Page 38 of Seducing Cinderella

“I don’t see anything,” Stephen said as he straightened from his inspection.

“My bad. Must’ve been a shadow or something.” Reid gave her a devil’s grin and crossed his muscular arms over his chest. “So, you kids have fun?”

“We had a great time together, as always,” Stephen answered from behind her. “Right, Lucie?”

“Oh, uh, absolutely,” she said, nodding like a bobble head on the dash of an off-road vehicle. “Great time.”

Dear God, he’d had toprompther! Why had her brain decided to take a leave of absencenowof all times? Stephen must think her an imbecile. Or worse, unconvincing. This was too much; she had to get out of there and into her nice, safe apartment. She turned her body a quarter turn so she could keep an eye on each of the threats facing her. “Oh, crap! I forgot I was supposed to feed Remy, Mrs. Egan’s ferret, because she’s…uh…visiting her sister.”

“Ferret?” Stephen had obvious disappointment etched on his face. Reid simply arched a brow as if waiting for the rest of the story.

“Yes, ferret,” she said. “You know, they’re small, weaselly creatures. I’m not that fond of them myself, but Mrs. Egan just adores the little rascal.”

“I know what a ferret is, Lucie, and I’m sure it’ll be fine for a while longer.”

Before she could spit out another lie, Reid swept in as smooth as if they’d rehearsed the act. “Actually, no. Remy’s diabetic so he needs to eat and receive insulin at strict times. I’d do it for her, but I’m severely allergic.”

“Yes!” she said with too much enthusiasm. “Um, I mean, Reid’s right, I really do have to go. But I had a really nice time, Stephen. Thank you so much.”

The smile he gave her was strained around his eyes, but he was gracious enough to relent on the condition that he get to take her out again so they could discuss things of a more personal nature next time. After agreeing and receiving an awkward hug from him as Reid looked on, Lucie finally retreated to her safe haven to shower and lay in bed as she mulled a thousand things over in her mind.

Reid hadn’t followed her in earlier, but she heard him come in several hours later. Knowing he was home and then listening to the sound of him taking a shower just down the hall was what finally allowed her mind to rest, and she fell into a wonderful dreamless sleep.

Chapter Fourteen

Thunder rumbled in the distance,seemingly louder for the empty streets upon which it echoed. “Reid, those storm clouds are ready to open up on us. Where are we going?”

Lucie had asked the same question no less than ten times in the last half hour and she wasn’t getting any closer to an answer. He was remarkably tight-lipped about their destination and purpose for going there despite his obvious excitement. Dragging her behind him down a sidewalk in the artsy area of town, he kept glancing at her with a secretive smile that gave him a boyish charm and made her giggle like an equally young girl.

It had been a couple of days since her date with Stephen, and Reid had been extremely scarce other than during his training. Then suddenly he announced he was taking her to a late dinner and then to see something. She’d thought maybe it was a show of some sort, considering the part of town they’d driven to, but by the time they’d left the restaurant it’d been after eleven, so she was clueless.

“A summer storm never hurt anybody. Almost there, come on,” he said as he tugged her into an alley.

She dug her heels in, causing him to pull up short. “What could you possibly need to show me in some dark alley?”

He stepped into her body and cupped the side of her face with his free hand. His thumb traced short strokes at the edge of her cheek. “Don’t you trust me, Lu?”

Staring into hazel eyes that melted her insides with the heat swirling in their centers, she whispered, “Of course I trust you.”

Full lips spread into a smile. “Then close your eyes.”

She almost argued the need for such a thing, but something about the way he looked at her had her lashes lowering without hesitation.

A light kiss touched each of her lids as reward.

Reid led her down the alley another twenty feet or so and then stopped. She heard what sounded like keys entering a lock and a heavy door creaking open. Once again, he led her forward. She desperately wanted to open her eyes but didn’t want to ruin his surprise. Chewing on her lower lip, she waited while he closed the door and moved around the room doing things she couldn’t discern by sound alone while telling her to keep her eyes closed.

Finally, he approached her from behind, wrapped one arm around her waist, and held his other hand over her still-closed eyes. “Shit, I’m starting to have second thoughts about this.”

She could hear the anxiety in his voice. “Why would you have second thoughts?”

“Because I don’t know what you’re going to think. I’m worried you’ll hate it.”

Lucie canted her head to the side and repeated his earlier question. “Don’t you trust me?”

…

The room was black as pitch with the exception of the overhead floodlight he’d turned on to shine directly over an easel, and on that easel sat a large corkboard holding a charcoal pencil drawing of Lucie…nude.

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