Page 57 of Seducing Cinderella

“I think you’re gorgeous.”

Lucie squinched up her nose. “You’re biased. I can’t go back in there like this.”

He canted his head to the side for a moment, and then smiled down at her. “The clock’s about to strike twelve, Cinderella. I should probably get you up to the safety of my hotel room. You know, just in case.”

She gave a short laugh, using the back of a hand to swipe at the black streaks under her eyes and holding it up as proof. “I’m fairly sure I’ve already turned back into my former state but getting out of this dress and into a hot bath sounds like heaven.”

His eyes darkened with intensity and a muscle in his jaw ticked. She hadn’t meant her statement to sound sexual, but clearly that’s how it was received judging by Reid’s reaction.

Grabbing her hand, he nearly growled and said, “I couldn’t agree more.”

Without waiting another second, he spun, pulling her out of the garden toward the front of the hotel. His strides were so long and quick she had to hitch up her dress and jog behind him to keep up. Amazingly enough she was managing the pace just fine when suddenly the heel of her right shoe became trapped in a crevice, causing her to falter as her foot continued on without it. Thankfully Reid used his lightning-fast reflexes to catch her before she face-planted on the paving stones near the French doors.

Unable to help herself, she laughed hysterically as she reached down and tried to wrench it free. A couple of rough tugs freed her shoe…but not the heel. Mouth agape she stared at the stubborn spike still wedged in the stone. “Well, crap. Doesn’t that just figure.”

He swept her up into his arms, took one look at her bare foot and said, “Well now it’s official.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, her broken footwear dangling from the fingers of one hand. “What’s that?”

“You really are Cinderella.”

“Then, in that case…” Lucie caught her lower lip between her teeth, traced the tan skin revealed by the open V of his shirt, then glanced up coyly through her lashes, just like he’d taught her. “…let’s get started on our Happily Ever After.”

As the last chime faded into the starry night, he met her gaze with a heart-melting smile and said, “As you wish, princess,” before carrying her off to do just that.

Epilogue

8 yearslater

“Daddy, watch this!”

Reid paused his stream of punches to the heavy bag in his home gym to face the adorably fierce five-year-old wearing miniature pink boxing gloves and a pink tutu over her black “ess-ser-size” pants. Grinning wide, he grabbed the sides of her little twenty-five-pound heavy bag and said, “Okay, Marley, Daddy’s ready. Get it, girl!”

Screwing her face into one of absolute menace, she attacked with controlled strikes like the bag kidnapped her stuffed tiger, Teddy. “Hi-yah! Yah! Yah! Yah-yah-yahhhhhhhhh!”

The sound effects were courtesy of Uncle Jax and Uncle Xander telling her that that’s how super ninjas fought, because they’re still a couple of knuckleheads and they think it’s hilarious. To be fair, it kind of is.

“Way to go, baby girl! That bad guy didn’t stand a chance. Gimme some.”

Marley beamed as she bumped her boxing glove to his fingerless MMA glove, her chocolate-colored ponytail swinging and hazel eyes glowing.

“Da-da! Washhh!”

Reid and Marley both turned to look at two-year-old Enzo standing in front of his inflatable punching bag with a cartoon boxer on the front. He was still in his PJ Mask pajamas, his sandy blond hair sticking up in a spectacular bedhead fauxhawk.

“Okay, little man, hit it!”

“Go, Enzo, go!” his big sister shouted while jumping in place.

Bolstered by the encouragement, the little guy struck out with his toddler-sized gloves in wild abandon. What he lacked in technique, the kid more than made up for with enthusiasm. His tiny arms were practically windmilling at his inflated enemy, missing most of their marks, until he got it good one time and went down…and then snapped right back up to bonk him in the face, sending him crashing to his padded diaper butt.

Unsure if he should be crying or not, Enzo looked up at them with his big gray eyes. This was one of those moments you learn as new parents. If you fuss over them, they’ll assume they’ve sustained life-altering injuries and lose their ever-loving minds. If you cheer like they just executed a perfect triple backflip, they laugh it off and bounce back like nothing happened. And Marley, who was a champion big sister, knew the trick all too well.

“Yayyyy,” she squealed while clapping. “Good job, Enzo!”

Reid joined in the celebration, rushing over to scoop up his now smiling son. “Don’t let the bad guy get you down, little man!” Holding Enzo horizontal to the floor, Reid pointed him at the inflatable toy. “Get him! That’s it, punch, jab, hook, uppercut. Yeah! Enzo Andrews is the undisputed toddler-weight champion of the worrrrrrld!”

He hefted the giggling boy onto his shoulders and was about to take him around in a victory lap when he felt his shorts being tugged on. “What aboutme, Daddy? I wanna be champion, too!”

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