Page 14 of Seducing Cinderella

Lucie couldn’t help but laugh. Whether it was good food, good wine, good company, or a combination of all three, she was feeling fantastically relaxed. Something she rarely felt in public. Turned out a little dose of confidence was addictive, and she was already looking forward to getting more.

Reid stood and held his hand out to her. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

She smiled and slipped her hand into his and they retraced their path from earlier toward the exit. When they passed through the waiting area, she heard a child exclaim, “Dad, look! It’s Reid Andrews!”

Turning, she saw a boy not more than ten years old run up to them with a look of pure awe on his adorable face.

Reid held out his fist for the kid to bump his knuckles against. “Hey, little man, how’s it going? You a UFC fan?”

“Totally! You’re my favorite fighter!”

Just then the boy’s dad approached. “Sorry to bother you, Mr. Andrews. I thought Austin was seeing things, but it’s really you. We’re huge fans.”

“Please, call me Reid. I’m always happy to meet fans. Do you train at all Austin?”

“Uh-huh. I’m only a purple belt in Tae Kwon Do so far, but I want to learn all the different Martial Arts so I can be like you when I grow up.”

“Well, you keep training and work hard, and I have no doubt you can do exactly that. Just remember that the skills you learn are to be respected and never used against others outside of the dojo.”

“I know. My sensei tells us the same thing. I can’tbelieveit’s really you! Man, I wish my friends were here. They’re never going to believe I met you.”

“Tell you what, let my lovely date take a picture of you, me, and your dad. That way you have solid proof.”

“Yeah!”

Lucie was so moved by the way Reid was indulging the young boy she almost didn’t realize he was speaking in reference to her. “Oh! Yes, that’s a great idea. Would you like me to use your phone?” she asked the father.

The man’s face fell as he looked at his son. “Sorry, kiddo, but I left my phone at home so we wouldn’t be interrupted at dinner.” He went on to explain to Reid, “I only get him every other weekend, so I don’t like anything interfering with our time together.”

The disappointed look on the boy’s face was enough to rip her heart out. “How about I take the picture with my phone and then I can e-mail it to you. Would that work?”

“Yes, it would. Thank you so much.”

Reid posed with the boy and his dad for a nice picture in front of the gigantic fish tank, and then he suggested a fun picture with just him and Austin. She laughed as Reid crouched down to Austin’s level and they held up rocker hands and donned some sort of fighter face with their noses scrunched up and their tongues hanging out.

After getting the e-mail address and ensuring both pictures had no problems sending, they said their good-byes to Austin and his dad and left the restaurant.

As they walked to the car, she studied him from the corner of her eye. Suddenly he stopped and bent to pick up a discarded bag of food from the ground she’d been about to step on. Telling her to hold on, he jogged back to the entrance and tossed it into the garbage can.

When he returned, she said, “That was really wonderful of you, Reid.”

“What, that? I didn’t want you to step on it. Besides, I can’t stand littering. It’s lazy, and I can’t stand lazy people who, for instance, refuse to put forth the little bit of effort it would take to throw something away properly.”

“I was talking about what you did for Austin and his father.”

“Oh, that,” he said, smiling. “I’m not as benevolent as you think, Lu. I get just as much of a kick out of meeting them as they do me. Especially the kids.”

“Do you ever worry about the impression extreme fighting could make on young children?”

He slipped his hand into hers, and she was surprised at how natural it felt. “A lot of people have issues with the sport of MMA. They call it human cock fighting. But they don’t pay attention to the high levels of discipline and technical aspects it takes to do what we do, or the incredible sportsmanship it takes to shake the hand of a man who literally just beat the shit out of you. As long as kids are made aware of those things, like Austin obviously was, there’s nothing to worry about.” He shrugged. “There’ll always be people who misunderstand it. But I’d like to think they’re the minority.”

They arrived at his car and like the gentleman he was, he opened her door. Before climbing in she turned, tilting her head a little to the side as she studied him. “You really love it, don’t you?”

“I’ll always love the sport.” For a moment he raised his eyes to the horizon before returning his attention to her with a bit of a sad smile. “How much longer I’ll love being in it remains to be seen.”

It bothered her a great deal to see him without his usual passion shining through, giving her the sudden urge to console him with a kiss. She’d intended for it to be on his cheek, but the wine must have messed with her aim because she landed square on his luscious mouth.

For several seconds they stayed like that, frozen in time, lips pressed together, until the sound of a car alarm shocked her back into her senses. She pulled away and touched her fingers to her lips as if she’d just been caught doing something scandalous.

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