Cinderella & the CEO

by Maureen Child

  She shrugged. “Keeps me busy.”

  “Yeah.” He wasn’t sure what it was, but something was definitely off here.

  “You know, small town. Take work where you can get it.”

  She looked more uncomfortable than he’d ever seen her and Tanner couldn’t help but wonder why. Was she embarrassed that he’d discovered she worked more than one job? She shouldn’t be. He had nothing but respect for hardworking people. “What do you do here?”

  “Oh, a little bit of everything, I guess,” she said, a little vaguely. “Whatever needs doing. Shearing the trees, watering, weed removal when they get bad.” She kicked the toe of her boot at one of the offending weeds. “You know, farm stuff.”

  “Right. And wedding planning.” He studied her and noticed that her gaze hadn’t met his squarely since the first moment she’d spotted him. Strange behavior for the most upfront, unafraid of confrontation woman he’d ever known.

  “But what are you doing over here?” she countered. “I thought you pretty much considered this place enemy territory.”

  Yeah, he had. Now though, standing in this forest of neatly tended trees with the sound of children’s laughter ringing out around him, he couldn’t really remember why.

  “Well, I started thinking and realized that you might have been right about something.”

  “I like it already,” she said.

  “I’m sure,” he said wryly. He’d never known a woman yet who didn’t love hearing that she was right about something. “Anyway, you said I should have talked to the farm owner and I realized that you had a point. Thought that before I try to find the owner though, I should look around. Get a feel for the place.”

  “And, what do you think of it?”

  He nodded, letting his gaze slide across the area as he said, “It’s…nice. I met a little girl, helped her fix the name tag on her tree.”

  Ivy smiled at him. “That’s part of the Adopt-a-Tree program.” She started walking back toward the front of the farm and Tanner fell into step beside her, listening as she continued.

  “The wooden ornaments are just used for identifying tags now. That’s why they’re in plastic sleeves, to protect them from the weather. But when the families come to cut down the tree, the tags go home with them as a keepsake ornament.”

  “Ellie did seem proud of the job she did on it,” he mused.

  Ivy laughed. “All of the kids are. And you wouldn’t believe the different artwork they come up with. I’ve seen everything from daisies to space aliens on those tags.”

  “Well sure,” Tanner said, “Merry Christmas Aliens.”

  “You got it,” she agreed, laughing. “Anyway, we’ve got a craft table set up in the gift shop. The kids decorate the tags, then go out with their families to choose their tree. They get to hang the first symbolic ornament on it to stake their claim.”

  He’d picked up on one word in that description. “We have a craft table?”

  She shrugged. “Well, I just meant we as in Angel Christmas Tree Farm. Anyway, most families tend to make a day of it when they’re here to choose their trees. They come and have lunch, let the kids paint and then head into the farm to look for the perfect Christmas tree.”

  He lifted his gaze to the trees they passed. “They all look pretty perfect to me.”

  “Isn’t that a nice thing to say. And here I thought you hated Christmas.”

  “Hard to hate a tree,” he said.

  “There might be hope for you yet,” Ivy said, turning her face up to his. He stared into her blue eyes and felt something in his chest tighten. When a slow smile curved her mouth, that tightness became almost unbearable.

  All he could think about was grabbing her and kissing her until the deep, raw hunger inside him was eased. But he couldn’t do that here and now. So the only safe bet was to keep moving.

  “Since you work here,” he asked, “can you take a break and show me around?”

  “I’d love to.”

  “You won’t get in trouble with the boss?”

  Her mouth quirked. “I think the boss will understand.” She tucked her arm through his and he felt the heat of her body pressed against him. “What do you want to see first?”

  Her naked, but that probably wasn’t what she meant. So he dialed back on the desire pumping through him and decided to assuage a different kind of hunger for the moment.

  “Honestly,” he admitted, “how about the snack bar? Ever since I got here, I’ve been smelling those hot dogs.”

  “No wonder you’re hungry. You’re awake early today. I’m not even due at your place for another three hours.”

  “Yeah,” he said, his gaze caught on the way the sunlight played on her hair. “I seem to be doing that more and more lately.”

  Her smile widened. “I’m glad. You should see the sun occasionally, Tanner. Don’t want to turn into a mole.”

  He didn’t say anything, but privately, he knew the reason for his switch in hours had nothing to do with sunlight. It was all about seeing her. Spending more time with her when she was at the house. Listening to her and laughing with her.

  And as he followed after her on the way to the snack stand, his gaze dropped to the curve of her behind and he told himself that getting up earlier certainly had its perks.

  Six

  Ivy was finally starting to relax enough to enjoy having Tanner on her farm. When she had first spotted him standing in the sunshine, Ivy’s heart had nearly stopped. In a flash, dozens of thoughts had rushed through her mind, most of them revolving around how to keep him from finding out she owned the farm. But she needn’t have worried after all. Her employees all knew that she was working part time for Tanner. And they knew why.

  She glanced up at him as they walked slowly down a row of Scotch pines. His gaze was sharp and constantly moving. He was taking it all in and she couldn’t help wondering what he thought of her home. Of her family’s pride and joy.

  But she couldn’t ask. Couldn’t even hint at her real identity—which went against the grain for her. She hated lying. And for the first time since she’d met him, Ivy had actually lied to Tanner. Before, it had all been omissions, just keeping quiet about the truth. Now, she’d been forced to actively lie and she wasn’t very comfortable with that.

  Still, she couldn’t see that she had any choice, so she was trying to make the best of the situation. Now that she had him on her turf, she was going to take full advantage of it. They shared hot dogs and sodas, then she took him on a tour of the gift shop. One of the girls working the shop had taken one look at Tanner and practically melted on the spot. But then, Ivy couldn’t blame Kathy for that, she supposed, since she felt the same way. Every time she got anywhere close to Tanner, her body lit up like a summer fireworks show.

  As that thought settled in her mind, Ivy felt the slightest twinge of guilt ping inside her before she shut it down. She wasn’t exactly in charge of her own body’s chemical reaction to the man, after all. It wasn’t as if she could turn it on and off at will. Still, she told herself to ignore the buzz of sensation his nearness caused. She wasn’t looking for love—or even a fling, for that matter. What she needed from Tanner was far more important. She needed him to stop threatening everything she loved.

  They wandered the gift store and she pointed out the kids’ craft table where little Ellie had made her ornament tag. There were a couple of geniuses busily at work, but they ignored all the adults in the room. He seemed amazed by the crafts made by the women in town, and asked enough questions that Ivy knew he was paying attention. There were hand-poured candles and scented soaps wrapped in ribbon and stacked in baskets. There were rugs and placemats and afghans, blown glass vases and wine glasses.

  “And the women in town made all of this?” he asked.

  “Mostly,” she said. “But Dave Benoit made the glass-ware. He’s got a glass house behind his place. He designs and makes everything himself.”

  “Impressive,” he said, turning to look around the shop, his
gaze moving over both merchandise and customers. “And the store’s open all year, too?”

  “We are now.”

  One of his eyebrows lifted.

  Immediately, she winced and corrected herself. “I mean, the Angel family figured if the shop was open all year, it would give their customers more reason to come and help out the local craftspeople at the same time.”

  He looked at her, his dark blue eyes locking with hers and Ivy felt that stir of something deliciously primal rise up inside her again. The guilt she was half expecting didn’t show and she was grateful. She hadn’t set out to entice Tanner and certainly hadn’t been looking for a lover, but there was something about this one man that made her feel…

  “So!” She swallowed hard and forced a smile she knew wasn’t a convincing one. Oh, she didn’t want to think about what Tanner made her feel. That was a one-way trip to crazytown and she just didn’t have the time for it.

  Or the heart. She wasn’t the kind of girl for one night stands and easy, see-you-later sex. She was the girl next door. Literally.

  “Am I making you nervous?” he asked.

  Ivy laughed shortly and shook her head. “What a silly question, of course you don’t.”

  “Uh-huh. Then why are you backing away from me?”

  Damn it. She was. She’d instinctively taken two or three steps away from him and wouldn’t you know that he’d notice.

  “I was just…” She huffed out a breath. “Never mind. Come on, I’ll show you the rest.”

  His lips curved a little and Ivy glowered. As he walked past her toward the door, she shot a look at Kathy and her mother, Anne, working the counter. Anne gave her two thumbs up and a wink which only made Ivy feel worse. Now not only was she lying to Tanner, but her friends were co-conspirators. Oh, this was getting tangled up fast.

  And it wasn’t helping that her body felt both loose and tightly wound all at once.

  Determined to get past her own body’s reaction to the man, Ivy kept a smile plastered to her face as she continued their tour. Proudly, she showed him the brides’ dressing room, outfitted with three way mirrors and a lovely bathroom where a woman could get dressed for her wedding in comfort. Then she took him to the meadow and the fast moving creek to show him their most popular wedding scenes.

  Finally, she stopped at the area set aside for kids’ birthday parties. There, the inflated, castle-shaped bounce house stood, waiting only for children to step inside and play. The freshly painted white picket fence around the huge red and yellow bouncing palace was closed though, keeping unsupervised kids out.

  They were far enough away from the main area of the farm that they were pretty much alone. Christmas music continued sighing from the overhead speakers, but the sounds of voices were muted and at a distance. Now that they were away from other distractions, Ivy felt a little nervous and her body once again started clamoring for his touch. She took a breath and reached out to grab hold of the fence as if holding onto it would keep her from reaching for him.

  God, what was going on with her?

  Tanner moved in close to her. Laying one hand on the fence top, he said, “I’m surprised kids want to escape from here to climb my trees.”

  “You know little boys. They always want to do what they’re not supposed to.”

  “I guess.” He looked around. “Why don’t they have this open for the kids all the time?”

  “It wouldn’t be special then, would it?” Ivy asked and flipped the latch on the gate. She swung it wide and stepped onto the neatly tended lawn surrounding the bounce house. Tanner followed in after her and she closed the gate firmly after them.

  “They open it up for kids on Saturdays, and then of course, it’s the star attraction of the birthday parties.”

  He tipped his head back to look up at the red, yellow and orange inflated structure, noting the flags attached to the topmost towers fluttering in the warm breeze. “I suppose this thing’s a huge hit with the party crowd.”

  “Oh yeah.” She walked toward the castle and gave it a pat. “Have you ever been in one?”

  He laughed shortly and gave her a look that said she was clearly out of her mind. “No.”

  “You want to?”

  “What?”

  Ivy laughed at the astonishment on his face. Here, she’d been making herself insane over the physical attraction she felt for him. But now, she realized it went deeper than that. She was drawn to more than his sexy appeal. There was something in his eyes that pulled at her, too. It was that careful vulnerability, she thought, looking up at him. There was something about him that told her he’d spent his life being serious. Controlled. And there was a huge part of her that wanted to break through the walls he’d erected so carefully around himself.

  Maybe she really was crazy, but if ever a man needed to learn how to have fun, it was Tanner King. He was too alone. Too somber. Too cut off from everything that made life worth living.

  And in the last few days, she’d begun to care about him, she realized. More than the sexual heat she felt around him, she actually enjoyed spending time with him and she hated thinking of him all alone in that big, beautiful house. She hated knowing that when she left him, there was nothing to keep him company but the echo of his own voice.

  She’d started this whole thing for her own sake. To save her family’s legacy and to help her hometown grow and prosper. Now, it was more than that. Sure, she still wanted to protect Angel Christmas Tree Farm and Cabot Valley. But she also wanted to—what? Save Tanner King? That thought rattled her a little.

  Was she picking up the mantle of Lady Gwen trying to help her knight?

  “You can’t be serious,” he said, looking from her to the bounce house and back again.

  “Why not?” she asked, liking the idea more by the minute. Anything that would shake this so stolid man up was a good thing, right? And the fact that it would be just the two of them inside that inflated fun house had nothing to do with it.

  She looked around, saw that there was no one nearby and then shifted her gaze back to Tanner. “Come on. Give it a try.”

  “It’s for kids.”

  “It’s for fun,” she corrected. “I’ve been in it lots of times.”

  Alternately hopping on first one foot then the other, she tugged off her boots, then tossed them to the grass. Fisting her hands at her hips, she tossed her hair out of her eyes and challenged, “Well?”

  He shook his head and muttered, “You’re crazy.”

  “That’s been said before.”

  She turned her back on him and crawled into the bounce house. She was betting that he wouldn’t be able to resist the challenge of joining her. Once inside, she looked at him through the orange mesh wall and laughed aloud. “Come on, Tanner. Live a little. Or are you scared?”

  He snorted. “Are you seriously daring me? What are you, twelve?”

  Oh, she didn’t feel like a twelve-year-old, Ivy admitted silently as she watched him. Those long legs of his looked amazing in his jeans and the breadth of his shoulders made her want to strip off his dark blue T-shirt and run her hands over what she guessed was a hard, sculpted chest.

  Her mouth went dry.

  Nope.

  No twelve-year-olds here.

  “Are you turning down the dare?” she countered. “What are you…chicken?”

  His eyes went wide and he laughed shortly. “You’re like nobody I’ve ever met before.”

  She swayed in place unsteadily and wasn’t sure if it was the inflated floor making her knees wobble—or if it was the gleam in his eyes. “Thank you.”

  “Not sure it was a compliment.”

  “I am.” She walked backward, her socks sliding a little on the puffy rubber. It wasn’t easy keeping her balance in the bounce house at the best of times. Now, with Tanner’s influence, it was turning into quite the chore.

  She watched him, holding her breath as she waited to see what he would decide. And then she blew out an expectant breath as he shook his hea
d and toed off his black tennis shoes.

  “This is crazy,” he muttered, bending low to climb into the structure.

  “And you don’t do crazy?” she taunted, bouncing a little to unsteady him.

  “Not generally,” he agreed, standing up and bracing his legs wide apart. He glanced around then looked at her. “Okay, now what?”

  “Now we bounce.” Ivy jumped as high as she could, then landed and watched the resulting wave knock Tanner off balance.

  He caught himself, staggered a little and narrowed his eyes on her. “Want to play rough, do you?”

  “Whatever it takes,” she said and jumped again.

  “Challenge accepted.” He took a flying leap, landed on his backside and the bounce knocked Ivy right off her feet.

  In a hot second, Tanner was beside her. She looked up into his dark blue eyes and shivered at the hard glitter shining in those depths. He braced his hands on either side of her head and his knees on either side of her hips.

  God, he was so close. His mouth just a breath from hers. His big, warm body so tantalizingly near.

  Then he smiled and sent a flurry of butterfly wings erupting in the pit of her stomach.

  “Lose your balance, Ivy?”

  She was really afraid she had. Only it wasn’t the kind of balance he was talking about. No, this balance was the delicate art of stabilizing her emotions that she’d been practicing for four years. Ever since David had died. She’d been going through the motions, living her life, doing her chores, laughing, talking and never once actually living. Now, thanks to Tanner King, her body and heart were waking up and it was nearly painful.

  So she ignored that rush of feelings, determined to blank them out and keep them at bay. She’d think about all of that later, when there was time to examine what she was feeling and decide how she felt about it. For now, she gave herself up to the moment.

  “Not for long,” she answered and shoved him hard enough that he fell backward and rolled to one side.

  She scrambled to her feet and ran across the wobbling floor to the opposite corner. Her hair slipped free of its ponytail and hung about her shoulders. She whipped it back and out of her way as she watched Tanner stealthily approach, that same desire-filled glint shining in his eyes.