Runaway Cinderella

by Jenny Schwartz

  “Daniel? It’s Amie.”

  He swore. “Ignore her.”

  No problem there, Cate thought. All she wanted was Daniel. The rest of the world could whirl away without them.

  “Rob’s with me,” Amie’s insistent electronic voice continued. “And his dad. And Olivia.”

  Cate sat up suddenly and ungracefully. “Dad?”

  “It’s lucky Cate’s with you,” Amie burbled on. “We want you both to hear our good news.”

  Daniel swore again, then hit the intercom switch by his bed. “Door’s open, Amie. I’ll be out in two minutes.” He looked at Cate and her frown. “What choice did I have? There’s a night porter. He’d have told Amie I’m here, we’re here.”

  “But one look at us and they’ll know what we’ve been doing,” she wailed. She covered her face. “I can’t do this.”

  “I know this isn’t the best time to make peace with your dad,” he began as he slid out of bed and searched for their clothes.

  “I’ve done that,” she interrupted. “This afternoon.”

  “Good girl.” He leaned over and kissed her briefly.

  It was lovely, but not enough to distract her from her worries. “But now when he sees us looking like this…Dad’s old-fashioned. There’ll be more trouble.”

  “Hope for the best,” Daniel advised. He pulled on his jeans and zipped them up with difficulty. A long shirt from his wardrobe disguised the nature of his problem and he buttoned it hastily. “I’ll go stall them.”

  “For three weeks?” she asked the empty room. She felt she’d need that long to recover from the unexpected interruption of their passion. Despite her family-related panic, she still ached for Daniel.

  But there was no time to waste on frustration. She scrambled into her clothes, buttoned the chambray shirt high and tucked it into her jeans. She found a comb in Daniel’s bathroom and dragged it ruthlessly through her hair. There was nothing she could do about her high colour or her swollen lips.

  She looked like a woman ready to make love.

  “Oh, frak.” Not what she wanted her dad and brother to see.

  From the living area she heard the murmur of voices, happy and excited.

  “I can do this. I can do this.” She would pretend everything was normal. She would concentrate on what must be Amie and Rob’s good news.

  “Hello,” she said from the doorway.

  Everyone swung around.

  “There you are, Cate.” Amie burst through the exchange of greetings. “Now, we can tell Daniel.”

  Cate looked at him, and read the warmth and encouragement in his eyes. The situation was nerve-wracking, but she wasn’t facing it alone. She walked forward. “Is it good news?”

  “The best.” Amie wrapped an arm around Rob’s waist and he immediately returned the favour. “Rob and I have sorted out our problems, and we’re going to move up the date of our marriage. We’ll be married next month!”

  “Congratulations.” Cate hugged them both. But she was uneasily aware that both Rob and her dad were looking suspiciously from her to Daniel. “Tell me more about the wedding,” she invited. “How can I help?”

  “I would like to help, too, if I may?” Olivia smiled and joined the two younger women, sweeping them towards a sofa. “Family is important.” She shot a warning frown at Matt, who was openly scowling at Daniel. “I’m so happy to be joining Matt’s family.”

  “We’re happy to have you,” Cate said sincerely. “I am glad you’re marrying Dad, Aunt Olivia.”

  “Just Olivia.” She lowered her voice. “Matt is so glad you’ve forgiven him.” She hesitated. “All he’s ever wanted is the best for you.”

  “Sounds like Daniel.” Amie giggled. “He’s always been protective of me.”

  “Maybe he should have extended that protection to other men’s little sisters,” Rob said in a hard voice.

  Amie blinked.

  Daniel straightened from his lazy slouch.

  “So, you see it, too,” Matt growled.

  “Matt, it’s none of your business. Don’t interfere.” Olivia put a protective hand on Cate’s arm.

  Cate blushed. Had they all realised what they’d interrupted?

  “Oh-ooh.” Amie clapped her hands. “That’s wonderful.”

  “Amie,” Daniel snapped. He strode forward and stopped in front of Cate.

  She looked up at him, mesmerised by the determination glittering in his blue eyes.

  “Cate and I wanted to tell our news in our own time, and certainly not to steal Amie and Rob’s thunder.” He looked across at Matt. “We’re getting married.”

  “Married?” Amie squealed.

  From either side Olivia and Amie squeezed Cate in enthusiastic hugs.

  “Well, now.” Matt’s frown dissolved. “No wonder Caterina wanted to make her peace with me.” He shook hands with Daniel. “She saw I was right all along.”

  “Oh, dear,” Olivia whispered.

  “It’s okay,” Cate whispered back. She knew how her dad thought and acted. “It’s not Dad I’m mad with.”

  Daniel, on the other hand, with his lying announcements. Him, she wanted to boil in oil. Getting married!

  “You have made me very happy, Caterina.” Matt hugged her.

  Then Rob engulfed her in a bear’s hug. “So this is why Daniel met you at the airport and brought you home. When did you two get together?”

  “I often go to Sydney on business.” Daniel detached her from Rob and wrapped a constraining arm around her. “Cate and I found we had a lot in common.”

  Huh, she thought indignantly. All they had in common was sexual attraction, and that was now finished. No way would she give her virginity to a liar.

  “She’s grown into quite a woman.” He squeezed her waist and put his mouth against her ear. “Smile.”

  She smiled fixedly, while her brain spun.

  If she denounced him as a liar, what then? At a minimum, relations between their families would hit a new low. Rob and Amie’s newly healed relationship could even be threatened. Her dad would be mad and disappointed, which wouldn’t be the best note on which to cement their family reunion.

  For now, it looked as if she’d have to go along with the lie. But after everyone left, she’d tell him what she thought of his deception. Even if it had been well-meant, it made her feel…odd.

  “A double celebration,” Matt said exuberantly. “We must go out to dinner. Champagne.”

  “Have you phoned Mum with your new wedding date, Amie?” Daniel cut across Matt’s plans.

  “Not yet. I couldn’t get hold of her.”

  Olivia looked at Cate’s pale face. “You should tell your mum, Amie,” she agreed. “And Matt, I think dinner tomorrow night would be better. I already planned to have roast lamb for Cate. I’ll just make it a larger roast and we can have Amie and Rob over, too. And Daniel, of course.” She smiled at him, and received a smile in return.

  Sneak, Cate fumed silently.

  “A family dinner.” Amie sighed happily and cuddled against Rob. “I’ll bring dessert.”

  “That would be lovely,” Olivia said. “Thank you, Amie.” She reached across and gripped Cate’s hand. “Just bring yourself,” she told her.

  Cate looked into the older woman’s sympathetic eyes and managed a smile.

  Olivia, at least, realised that the situation was awkward and was offering unconditional support.

  “I’ll bring her,” Daniel said.

  Cate’s smile died.

  “Time we were going,” Olivia said brightly. She murmured something to Matt.

  His resistant scowl dissolved. “We will see you tomorrow night.” He kissed Cate and shook Daniel’s hand. “Amie, Rob, you must go and phone her mum. Daniel is right. Mothers need to know about their daughters’ weddings.”

  “Daughters should know about them, too,” Cate said vengefully under her breath.

  Daniel clamped her to his side and made a show of waving good-bye to their families.

&nb
sp; Finally, the lift doors closed, and Cate and Daniel were alone.

  She wrenched herself out of his hold. “How could you tell such a huge lie?”

  “It calmed things down.” He closed the front door and leaned against it. “Your dad would not have been happy if we’d confirmed his suspicions that we’re having an affair.”

  “We’re not having an affair,” she shouted.

  “What are we having?” He sounded amused, polite. Only the blue blaze of his eyes hinted at more turbulent emotions. “A fight?”

  “Yes.” She gritted her teeth and stormed into the living area. She flung herself down on the sofa and hugged a cushion tightly. If it had been his neck, she’d have strangled him.

  “What do you want to fight about? The fact that I saved you embarrassment and your reunion with your dad? The fact that we didn’t endanger Amie and Rob’s relationship? What else could I have said?”

  “How about nothing?”

  “It wouldn’t have worked.” He closed the space between them and pulled the cushion out of her hold. “You were all pouty lips and bedroom eyes. Even the way you walked was an invitation to bed.”

  “It was not.”

  “It was. You looked like a woman who’d just left her lover’s bed and for the very good reason that it’s the truth.”

  “I am not your lover.”

  “No?”

  “No!” She screamed it in frustration and fear of emotional entanglement. Just hearing him utter the lie about marriage had locked her into a cold panic. “I am nothing to you.”

  “Then prove it.” His mouth came down hard and predatory. Without compassion for her inexperience, he demanded her surrender.

  She fought him, not in rejection, but to deny her feelings. Yet every wriggle and every breath re-awakened the desire smouldering between them. She craved him.

  He tore off his shirt and hers, and pushed her back on the sofa.

  She sobbed as he rubbed his body along hers and her nipples caught in the tangle of his chest hair.

  “I am your lover, Cate. Your body knows me and wants me.”

  She wanted to deny it, but everything in her surged to his touch. She turned her face into the curve of his shoulder and bit.

  “That’s it. Mark me.” The gentle nip excited him.

  She felt it in the answering thrust of his body and the acceleration of his breathing. She licked the tiny mark, then tilted her head and licked the strong line of his throat. She went dizzy absorbing the taste and scent of him, then realised part of her dizziness came from his movement.

  He’d lifted her into his arms and was carrying her back to the bedroom.

  She stretched till she reached his ear, then sucked at the lobe, tugging it with her teeth.

  “Caty.” He followed her down onto the bed.

  She released his ear to claim his mouth. Her whole body arched to the invasion of his tongue and the wicked rhythm of his lower body against her jeans clad heat.

  He rolled off her long enough to strip off their jeans, then came back to her, and his fingers found her slick and swollen. “Do you want me?”

  Physically, the answer was obvious.

  She looked at the colour burning along his cheekbones, felt the hardness of him against her hip and looked down to wear his fingers compelled the pulse of her body. The sight was erotic. “I want you.”

  “Thank God.” He kissed her passionately before rolling on a condom and settling between her legs. He braced himself above her. “We’ll do this at your speed.” But his arms trembled.

  He kissed her, teased her, and used words, too, to seduce her. “Gorgeous, beautiful Caty.”

  As careful as he was, there was still a moment’s pain. She tensed and he froze.

  Her hands stroked his back. “No. Don’t leave. I want…” She wrapped her legs around him and had her answer in his uncontrollable surge inward.

  “Caty?”

  She smiled at him, feeling cherished and cherishing. “Perfect.”

  He studied her smile for a moment, then rested his forehead against hers. “Perfect.” But his chest heaved and his muscles were tense with control.

  “Almost perfect.” Feeling wicked and empowered, she tightened internal muscles, and his whole body jerked. “Finish the job.”

  “No choice, now.” His control broke and he loved her powerfully until she shattered and he found his own completion.

  Recovering, she lay half over him, smoothing his chest hair. Pleasure so intense and then this sense of closeness bemused her. “Is it always like this? So…miraculous?”

  “Miraculous?” He considered the word, one hand stroking her hip. “No, I’ve never felt this before. This rightness.”

  “Mmm.” She luxuriated in his touch. “Maybe it’s making love with a virgin?”

  “Could be.” His mouth quirked. “What if we test the theory later, now that you’re no longer a virgin?”

  “For the sake of science?” Her exploring fingers discovered a flat male nipple and she bent and licked it, twirling her tongue tip around it.

  “For the sake of my sanity.” His stroking became more insistent. “Ah, Cate.”

  She raised her head and their lips met. She settled over him.

  “You’ll be sore,” he warned.

  “Just a little stretched.” She loved this freedom to explore his body, to discover its hardness and his gentleness.

  “Do you know what’s good for sore muscles?” he asked.

  “No. What?” She played along, relishing the drifting pleasure of his hands against her skin.

  “A hot shower.”

  “Alone?”

  “Not likely.”

  Cate felt a little shy with the bright bathroom light on. But after a short time, the steam muted the light, and she didn’t care anyway because Daniel was worshiping her body.

  With a washcloth he wiped away the evidence of her virginity, then he put away the cloth, soaped his hands, and began to learn her anew. He reduced her to incoherent whimpers.

  “You have to tell me what you want.” His voice teased along her senses, rough with desire and tenderly amused.

  “You…me…us.”

  “I agree, sweetheart. Us. One hundred percent.”

  Her head fell back as he lifted her, wrapping her legs around his waist and pressing her against the cool glass shower screen. She felt his slow invasion, overwhelmed by sensation. It ought to have been awkward in the slippery shower cubicle, but it was amazing.

  “Miraculous,” she murmured, drooping against him after he’d disposed of the condom.

  He laughed quietly. “You’re like a rag doll.”

  “Nice.” There was no bite to her complaint.

  “It’s quite a compliment,” he said.

  She managed to lift her head and saw the satisfaction in his expression. She smiled and let him dry her quickly before bundling her into bed. In blissful exhaustion she fell asleep cuddled against him.

  Chapter Seven

  “You know, we haven’t worked out how to get out of your marriage announcement.” Cate sipped her coffee and watched Daniel over the rim of her cup.

  In his business suit and sober, striped tie, he looked too expensive and powerful to be making toast, too remote to be the man who’d made her whimper and plead last night. Then he looked at her and smiled. “Strawberry jam or honey?”

  Her breath hitched and her voice came out husky. “Honey, please.”

  He spread butter and honey on four slices of toast, then put the plate on the breakfast bench that separated the kitchen from the living area and sat on the stool beside Cate.

  Following his gaze, she saw that the towelling robe she’d borrowed from him had fallen open from ankle to thigh.

  His hand covered the bare skin of her thigh, stopping her instinctive covering movement. His thumb circled lazily.

  Her lips parted. His slightest touch stirred her sensitised body. His freshly showered scent affected her like alcohol.

  �
�I’ve been thinking about our marriage announcement.” He crunched a piece of toast.

  She picked up her coffee, waiting impatiently for him to chew and swallow.

  “I think I’ll buy you an engagement ring.”

  “What?” She set the cup down. “An engagement ring is not a solution.”

  “Temporarily it is. Think of it as a prop for play-acting. We can’t make everyone uncomfortable by announcing our break-up until after Amie and Rob are safely married. Then we can say that the strain of you living in Sydney and me living here…” He shrugged and began eating a second slice of toast. “Long distance relationships do fall apart.”

  “Oh.” She wasn’t sure why she felt a niggle of disappointment. His plan was a good one. It was just that she’d forgotten she’d be returning to Sydney. She picked up a piece of toast and ate it thoughtfully. Just when had the job she’d worked so hard for lost its importance?

  “Until we do break-up,” he continued. “Your dad will expect you to wear my ring.”

  “I guess so.” She finished her toast and licked a buttery-honey finger. She noticed Daniel’s gaze lock onto her flicking tongue, and purposely slowed and exaggerated the action. “Mmm.”

  “My turn,” he growled and presented his finger to her lips.

  She gripped his wrist and licked her tongue the length of his finger then sucked it into her mouth. When she released him, his eyes were dark with passion and the hand covering her thigh had climbed high.

  “If I had more time.” He sounded frustrated.

  She felt wonderful, floating on desire satisfied and renewed. She laughed, a low gurgle of sheer pleasure.

  His grim expression softened. “I have the press conference announcing my retirement and Tim as the new CEO this morning, but then we can have lunch and shop for a ring. Will you meet me at the office?”

  “If we’re play-acting, I don’t really need to choose the ring. Maybe you can lease one?”

  “And have that titbit all over town the same day? You have to wear it, Cate, so you choose it.”

  “Okay.” But she capitulated more because she didn’t want to wait until tonight to see him again, than because she wanted to choose the make-believe engagement ring.

  “Great. I look forward to being collected for lunch by a beautiful woman.”