Page 55 of Seducing Cinderella

“I bid one hundred thousand dollars, for one date, with the stunningly beautiful woman on stage.” Then he turned his head to pin Stephen with a challenging glare. “Unless of course someone raises the bid, in which case, I’ll raise mine as well. I can play this game all night, but I assure you, I won’t lose.”

Lucie bit her lip while she waited for Stephen’s reaction. After several moments of looking between her and Reid, he finally shook his head. Lucie blew out the breath that had been burning her lungs as Sandy announced Reid the highest bidder. It was either that or the woman just found out she won a trip to Disney World. It was hard to tell with the excitable, high-pitched, mile-a-minute way she was talking.

Whatever the cause for Sandy’s excitement, Lucie wasn’t paying attention. Her eyes were glued to the devilishly handsome man walking toward the stage as the band struck up their first song of the evening.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he held out his hand. Her body moved without encouragement from her brain, as if the simple act of holding out his hand affected her with a gravitational pull she had no hope of fighting.

But she preferred to think of it as avoiding a scene if she were to throw a drink in his face, which is what she really wanted to do. Right? Of course right.

The moment her hand slipped into his, a tingling sensation traveled up her arm and spread through her chest. Without speaking a word, he led her onto the dance floor where couples started to gather. He pulled her into his body, fitting her against him as though they were two halves of the same whole. One large hand slid around, settling at the base of her spine and warming her skin through the thin material of her dress. The other held her hand in a proper dance hold level with his shoulder.

As they swayed to the music, Lucie fought her duplicitous impulses of kissing him madly and stomping on his foot before exiting the ballroom.

“That dress looks stunning on you,” he said, breaking the silence between them. “You’re the most magnificent woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, Lucie.”

Words, they were just words. That’s what she told herself, anyway. That they held no power over her. That they didn’t have the ability to make her soar, just as the ones he spoke a month ago didn’t slice her to ribbons. She’d gotten good at lying to herself these past weeks.

“You spent an awful lot of money tonight to get something you claimed you didn’t even want,” she finally said.

“I know. I would’ve spent ten times that, if I had to.”

She studied him, trying to solve the puzzle without having to ask for the answers, but the normal clues were absent. There was no smug smile. No jaw muscle jumping in irritation. Not a disapproving frown or even a challenging hitch of one brow. For the first time ever, Reid Andrews was utterly unreadable.

“Why?”

“Because you refused to take my calls, and I know you’re too honorable to back out of a date that some poor schmuck has shelled out an exorbitant amount of money for.”

“I see,” she said in a clipped tone. “This is all a big joke to you. That’s comforting.”

Air. She needed air.

Spinning on her heel she weaved an erratic path through the dancing couples, pretending she didn’t hear his muttered curse. Lucie expected he’d follow, but she didn’t care so long as she got away from the crowd and their prying eyes. She refused to break down in front of her colleagues and their guests.

Pushing through the French doors that opened to the large manicured gardens, she inhaled the bouquet of floral scents deep into her lungs as she crossed to the large three-tiered fountain. Crossing her arms over her middle, she held tight as though she could prevent losing herself to her own emotions and tried to focus on the water cascading into the pool at its base.

The gravel crunched under his shoes as Reid came to a stop behind her. When he finally spoke, his low voice coiled around her body, adding strength to her own embrace. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made light of the situation. I don’t want you to think that I’m not taking this seriously, because I am.”

“What, the auction?”

“No, not the auction. I mean, I’m happy to contribute to the fundraiser, and I won’t lie and say beating out Mann wasn’t a huge fucking bonus.” Lucie was glad she was still facing away from him so he couldn’t see the corner of her mouth hitch a little at that. “But I’m talking about what happened between us.”

“There is nous, Reid. You made that abundantly clear.”

With a gentle touch, he turned her to face him. Gazing down at her, he continued, his voice gruff with emotion. “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry for what I did. You opened yourself up to me, and I shut you out. I was an absolute asshole. What I said to you is beyond inexcusable, and I’ll never forgive myself.”

“Tell me why.” Lucie felt the hot sting behind her eyes. “After everything we shared, after the night we had…why’d you do it?”

He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat, but he never looked away from her. “Because I was scared. I was a fucking coward, Luce. You made me feel things I didn’t think were possible. You made me want a life I didn’t think I could have. And instead of rising to the challenge and becoming the man you deserve, I convinced myself I had nothing to offer. That I’d only hurt you worse in the long run. But the look in your eyes that day… Christ, baby, it kills me to know I hurt you like that, and I amso fucking sorry.”

Lucie said nothing. She couldn’t even if she’d wanted to. Her throat was locked up tight.

“I regained my belt. I beat Diaz.”

“I know,” she said softly.

No matter how many times she told herself she wouldn’t watch his fight, she’d known anything short of nuclear war wouldn’t prevent her from seeing it. Sitting on her couch with her knees drawn into her chest and her teeth gnawing the hell out of her lip, Lucie had observed every excruciating moment. Of course, it’d been too much to ask for a quick bout. No, she’d been subjected to almost three full rounds of watching Reid take blows and kicks to his head and body that looked like they could take down a gorilla. Thankfully, he gave just as good as he got, and in the third round he managed to knock out his opponent with a spectacular head kick.

She’d never been so relieved in her life. Or so proud.

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