Page 19 of The Billionaire's Cinderella

Ella heaves a resigned sigh and rolls her eyes. “Ryker Black, this is my aunt, Gilda Arnold. Owner of this fine establishment and noted busybody.”

“Ignore her,” Gilda says, flapping her hand dismissively in Ella’s direction before extending it to me. She’s got a firm shake. I like that. “Ella’s been a little off-kilter all weekend. Ever since she came in Saturday morning. Not like herself at all— What? Why are you glaring at me like that, Ella? I speak the truth.”

I do my best not to look too amused or excited by this information, but it’s hard. I’m seriously starting to love Gilda. Ella, meanwhile, scowls at her aunt as though she intends to dispose of her in the dumpster out back as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

“I’ll deal with you later,” she tells Gilda with narrowed eyes and a chilling smile. “It won’t be pleasant. It’ll probably involve locking you in the cooler.” She turns to me and adopts the pleasant expression that I’m sure she uses for all the paying customers. “Can we get you anything else, Ryker?”

Cute. Like I dragged my ass all the way down here for some fucking pastries.

“Yes, actually,” I say, mirroring her pleasant tone. “Can you spare a minute? Grab some coffee with me? You don’t seem too busy right now.”

Ella hesitates, sliding right into deer-in-headlights mode as she gestures vaguely over her shoulder toward the kitchen.

“I was just about to start working on the pastry dough,” she says. Left to her own devices, I’m sure she’d hide back there until I headed back up to Midtown, where I belong, never to be seen by me again.

Good thing I love a challenge.

Even so, I don’t even bother answering. I feel confident that my new ally will handle the situation for me.

I don’t have to wait long.

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Gilda says cheerily. “I’ll take care of it. You’re always too rough with the dough. Makes it tough. I’m surprised you got through cooking school that way, but oh well. You’ll learn one of these days. You stay out here. Have a nice refreshment with Ryker. Call me if any customers come in and I’ll take care of them. Ta-ta for now!”

With that, Gilda sweeps through the door and lets it flap shut behind her.

Leaving me alone with Ella and a simmering case of nerves as I grab my plate and mug and gesture her over to a table by the front window. I strategize fast and hard as we sit down and she sets her tea on the table, knowing that I’d better tread lightly here.

A new issue for me, I admit.

Under normal circumstances, my family name and fortune alone allow me to coast to at least several overnights with a woman. Wealthy men like me, even the ones who are old, ugly and miserly, tend to attract more than our share of romantic attention whether we want it or not. My looks and personality aren’t bad, either, so I usually don’t need assistance with females. This thing here, though, Ella’s tension and wariness, as though she half suspects I plan to throw her into the back of my unmarked white van idling outside and take off with her? It’s a real switch. Makes me feel unpleasantly off-kilter. I’m not used to hunting down intriguing women who can’t be bothered to spend the entire night with me or at least leave their phone numbers and a request for me to call them.

I already know that Ella has had a difficult past with men. I could use some guidance on figuring out how to bridge the divide between us, though. Too bad I can’t call Gilda back and use her as a romantic negotiator. I could sure use the help.

The thing I’m not going to do right now? A hard sell. My gut’s telling me the that’s a bad idea.

But fuuuck.

It sure is hard for me to keep my hands to myself and my emotions bottled up inside when I’m this thrilled to see her again.

“Listen, Ryker…” she begins.

I don’t like the sound of her it’s not you, it’s me tone, so I step in quickly.

“I like Gilda. I’m guessing she keeps things interesting around here.”

She blinks, clearly caught off guard by the non sequitur. “That she does. She likes you, too, in case you didn’t notice. She has a soft spot for men.”

“Handsome men, did you say?”

“I never said you were handsome,” she says with a reluctant grin.

“But you thought it, didn’t you? Just like I thought oh, shit when I saw you just now.”

“Oh, shit?”she says with vague outrage.

“Yeah. As in, oh, shit, she just gets more and more beautiful. You think that makes me happy?”

A startled bark of laughter from Ella. “If you’re unhappy about the way I look, may I suggest you stay uptown where you belong? It’s much harder to see me that way.”

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