Page 34 of Seducing Cinderella

When Lucie jerked with a gasp at seeing a particularly bloody punch, he set the popcorn bowl aside and adjusted until he sat sideways on the couch and she curled up on her side between his legs with her head on his chest. He tried damn hard not to notice how much he liked the way she snuggled into him, rubbing her cheek on his T-shirt to get just the right spot she wanted.

Smiling, he played with her hair, picking up sections and running his fingers through the length, loving the silky feeling and the flowery scent that he now associated with only her.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but before the movie ended Lucie’s breathing had become deep and even with sleep. Grabbing the throw blanket from the back of the couch he tucked it around her and settled into the corner more to get comfortable.

“Sweet dreams, Lu.” He kissed the top of her hair and didn’t even remember closing his eyes.

Chapter Thirteen

Reid sankinto the overstuffed couch cushions, turning sideways to stretch out his legs and lean back against the pillows he’d shoved against the side. He’d just finished showering after a long fucking day and all he wanted to do was lie there and drink the one ice-cold beer he was allowing himself for the night.

Another week had gone by since his relaxing movie night with Lucie, but instead of the fun and games they’d had time for the previous week, the last seven days had been more stressful than anything. When they weren’t working on his shoulder and training, he’d been at publicity junkets, and Lucie was getting called into work to help out with special-needs cases.

The only bright spots were the quickies they somehow found time for. But where they lacked in duration, the sessions more than made up for in passion. Any time he and Lucie got hot and heavy, it was like a chemical reaction ending with an inevitable explosion that rocked them to their cores.

During one such occasion they realized they were out of condoms, prompting a frank—albeit hurried—discussion about protection. Since they both had clean bills of health and Lucie had gotten a form of birth control implanted in her arm at her ex’s request that lasted several years, they decided to forgo the latex for the duration of their time together.

The memory of sinking into her that first time with nothing between them made his balls ache. Her slick heat had set him ablaze, igniting every cell in his body as her channel milked his bare cock until he’d spilled himself deep inside her. It had taken them longer than usual to come down from that lovemaking, but when they did, his elation had shone in her eyes too.

Unfortunately, their daytime interludes were the only ones they’d had all week. By the time either of them got home at night they had just enough energy to shower and fall into bed.

Reid had a suspicion that Mann had asked her to come in just so he could see Lucie. Maybe he wanted to see if her transformation extended beyond the one night at the restaurant. Maybe he just wanted an excuse to see her and flash his girlie dimples at her, who the fuck knew.

What hedidknow, was that he’d been unable to do anything about it. Once the UFC found out from Butch that Reid was up in Reno getting special training and therapy for his injury, they’d set up press conferences and publicity signings, and he’d had no option but to do them. It was part of his contract.

It’d been damn hard to focus, though, knowing that while he was answering the same questions he’d answered dozens of times, Lucie was being ogled by that surgeon. Maybe even groped if he’d had the chance. Shit, he hadn’t thought of that before. Had Mann kissed her already? Then again, it didn’t really matter. She was getting ready to leave on a date with the guy even as he lay there, so she was as good as kissed by the end of the night.

Reid’s hand tightened on the beer bottle and his jaw clenched.

A bang and clatter came from the bathroom down the hallway. “Shit!”

He turned his head in the direction of the commotion. “Everything okay in there?”

“Yeah,” she said dejectedly. “I just knocked my knee on the vanity and put a run in my pantyhose, and it’s my only pair.”

“You want me to run you to the drugstore down the street?” Then maybe he’d accidentally take a wrong turn on the way back making her late and Mann would think she stood him up and lose interest due to his fragile ego.

“No, that’s okay, there’s no time. I’ll just go without.”

Go without?The guy would have access to her bare legs. All it would take is a brush of his hand under the table linen and he’d be able to do all sorts of creative things even though they were in public. Reid would know; he’d done it plenty of times when he got bored during required dinners with the upper echelon of the fighting world.

“Why don’t you just wear a pantsuit?”

He heard the clacking of heels on the wooden floor and then she rounded the corner where he could see her. Immediately his mouth began to salivate like the ripest strawberry he’d ever seen dangled right in front of his face. That’s what she reminded him of.

Bright red from boobs to butt, she was striking in a simple cocktail dress. Spaghetti straps so small as to practically be nonexistent, a neckline that dipped into the space between her breasts, and a hem that flirted around her thighs, mere inches from the curves of her butt.

She’d curled her hair into large ringlets that gave her a smoking just-been-tumbled look and her makeup was noticeable, but subtle, with the exception of the matching red lipstick.

Affection between them right before she went on a date with another guy seemed all kinds of wrong, and he’d figured it was better to avoid it than analyze it, so he’d planned on keeping things platonic for the evening.

But the image of those juicy lips wrapped around a certain part of his anatomy bombed an RPG-sized hole right through the Appropriate Dam he’d constructed in his brain.

“I don’t own a pantsuit, Reid. You never picked one out for me to try on.”

Of course he didn’t. What guy wanted to see a girl in an ugly-ass pantsuit? His eye had been drawn to every single tiny dress he could find. What a fucking moron he was.

“Doesn’t this look okay? Is it too much?” she asked while trying to get a good look at herself by twisting her body in all sorts of directions. Just then her intercom buzzed, sounding like an air horn in the otherwise quiet apartment. “Oh, God, I’m so nervous. I can’t do this. I’m going to tell him I can’t go. Claim I have food poisoning or a spontaneous case of pancreatitis.”

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