Page 18 of Luck Be a Genie

I finally managed to get the straps in the right place, and got it over my head. “How are you getting changed so quickly? I’m barely getting into the first dress!”

“Ah. Umm, genie, remember. The changing stalls are far enough from your magic that I can just snap my fingers.” He sounded a bit bashful.

Nick.

Bashful.

The two words did not go together in my mind.

I liked the dress, so I quickly pulled it over my head and put it in the keep pile. “I hope you’re blocking our conversation from the humans.”

“Always.”

“I thought you liked to do things as much as possible the non-genie way.”

I could practically feel him shrugging his shoulders, as well as the soft snaps of his fingers as he continued to try things on. “I do, for the most part. My mom made sure all of us boys learned that at a young age. And since my dad is a much more powerful genie than me or my brothers, he could enforce the rule. It taught us to work hard for our successes in life, and to not take too many shortcuts, despite our magic.”

I put on the shorts set and frowned. The tank top was skin-tight on me, but the shorts fit. The perils of being big busted. I hurried to take them off and put them in a maybe pile. I’d see if I could get a bigger top but keep the bottoms the same size. But if it was a set, I wasn’t hopeful.

“I think that rule sounds reasonable. They probably didn’t want you guys to grow up to be little monsters.”

Nick’s voice softened. “Yeah, they’re both great parents. And we did not make it easy on them growing up.”

I laughed, yanking another dress over my head. I’d grabbed some more swimsuits, but I wasn’t really looking forward to trying them on. Swimsuits always tended to fit weird on me because I was high waisted.

“That sounds fairly standard for kids, though.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, then changed the subject. “You almost done?”

I laughed, quickly pulling the dress over my head, and tossing it in the no pile. “I just have the swimsuits next. Oh, and the coverups, but I don’t think I’ll try those on. I think they’ll fit fine.”

“Okay, I’ll wait.”

I kept my underwear and bra on and tackled the swimwear next. “You don’t have to. I’m sure there’s more of the store you haven’t bought yet. Go shop some more.”

He chuckled. “Nah, I’d rather stay here with you.”

My heart melted a little.

We tackled the home goods store next, and Nick was so excited he was practically vibrating in place. But I was too distracted to really pay attention because I was frowning down at my bank app, and trying to figure out what was wrong with my account.

I’d just spent five hundred dollars, but my bank app was telling me I’d only spent twenty.

Then I frowned at the guy who had just pulled the lever on a beautiful recliner, leaning back against the back cushion with a satisfied sigh.

“This one’s perfect.”

“Nick?”

He smiled beatifically up at me. “Yes, sunshine?”

“Why is my bank app telling me I only spent twenty dollars at the last store?” I moved so my flip flops lined up with his ginormous sandals, and folded my arms, frowning down at him. It was the first and probably only time I’d ever be taller than him, and I was not above using it to my advantage to make him confess.

“Ah.”

Whenever he said that, my left eyelid started to twitch, preparing for the next words to come out of his mouth.

“You said you wanted to pay for things.”