Page 21 of Cinderella's Fling with the Off-Limits Billionaire

“Well,” she said, reaching for her bag. “I’d better be off.”

He stood. “I’ll have Alec take you home.”

“Oh,” she frowned. “That’s fine. I’ll just take the subway.”

His features tightened and for the briefest moment she felt something from him—something that put her in mind of his position in the business world. Easy authority. Not like Jay, who’d bullied her and forced her to submit to him because he’d needed that to feel good. Leandro seemed to radiate confident leadership now. “This won’t work if you take the subway. For as long as you’re seeing me, Alec will drive you.”

She laughed huskily. “But I use public transport all the time.”

“I don’t care. I don’t want your mugging on my conscience.”

“I have no intention of getting mugged.”

“Why not use my driver?”

“Because he must have better things to do than transport me around New York…”

“It’s his job.”

Her eyes glittered a little. “Now who’s taking the help for granted?” She said, only half-teasing.

“Alec likes to drive and is very well remunerated. Believe me, he won’t mind.”

She shook her head a little. “But I would.” She pressed a hand to his chest. “This isn’t a big deal, is it?”

A muscle throbbed in his jaw. “If you object to Alec driving you, then I will take you home myself.”

“No,” she rejected even more quickly, recognizing that he wasn’t going to back down. She didn’t really want to back down either, but he was right. This wasn’t a big deal. If it weren’t for Jay and how he’d messed Skye up, she would probably have gleefully accepted the offer of a lift right from the beginning. At this time of night, it would be a pretty quick commute across the river. “That’s okay. Don’t go to any trouble. I’ll go with your driver.”

He relaxed visibly. “Bene. I’ll see you tomorrow, cara. Just text me what time you need to be collected.”

Six

SHE HAD ALEC DROP her off a little way down the street. She didn’t want to risk anyone seeing his car out the front of her home. It wasn’t like Jay sat out in the street and spied on her, but she’d learned a long time ago that you could never be too wary with that guy.

Besides, she wasn’t sure she wanted Leandro’s driver to know which house was hers.

She let herself into the house quietly, shutting the door and sliding the lock into place, slipping off her shoes and tiptoeing through the corridor towards the back bedroom. She paused in the door, her daughter’s sleeping body tightening something in her heart, as it always did. Harper was the most important thing in Skye’s world. She would never regret the circumstances that had led to her existence.

She crept into the bedroom and pressed a kiss to Harper’s sleeping forehead. Despite the cool of the night, she had a little perspiration there from how warmly she was bundled up. Her favourite pajamas were a thick flannelette, and she’d added fluffy socks for good measure. Skye eased the socks from her feet with an indulgent smile, kissed her forehead once more and left the room.

When Skye had been a teenager, her parents had built an extra bathroom on the back of the house. Not large, not luxurious, but enough for her to use. They hadn’t had a lot of money, but they’d loved her silly. Now that she was a mom, she understood that. What wouldn’t she do for Harper?

She undressed quickly, but with each brush of her hands over her body, memories surfaced, and her body was so sensitive that the water from the shower was like some kind of aphrodisiac. She let out a soft moan, and grinned like the cat who’d got the cream. She almost couldn’t believe she’d done it.

It had felt so good to break the ‘rule’ that Jay had set for her, to thumb her nose at his awful, controlling ways. Even now, two years after their breakup, how could he think he had any rights over what she did with her life?

She replayed every delicious moment from the night as she showered until the water ran cold. Every kiss, every touch, every whisper and word. And she remembered the promises they’d made each other, that it was just for this one week. One perfect, sensual week. It was like the balm she hadn’t known she needed, and that she definitely deserved. She was going to make the most of every lovely minute…

Even though she needed the money and had a policy of accepting any and all work she could, when Susanna asked her to do a double shift the next night, Skye barely hesitated before saying she couldn’t. She was already on tenterhooks, counting down the minutes until she could get to Leandro again. Her whole body was in a form of agony. Somehow, having been with him and felt that perfection made it so much harder to wait. She wanted more of him. All of him. And tonight, her shift finished an hour earlier. Too late to get home in time to see Harper, but early enough to give them a bit longer.

She texted her mom and said she was working later, to cover someone else, and slipped into the backseat of Leandro’s car with a spring in her step.

Back in his luxurious apartment building, she crossed into the lift with the feeling that her insides were being battered by butterflies. She rode the elevator to his floor and stepped out with alacrity, slipping off her shoes and placing her handbag beside them. She looked around just as he emerged from the kitchen, not smiling, his features locked in an expression of urgency.

He moved quickly towards her and drew her to him, kissing her with a passion that took her breath away. Literally. She could hardly breathe, and she didn’t care. She kissed him back with the same hunger, the same need, and yet it still surprised her when he lifted her to the sofa instead of the bedroom, his body over hers powerful and strong, his kisses so desperate—as if they hadn’t been together in months, not just twenty four hours. But didn’t she feel exactly the same? Wasn’t her own body crying out for him again already?

He swore as he tried to remove her clothes and found her dress wouldn’t give.

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