Cinderella Busted (The Cinderella Romances #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

later, and by then, he’ll love you as much as we do.”
    Lily wanted desperately to go along with her suggestion. Rob remained silent, and she knew what he was thinking. Socialites considered gardeners to be dirty second-class citizens. His own parents had disowned him for passing on a chance to enter the family investment business and for choosing to be a lifetime gardener. Rhett Buchanan would never have asked her out if he’d known she was the head gardener there.
    “You’ve let this nursery suck all the life out of you for too long. You deserve some fun, Lily. You always make the sacrifices, but not this time,” Tammy prodded gently. “Maybe Rhett is Mr. Right. Maybe he isn’t. But you deserve to have the choice.”
    Rob suddenly heaved a resigned sigh. “She’s right, Lil.”
    Lily stared first at Tammy, then at Rob. He’d surprised her. “Can I borrow the Porsche?” she asked.
    “After I give you those pumpkin-coach-driving lessons,” he said, laughing, “and I’ve got time right now.”

    Lily slid the stick shift into second gear and steered around the corner with a sigh of relief. Rob’s driving lesson had worked wonders, and she only had a little further to go, all of it down residential streets on Jupiter Island.
    She pulled to the side of the two-lane road to call Rhett and briefly turned on the inside light to click numbers. She looked in the rearview mirror, and a face she didn’t recognize stared back—eye shadow, blush, mascara, lipstick, and blond hair swept back in a graceful chignon, held in place with an elegant gemstone comb. Who was that woman staring back?
    Cinderella .
    Tammy was right. Tammy was always right.
    Lily punched in Rhett’s number and turned off the interior light. With the darkness came a jolt of panic. What if he didn’t answer? He was arguably the most important executive on the entire eastern seaboard. Why should he wait around for her call? What if something better had come up? Or someone better? He probably had a hundred girlfriends.
    Rhett answered on the second ring, and her heart woggled wildly in her chest. “I was afraid you’d changed your mind,” he said. “Where are you?”
    Lily felt her whole face pull into a wide grin. He had worried, too. How cool was that ? Considering who he was. “I’m sorry I’m a bit late.”
    It was Tammy’s idea to make you sweat, but I can’t tell you that .
    “If I’m still invited, I’m at the corner of Gomes and Estrada.”
    “Of course you’re invited,” he said quickly. “Come down three more streets to Larkin and take a right, second house on the right. I’m out front waiting for you.”
    Lily heaved a loud and contented sigh. The way he said waiting for you made every single vertebra in her spine quiver in unison.
    “I’ll be there in a few minutes,” she said breathlessly and didn’t even flinch at her inability to sound cool and calm.
    Rhett Buchanan was waiting for her , and if his voice alone did that to her, what would his touch do? She felt her grin stretch even wider. For tonight, she was Cinderella. She intended to enjoy every minute and hope Prince Charming didn’t pry enough to find out she was a gardener.
    At least she felt beautiful, arrayed in the brand new cocktail dress she and Tammy flew over to Niemen Marcus to purchase that afternoon. Two hundred dollars’ worth of black chiffon in horizontal tiers with a silver pendant of cubic zirconia stones and matching drop earrings. Tammy had also found a pair of sexy black sandals for her, not too tall since Lily didn’t often wear heels. An outfit worth every penny she had spent.
    “Well, here goes everything,” she murmured and put the Porsche in gear. “Please, Lord, just let me have a good time this one night.”
    She made the turn as directed and found the entire street lined with cars on both sides. The second house on the right was lit up like a Christmas tree, and as promised, Rhett waited in the middle of the front yard.