Once Upon A Kiss...: The Cinderella Act / Princess in the Making / Temporarily His Princess

Panting, gasping and holding on for dear life, they floated back down to earth together, chests heaving against each other.

“Why does that feel so good?” Annie’s question, after a long silence, made him laugh.

“Because if it didn’t there wouldn’t be any people on earth. If having sex was like brushing your teeth people wouldn’t bother.”

“You don’t brush your teeth?” Her eyes sparkled with both passion and humor.

“I’m the kind of person who does stuff out of a sense of duty.”

“I like that about you.”

“I can tell. You’re the same. I bet you never go to bed without brushing your teeth.”

“Am I that easy to read?” She pouted, or tried to, despite the smile tugging at her mouth.

“Yes, you’re an open book.”

Her smile faded slightly and a thoughtful look darkened her gaze. “Am I really? Did you know all along that I’ve … had a thing for you?”

He didn’t know that. It hadn’t crossed his mind that she felt that way about him. She’d simply been an excellent employee to him. How did you say that without sounding rude? “Something rendered me blind to your charms until our trip up to the attic. I don’t know why, because you’ve been the same ravishing beauty—cunningly disguised by L.L. Bean—haunting my house for years.”

She frowned slightly. “How odd that the trip up to the attic changed everything.”

“My mom would say it’s fate. Something mystical is happening.” He spoke in a deliberately mysterious tone.

Annie glanced around, still holding tight to his body. “I kind of feel that way, too. I’m not sure I would have ever dared to do … something like this before.”

“Have hot, wild sex on a stranger’s patio?”

“Pretty much. And with my boss, too. In fact I can’t believe we’re lying here naked under the moon.”

“I know. There’s a chill in the air.” He pretended to hold her closer, like a blanket.

“Is there? I can’t feel it. But then I’m glowing all over, thanks to you.”

She was glowing. Her eyes, her skin, her whole spirit radiated joy, good health and happiness. And he had the power to increase or destroy that happiness.

A dark shadow crept across his heart. He didn’t know how to keep a woman happy. He could make it past the wedding, past the honeymoon, and then, somehow, it all fell apart.

But maybe, with Annie, it could be different.

He jolted upright. Was he seriously thinking about embarking on another relationship so soon after the disastrous failure of his second marriage? And if he wasn’t, what the heck was he doing here with this beautiful and sweet woman naked in his arms?

“What’s the matter?” The concern in her voice wrung his soul.

“I’m not naturally suited to living in the present.”

She stroked his cheek. Her serious expression didn’t mock his doubts and worries. She seemed to silently accept them. “I usually live in the future. I go through the motions in the present, rinsing lettuce and making beds, but my mind and spirit are way ahead in ‘one day’ land.”

He frowned. He was good at living on the edge and going with the flow in business, but his personal life was a whole other story. “I suspect I tend to lag behind in ‘if only’ territory.”

“Then there’s obviously no hope for us, is there?” She spoke brightly, but there was an undercurrent of sadness to her tone.

“Either that, or we’ll have to save each other and only live in the present from now on.” A fresh flame of hope—or was it simply desire—roared through him, and he took her mouth in a fierce kiss. She kissed him back hard, gripping him as if sheer strength and determination could hold them here, at least for a few moments longer.

When their lips finally parted he felt breathless and light-headed.

“I hate to live in the future as usual, but we’d better get back to the party before it ends or our driver will wonder what happened to us.” Annie’s soft voice tugged him back to the present.

“You’re right.” He stretched, easing against Annie’s warm body. “Though it pains me to put clothes back on when I feel so comfortable without them.”

“I like putting my dress back on. I never know what’s going to happen when I put on one of the dresses from that trunk.”

“Or maybe you do know what’s going to happen now. There’s a definite theme.” He traced the line of her jaw with his thumb. Her lip quivered as he drew close. “Involving me taking the dresses off.”

They put their clothes on and climbed—gingerly—into the boat. The journey back to the party seemed so much quicker than the trip out, maybe because of the way the current was flowing. Or maybe because he hated to see their evening together end. He had an unsettling feeling that everything would be different once they got back to the mundane world of other people and their cares.

Annie sat at the prow of the boat, looking out over the dark water, which was choppy now, rippled with undercurrents and invisible forces that broke up its formerly smooth surface.

“What’s that?” She looked up suddenly at a bright light in the sky, rising like a comet behind the dark shadows of the woodland along the shore.

“It’s a Chinese lantern. They’re popular at parties now. You light the wick inside and the paper lantern floats up, and drifts in the sky until it finally burns up.”

As they rounded the last bend in the river, the sky seemed to fill with lanterns, drifting higher and floating out into the night.

“They’re beautiful.” Annie watched, mesmerized. “But they seem so dangerous. They could touch down somewhere and start a fire.”

The water all around them did nothing to cool the fire burning in his heart. This time was going to be different. His tryst with Annie would turn into a real relationship, and they’d figure out how to live together in a way that didn’t cramp each other’s style and threaten to turn them into different people. Maybe they’d even marry and have a family.

Sinclair drew in a deep, hard breath. He was getting carried away. Better just to pull on the oars and keep going, and let the future take care of itself.

“Do I look okay?” Annie turned to him as they drew nearer to the shore, fingers tucking her hair back into its bun.

“You look ravishing.” She was even more beautiful with the final polish gone from her dress and makeup. More natural and sexy. “I hope no one will realize that I’ve been ravishing you this whole time.”

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