and, with a tiny shower of lavender fireworks, turned it into chocolate cherry gelato.

    No one died, Mariah said, but if you don’t tell me what happened to Livvy’s wish...

    Almost three years ago, Livvy went to Mexico with her friends, Mariah and Paige, where they purchased miraculous woven bracelets. According to the legend, if you made a wish when you tied the bracelet on, your wish would come true when it fell off. Mariah’s and Paige’s wishes had already come true, but Livvy’s...

    Scoffing at Mariah’s threat, Davina flicked her fingers and four bowls and spoons appeared on the table. Hey, what can I say? I gave it my best shot.

    She did, Mariah, Livvy said. She really did.

    You mean she got her wish and you flubbed it up? Mariah asked.

    Davina looked affronted. Absolutely not!

    Suddenly, there were only three bowls.

    Mariah narrowed her eyes. "You do not want to do that, Davina. I’m already angry and a little thing like gelato deprivation might make me go off the deep end."

    Sullenly, Davina made the bowl reappear.

    Good choice, Mariah said.

    Like I said, it’s not her fault, Livvy repeated. When Davina visited me and told me about the wish coming true, I didn’t believe her.

    But what about the Good Faith Wish? Paige, the third friend in the trio, piped in as she served up the Italian ice cream. Didn’t you give her the Good Faith Wish?

    I can’t believe you are questioning my professionalism, Davina said around a mouthful of gelato. Of course I offered it.

    Mariah turned to Livvy again. And after that you still didn’t believe her?

    I didn’t take that wish either. I’m sorry. I thought she was a kook. I got rid of her as soon as I could. An action Livvy regretted to this day.

    So, you didn’t make a Good Faith Wish, Paige said. No. Livvy sighed. And you didn’t get your real wish either? Paige asked. No.

    Mariah turned on Davina. No problem. We’re just a little late then, but no time like the present, so get on it, Miss Fairy, she said, making a shooing motion with her hands. Do your thing. Time’s a wasting.

    I’m afraid it’s not that easy, Davina said. See, disbelief constitutes a refusal.

    But she didn’t understand what she was refusing, Paige argued. You can’t blame someone for not believing in fairies. I mean, come on.

    Sorry, Davina said, scraping her bowl for the last little cherry chunks. I don’t make the rules.

    But, Mariah said with a glance at Paige, you bend them.

    You sure do, Paige agreed.

    Davina stopped mid-scrape. Yes, and look where it got me! Probation, stripped of powers. She closed her eyes and shuddered. No magic. It was horrible. A nightmare. I can’t even speak of it.

    But there must be some way to get Livvy her Happily Ever After, Paige said. We all made our wishes at the same time. She deserves happiness just as much as we do.

    What’s so bad about probation, anyhow? Mariah wanted to know. Isn’t it just like fairy time-out?

    For the first offense, yes. But last time, if you recall, two other departments got called in. They had to issue that compensatory wish, which they really don’t like doing. Half the time I had to conduct stupid visitor tours of headquarters. The other half I was stuck monitoring anomalies, bored out of my skull. If I mess up again, there’s no telling what they’ll do.

    Paige pushed her ice cream bowl away. I can’t stand the idea that Mariah and I found the loves of our lives and Livvy...

    Mariah and Paige exchanged a heartfelt look and Livvy felt tears prick at her eyes. The three of them had been best friends forever. She’d do anything for them and vice versa. But damn it, they’d started a new phase in their lives and inadvertently left her behind. Most of the time, she was fine with that. Livvy enjoyed her job as an illustrator. Relationship-wise, she ranked herself as average. She’d been with Eric for six months, Felix for seven but neither had worked out. That hadn’t worried her before. She was twenty-five. She had time.

    But now, watching her two best friends find the kind of love you only read about in books had brought her both joy and despair. Sometimes, the jealousy hit her so hard she found excuses to avoid them. But here and now, with Paige’s newborns in the next room, it was impossible to pretend she didn’t covet what they had. What made it even worse was that they had all made wishes on the wish bracelets. Just because Livvy was more skeptical, did that mean she didn’t deserve to get her wish? If only she could turn back time and...

    She gasped and glanced at Davina.

    What? the fairy asked, a worried look on her face.

    Well, I...I had an idea. Can you, ah, manipulate time? See, I was thinking maybe you could bring us back to just before I told you to get lost...

    Paige put a hand over her heart. Oh my God, that would solve everything.

    But Davina was shaking her head. No. Sorry, no can do. Turning back time requires like ten tons of red tape, clearance that I don’t and probably will never have, not to mention a unanimous vote of the regulatory court, and those old fogies are so conservative they never vote for anything. I’m still PO’d about their decision on de- legalizing... She trailed off and stared into space.

    Davina, what is it? Mariah asked in a low voice. You thought of something just now.

    No, I didn’t.

    Yes you did, you crafty fairy, you. I distinctly saw that I-thought-of-something- just-now look on your face, Mariah said.

    I saw it too, Paige piped in.

    Well, Davina said, "to tell the truth, I do feel that the three of you were a package deal, seeing how you all wished at the same time. Even though technically I’m not obligated, I feel obligated to see this through."

    Livvy felt a faint flicker of hope.

    So, what I thought of is this, Davina said glancing left and right. I can try to grant you a wish under the table. Because you relinquished a claim on the other wish, I’m not allowed to use Federation magic on you, but there’s magic out there on the black market I could get.

    Mariah looked all for it, but Paige’s expression was pinched. I don’t know. I’ve had experience with bad magic.

    "Black market magic isn’t bad necessarily, Davina said. It’s just not guaranteed. Sort of like generic drugs. Same thing, but without the big company to back it up. Sometimes you hit a minor glitch but I should be able to handle whatever comes up. However, if we do this, you can’t speak of it to anyone."

    She’s totally not kidding, Paige added. You have to be super careful. She went on to explain how she’d gotten Davina in trouble when she’d mistakenly blabbed something to the wrong person and it had almost ended in disaster.

    But you do have to tell the guy involved. That’s Rule One that I had to learn, Mariah said.

    No, actually, this is non-Federation, so the pamphlet doesn’t apply to her, Davina said. But it is generally a good rule of thumb to not keep secrets of this magnitude from your true love. So if we’re all agreed? Davina arched her brow and looked at each of them in turn. Good.

    The fairy then whisked away the gelato with a flat-palmed sweep of her arms and garbed herself in an austere black pants suit, aviator glasses and a short-brimmed trilby hat with a leopard band.

    Leaning forward, Davina said, Now here’s the thing, Liv. Because we’re using the street stuff, you have to be broad when making your wish. In fact... Davina held her hands up in front of her, her eyes wide. Pretend I’m Tiger Woods. I am the Tiger Woods of magic.

    Oh, brother, Mariah said.

    Davina ignored her. Now, you wouldn’t make Tiger tee off in a closet would you? Of course you wouldn’t. You have to give him room to maneuver. So think in broad terms. You don’t have a certain person in mind, do you?

    For one crazy moment, Livvy thought of Jack, the next-door neighbor who had moved in not long ago. The man was ripped. Like Rambo ripped. He had a buzz cut and a wicked-awesome tat of butterflies on his upper arm.

    He was also severely handicapped.

    The property manager had told her he’d served as a Navy SEAL and come back disabled, which explained his military bearing, evident even though he used a wheelchair. This filled Livvy with compassion and admiration. She’d suddenly become eager to meet him. She’d gotten along very well with Henry, the man who’d lived in the apartment before. That sweet old guy had found love, gotten married and moved away, leaving his handicapped-accessible townhouse behind as a rental.

    One Saturday soon after the ex-SEAL moved in, she saw him and a friend coming out of his house. She had baked cookies for him a few days ago, but hadn’t seen him until now. Worried she might not get another chance before the cookies went stale, she hurried outside.

    Oh, hey, wait! she called.

    They stopped. The neighbor, dressed in khakis and a black t-shirt, turned his chair toward her. He wore a cap and sunglasses and didn’t look like he’d shaved in a couple of days. His legs leaned toward the right, perfectly parallel—knees, ankles, feet, all side by side.

    I wanted to introduce myself, she said, a little breathlessly. I’m Livvy. I live next door.

    Hey, good to meet you, Livvy. I’m Jack. He flashed a dazzling smile at her. This is Noah, my caregiver. Are those for me? he asked, gesturing toward the bag of goodies.

    Yes. They’re to welcome you to the neighborhood.

    That’s really nice of you. They look great.

    As he took the bag, Livvy noticed his eyes dropping to her breasts and lingering there. When he again met her gaze with a half-smile playing around his full lips, her breasts tingled and she felt a flush of desire between her legs. A split second later she remembered he was in a wheelchair and got so flustered that when he invited her to go with them to the movies, she’d babbled a lame excuse. Later, she felt embarrassed and angry with herself. Having lived next to Henry for so long, she had always thought of herself as very accepting of and savvy about paraplegics. For instance, she knew that some of them had healthy sex lives, but for some reason, when faced with the prospect of actually having sex with a man in a wheelchair, she’d freaked out. Irritated at her apparent prejudice, she berated herself soundly and resolved to be more tolerant and open the next time she saw him, but hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him since.

    Earth to Livvy, Davina said. Do you have someone special in mind or don’t you?

    Livvy started, then shook her head. "No. No one special. I trust you to find the right man for me,

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