Midnight Run (16 page)

Her left foot felt like it was starting to
blister by the time Nora finally neared the finish line, but she
ignored the sharp pain and pushed herself for one final sprint. A
race volunteer ran up to her with a cup of water as soon as she
cleared the finish line, and Nora swallowed it quickly before
bending over to catch her breath. Her lungs felt like they might
burst, and her feet hurt in the unfamiliar shoes, but Nora was
exhilarated.
I really did it!
She thought, sucking in air
and starting to look around the finish line.

Someone barreled into her, and Nora let
herself be pulled into a tight hug. “There you are!” Carl grinned
at her. “I was worried you broke your leg or something.”

Nora shook her head, sweat dripping into her
eyes. “No, just lost my shoes.”

Before she could tell him about her morning,
she caught sight of Lynne and some of the other midnight runners
over his shoulder. Carl let go of her, and she hurried over to the
group.

When Lynne saw her, she grinned. “You
finished!”

“You, too!” Nora said, raising her hand to
give her five. “God, that feels good.”

Lynne laughed. “That running high never gets
old.”

Nora nodded as she caught her breath. “How
was your time?”

Lynne’s smile stretched wider. “My personal
best. What about you?”

“I haven’t checked yet,” Nora admitted. “I
just got done.”

“Well, don’t let me stop you! We’re still
waiting on a few more from the group, but then we’re all going out
to celebrate. You in?”

Nora nodded. “Of course! I’ll be back as soon
as I check my time.”

Pushing her way through the crowd of weary
runners and their friends and family, Nora finally spotted the
table with the race officials, but a pair of familiar broad
shoulders made her falter. Kingston was standing there, his back to
her, and for one moment, Nora actually considered skipping it and
not finding out her race time. She hadn’t seen him since their odd
confrontation at the coffee shop, and she wasn’t sure she could
handle another rude encounter with him.
But this might be your
last chance to see him
, a little voice whispered in her mind,
and her heart clenched at the thought.

Squaring her shoulders, she made her way to
the table, but she didn’t bother checking her time. Standing on the
tips of her toes, she tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned around, but his smile slipped when
he saw Nora. “You made it,” he said, his twang sounding flat.

Nora nodded, suddenly shy. “You, too.” She
bit her lip, but then she took a deep breath. “I need to tell you
something.”

Kingston shook his head and stepped away from
the table. “You really don’t. It’s all in the past.”

“But I--,” Nora stuttered, “I can’t stop
thinking about you!”

Kingston paused, his gray eyes searching
hers. “Why?”

She hesitated. “I’ve thought about you ever
since we met. At the coffee shop,” she added.

He raised his eyebrow. “You admit that was
you?”

“I never denied it,” she said. “I just didn’t
think you meant me.”

He put his hand under her chin and tipped her
face up. “Why wouldn’t I mean you, Nora? You’re enough to set any
man’s heart racing.”

Her mouth was dry. “That’s just the half
marathon,” she tried to joke, but the words sounded stilted.
Kingston’s hand lingered on her face, and his touch was making it
hard for her to think straight.

Kingston shook his head. “No, hon, that’s
just you.” He leaned closer to her, and for one breathless moment,
Nora thought he was about to kiss her, but then he pulled back,
dropping his hand. “But what about your boyfriend?”

Nora laughed nervously. “
Not
my
boyfriend; Carl’s my best friend.”

“It sure looked like you were clinging to
him,” Kingston said, his face unsure.

Nora reached up tentatively and wrapped her
hands around his neck. “I’ve known Carl all my life,” she said,
slowly and deliberately. “He’s the best friend I’ve ever had, but
we’ve never dated. And,” she added thoughtfully, “if all goes well,
he’ll be back together with Reggie soon.”

Kingston raised an eyebrow. “You’re telling
me that all this time, you were available?” His hands circled her
waist, and Nora tightened her grip on the back of his neck.

“No,” she said softly, “all this time I was
waiting to be yours.”

He claimed her lips before she could say
anything else, and Nora melted into the kiss. Pressing her sweaty
body against him, Nora kissed him back for all she was worth as his
hands slid down to cradle her hips, tugging her more firmly against
him. Tangling her hands in his hair, Nora broke the kiss and pulled
back to look into Kingston’s gray eyes for a moment, and she smiled
before pressing her lips to his again.

This is so much better than anything I could
have dreamed.

Dear Reader,

I’ve always been a bit obsessed with fairy tales,
and I’m having so much fun coming up with new ways to imagine the
magic of some of my favorite stories with the
Once Upon a
Desire
series. I decided to start with “Cinderella” since that
story is one with the most wide-spread appeal: did you know that
there are over three hundred versions of this fairy tale from all
over the globe?

If you enjoyed Nora and Kingston’s story, I hope
you’ll consider leaving a review of
Midnight Run
at your
favorite eBook retailer. Your feedback is important to me, and your
thoughts might help other readers who are thinking about starting
this series. If you’ve got a chance, visit my
Smashwords
page to learn more about the series.

There are plenty of fairy tales that inspire me, and
I’ve included a sneak peek of the next book in the series,
Cutting Loose,
on the following pages. I hope you’ll enjoy
it!

Be on the lookout for
Cutting Loose
, coming
out later this year.

Here’s to happily ever after!

Best,

Charity Hillis

When Amy wandered into The
Desert, she had no idea what to expect.

Christmas
lights were strung haphazardly across the ceiling, and peanuts
crunched on the floor underneath her black leather stilettos.
Wrinkling her nose, she crossed the dirty floor to a decked-out
tiki bar at the other end of the room. A chalkboard sign over the
bar proclaimed "Oasis", and Amy rolled her eyes.
Could this place be any
kitschier?

"What can I get you?"
The bartender, a woman of indeterminate age who looked like she'd
lain out in the sun for one too many years, snapped her gum and
grinned at Amy.

"I'll have a
Manhattan," she said, aware of how ironic it was to order the
quintessential city drink in a dive somewhere in the middle of
Vermont.

The bartender didn't
seem to notice the irony. "Any food, too?" She asked as she began
mixing the drink right at the counter.

Amy raised a
perfectly shaped eyebrow. "I didn't know there was a kitchen."

"There's not, but
Pop's next door will always send over some fries or a pizza while
you wait." The woman grinned, flashing a glimpse of her chewing
gum. "Handy about setting up business in a small town; if you're
nice and play by the rules, folks go out of their way to help out."
She turned the martini shaker over a glass with an expert flick of
her wrist and slid the drink across the counter to Amy.

"And if they aren't
nice?"

The woman chuckled.
"Won't last very long anywhere in Vermont, that's the truth."

God, it sounds like my version of hell
, Amy thought, taking a sip of her drink. She glanced
at it in surprise; it was nearly perfect.
A little too much vermouth, but otherwise,
pretty good.
Maybe it was
stereotypical of her to have been expecting the drink to taste like
cat piss, but nothing about The Desert made her think she'd be able
to get a decent cocktail.
Looks like this weekend won't be so bad after
all.

When Sharlene
had emailed her out of the blue a few months ago, Amy had initially
been pleased. They'd roomed together in college but lost touch over
the intervening years, and it was a nice blast from the past to
catch up with her old friend. And then when Sharlene announced her
engagement, Amy had repressed a twinge of jealousy while offering
her congratulations. It seemed like everyone she met was thinking
about marriage if they weren’t already married, and the closer to
forty Amy got, the more she started to resent things like wedding
invitations and baby showers. But Sharlene had insisted she come to
the wedding in May, and even though Amy wanted to find a way out of
it, part of her was eager to see her old friend again.
Even if I did have to
drive to the back end of beyond for the wedding.

"Ames!" A voice that
hadn't changed despite the years echoed out across the murky room,
and Amy looked up with a smile. Sharlene was still a bundle of
energy. Amy tugged on the bottom of her fitted leather jacket and
grinned at Sharlene.

"Only took us fifteen
years for that reunion!" She joked, opening her arms for a hug.

Sharlene barreled
into her, squeezing her tight. "You haven't changed at all!"

Amy laughed,
forgetting to feel out of place in the dive. "You've always been a
terrible liar."

Sharlene smiled at
her. "You're still my Ames. I'm so glad you could come!"

"I wouldn't miss it
for the world," Amy said, surprised to realize that she meant
it.

"I can't wait for you
to meet the girls...and you'll flip when you see the groom!"

Amy checked the neon
clock over the door. "Speaking of girls, didn't you say this party
was starting ten minutes ago?"

Sharlene laughed.
"Everyone moves a bit slower up here than you're probably used to.
Still disgustingly punctual, huh?"

Amy smoothed a loose
strand of blond hair behind her ear. "That's what makes me so
successful!"

"It's what makes you
a nerd, that's what it is." Sharlene smiled, and Amy couldn't help
grinning back.

Before she could fire
off a snappy comeback, squeals erupted from the door to the bar,
and Sharlene turned, adding her own squeal to the melee. Three
women bee lined toward them, and someone was hugging Amy before she
could prepare herself.

"Oh, my gosh, you're
Amy! Sharlene hasn't stopped bragging about you this week!" A short
redhead with a frizzy pixie cut let go of Amy and grinned at
her.

"Um, thanks?" Amy
shifted uncomfortably. Falling back into the familiar warmth with
Sharlene was one thing, but a random stranger hugging her wasn’t
usually on her agenda. She took a cautious step back, but the
redhead didn't launch herself at Amy again.

A tall brunette
slapped the redhead's hand away. "God, Carol, scare her why don't
you?"

Carol rolled her
eyes. "She's fine."

Trying to recover the
situation, Amy held out her hand. "Nice to meet you."

Sharlene laughed and
threw her arm around Amy's shoulder. “No need to put on the big
city act with them. This is Carol, Joanne,” she nodded at the
brunette and then tipped her head toward a curvy woman with raven
hair, “and Roxy. By the end of the night, they’ll be just like your
sisters.”

Amy doubted
that; it had been a long time since she’d had any girlfriends she
thought of as sisters.
Not since college, really
, she realized, but she forced herself to smile despite her
hesitation. “Does that mean it’s time to get the party
moving?”

Roxy laughed. “I like
this girl already. Come on, ladies, let’s make Sharlene’s last
night of freedom one to remember.”

“Second to last,”
Sharlene reminded them as she led the way to a pair of sticky
tables near a stage that Amy hadn’t noticed. Pushing the tables
together, Sharlene grinned at her. “I’m not dumb enough to have my
bachelorette party the night before the wedding like that girl in
college…what was her name?”

“Carly,” Amy
supplied, wincing at the memory. “Dumb enough to get married with a
wicked hangover.”

“Well, we’ll all be
able to sleep this one off tomorrow.” Carol plopped down at the
table and looked around expectantly, as if she was waiting for a
drink to materialize in front of her.

“I’ve got the first
round,” Joanne called over her shoulder as she headed up to the
tiki bar. For a moment, Amy wondered if she should offer to help
her carry the drinks, but Sharlene patted the rough wooden chair
next to her and smiled.

“We’ve got way too
much catching up to do this weekend, girl. What have you been up to
the last decade or so?”

Amy sat down
gingerly, wondering what kind of residue might be lingering on the
chair. “Just work, really.” It might have sounded like a brush off,
but it was the truth. Amy had made her career the center of her
world years ago, and that dedication and drive had finally paid
off; she’d just been made a junior partner at her banking firm, but
she didn’t think Sharlene or the others would really care about the
minutiae of her work. Sadly, however, that drive and dedication had
also left her with precious little social life, and she always ran
out of small talk rather quickly, unless she was with other
bankers.