Page 28 of The Cinderella Prince

I smacked his broad chest with my free hand. “I’m saying I can’t do it again. Not like that. Not with you.”

As I moved gently away from him, Cedric abandoned his teasing and straightened his back. He was as regal as if he’d stepped out of a fantasy series. That was what I had noticed about him first, but I couldn’t pin it until now. He was so royal, so elevated by life and customs, that I couldn’t but gaze at him. He released my hand and put both of his above my hips. “Tristan,” he said softly, my name so perfect on his lips. “If you think this is just a hook-up, I did a very good job of resisting you so far.”

I pursed my lips against a ridiculously broad smile that threatened to overcome me.

“By all means, that should have been the choice we made,” he said, pulling me so gently toward him. It would have been easier to fight ropes yanking me to a bottomless pit. He was so magnetic. My heart would have found him in total darkness, anywhere in the whole wide galaxy, like a compass pointing to the north. “But I met you already, and I fought it only to find myself at the very beginning again. Maybe the right choice isn’t right for me.”

A chuckle burst out of me before I could stop it. I couldn’t tell whether I was relieved or flattered. “You say these things, but there’s still an angry prince searching for you and a marchioness waiting to marry you.”

“I’m not doing that,” he said firmly. “Not to myself and not to Élodie. If I can’t have the one I want, the one who wants me—” His body touched mine, and thrills ran through all my nerves. “—then I’ll be a miserable husband to a miserable woman, ruining her life as much as my own.”

“You’d rather wipe the tables for Mama Viv?” I asked.

He was reasonable enough to shrug and shake his head. “Tristan, I can’t promise that this will end well.” He took a small step back from me, and his hands found mine. “I can’t tell you they won’t come after me by force or that we’ll just be happy dancing every night, although that’s a life I’d choose over Verdumont in a heartbeat. But I can promise you this: I will try my best. And if the worst happens, it won’t be because of my lack of trying.”

“Okay,” I whispered, using his grip on my hands to pull him toward me.

His lips stretched into a broad smile again, the happiness roaring through me visible on his face, too. “Okay?”

I nodded. Our bodies touched again, but the movement brought us even closer. His torso pressed against mine while my left leg fit between both of his.

Something inexplicable appeared on Cedric’s face. Something so bright and wonderful that I didn’t have a word for it. Happiness was a pale reflection of what I saw when I looked at him.

Cedric licked his lips and controlled his smile. “Can I kiss you now?” he asked. Hurriedly, he added, “I’d really like to kiss you now.”

He didn’t need to ask—not after all we’d said and done—yet the fact that he still asked made me want him twice as hard if infinity could be doubled.

As one side of my lips lifted into a smile, I rose to my toes. My eyes closed as I leaned in, the warmth of his body and the sweet and spicy scent he wore swirled around me, pulled me in, and embraced me until I felt the softness of his lips on mine. For an instant, it was a sweet and smoldering kiss, but my desire for him fanned it into a scorching,blazing wildfire that would consume us completely if we weren’t careful.

I wasn’t in the mood to be careful.

Cedric’s lips pressed against mine harder, parting to let his tongue venture into my mouth, meeting mine, touching it playfully, and opening an endless well of lust I hadn’t realized still existed in me.

I didn’t know we were moving. I didn’t notice us stumbling back until my back pressed hard against a brick wall, and a gasp left my mouth. He kissed me still, his fingers running through my hair, the other hand sliding down the length of my back. And when he stepped away, fear filled me for a moment. Was he about to run away? Was the Empire State Building happening all over again? Had I misjudged him so terribly that I would fall for the same move twice in a row?

Cedric grabbed my hand, a heated look in his eyes locking on my face and a grin pulling his lips wide.

The relief that lifted the fears off my chest revealed just how heavy they had been. Running after him now, when he set off toward the Henriette, was like floating through the clouds.

Cedric

My lips still burned by the time we crashed through the front door of the Henriette Hotel. A sleepy desk clerk had just enough time to spin around and see me passing withthe man of my dreams trailing after me. I spoke a greeting, and if he greeted us in return, we were long gone by then.

The lobby was lit softly for the night, although the fine layer of sweat that covered my arms where the rolled sleeves revealed them shone regardless. It didn’t matter. If I had my way, we would be much sweatier not long from now. The thought curled my lips.

“Oh, Your Royal Fanciness,” Tristan teased, gaze taking in all of the hotel in leaps. “I’d never move out, either.”

“Yeah, this won’t last,” I replied, not particularly regretful. Right now, I felt like I had scored the biggest prize of all. All else faded to unimportance. I’d sleep on his doorstep if that were what it took to be near him. “I’m as good at personal finances as you are.”

Tristan laughed. “We’re going to dance ourselves to ruin.”

“Our money,” I mused as if continuing a melody.

“Our reputation,” Tristan gasped.

“We’ll be the happiest beggars that ever begged,” I promised, my free hand pressing the button to call the elevator.

The doors slid open, and we entered the spacious elevator. I wanted to steal kisses; my impatience had never been anywhere near what I experienced now. But when I pressed the button, Tristan chuckled. “Are you in the dungeon?”

---