Page 56 of Seducing Cinderella

“Congratulations. You’re once again the champion…just as you wanted all along.”

“Not all along.” A finger trailed lightly from her shoulder to elbow in excruciating slowness. “My goals and ambitions have changed considerably since I walked into your office that day.”

She lowered her gaze to the ground between them as she tried to process everything, unsure what to say to that when he’d claimed the exact opposite in her kitchen a month ago. How was she supposed to know what the truth was anymore?

“Lucie, I retired after my fight.”

Her head snapped up to stare at him with wide eyes. “Why would you do that? You won.”

“It didn’t matter if I won or lost. I made the decision to retire before the fight, no matter the outcome.”

“But,” she stammered, “what will you do?”

“There’s more I can do with my life besides fighting. I was thinking I could move back here and try something else. Maybe pursue sculpting or buy hideous argyle clothing and take up golf. I don’t care what I do, as long as I’m with you, and I’ll wait for as long as it takes for you to take me back.”

She was shaking her head before he even finished. “No. That’s what you say now, but eventually you’re going to feel that itch, that need, and at your age, if you’re out of the circuit it’s going to be so hard to get back in. You can’t quit because of me, Reid. You can’t put that kind of pressure on me.”

“Whoa, slow down, sweetheart,” he said, grasping her firmly by her shoulders and making sure he had her full attention before starting again. “I’m not quitting, I’m retiring. And I’m not doing it because of you. I’m doing it for me.”

“I don’t understand. Youloveto fight.”

Reid took her hands in his, bringing them between them, rubbing his thumbs over the backs of her fingers. “Remember when I told you that I’d always love the sport, but wouldn’t always love being in it?”

“Yes. You said it after dinner that night.”

“That’s what this is. My heart’s just not in it anymore.”

His eyes searched hers as though hoping to see that she understood, but she wasn’t sure she did. Or maybe, she was too afraid to let herself believe she did. “Then…where is it?”

“With you, Lucie. My heart is with you.”

She wanted so desperately to just go with what he was telling her, but a big part of her—the part that had been crushed a month ago when he walked away from her—held her back, warning her about false hopes. She needed more validation than that.

“Since when?”

He stepped closer and framed her face in his large hands. “Quite possibly from the first time I heard you snort.” He placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. “Very probably when you flirted with our waiter.” A warm kiss on the freckle by her eye. “Almost certainly the first time you fell asleep in my arms.” A small kiss on the opposite cheek. “And most definitely the night we made love.” Finally, a tender kiss on the lips.

How was it possible for one man to be so many different things? Fighter, makeover expert, professional seducer, artist, and now poet. A woman didn’t stand a chance against a combination like that. He was nothing she’d thought she needed in a man, and yet everything she wanted and more.

Rising on her toes, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him for everything she was worth. Strong arms banded around her, holding her tight against him as he branded her with searing lips. Somewhere nearby the bells of a church chimed a lighthearted melody as they at last came up for air.

Catching her breath, she made one final request. “Say it, Reid.”

He grinned. “You’re going to make me spell it out, aren’t you?”

“You’re lucky I don’t make you write it in the sky with one of those little planes.”

He chuckled but sobered quickly. Still holding her close, he touched his forehead to hers and spoke with the utmost sincerity shining in his hazel eyes. “Lucie Marie Maris…I am completely and utterly in love with you. And as God is my witness—no matter how long it takes—someday I will be worthy enough to be your husband, because I can’t bear the thought of living without you.”

The bells started tolling the midnight hour in slow gongs as she soaked up the beautiful words that acted as a balm to her soul, repairing the rift he’d caused weeks earlier. She felt whole again and, for the first time in her adult life, unconditionally loved.

Her chin quivered as she tried to hold back the tears rushing to her eyes, but it was no use. They spilled over her cheeks, one after another, and she’d be lucky if her sooty tears didn’t drip onto her dress and ruin it. Stupid man.

“Now look what you’ve gone and done.” She sniffled, determined to at least keep snot out of the whole train wreck that was previously her carefully applied makeup. “A simple ‘I love you’ would have sufficed.”

He smiled before placing a gentle kiss on her lips. “I love you.”

“It’s too late, I’m already a mess.”

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