Overnight Cinderella Read Online Free PDF Page B

her position would ask someone of his rank for help. The political games people played in theoffice wore on him and partnering with Cami was refreshing.
    â€œSure. It won’t take me long to check out the security setup.”
    â€œGreat. One of us can concentrate on the food, what was asked for and delivered by the caterer. The other can concentrate on the service.”
    â€œOkay. You take the food. I can’t see you as being a troublesome guest. Besides, they invited you so you’ll receive red-carpet treatment.”
    She smiled at him, and again he felt like a kid playing in a schoolyard trying to impress a girl. It was exhilarating and reminded him that his youth hadn’t always been bleak.
    Dammit. She looked a bit like the hotel made him feel, like something he’d always wanted and couldn’t have. Almost as if she were too good for the man he really was. It was more than mere lust or attraction and went deeper. It was the aura of sweet innocence about her.
    â€œI’ll expect a full report on my desk first thing tomorrow,” she said with a sly grin.
    He wanted to smile back at her. Wanted to flirt in a way he never had before but wouldn’t. “Yes, boss.”
    â€œHmm. I like the sound of that.”
    â€œI’ll bet you do.”
    He wanted to smile, actually had to bite the inside of his cheek. When she grinned at him, he knew she was aware of the reaction she’d had on him. This lady was a firecracker beneath her prim exterior. As she winked at him and walked away,he vowed to break through to the woman underneath.
    Duke worked the fringes of the crowd. While he asked questions about security and service, his mind wasn’t on the job. He watched Cami and discovered the rest of the world didn’t see the spunk and grit she showed him. She was quiet and demure. Despite her crazily patterned suit, she was a lady to the core.
    Men treated her like a sister and women felt at ease with her because she was no threat to them. If only they could see her legs, he thought. Forty-five minutes a day in the gym couldn’t compete with a gift from nature.
    Arousal shot through him, pooling at his center. He shifted his legs and gave thanks he was wearing a suit and not jeans. The room was filled with women more attractive and more available, and he wondered if he’d lost his ever-loving mind. Because he had eyes for only one woman.
    And though he ached to have Cami in his bed, he didn’t want her in his life. She was a sweet lady. He should take what he needed from her and move on, but those actions were callous. Only a bastard behaved that way and he hated treating anyone the way he’d been treated all his life.
    Dammit, why wasn’t she the average woman she tried to be? Why wasn’t her skin covered in acne instead of translucent and soft? Why couldn’t she stutter when she spoke and be a slow thinker instead of a woman with rare wit and keen intelligence? Even those horn-rims were beginning to grow on him.
    Why don’t you get to work?
    He caused a fuss over the lack of vegetarian items on the buffet and was soothed by the head chef then directed to another table across the room. He asked for imported beer and was told the company had only purchased kegs of domestic. They offered to send someone to the bar to get him what he wanted. All in all, he was pleased with Cami’s choice of caterer. They were eager and efficient.
    When she joined him at the end of the evening, she looked tired, well-fed, and like a woman who needed a kiss. But he wasn’t the man to give her one. The evening had proved without a doubt that he lusted after Cami Jones. He reminded himself the things he wanted most in life he destroyed.
    Life had shown him one pattern time and again. The pattern of betrayal and loss. At thirty-three he was old enough to know he didn’t want to repeat that cycle again.

Three
    D uke thought the presentation to the board went