Fairy Tale Weddings Read Online Free PDF Page A

Rutherford Hayden’s nickname is Ruffie?”
    â€œThe same way I know you hate tuna salad.” Cindy turned to look at the tables loaded with a spectacular assortment of salads, meats and cheeses. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like something to eat.”
    â€œWould you mind if I joined you?”
    â€œNot at all,” she said.
    â€œMy mother sent you, didn’t she?” Thorne breathed a sigh of relief; he had it all figured out. His mother had been trying to match him up for years. She must have searched extra-hard to find someone as perfect as Cindy.
    â€œYour mother? No.”
    The honesty in her eyes couldn’t be doubted. But even if his mother had put Cindy up to this, he felt an instant, overwhelming attraction.
    Bemused, Thorne followed her through the long line that had formed at the buffet tables, heaping his plate with a wide variety of the offerings.
    â€œWhat? No pastrami?” Cindy teased after they’d found a table in the crowded room.
    Thorne paused, his napkin only half unfolded. “I had a pastrami sandwich for lunch. You couldn’t have known that, could you?”
    â€œNo. It was an educated guess.” Cindy focused her attention on buttering her dinner roll.
    â€œAn educated guess? Such as my not liking tuna?”
    â€œNo.” Deliberately she took a bite of her seafood salad.
    Thorne waited patiently until she’d finished chewing. “But you know me?”
    â€œA little.” Not nearly as well as she wanted to.
    â€œHow?”
    â€œI do work at Oakes-Jenning,” she said and pointed to the huge green olives he’d removed from the top of the dainty sandwiches. “Are you going to eat those?”
    â€œThe green olives? Good grief, no.”
    â€œCan I have them?”
    Without ceremony, Thorne placed three of them on her plate, then fastidiously wiped his hands on the linen napkin.
    Cindy eagerly picked up an olive and held it between her lips, luxuriously sucking out the pimento, then popping the entire thing in her mouth. She paused to lick the tips of her fingers. Thorne’s scowl stopped her when she reached for another. The lines at the side of his mouth had deepened, and she noted the vein pulsing in his temple. Alarm filled her. Her worst fear had been realized: unwittingly, she’d committed some terrible faux pas.
    â€œWhat did I do wrong?” she whispered. She clutched the napkin in her lap.
    For a long moment, their eyes locked. Thorne had been mesmerized, watching her eat the olive. Such a small, simple pleasure, but she’d made it appear highly sensuous. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her—or off the tempting shape of her mouth. Again he felt the overwhelming urge to kiss her. Her eyes, her mouth, the curve of her cheek. Everything about her intrigued him. For years women had used their bodies and their wits to entice him. But no woman had ever had the effect on him that this one did with the simple act of eating an olive.
    â€œWhat did you do wrong?” Thorne repeated, shaking his head to clear his befuddled thoughts. “What makes you think you did anything wrong?”
    â€œYou were looking at me…oddly.”
    He smiled. “Then I apologize.”
    Cindy picked up the second olive. Thorne’s eyes widened and he groaned inwardly, setting his fork beside his plate.
    The music started again long before they’d finished their meal and Cindy tapped her toe to the beat. Christmas was her favorite time of year, and the orchestra seemed to be playing all the carols she loved best.
    â€œWould you like to dance again?” Thorne asked.
    Cindy nodded. She couldn’t refuse the opportunity to be in her prince’s arms. This was her night, a night for enchantment, and she wanted to remember and relive every moment of it for the rest of her life. Tomorrow she’d go back to being plain Cindy Territo, the girl who cleaned his office. But