Overnight Cinderella (6 page)

“How did she die? Do you mind telling me? I don't want to pry.”

Should he tell her? He thought of Rebecca's joy when they'd both graduated from the academy and started working for different departments. He slid his free hand into his pocket and fumbled around for Rebecca's ring. “She was a cop, like me. One night she was killed while on duty.”

“Duke,” she said softly.

Her eyes said
I'm sorry.
Her touch said
take com
fort from me.
Her arms, when she opened them, said
Come rest against my breast and forget your worries.

Though he knew he shouldn't, he was still a man and given to the weaknesses of being human. So he let her pull him into an embrace.

An embrace that was warm and felt unending. An embrace he realized as he felt her fragile bones beneath his hands he'd craved for a long, long time.

D
uke wanted to escape Cami's presence after the emotional baring he'd done on the plane, but his code of ethics refused to let her ride the MARTA home from the airport. If they were merely business associates, he'd have had no problem, but they were more. Much more. He needed to set her straight before the situation between them went any further.

He needed to let her know he wasn't the kind of guy she wanted. He wasn't a nine-to-five man or the hero in one of her books. He was a scarred, emotionally aloof man who could offer her only one thing—sex.

“Thanks for bringing me home,” she said in the doorway of her condo. “I'm sorry you had to drive all the way to Dunwoody.”

“No problem,” he said.

“Okay, but I'll owe you. How about dinner at my place tomorrow night? Believe it or not, I'm a great cook.”

He believed it. The more he learned about Cami, the more he realized she was his secret fantasy woman. Not the sexual fantasies he'd had as a teenage boy, but the fantasy he'd harbored deep inside about hearth and home. She was the kind of woman who'd make the house warm and welcoming.

“That's not necessary.”

He'd always hated to eat at someone's house because it reminded him very strongly of the things missing in his life. Reminded him of a comment he'd overheard one time.
Those orphans are always looking for a handout.

“I insist. I'll make something gooey and fattening.”

“Why?”

“Because whenever you choose food, you aren't very nutritious.”

“And
you
are? I don't think Godiva chocolates are on any nutrition list.”

“Touché.”
She laughed then, head thrown back and body quivering with joy.

He wanted her so much at that moment he didn't care if they were visible from the street. He reached out with his right hand to caress her neck. The laughter still trembled through her. Leaning over, he kissed her.

She came easily to him, her hand gripping his arm as if to keep him from moving. He wasn't go
ing anywhere, he thought. Not until he'd uncovered every nuance of Cami.

Stop reaching out to her, he warned himself, but he was unable to stop. He craved her as he'd craved a family when he was a child. And like that irrational craving, this emotional involvement could only lead to doom.

Right now, holding her close, tasting the essence of woman and feeling her breasts pressed to his chest, nothing mattered.

When he deepened the kiss, he felt her nipples tighten against his chest. Felt her feminine flesh ready itself for him through the thin layers of her silk blouse and his dress shirt. Felt his loins grow heavy and desire strengthen him.

Her pulse beat faster than a runaway car. She moaned softly and tilted her head to the side. He slid his hand deeper into her hair, supporting the back of her neck so that their embrace wouldn't end. Not yet.

A car backfired and their whereabouts trickled into his awareness. Cami's eyes were closed, a light pink flush covered her cheeks, and her lips were wet and swollen. She was still in passion's playground.

Her hips moved the tiniest bit against his aroused manhood and Duke groaned. Her eyes opened a little bit. She gave him a half smile that was far too sexy for this sweet woman.

“Dammit, Cami.” He reached over her shoulder and pushed open the door she'd unlocked earlier. The porch light spilled through the window and cast
long shadows around them. Duke stepped into the dark world where he was familiar.

“Are you angry?” she asked with a quiver in her voice.

Dammit, he cursed again. A minute ago she'd been confident of herself and him. Now she trembled. She was a virgin, he reminded himself, and a sheltered one at that.

“Cami, I'm not the kind of man you should be kissing.”

She followed him into the shadows and only the faint sheen of her eyes was visible. “I know. I should stick to someone like Carl in accounting.”

This woman belonged to him. No, she didn't, he reminded himself firmly. Yet from the depths of his soul he felt she was his. “Who's Carl?”

“A CPA with glasses and polyester suits.”

Some geek was her dream man? “He's who you think you belong with?”

“No, but it's who
you
think—”

“Don't put words in my mouth, sweetheart. I want you more than any woman. I'd have given anything to finish what we started out there but I'm not right for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You're on the cusp of discovering your power as a woman, Cami, and that's exciting. But in the long run you'll only be happy with a family. I'm your guy for a red-hot affair but not for a husband.”

“Duke, I don't need you to tell me what I want.”

“I know that,” he said, touching her face lightly. He traced the arch of her eyebrow, the curve of her
cheek, and the swollen pinkness of her lips. “You're the kind of woman who deserves everything a man has to give, especially from her first lover.”

“Why can't you give me your everything?”

“Because of my past. I can't love, Cami.”

“Everyone can love,” she said.

“No they can't. You have to trust and believe in life. I don't.”

“But you were married.”

“Rebecca was my buddy. A woman who grew up the way I did.”

“She didn't believe in love?”

“We never said the words.”

Cami's eyes sharpened. Duke knew she understood what he hadn't said. Rebecca had loved him, but he'd never been able to love her. Rebecca, the woman who'd deserved his love, yet he'd been incapable of giving it to her. Rebecca, who was ten times stronger than this emotional creature, had needed the words he'd never been able to say.

“Maybe I don't want love.”

“Oh, you do, Miss Romance Novels At Lunch.”

She moved closer to him, not stopping until her breath brushed his neck. “I want you more.”

 

Cami spent the next few days in a wonderful haze, thinking about Duke. At work she'd started to sharpen her presentation skills in the biweekly meetings to the steering committee by watching Duke in action. More importantly, she began to see
herself as an attractive woman, something she'd never believed possible.

Gabriella had wanted to give her clothing advice for years, yet Cami had never allowed her. It seemed ridiculous for an ugly duckling to dress like a swan. But no longer. She called her sister and with her help did some online shopping.

She wanted to give Duke something comparable to what he'd unwittingly given her—belief in herself. He'd treated her as a respected peer in front of the event team and in his own quiet way brought her to the attention of the board of directors by praising the work she'd done. But what could she give him?

She surfed the Net before it was time to go home, looking for a pair of skimpy shorts her sister had told her about. She ordered the shorts and returned to her home page—a search engine.

Absently she typed his name and the words “police officer” in the search engine and waited for it to bring back information on the man she wanted as her lover.

There were three sites that interested her. The first was a newspaper archive she used for a lot of her benchmarking research. The article covering Rebecca's death talked about the much-decorated police officer who'd dedicated his life to protecting the innocent.

Cami felt her heart clench. This man who protected everyone else had no one to protect him. She reread the details Duke had given her that night on the quiet airplane. In black-and-white print they
seemed cold and heartless; but she remembered the raw emotion in his eyes and his raspy voice. She wanted to go to him and give him a hug.

She dried the few tears in the corners of her eyes and moved on to the next set of groupings, which she'd seen before. These were of Duke's parents' death when he was two. Cami bookmarked the page and exited the Web. While she'd had no intention of snooping into his life, now that she had, she understood more about Duke than she'd thought possible.

This man who'd been abandoned time and again needed a family. This man who'd kissed her and set her soul on fire for something she couldn't define, needed her. This man whose background she'd just spied on stood in the doorway of her office.

“Hi, Cami,” he said, his voice brushing over her senses like the secret thrill of wearing naughty panties under a conservative suit.

“Hi, yourself.” She blushed. Thank goodness he hadn't arrive two minutes earlier when his life story had flashed across her computer screen.

“Got a free minute?” he asked. He looked tired but sexy with his collar unbuttoned and his tie loosened. His dark gray trousers and Italian loafers lent him an air of sophistication. She couldn't believe he hadn't grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth.
But he hadn't.

The newly discovered information played in her mind. She resisted the temptation to confront him with it so she could comfort him—maybe even offer him much more than comfort. She should ask
him out; he was never going to see her as anything other than a business partner unless she showed him more. But would he say yes?

“I was on my way out. Want to go get dinner? We can talk about whatever you wanted.”

“Cami, that sounds like a date.”

“If it is, will you go?”

She'd been on one date in her entire life. A double with her super-sexy sister. The evening had been a disaster and frankly she didn't want to experience a similar torture with Duke. But Duke was different.

“Maybe.”

Cami felt the first tinges of embarrassment—what was she thinking? Oh, God. Maybe she'd misjudged him. “Maybe?”

His eyes gleamed as he crossed the room. Leaning over the desk, he spoke in a voice a few decibels below normal. “Well, sweetheart, convince me.”

She knew she should scoot back. He was too close. But she loved feeling his breath brush her cheek and seeing the irises in his gray eyes. “Convince you?”

“Make me believe you want me,” he whispered. The darkness in his gaze made her heart ache.

Trying to be contemplative when what she wanted was to jump up and grab him, she steepled her fingers over her chest. She didn't want to appear too easy where he was concerned. Duke was a strong man. Any hint of weakness would be seized upon by him immediately.

“I do want you…to eat dinner with me. I didn't realize a simple invitation to share a meal would require this much thought.” Taking her courage in both hands, she brushed his cheek with her lips.

“I don't date often.”

“Then come with me,” she said, her heart on the line.

She traced the shape of his lips with her fingers. Surprised to see his pupils dilate when he asked, “Where?”

“Fratelli di Napoli.”

“No fair, I love Italian.” He leaned close enough to touch her lips with his.

“I know.”

“Okay,” he said on a sigh.

A secret thrill spread through Cami. This is what she'd hoped would happen, what she'd been trying to figure out how to engineer.

He stood and waited while she shut her office down for the night. As Cami grabbed her purse from under her desk, she glanced at the article she'd printed out on him.

With his hand at the small of her back, he escorted her down the hall to the elevator. She liked that he treated her as if she were a lady, making her feel special. Just plain liked him, she realized.

Duke had been hurt so many times he'd learned to shut off his emotions. He was never going to be able to love her unless she showed him how. Cami doubted she was woman enough to bring this strong man out of his inner darkness but, as they stood in the cold corridor of the office building with the
lights of Atlanta bright through the plate glass, she knew she had to try.

 

Frattelli di Napoli had been nice, and Duke felt satisfyingly full from the lasagna he'd consumed. But the pleasant feeling invading his soul came from the woman sitting next to him. She'd invited him in for a nightcap and though his mind warned him to only involve himself with her in a red-hot affair, his soul craved the intimacy that Cami weaved so effortlessly around him.

He wanted her as he'd wanted no other woman. Not even Rebecca. The thought disturbed him but not as much as the arousal he felt every time he saw Cami. She was sassy yet sweet. Innocent yet sexy. More than anything in the world he wanted her moving under him on a bed.

Cami tucked her bare feet under her and leaned against the back of the sofa. Her eyes were sleepy and held a dreamy expression.

“Lasagna always reminds me of Christmas,” she said.

Lasagna would always remind him of her, he thought, but kept silent. She'd enchanted him in the restaurant ordering in Italian and telling him about her grandmother who always searched Cami's cabinets when she visited looking for bottled tomato sauce.

She took a sip of her Frangelico. “What reminds you of Christmas?”

Duke looked away. Nothing and everything reminded him of Christmas. It seemed the one time
of year that he'd craved family more so than at any other time. Rebecca had been the same way. Both of them trying to make some sort of
Saturday Evening Post
picture-perfect holiday and neither acknowledging that they'd failed.

“Come on, Duke, tell me your secrets.”

“Why don't you tell me yours?”

“Oh, so you want to bargain?” She swirled the amber liquid in her snifter and then sighed.

“Okay. When I was a kid my parents spoiled us hopelessly. There was always a mountain of presents under the tree, but I had this secret wish…”

“Tell me,” he said, leaning closer, seeing in his mind's eye the quiet boy looking under the cheaply decorated tree for a present marked Twelve-Year-Old Boy.

“I wanted to be beautiful like Gabriella, my sister.”