Page 35 of Seducing Cinderella

He was so close to agreeing with her. So goddamn close. But in the end, he couldn’t do it. Just because he was experiencing some strange and juvenile bout of jealousy over her didn’t mean he had the right to sabotage her impending happiness with Dr. Perfect Dimples.

Kicking his inner caveman back into his cave, he stood and crossed to her. “Here,” he said, handing her the bottle. “Drink some of this and relax. You’re not canceling the date and wasting all this effort I’ve put into being your fairy godmother.”

She placed a hand over her stomach as though trying to quiet the butterflies inside while the other accepted the beer and polished it off in less than five seconds. So much for his one beer.

Handing him the empty, she said, “Thanks, I needed to hear that.”

“Because you like picturing me with wings and a magic wand?” he said with a smirk.

She laughed, looking more at ease every second. “No, you dumb jock, because I needed the encouragement to actually go through with this.”

Encouragement?Reid sobered and studied her face, trying to see if there was something—anything—he might be missing. The buzzer rang again and though it sounded identical to the first time, he swore the man’s impatience from two floors below somehow changed the pitch.

Aggravated at the interruption he took the two strides to the door, depressed the intercom button and barked, “We hear you, hold on,” before returning to her.

When he spoke, it was quiet, deliberate. “You don’t need encouragement, Lu, because this is what you’ve wanted all along. What you’ve done all of this for…right?”

She stared back at him, her eyes tracking back and forth between his, her lips slightly parted as if ready to respond as soon as her brain could wrap itself around an answer. The low levels of tension from her nerves and hiswhateverit was slowly began to climb until it was a palpable essence choking the space between them.

With his empty hand he reached up and lifted a curl that had fallen over her eye and set it back with the others where it belonged. Her gaze fell to his lips; it was a cue he didn’t miss. Reid was seriously starting to think the role of gentleman was way overrated. But if he was going to make a move, he had to be sure.

“Lucie? Do you want to go on this date with him?”

“I—”

She was cut off by the theme song toRockycoming from the kitchen. It took him a second to realize it was his cell phone. Lucie had insisted on giving all of his speed dial contacts personal ringers and they’d had a blast laughing and joking around as they searched for the perfect song for each of them. She’d picked that one for Butch.

Reid felt the muscle in his jaw work.Nice timing, old man.Was the whole universe in on some sort of conspiracy against them?

Then it him like a full right hook to the temple: yeah, it was. The universe was trying to remind him that he had no right to string her along with some fantasy of something that would never come true. He was acting like a selfish prick. Wanting to keep Lucie all to himself for the time he had her.

Until the time when he’d walk away from her.

He needed his ass kicked. “You’d better go,” he said as he stepped out of her personal space. Walking toward the kitchen and his phone he called back over his shoulder to her. “Have fun on your date, Lubert. Don’t forget to flirt with the waiter.”

As he hit the button to call Butch back he heard the door open and close again and he suddenly felt sick to his stomach.

“Shoulda known better than to drink a beer while cutting weight.” He put the phone to his ear and scoffed. He’d thought by saying it out loud it would sound more convincing than it did in his head. “That’s what you get for thinking, dumbass.”

“Andrews?” Butch’s gravelly voice coming through the cell eased him to a degree. The man was more of a father to him than his real one ever had been. Ironic, considering his trainer and father could essentially switch roles in his life and it would be more accurate than what they were intended to be.

“Hey, Butch. Sorry I didn’t get to the phone right away. What’s up? How’re the guys?”

“The boys are the same as ever. But I didn’t call to chat about the boys. I have some good news.”

He grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and walked back into the living room to resume his prone position on the couch. “Good, because I could really use some good news right about now.”

“Scotty’s coming back. Things progressed back home quicker than anticipated and he’s due to arrive in Vegas in a week.”

Reid shot back off the couch. He hadn’t had a clue what Butch’s good news was going to be but being able to go home a month sooner than anticipated hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“So you can get outta there and come on home. Train with your teammates and prepare for your championship fight in your own gym. Christ, if I know you, you’re probably going nuts cooped up out there.”

Butch wasn’t entirely wrong. He had been getting restless lately.Reallyrestless. But he didn’t think it had to do with not being in his own surroundings and having the freedom to do as he pleased as much as it was not having any quality time with Lucie. In the short time they’d been thrown together, he’d come to look forward to just being with her. Whether it was sitting quietly at the table in the morning as he drank his protein shake and she sipped her coffee, or arguing over who got the remote based on who owned it versus who was the elder.

“Son, did you hear what I said?”

Reid cleared his throat and dragged a hand over his face. “Yeah, Butch, I heard you. That’s great that Scotty’s going to be back. I’m sure some of the other guys could use him, too.”

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