Awakening His Innocent Cinderella

Kendra laughed and shone her orthodontist-perfect smile at Zack. ‘Isn’t she gorgeous? I knew you two would hit it off.’

‘Undeniably gorgeous.’ Zack’s gaze met Holly’s, reminding her of a hunter who had just selected his prey.

‘Holly hasn’t been on a date in two and a half years,’ Kendra said to Zack. ‘Don’t you find that simply amazing?’

What Holly found amazing was how she stopped herself from grabbing one of Kendra’s heels, pockmarking her collagen-plumped cheeks with it and taking out a couple of those bright white tooth veneers while she was at it. She might have vented a little ire about men on her Facebook account now and again but she hadn’t said anything about how long she’d been celibate. That was no one’s business. Who had Kendra been talking to? Jane? Or Sabrina, her best friend, who ran the other arm of Holly’s Love Is in the Care business?

‘Let’s see if I can get her to change her mind about dating,’ Zack said with another I’ve-got-this-nailed smile.

Holly inched up her chin and sent him a haughty glare straight out of a Georgette Heyer novel. ‘You’d be wasting your time, Mr Knight.’

‘It’s my time to waste,’ he said.

Kendra took out her phone and held it up to take a picture. ‘Smile, you two.’

Holly frowned. ‘No. Wait. I don’t want my—’ Too late. The camera phone flashed and clicked. She could see it now. Hundreds, thousands, possibly millions of social media shares with her standing next to Zack Knight with her mouth hanging open as if she were a starstruck teenage fan at a boy band meet-and-greet.

Kendra checked the photo and smiled like a cat standing beside an empty aviary. She gave Holly and Zack a fingertip wave and turned on her spiky heels to join her other guests.

Holly turned to glower at Zack. ‘You should’ve stopped her. That will be all over Instagram or Twitter in minutes. She’ll have us flipping engaged before you know it.’

His shoulder lifted in a nonchalant shrug. ‘Who would believe it? I’m not the long-term commitment type.’

Holly wondered why he was so against commitment. Was there some reason behind his date-them-and-dump-them lifestyle? A rejection from a woman in his past that had stung a little too much? Was that why he was happy with hook-up sex but not emotional-connection sex?

Zack took two drinks from a passing waiter and turned back to Holly. ‘Still not willing to be tempted?’

She took the glass of champagne, trying not to touch his fingers in the process. If nothing else she could throw it in his face if he got too annoying. ‘I’m not the settling-down type either, but I suppose Kendra has already told you that?’

He took a slow sip of his drink and returned his gaze to hers. ‘She told me you’ve had your heart broken a couple of times.’

Argh. Why were people still talking about her doomed love life two and a half years on? It was pathetic. And embarrassing. ‘Actually, that’s not quite correct. Bruised is the terminology I would’ve used.’

‘Bruises still hurt.’

‘Is that the voice of experience or observation?’

He lifted his glass as if toasting an eternal truth. ‘It’s hard to get to the age of thirty-four without a little collateral damage.’

What had put that cynical gleam in his dark blue gaze? What had made his mouth smile in that mocking way?

‘So why family law? Why not commercial, criminal or conveyance?’

His gaze remained game shooter steady. ‘Why are you a florist?’

‘I love flowers.’

‘But why wedding flowers?’

Holly could feel her cheeks heating up when she thought of how wedding-obsessed she had been in the past. Her bedroom walls hadn’t been plastered with boy band posters but with bridal ones. She hadn’t doodled in class with boys’ names but had drawn wedding bouquets instead. ‘I might not want to get married any more but that doesn’t mean I don’t love weddings. They’re happy occasions where whole families get together to celebrate the commitment of a couple they know and love. I love being a part of that. Helping the bride choose what she wants, finding out her vision for the special day and making sure it happens. I love seeing the church or garden or wherever they’re getting married decked out with my designs. And the thought of the bride carrying a bouquet I’ve made specially for her is very rewarding, and no, I don’t just mean financially.’ Holly stopped to draw a breath and suddenly realised how much she had told him. And what a good listener he was. ‘But you didn’t answer my question. Why family law?’

‘It pays the bills.’

Holly flicked her gaze over his superb tailoring. ‘Apparently quite handsomely too.’

Zack’s lazy smile made something in her stomach flip. Damn the man for being so attractive. ‘The golden rule in making a success of your career is never to undersell yourself. If y

ou’re good at what you do, then your fees should reflect that expertise.’

‘Isn’t there a fine line between charging a fee for a service and exploiting people during a vulnerable time?’ Holly raised her eyebrows and injected her tone with Sunday school–teacher disapproval.

He glanced at her mouth, then back to her gaze, his eyes going a deeper shade of blue. Sapphires with a backdrop of steel. ‘I don’t exploit my clients. I give them what they pay for—excellent service.’

Holly gave him one of her mortuary-slab smiles. ‘If ever I find myself in need of a divorce, then you’re apparently my go-to man.’

His eyes glinted and her stomach did another jerky somersault. ‘Likewise for wedding flowers.’

You’re flirting with him.

No, I’m not.

Yes, you are. And you’re loving it.

Holly took a sip of her champagne. ‘Don’t let me keep you.’

‘From?’

She waved a hand at the crowd of guests. ‘Hooking up with someone for a raunchy one-night stand.’

The glint of amusement was back in his eyes. ‘You don’t approve of raunchy one-night stands, Miss Frost?’

Holly’s cheeks were getting so hot she was worried all her fresh flower arrangements would wilt. Her fault for mentioning raunchy sex, but still. She had trouble thinking of anything but sex when standing near him. It was like her mind was stuck in a groove like a vinyl record under a turntable needle. Sex. Sex. Sex. She couldn’t look at his mouth without thinking of it clamped to hers. She couldn’t glance at his hands without imagining them touching her body. She couldn’t look at his body without wanting him to pin her to the nearest surface and have his wild and wicked way with her.

She didn’t understand why she was reacting like this. It was out of character. It was like a fever had taken over her body—a virulent fever that sabotaged her self-control like a lightning strike to a power box. She hadn’t thought about sex for years. She’d been as celibate as a ninety-nine-year-old nun. But one glance at Zack Knight was enough to make her eggs pack their bags and head for the nearest exit.