Overnight Cinderella Read Online Free PDF Page A

her feeling empty. She’d filled her life with books and things. She’d also fallen on old practiced habits, still hiding in the shadows of her sister though Gabriella was far away.
    It had taken a long time for her to realize that she actually liked being in the background and making things happen. Though she wanted to be equal to her sister, in her mind she’d always be that shy awkward girl despite her success in a large corporation. She longed for confidence and poise but had no idea how to achieve them.
    â€œMen like women with flash and pizzazz.”
    Duke stared at her and Cami regretted her words. His eyes narrowed and he traced one blunt finger down the side of her cheek. She shivered as desire coursed through her, pooling at the center of her body.
    â€œI’ve never met anyone with more pizzazz than you.”
    She smiled. It was the nicest thing a man had ever said to her. But the look in his eyes as they swept down her body set fire to her veins. Her nipples hardened against the lace of her bra, and she shifted in her seat. She wondered if he felt it, too. There was a tension in the air that made her want to lean closer to him, tilt her head back and tempt him into kissing her.
    â€œThat wasn’t pizzazz you saw.”
    â€œReally, what was it?”
    â€œMy legs,” she said.
    He wanted to smile. It was there on his face. She didn’t know why he wouldn’t smile, but there was something about this dark sexy man that got to her faster than her first sip of the gin her father hid in the bottom drawer of his desk.
    â€œWhy don’t you ever smile?”
    â€œWhy do you care?”
    â€œI don’t know,” she said, but in her heart she knew it had to do with the loneliness that surrounded Duke.
    â€œMay we join you?”
    Cami saw Max Williams standing across from them with a woman who could have easily been a cover model. Duke glanced at her and Cami shrugged. It was a telling moment. Not many men would turn away the CEO of the company, but Cami knew that Duke would have.
    â€œSure.”
    Max introduced his date, Melissa Hines, and they settled into chairs across from Duke and Cami.
    â€œDid you catch the Braves last night?” Duke asked.
    Oh, my. She hadn’t realized how high up the ladder Duke was. His office wasn’t on the same floor as the other executives so she’d figured he was new to the upper-management level. But his ease with the CEO was telling. She was out of her league. She shouldn’t have challenged him to smile.
    Cami let the conversation swirl around her, listening to Duke speak. Deep, and dark, his voice perfectly suited to the male protagonist in her romance novels. It was a voice she’d want to hear in a candlelit bedroom. His voice could stroke her into a heated frenzy with just a few words. His voice, she realized, was calling her name.
    â€œCami?”
    â€œYes?” she said. Her pulse was pounding, and she wanted to go back to her fantasy.
    â€œWould you like another drink?”
    â€œSure.”
    She nodded and watched Duke walk away with Max and his date. Even interacting with Max, who was obviously a close friend, Duke still kept a distance. Cami felt challenged.
    With Duke she’d felt a spark the first time they’d touched. For days she’d dreamt about him. The hero in the book she was reading had taken on his physical characteristics. Because her hidden self was bold, she’d spent forty-five minutes last nightin a lingerie shop choosing something new to wear today because she hoped she’d run into him.
    Did he feel the same spark? A glance at the man waiting in line at the bar sent a chill down her spine. Did this man feel anything? Max and Melissa had moved on, and the families that surrounded Duke didn’t touch him. He was an island. Could she make him feel? She doubted it, but for once she wanted to try.
    He made her want to comfort him, which surprised her more than