Happily Ever After: (A Cinder & Ella Novel)

by Kelly Oram

  “Welcome back,” I said. “I take it Precious is once again safe and sound in the garage, where she’s supposed to be?”

  “Yup. All is right in the world again. And I saw she’s got some sexy company at the moment.” Brian took a seat beside me and flashed a wide smile at Scott. “How’d she handle the turns in the canyon on the way here?”

  Scott’s face fell flat, and he cocked an eyebrow into a high arch. “A car, Brian?”

  I wanted to be on Scott’s side in this argument—the gift was completely inappropriate—but Brian’s giddy excitement stopped me from voicing any objections. “Not just any car, Scotty. That’s an Audi A8. That is a pimp ride.”

  Scott shook his head. “Thank you for the generous thought, but I can’t accept it. It’s too much.”

  “Too much is a relative term, my friend.” He picked up his napkin and placed it in his lap with a flourish. There was a bounce in his every movement, as if surprising Scott with the car had made him ridiculously happy. “And besides, I can’t take it back. I paid cash for it and put the title in your name, so technically, it’s already yours.”

  Scott barked out an incredulous laugh and pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. “You are insane, boss.”

  Brian took that as a compliment, grinning even more as he puffed up his chest. “Maybe, but you like me anyway. And the only way to get rid of that car now would be to sell it, but that would be a waste. I cherry-picked that one for you personally, and, dude, your Toyota is on its last leg.”

  “But—”

  “Look. You work hard, you deserve it, and you need it. Just enjoy it. Take good care of her and don’t name her something stupid, and I’ll forgive you for leaving me for my girlfriend.”

  Brian winked at me before he gave his startled assistant a stern look. “I know you already told her about your traitorous plans. I can tell. She’s glowing.” He looked at me, and his stern gaze fell into a pout. “He’s going to be a total crap partner, you know. Absolutely horrid.”

  Scott snorted, and I tried to keep from smiling at my boyfriend’s tantrum. “Is that so?”

  “Damn straight, it is. He’s bossy, straight laced to the point of madness, and completely anal-retentive. He’s going to drive you nuts.”

  “Gee thanks, boss.”

  “Brian!” Liz scolded. “Stop being so rude. Scott seems like such a nice young man.”

  Scott received another pointed look from Brian. “Except he’s a traitor who’s leaving me for my girlfriend. And speaking of traitors…” Now I was getting the pointed look. “The love of my life has just stolen my wonderful assistant.”

  My composure finally cracked. “I’m sorry I have to steal your wonderful, genius, irreplaceable assistant.” I giggled. “But better me than somebody else, right?”

  When I flashed him an innocent grin and batted my lashes, he tried to hold his pout but caved. His answering smile was sardonic. “You’re lucky I love you.”

  The quasi threat made me smile for real. “I know. And thank you. It’s an incredible opportunity. I’m really excited about it.”

  Brian sighed in resignation. “I know. It’s a good opportunity for Scott, too, and to be honest, I’m not sure I could trust anyone else with your future like that. You guys will be a great team.”

  The next week went by quickly. A few texts with Juliette resulted in me getting some of my things brought over to Brian’s house. (Thank heavens for Vivian and her dads, who were willing to be the go-between.) Then, my new rehab team was informed of all the changes in my situation, and my appointments with all of them resumed.

  My team informed Brian that because of my physical disabilities, I couldn’t stay in his home permanently—which I already knew. He’d called his real estate agent the same day he’d met my physical therapist and asked her to come straightaway so that she could speak with Daniel about what kind of place would be best for me. She was more than happy to bend over backward for her star millionaire client.

  I told them I wanted to find myself an apartment in a secure building with enough security to keep me both safe and give me privacy. Brian, of course, hated that idea and pouted like a big baby over it. He voted he would just find a new home that was suitable for me as soon as possible.

  Liz had her own opinions on the issue, which mostly consisted of her taking Brian’s side that I shouldn’t waste the time and money on my own apartment, and that when we bought our first home together, we needed to think about our children’s futures. Hints about the schools in Wisconsin were dropped several times.

  I loved the woman dearly, but she was every bit as exhausting as Brian had warned me she was, and when she and Doug left on New Year’s Eve, I felt like I was ready for a vacation. We waved good-bye to them from the driveway as they left, and once the gate closed behind them, we came back inside and fell to the couch together in an exhausted heap. “Finally, we have the place to ourselves,” Brian murmured.

  I laid my head down on his lap, and, with a moan and a stretch, curled up beside him, ready for a nice, long nap. “I could sleep for days.”

  Brian began running his fingers through my hair. “Sounds good, but it’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

  I groaned again. “Do we really have to?”

  He laughed. “It’ll be fun. I promise.”

  “If you say so.”

  Tonight was his talent agency’s annual New Year’s Eve party. It was a big deal. Mostly A-list and a very swanky, fancy affair. This was Brian’s first invite to the bash. He’d only been with the agency since he switched after the FantasyCon debacle, and before that, he hadn’t been considered important enough to merit an invitation.

  He was proud and thrilled to have shed his teen heartthrob status and be considered a real star. I was proud of him, too, so I would go to the party and wear my best smile, but secretly I was terrified.

  This would be my first public appearance with Brian in his world aside from the premiere of The Druid Prince. I’d been in enough shock that night that Brian had only introduced me to a handful of people and the conversation hadn’t extended much beyond Hello, it’s nice to meet you. Tonight would be different.

  “We don’t have to go if you really don’t want to,” Brian offered after I slipped into a fretful silence.

  “Of course we do. You’re looking forward to it, and it would be rude of us to skip out. I’m sure it’ll be fun. I’m just nervous.”

  “You don’t have to be,” Brian said. “Most of them will be kissing your ass anyway, Miss Popular Entertainment Reviewer.”

  I snorted, but he raised a challenging brow at me. “Ella, you have power in my world now. Do you not remember what you did for my father on Christmas?”

  I let out a half amused, half disgusted groan. “I can’t believe I’m partially responsible for a Max Oliver Drive Hard monstrosity.”

  Brian laughed. “There will be plenty of people who enjoy it. Drive Hard is actually a really awesome video game. And, you have to admit, Dad is the perfect director for that type of movie.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yes, he’ll sexy it all up with the perfect amount of half-naked women and giant explosions, and teenage boys across the world will flock to it in droves—you included.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with a good action film.”

  “Not when they have things like plot, story, and character development, no. Then they’re great. But boobs and guns alone does not a good movie make.”

  “I dare you to impart those words of wisdom to Dad sometime, Yoda.” Brian flicked the tip of my nose. “And fair warning. You’ll be my date to the premieres of all of Dad’s films from now on, so you’d better start mentally preparing yourself now.”

  I groaned again. “You think he’ll disown me, too, once he reads the review I give him?”

  Brian burst into loud, boisterous laughter. “You probably won’t have to worry. He’s egotistical enough that he’ll just assume you love it and won’t bother to actually read you
r reviews.” He shook his head and laughed again. “But the media will eat it up. ‘Cinder’s Ella Trashes Father’s Film.’ It’ll make a great headline.”

  The amusement in his voice made me grin. “Well,” I said, “as long as you know it’s coming ahead of time and aren’t offended when it happens, then it doesn’t really matter.”

  Brian chuckled. “I’d be shocked and worried if it was anything less than scathing. Now about this party tonight and that extremely sexy dress hanging in your closet…are you going to need any help getting into it?”

  “HA! Most likely. But Vivian and Juliette are coming over to do my hair and makeup, so I think I’m covered.”

  “Juliette’s coming?” Brian asked. “Your father’s giving her permission to come to the evil movie star’s house?”

  My throat closed up at the surprise in Brian’s voice. “Yeah. I guess maybe he thinks if he lets Juliette come over, I’ll start answering his calls.”

  Brian was quiet for a moment and hesitantly asked, “Will you?”

  “No.” I scoffed.

  Brian relaxed again. He would support me in whatever decision I made where my father was concerned, but I knew he was glad I’d cut ties entirely. He’d seen my father hurt me too many times and was afraid if I let him back into my life, it would only happen again. He wasn’t the only one afraid of that, which was the main reason I’d been ignoring all of my father’s calls for the past week.

  “Well, I’m happy you and Juliette can still be friends,” Brian admitted.

  “Me too. I miss her.”

  “Don’t tell her I said this, but I do, too. She’s fun to tease. Even Ana’s not so bad, in her own way.”

  My jaw fell open at that shocking statement, and Brian smirked. “She’s sassy. I like that in a woman.”

  He gave me a very pointed look that I rolled my eyes at. “Whatever. Help me get upstairs before Jules and Vivian get here. It’s going to take us a ton of time to make me A-list party worthy.”

  . . . . .

  Soon enough, I was dressed and being poked and prodded, painted and sprayed.

  “Stop fidgeting, or I’m going to poke you in the eye with this mascara wand,” Juliette warned.

  It was the first time I’d seen her since my fight with my father, and her support couldn’t have come at a better time.

  “Sorry. I’m just nervous.”

  “You have nothing to be worried about,” Vivian promised. “Not while you’re wearing this dress.”

  She had a point about the dress. I’d panicked when Brian first informed me that this party would be a formal thing, so to ease my anxiety, he’d commissioned Vivian’s dads to make me a dress. What they’d given me wasn’t a dress but a work of art. It was a bright red, beaded, one-shouldered, floor-length gown that clung to me like a glove.

  The one sleeve it did have went all the way to my wrist. Forgoing the other sleeve and leaving my good shoulder bare had given the dress a dangerously sexy vibe that made the gown look as classy and beautiful as anything anyone would be wearing that night, and yet it covered almost all of my scars. It was truly brilliant, and my eyes had misted over the first time I’d tried it on.

  “Are you ladies finished yet?” Brian called, knocking on the door for the third time. “The suspense is killing me. I want to see my beautiful girlfriend.”

  We’d locked ourselves in Brian’s guest room, and he’d been pacing outside the bedroom door since he’d finished getting ready himself.

  “Oh my gosh, he is so romantic,” Vivian crooned as she unleashed another cloud of spray on my hair.

  She’d gone for a classic twisty up-do to leave my neck exposed and show off the bare shoulder even more. A hint of my scars peeked out around the neckline, but it wasn’t much, and the sparkly body glitter Juliette had forced me to bathe myself in took the attention away from them quite nicely.

  “If by romantic you mean impatient and needy, then totally,” I teased, shaking the nerves out of my hands as I sat in a chair. I hadn’t been allowed to look at myself since the girls showed up, either.

  “Ella, a man as gorgeous as yours is allowed to need whatever or whomever he wants.”

  “Well, he would certainly agree with you.” I cleared my throat and yelled, “Patience you must have, my young Padawan!”

  His muffled grumble of dork came back sounding just irritated enough to make me snicker. “He’s fun to annoy.”

  Juliette gave me an incredulous look as she coated my lips with a tube of sinfully red lipstick. “You two are so…I don’t even know how to describe it. Blot.” She shoved a tissue at me, and I pressed my lips to it. The print I left behind was as bright as my dress.

  “Finished!” she declared, letting me stand so I could go look in the full-length mirror.

  As I walked over to it and finally got a good glimpse of the fairy-talelike beauty my friends had transformed me into, all of the air left my lungs. I couldn’t believe that after everything I’d been through since my accident, I was still capable of looking like this.

  “Wait!” Vivian cried. “I forgot!”

  She ran over to the garment bag in which she’d brought the dress over and retrieved a new cane from the bag. Like Candy, she’d given this one a makeover, too. She’d used the same red material as my dress and swirled it down the shaft opposite a white strip of fabric. It was even one of those canes that had a curved handle on the top so it literally looked like a candy cane. “I figured, since it’s Christmas and all…”

  The cane completed the ensemble in a dreamlike way that I never could have imagined. Vivian’s creativity was in a league of its own. “Viv…” My voice was in danger of giving out. “It’s perfect. You didn’t have to do this.”

  “Oh, but I did,” she said, accepting a big hug from me. “As much as I love Candy, she didn’t match your dress at all, and I couldn’t let you arrive with a standard plain ugly aluminum cane that reminds people of crutches. I figured if we had this second cane as a spare one, we could give it facelifts whenever the occasion calls for it, and we won’t have to touch good old Candy Cane. Because changing Candy now would probably break my heart as much as you getting this fancy and having to use a cane that didn’t match.”

  I barked out an incredulous laugh and hugged my crazy, stylish fashionista of a friend. “What would I do without you, Vivian?”

  “Clash,” she teased.

  We all laughed again, and after giving Juliette a hug, too, we turned back to the mirror to simply stare at the winter wonder that I was. “You are seriously one sexy senorita,” Vivian said. “You’re going to put all of those starlets to shame.”

  Juliette waggled her brows evilly and added, “Especially that wench, Kaylee Summers.”

  I smirked at my stepsister in the mirror. “Unless she managed to talk someone into letting her be their plus one, I don’t think she got invited.” I shrugged. “Not cool enough.”

  It was petty, but I kind of felt proud that I’d snagged my own personal invite to this party tonight when Kaylee Summers hadn’t. True, I was Brian’s date, but his agency was trying to woo me into representation and had personally extended me my own invite. Brian had assured me Kaylee Summers wouldn’t have made their guest list on her own when I’d asked if we were going to have to deal with her presence tonight.

  Brian’s irritated voice rang through the door again. “Guys, we’re going to be late if you don’t give me my date sometime this century!”

  We all laughed. Juliette decided to take pity on Brian and unlocked the door. “Are you ready?” she asked, holding the door closed enough that he couldn’t walk in.

  “I’ve been ready for half an hour,” he grumbled.

  “I promise the wait was worth it,” she said, swinging the door open all the way.

  Brian stepped in the room just as I turned to face him, and his breath caught when he saw me. The heat that entered his eyes as he roved his gaze over me from head to toe made my whole body tingle. Face flushed, I slowly stepped
toward him.

  He didn’t look so bad himself. All done up in his tailored tux, he was as handsome as any prince ever was. Tonight, he wasn’t Prince Cinder, though; he was definitely working the Prince Charming look. His dark hair was sculpted with care, and his rich chocolate-brown eyes were extra warm as he continued to stare at me.

  When I moved, it pulled him from his shock, and he joined me in the middle of the room, placing his hands on my arms with reverent gentleness. “Wow,” he breathed.

  “Back atcha, handsome.” I twisted a little from side to side. “So what do you think? Will I embarrass you too horribly in front of all those A-listers?”

  “What A-listers? There’s no way we’re going to make it to any party tonight.” He stepped even closer and slid his arms around my waist. As his gaze dropped to my ruby red lips, he sucked in a sharp breath. When he could meet my eyes again, he locked his stare on me and called out to my friends. “Jules? Vivian? I’m eternally grateful for the work you’ve done this evening, but now I need you both to get out. Go home. Leave. And lock the door behind you. I need to unwrap this gift you’ve just given me and see if she tastes as good as she looks.”

  I would have shrieked at him and slapped his chest or something, except he was so not kidding, and his intensity left me frozen and unable to breathe. I was entirely at his mercy for the moment, and if he took my dress off, I didn’t think I’d try to stop him. I was even wearing the sexiest bra and panties set I’d ever worn in my life at the moment.

  Once I’d seen the dress, I couldn’t bear to wear cotton grannies under it, and I’d secretly gone through the stash of Lindon’s Lingerie that had arrived earlier this week, along with the suitcases Juliette had packed for me. I’d been super annoyed with her for sending them over at the time, but now…with the lacy bright red bra and panties under the world’s sexiest dress, making me feel like I deserved Lindon’s offer to model for him, well, I was glad I’d had the option.

  Brian and I were broken from our spell when he ducked his head forward and Juliette shrieked. “Noooooo! Don’t you dare!”