Page 12 of The Billionaire's Masquerade Ball

“With less magic, fewer talking animals, and no Prince Charming,” Cynder said.

“You never know,” Lucy said. “Maybe there will be a Prince Charming.”

A face came right to Cynder’s mind: the man she had seen in the cemetery. Even thinking about him made her heart flutter.

It was totally unrealistic. She didn’t know him. He could be a total jerk. Just because he lost his wife and daughter didn’t make him some great guy. But something about him had drawn her in ways that she couldn’t explain. Maybe it was just the depth of his grief, matching her own pain. That wouldn’t be the start of a relationship. Would it? Someone who had been married before certainly wouldn’t be interested in someone like her who hadn’t even had a boyfriend. That would be a weird pairing. It didn’t matter anyway. She would probably never see him again.

Cynder sighed. “Doubtful.”

“But in this dress, you’re going to be fighting guys off.”

Cynder felt a rush of fear. She put a hand to her face. “Maybe I shouldn’t—”

“Nope! That’s enough. We’ve settled it. Now get out of this dress before you wrinkle it more.”

“Okay, Tink.”

Lucy gave Cynder a friendly smack on the butt as she unlaced the corset. “I don’t understand how you can be so brave about so many things and be so afraid of something like falling in love.”

“Tink. Kindly stop talking now before I do something rash.”

Lucy snorted. “Like?”

“Like roll around on my dirty floor in this gorgeous dress.”

“If you weren’t my muse…”

“You know I love you, right Luce?”

“You know I love you back?”

“Yep.”

“Okay, then.”

Cynder smiled as Lucy helped remove her from the dress. A pit of worry formed in her stomach as she put on her pajamas again, watching Lucy carefully hang up the dress, smoothing out the hemline.

The only thing that she feared more than dating was being alone. And she knew one day, Lucy would fall for one of the guys she dated and Cynder would finally be just that: completely alone.

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