Page 20 of Cinderella Is Faking It

“I won’t blab. Cross my heart and hope to die.” Instead of crossing her chest, she held up three fingers in a scout’s honor gesture, when I knew for a fact, she was neither Christian, nor had she ever been a Girl Scout.

Cordelia’s hands still trembled, making me wonder if maybe I should have done this alone after all. Tabitha’s presence next to me, as she shamelessly turned and twisted to take in the full modern rococo glam of Cordelia’s house, calmed my own nerves though. It was a blip of normalcy in an utterly surreal situation. “I’m going to do it,” I said, “I’ll pretend to be you for the rest of summer.”

“Really?” The glimmer of hope in her voice solidified the decision for me. I nodded. “Oh dear, I need to buy so many clothes.”

Tab let out a startled sound, but I chuckled, having learned a few things about Cordelia Montgomery by now. “Did you skip five thoughts ahead again?”

“Yep.” She grinned, then launched herself around her desk to hug me. Her long arms snaked around my shoulders, and I wrapped mine around her waist in return. Her back shuddered under my hands as silent sobs started rocking her body.

“Alright,” Tabitha sighed, “I’ll go get the makeup wipes.”

TEN

The pool waspink and filled with bubbles and naked women. I only stared for more than a moment because it looked like some of them were either breaking out in rashes - or the pink water was staining their tits. Either way, they were too drunk to care. I took another quick look around the rooftop, but the lounge chairs were predominantly occupied by busy couples and throuples. Back to the loft, even though the strobe lights and pulsing bodies turned my search mission into a nightmare.

Gavin Decker’s birthday was the last event I’d expected Del to attend. Decker was known for his escalating parties and the fact that he sank his father’s vintage Mercedes convertible in the ocean. Literally drove the thing off one of his family’s yachts. Del could hardly handle a business party and now she had shown up tothis?

I grabbed another drink at the open bar before checking the bedrooms. Door after door, none of the scenes in and around the beds included a certain blue-eyed blonde. I’d rather not have found her snorting a line, or with some guy buried balls deep inside her, but at least then I would have found her. Maybe the only reason I’d never been with a short woman, was the fact that they were practically invisible.

The only place I hadn’t breached yet was the dance floor, which was filled with people grinding their bodies against each other, eyes glazed over, hair dripping in sweat. That had never been my scene, not even in my twenties. I pushed myself through the masses, eyes raking over every blonde I came across.

My attention was snatched by a flash of gold in the corner of my eye. Jesus. How could I have missed her the last thirty minutes? Del was in the middle of the dance floor, dancing circles around an athletic girl with short brown curls. She threw her head back, laughing at something her friend said. Her sparkling high-waisted shorts revealed her legs from the very curve of her hip downwards and the matching crop top wasn’t offering much coverage either. Under the strobe lights, the golden sequins of her outfit turned her into a writhing disco ball. It did nothing to distract from the way her legs shifted though. The shortsjustcovered her ass cheeks, but when she swung her hips, her thigh crease still flashed out from under the sequins.

I wasn’t the only one hungrily watching every sway of her body, but the second some guy with a neck tattoo tried to get close, the brunette pushed him back and wagged her finger at him. I couldn’t help but grin at his dumbfounded expression and his friends hollering at him. Blondie had brought someone to enforce her personal space.

She was mesmerizing on the dance floor, but I waited until she detached herself from her friend and angled towards the bar, before I moved in. I hadn’t been the only one waiting for an opening. Neck tattoo guy jumped away from his friends to go after her. Bouncing bodies and sweaty faces shoved themselves in front of me, slowing my steps. If this guy was one of Decker’s friends, I didn’t trust him alone with Del for even a minute.

By the time I made it to the bar, he had her cornered by its side. I might have come on strong at Bumble, but he took up most of the space that would have allowed her to leave. Didn’t he see her hands balled into fists by her side? Hell, he probably did and didn’t care. I put my drink down on some side table and flexed my fingers. Shit, I wanted to punch that lazy grin off his face. I just had the feeling Blondie wouldn’t talk to me ever again if I did.

So instead, I slipped through the few inches of space Neck Tattoo had left between him and the wall, and I wrapped my arm around Del’s middle. “Sorry for being late, sweetheart.” I tugged her against me and pressed a kiss against the crown of her head. Even in this pit of nicotine, weed and spilled beer, her fresh, sweet jasmine scent was as strong as ever. She blinked up at me, brows quivering as her hand folded around my wrist on her stomach. The quiet relief seeping through her shoulders was enough to incite more violent thoughts as I dragged my eyes from her to Neck Tattoo and offered him my hand. “August Beckett.”

“Jordan, uh, just Jordan,” he said and placed his hand in mine. I squeezed it tightly enough for a bone to pop beneath my fingers. Jordan winced, his knees trembling when I finally let go. “I, uh, forgot, uh…” He walked backwards, clutching his hand to his chest, before turning on his heels and diving into the crowd of dancers.

Del turned in my arm, positioning herself between me and the bar. “That was unnecessary but thank you,” she said. Despite her deeming it unnecessary, she made no move to distance herself from me. I knew well enough thatthatwasn’t about me, so she had to be more rattled than she let on.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I could be asking you the same thing.” Her eyes raked over me in a pointedly unimpressed curve. Yeah, I may have dropped the tie, but I was still in the same suit I’d worn to the office. Which didn’t exactly fit in with the twenty-something party crowd here. To be fair, she’d come here without notice, and I’d booked it, the second Julian alerted me to the paparazzi pictures from outside. Del shook her head and closed her eyes, sagging against the bar for just a moment before putting on a big smile again. “I’m showing the world that I’m young and hot and totally extroverted.”

“But you’re not.” Her mouth dropped open. Oh fuck. Come on. I quickly added: “Extroverted, I mean.” My communication skills clearly plummeted around her. What the hell was this tiny blonde woman doing to me? I’d never had issues saying the right thing at the right time.

“Why are you talking to me, Beck?” She scrunched up her nose at me, but still didn’t move an inch.

“Here.” I pulled the small brown box I’d been carrying around from my jacket pocket. Not exactly how I would have wanted to present it, but fine.

“What’s that?”

“An apology,” I said, “I was out of line and caused you to miss dessert, when that was the very reason I meant to take you to Bumble by the Sea. It’s their famous honey-lemonblondie.”

Her lips twitched into a small smile, but she didn’t reach for the box. “This is a birthday party. There’s probably going to be cake.”

“It won’t be this good.”

“Have you been saving this for six days?” Curiosity won over and she took the box, flipping the lid open. The cake bar inside didn’t look like much, a blondie with some white chocolate and honey drizzled on top, but I hadn’t lied when I’d said it was famous.

“No, I heard you might come here, so I picked it up on the way.”

Del didn’t look impressed, but she still lifted the blondie from the box and took a bite. “Oh god,” she moaned as the cake melted on her tongue, revealing a core of salted caramel. Her eyelids fluttered and she held a hand up in front of her mouth. “Oh, that’s good,” she sighed.

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