Cinderella's Lucky Ticket

No! It can’t be!

Not the Capriati Curse!

All Ben’s life he’d seen the effect of this ridiculous curse on the men in his family. In 150 years none had escaped their fate—to fall in love with their exact opposite, and remain hopelessly in love for the rest of their lives.

Capriati men lost their heads and any semblance of control when they lost their heart. And Ben vowed that his would stay intact, thank you very much. If this instant attraction was the Curse acting on him, he’d fight destiny with a smile, defy fate with a laugh.

He grinned devilishly at Lucy Miles as she stood angrily on the doorstep, eager to claim his—her—their?—sweepstakes prizes. “Then I guess it’s showdown or standoff, Miss Miles. We’ll just have to find out if this house is big enough for the both of us.”

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This book is for Katie, who suggested the plot; and long overdue thanks to Barbara and Peter Clendon, without whose knowledge (and magnificent contest) I wouldn’t have been able to write this dedication. Thanks, as always to All of Us—you know why; and to Maryanne and Diane, for being there…again.

Books by Melissa James

Silhouette Romance

Cinderella’s Lucky Ticket #1741

Silhouette Intimate Moments

Her Galahad #1182

Who Do You Trust? #1206

Can You Forget? #1272

Dangerous Illusion #1288

MELISSA JAMES

is a mother of three living in a beach suburb in county New South Wales. A former nurse, waitress, store assistant, perfume and chocolate (yum!) demonstrator among other things, she believes in taking on new jobs for the fun experience. She’ll try almost anything at least once to see what it feels like—a fact that scares her family on regular occasions. She fell into writing by accident when her husband brought home an article stating how much a famous romance author earned, and she thought, “I can do that!” Years later, she found her niche at Silhouette Intimate Moments. Currently writing a pilot/spy series set in the South Pacific, she can be found most mornings walking and swimming at her local beach with her husband, or every afternoon running around to her kids’ sporting hobbies, while dreaming of flying, scuba diving, belaying down a cave or over a cliff—anywhere her characters are at the time!

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Epilogue

Prologue

Trapani, Sicily, 1853

“Look at him, Patrizia,” one woman commented to her neighbor over coffee, pointing at the object of her disgust: a young man sauntering down the cobbled road with a group of his friends. “He walks—no, he swaggers. Like one who knows he will have all the girls clamoring for his attention tonight. He thinks he is the most handsome, charming young man in all of Sicily.”

“Well, perhaps he has reason, Anna.” Patrizia smiled with indulgent patience, watching the man-child strutting down the road as if he were a conquering emperor. “He looks like a statue of Apollo I saw once in Rome, when I was a girl. Those Capriati boys are too handsome and charming for their own good! I remember his father at that age…ah, for Vincenzo, my heart would flutter…”

“Yes,” Anna muttered, her voice dark, “Enzo was a handsome devil, and just as bigheaded. They are all alike, these Capriatis. But one day, their arrogance and their careless ways with the local girls will come back to haunt them, mark my words.”

A shadow crossed the sun at that moment, though no clouds littered the afternoon sky. “Alleluia,” both women muttered with a shudder, crossing themselves.

“Giovanni Capriati!” The strident cry rang across the street clear to the public square at one end, which was filled with flowers and bright-colored banners for tonight’s May Day dance for the young people. “Giovanni Capriati!”

The women gasped. That fiery voice could not be mistaken—it was Sophia Morelli, the local witch. Her heart’s treasure, her silly, pretty teenage daughter Giulia stood half-crouched behind her, sobbing.

So Anna’s prophecy was having an immediate fulfillment…and this time, not only Anna and Patrizia crossed themselves.

Yet the Capriati boy did not so much as turn his head, but he continued strutting down the road, laughing with his friends.

“Giovanni Capriati, you will stop! You will listen to me!”

With the little, careless shrug that only a Capriati could accomplish the boy turned, his dark, so-handsome-it-was-almost-pretty face bored. “Yes, Signorina Morelli? May I assist you?”

“You broke my daughter’s heart!” the famed wisewoman cried, her face scorched with the heat of livid fury. “Do you deny you met her in secret, kissed her, promised her your love and then moved on to the next girl?”

“I only kissed her! What’s the harm in that? I promised Giulia nothing, woman,” Giovanni retorted, his head high, eyes bland. “I have never done so with any girl. I am not an idiot, to make promises to a witch’s get,” he muttered to his friends. The boys laughed, nudging each other.

“I heard that, ragazzo!” Sophia’s voice rang to the rafters of each house. Within moments the windows filled with avid faces, enjoying the rare sight of someone standing up to Sophia, who knew herb lore and was rumored to have poisoned her first husband when he was unfaithful. “Now, you will pay for crossing me!”

A teary whimper came from behind her. “No, Mama, no…do not kill him! Do not hurt him! Think what you do!”

Sophia’s face, still holding a haughty loveliness at fifty, smiled at her distraught daughter. “I think of you, and the boy’s papa who broke my sister’s heart. The arrogant Capriati men need a lesson…” Her eyes flashed with magnificent fury as she threw down a little sack of herbs and flowers at the boy’s feet. “Listen, people of Trapani! You are my witnesses. I curse the Capriati men! From this day they will fall in love with women who are their complete opposites and would have nothing to do with them. For all their charm, they will discover what it is to fight for love!” She chuckled. “And they will not suspect they have met their Fate until it is too late….”

Giovanni looked around at his squirming friends with a careless grin. “This is a curse? Woman, you’re losing your touch. I thought you capable of better. As if any girl would refuse me!”

Sophia smiled and turned her daughter away from the boy the girl still adored. “You will see, arrogant bambino,” she chuckled softly. “Arrivederci to your heart, young fool. You will see.”

Chapter One

Michelson Laboratories, Sydney, the present time

If it weren’t for the monkeys, she’d never have dreamed of doing it. But there they were as usual, loud and smelly, spoiled and loved. The collective set of final straws that broke her own particular camel’s back, and changed her life.

Leaning in the doorway of the laboratory, Abigail Lucinda Miles felt the usual rush of frustrated sorrow. Of course he was still in his crumpled lab coat, leaning over his cage of beloved chimpanzees. “Hugh. You’re not ready.”

Her fiancé started, spilling his eyedropper onto the petri dish. He turned to her, his tanned, handsome face and brilliant blue eyes cool with displeasure. “You do remember that this experiment is vital, and every vial of scent costs hundreds of dollars?”

She sighed, digging her hands into her pockets. “Yes, I know, Hugh, but we’re meeting our parents in an hour at Bringelly’s to discuss the wedding…”

He added another cautious drop to the clear dish, his blond hair glinting in the light, like a Nordic god. “What—?” Then he sighed. “Oh, yes. I forgot. Can you hold them off an hour or two?”

“I don’t think they’ll mind,” she replied, but couldn’t hold in the weary smile.

The chimps jumped up and down in their series of connected cages, screaming, cackling. He swiveled back to his simian friends, his eyes on fire with eagerness. “You like that one, babies?” But seeing no sign of his long-expected reaction, he sighed. “It’s just another few months, then we can do other things.” He grabbed her shoulders, his eyes blazing. “Abigail, we’re so close. With one breakthrough we’d get the corporate funding we need, and I could move on to—”

“Getting married?” she asked, in wistful hope.

“Have I been neglecting you again?” He kissed her nose. “I thought you understood why I’ve had to concentrate on this the past few months. Sorry, baby. I’ll take Saturday off and devote the day to our wedding.”

“Really?” Her eyes lit up. “I’ll show you my dress. It’s white tulle, with a lovely tiara—and I found a great florist—”

“No wonder you’re feisty today.” His hands fell on her shoulders, breaking into her dreamworld with tender impatience. “Honestly, you scare me at times. You change as swiftly as Jekyll and Hyde. You’re on that Lucy kick again.”

Sizzling color raced up her cheeks. “Well, it is my name—well, my middle name. Abigail Lucinda Miles.” She would not give in to the sneaking shame she felt every time her parents or Hugh chided her about her “Lucy kick”—she wouldn’t!

He smiled at her over his goggles. “But it doesn’t suit you. My Abigail is quiet, modest, sensible—just like you are. But when you get on that Lucy kick, you’re illogical and wild, wanting silly things. I know what’s right for us, snooky. A small, simple at-home wedding with no tizzy dress or fuss, and funnel our efforts and funds into the experiment for now.” He smiled, winked and slapped her rear. “You can be sure I’ll be at the church on time.”

“We’re not having a church,” she muttered. “I don’t like organized religion. Do you know that about me, Hugh? Do you see me at all anymore?”

“Mmm, hmm.” Jotting down notes on the chimps’ reaction to the latest scent, he didn’t look up.

Sudden tears stung her eyes. “Hugh, do you really want to marry me, or is it because I’m Professor Miles’ daughter?”

“Hold on a tick, sweetie, just finishing these notes…” Hugh scribbled a little more, then he looked up with a slightly harassed smile. “Now what was that?”

Lowering her face to hide her confusion and sorrow, she shook her head and said the words he expected, needed her to say right now. “Nothing, Hugh. It’s not important.”

His voice filled with warm approval. “Good girl. I know it’s hard now, but we’ll take a late honeymoon when I’ve completed my experiment. We’ll go anywhere you want once I hit the big time.”

She shuffled her toe against the bench, and the words popped out against her will. “If you’d supported me when I wanted funding for my theory on organic growing of apples in arid areas, we could have enough money by now to—”

He sighed as he worked on a new scent. “I’ve told you a dozen times, baby, your idea isn’t feasible. You’re a librarian. A perfect scientist’s wife-to-be, quiet and supportive.” He gave her that quick, I-wish-you’d-go-now-I’m-busy look. “Now I really need to get back to work, all right?”

A chimp squealed. Hugh swung around, eyes blazing beneath the goggles, and started scribbling down data on the scent he’d just used. “Yes! Yes…the combination of high floral with the…”

She was invisible again. She could stand in front of him and he’d see through her, right to those petted, spoiled monkeys…

A minute later she trudged down the street to her car in the warmth of the spring evening, kicking rocks. “Is it so much to ask, to have him participate in our wedding day?” Lovely gardens and horse-drawn carriages, lace and tulle and orange blossom…Lost in dreams, she sighed. Right now, she’d settle for Hugh just waiting for her at the end of the aisle without a petri dish or a cage of chimps to distract him.

You’ll never have it—Abigail, an inner imp mocked. You’re doomed to go from neglected child to forgotten wife. You’ve lived on campus since birth. You don’t know anyone, and nothing about the world apart from theory and thesis. You’ve never been outside Sydney, barely away from the university. Face it, you’ve got nowhere else to go.

She kicked another rock. “If I’d got my apple experiment I’d have something besides the wedding to concentrate on. I’d have my wedding…and if I funded his experiment I’d get Hugh’s attention….”

Her mother’s words of last week drifted into her mind, in that cool, lecturing tone that always made her feel so childish and selfish. “His work is vital, Abigail. Don’t get so worked up about things that don’t matter in the overall scheme of things. Hugh’s research helps humanity for life. Try not to think of yourself all the time, dear. It’s only a wedding. He’ll marry you one day. Surely you can wait a few more months…or a year?”

W-well…of course she could, she’d done it before, but—but it was so embarrassing to have to cancel the wedding again….

She sighed, climbed into her old coupe and turned on the radio, letting the easy-listening music soothe her. Her eyes closed; her head fell back on the seat. “I’m better now. I’m fine. I’m happy.” The mantra of her mother’s analyst helped the panic subside. She drove home to her one-room flat, tidying her messy bun, reapplying lipstick, buttoning up her cardigan at each set of red lights. “What’s wrong with a simple wedding, and taking a honeymoon when his experiment’s complete?” She turned into the driveway, winking foolish tears away. “We’ll have a second wedding when he makes the big time….”

Try if, Abigail, that horrible inner imp mocked. Six years and he’s still no closer to his dream…and neither are you.

“Stop it. Stop it!” She shook her head to clear it, and yanked open the mailbox.

At least that brought her a little gift. Oh, joy…a fat envelope with a big, glossy sweepstakes brochure inside. She gave a whoop of delight. Reading these brochures, dreaming of winning, was her secret fantasy—a harmless double life Hugh and her parents knew nothing about. With a smile of mingled anticipation and guilty pleasure, she ripped it open.

“Congratulations to Ben Capriati, the winner of Lakelands Children’s Charities Sweepstakes Draw 224! Here’s Ben outside his grand prize, a lovely waterfront home on Queensland’s sparkling Gold Coast. Having bought the hundred-dollar option book of tickets, Ben also won two luxury cars, a boat and a Bali holiday….”

She gazed at the dark, brawny, raffishly smiling man in the black leather jacket, jeans and work boots. Lucky Ben Capriati. Even rough-riding bikers had their dreams come true.

Lucky Ben’s lady. A beautiful home, two cars, a boat and a dark, rugged man who wouldn’t forget to take her to dinner if she stopped putting monthly reminders on the calendar….

She gasped at that renegade imp taking over her mind. “Stop it. Stop it!” She read on, refusing to look at the handsome jerk with the five o’clock shadow, concentrating on the prizes he’d won. “…with ticket number…huh?” Grabbing her ticket from her purse, she checked the ticket number against hers. “What? But—but surely that’s—” She snatched up the brochure, her amazed, hungry gaze taking in the winning-ticket number, and her own. “He won?” she cried. “It’s…mine! He. Won. With my ticket!”

Minchin Hills, Gold Coast, Queensland

Another day in paradise…

Ben Capriati let himself in the back door of his gorgeous home, sweating from a midmorning barefoot run on the sandy shores of his exclusive beachfront neighborhood. Time for a lazy dip in the resort-style pool, then maybe he’d do lunch by the beach. Ah, Queensland, the glorious Sunshine State! Nine hundred kilometers north of Sydney, but a million miles from his regular life.

He’d promised himself a vacation throughout all his years of university and medical school, working two jobs to get through, and then those long, frenetic shifts at the inner-city hospital in Sydney as an intern and then resident doctor. And now, he was finally free to begin his life and profession—and this was the perfect start, a refreshing week or two before he left for the hot, dusty town of Monilough, and the Outback practice awaiting him in northwestern New South Wales.

Fun and games for one glorious week, sun and heat and Bay-watch-type babes strolling beneath a blazing clear sky, getting a tan before his eyes. And at the end of the vacation he’d sell the lot, and buy a house in the Outback town he’d signed up to help.

Now, he had the world on a string. For the first time in his life he had something wonderful all his own without working his butt off to get it, and nobody could take it from him.

Meanwhile, the pool calls! He stripped off his T-shirt and grabbed a towel.

Rap-rap-rap. Bang-bang-BANG!

He swiveled around at the aggressive belting at his door. It wasn’t a neighbor; in upscale Minchin Hills, the residents were too elegant, too refined to be so loud—or too worried about what the neighbors would think. So he faced the inescapable conclusion. Uh-oh. They found me…

A second thunderous knock jolted the house, making the door shudder. He stalked over and pulled the door half-open, rolling his eyes. Here we go! “I was wondering when you’d show up—”

“To claim my prize, you mean? You thief!”

Hmm. That gorgeous, breathy voice definitely didn’t belong to any member of his rowdy family. But—a thief? He opened the door the whole way, looked at the speaker and blinked again.

No way!

This mousy, cardigan-clad little drudge owned the sexy Marilyn voice? He couldn’t begin to guess her age with the grotesque dark shades hiding her face—not to mention the outfit. Yikes, bright green culottes and a fuzzy pink cardigan—and with that bundled-up bun, she could be a refugee from that seventies show his sister Sofie liked. Or was it The Fly? The tortoiseshell shades certainly gave her a bug-eyed look, all right.

“I’m so sorry to interrupt you…”

He dragged his attention to the voice in the background. A harassed, anxious, middle-aged man in a brown suit stood behind the woman, wringing his hands.

Ben said mildly, “May I ask what this is about?”

Hanging onto a musty tartan suitcase as if it was her only friend, the cardigan lady pushed past him, marched through the entry, plopped the case down and flung herself on his sofa…but by the simple act of nervously chewing on her thumbnail, she ruined the effect of her belligerent performance.

Ben’s eyebrows rose, checking out the suitcase, thrown between them as if it was a gauntlet. Well, given its dust, mold and moth holes, it could have come from the same bygone era.

The harassed suit-man wrung his hands again. “Please, Miss Miles, if you’ll only wait till we sort this out—”

The time-warp lady stopped chewing her finger, pulled off her shades and squared her shoulders, as if for courage—and her messy bun disintegrated. Trails of glossy, dark, twisting curls fell around her face—and she seemed to grow younger, prettier, before his bemused gaze. “Sure.” Her breathy voice brushed past Ben’s ears with a wickedly sexy effect. “I’ll, um, just wait here until you sort it out.”

Ben leaned on the doorpost in deep, quiet enjoyment, watching the queer pageant unfold before him—the nervous wreck in the doorway, and Mighty Mouse on his sofa. “Can I help you?”

“Yes. You can.” The aforesaid mouse glared at him with indignant blue eyes, her creamy face flushed and rosy. Yeah, she was young all right, and like no drudge he’d ever seen—more like a babe in hiding. “You can get out of my house!”

His eyebrows shot up. O-okay. This gal needed a diagnosis, and fast. She’d focused her anger onto a complete stranger—and she’d called him a thief. Paranoid delusions? “Sorry, Miss—Miles, was it? I think you’ve made a mistake.”

“I didn’t make a mistake.” She pointed with a stabbing motion at the suit-man. “They gave you my ticket!”

His gaze followed the accusatory finger. “Ticket?” he asked of the suit-man, hoping for a sensible answer, since the cutie in the cardigan appeared to be in severe need of Prozac—no, Xanax. She needed calming down…yeah, if she got her hands on any uppers right now she’d ruin his chance at future fatherhood.

The man smiled in half-cringing apology. “Mr. Capriati, do you remember me? I’m Ken Hill, director of Lakelands Children’s Charities Sweepstakes Draw—”

“Of course! I thought I knew your face.” Ben stepped forward to shake hands. “What’s this about my ticket?”

“My ticket!”

He swiveled back to meet her glare head-on—and then he couldn’t tear his gaze away. Maybe it was the wild dark curls cascading around her waiflike face in such sweet disarray, or the pink-lipped half pout, all but begging to be kissed. “Fine, your ticket,” he agreed, to placate her.

She smiled in triumph at Mr. Hill. “See? He admits it!”

“Whoa.” He lifted a hand. “I don’t admit to anything until I know what I’m admitting to.”

She tossed her head. “You stole my prizes!”

“Uh-huh.” He tried not to grin. This gal was nuts! Cute, but nuts. “Can you explain how I managed that when we’ve never even met?”

“Okay, it’s his fault!” She pointed at Mr. Hill who still stood dithering in the entryway.

“Well, um—” Mr. Hill stammered, “it seems there’s been some confusion with the winning ticket in your draw, Mr. Capriati. It appears you and Miss Miles received the same numbered ticket.”

“It’s my ticket!”

Ben smiled, trying to soothe her. “How about we let Mr. Hill tell his story before we fight over whose ticket it is?”

Mr. Hill’s wrinkled face lightened, looking intensely grateful for the intervention. “We’ve been experiencing, ah, technical difficulties with the system of ticket distribution—”

Cardigan Cutie jumped in again. “What he means is their lawyer embezzled all the money set aside for new computers, and the system crashed the day they made up our tickets.”

“Uh-huh. Go on, Mr. Hill,” he murmured.

Mr. Hill sighed. “Unfortunately, Miss Miles is right. Our computers have now been replaced, but the day we sent out your tickets the old computers glitched, and sent out two copies each of twelve sets of tickets, but with different names on each set. The glitch affected the winning ticket, plus the one-off prizes. At the moment, we’re unsure to which of you the win belongs. Miss Miles came to our office this morning—”

“Threatening litigation,” she said. How did she manage to sound smug, breathless, nervous, exhilarated and terrified at once? “They didn’t notify me about the mix-up. They hoped I’d never find out!” She lifted an eyebrow as Mr. Hill squirmed. “W-well?”

Ben looked into her eyes. Calm her down, or there’s no telling what she’ll do next! “Can we please let Mr. Hill finish what he’s got to say first?”