Snowbound Cinderella (16 page)

Her head came up—just a fraction. And her eyes widened. Then she placed her hand in his.

She’d prepared for this meeting as she would have prepared for any role. Had gone over what she would say, and how she would act in his presence. But that had been role-playing. This was reality. She could actually feel the pulse of heat between them when their hands touched. And could see the challenge in his eyes when he looked at her. She withdrew her hand quickly, and lowered it to her side. But she could still feel the tingling in her fingertips, like an electrical charge. Damn him for having this effect on her.

“Congratulations, Ciara.” Ryan touched a hand to her shoulder. “Eden says you’ve sold your first screenplay.”

“Yes.” Her eyes softened. This was something she was comfortable talking about. “Production starts in the fall. We’re hoping Elise Crompton will agree to direct.”

“Elise Crompton?” Mary Ellen frowned. “Didn’t she just win an award for her last film?”

Ciara nodded. “She’s really well-respected in the industry. She’s crazy about this script.”

“Does this mean you’re giving up acting?” Mary Ellen asked.

“Not altogether. But I’ll be a lot more careful about what roles I’ll accept in the future. For now, I want to concentrate on my writing.”

Mary Ellen glanced toward her brother. “You and Jace would probably find a lot to talk about, since he’s writing a book.”

“A…book?” Ciara looked at him and found him staring at her with such intensity that she had to avoid his eyes.

“Maybe he’ll tell you about it.” Mary Ellen laughed. “He won’t say a word to anyone else about it. I don’t know what it’s about or even where it’s supposed to take place.”

“Probably one of those far-flung exotic places he’s been to.” Ryan gave Jace an admiring glance. “You’ve got the perfect background for a writer, Jace. A television reporter who’s been everywhere. If you were selling stock in yourself, I’d buy all the
shares allowed. I have a feeling you’re going to become so successful you’ll probably be a household name in the next few years.”

“I will if my sister has anything to say about it. She’s offered to buy up all the copies and give them to her friends. It may be the only way my publisher will be able to get it off the shelves.”

“So, you already have a publisher?” Ryan shook his head. “I’m impressed. I hope you’ll let me know when it’s coming out.”

“Don’t worry,” Mary Ellen said with a laugh. “Knowing my reclusive brother, he won’t say a word. But I’ll tell the whole world.”

Jace pressed a kiss to his sister’s cheek. “You’ve always done enough talking for the both of us.” He glanced around, careful not to look at Ciara. “If you’ll excuse me.” Without explaining where he was going, he walked away.

Ciara expelled the long, deep breath she hadn’t even known she was holding. She’d been afraid to move. She couldn’t recall a single word she’d spoken. And all because of Jace Lockhart.

It certainly hadn’t taken him long to escape. It was obvious he didn’t want to be anywhere near her.

She needed some air. Seeing Sawyer out on the patio, she seized the opportunity. She squeezed Eden’s hand and whispered, “There’s a certain handsome young man out there I’d like to spend some time getting to know.”

Eden followed her glance and, seeing her son, laughed. “I told him if he spilled a single drop of that
soda, he’d lose it. I guess he isn’t taking any chances.”

“Smart boy. I’m going to join him.”

She stepped out into the warm sunshine and paused to watch as Sawyer chased after a butterfly. When it lifted high in the air, he returned his attention to the glass of soda.

“Are you having a good time?” Ciara asked.

He nodded. “I was hoping to catch that butterfly. But it got away.”

She knelt down beside him. “They have a way of doing that. It’s just as well. Their wings are so delicate, they can be broken if you just squeeze your hands together too tightly.”

“I wouldn’t hurt it.”

“I know you wouldn’t want to. But it can happen by accident. Sometimes, when we hold on too tightly, we hurt the very things we love. And you wouldn’t want to break those pretty wings, would you?”

“Uh-uh.” He looked up so trustingly into her eyes that Ciara felt her heart ache. “I just wanted to hold it. Like a pet.”

“I understand. Speaking of pets…” She reached into her handbag and pulled out the photograph. “Did you see mine?”

His eyes widened. “He’s yours? What’s his name?”

“Blizzard.”

“Wow. I wish my mom would get me a puppy.”

“I bet she will when you get a little older. They’re a lot of work, and you’ll have to prove to your mom
that you’re willing to clean up all the messes that are bound to happen with a puppy.”

“Has Blizzard made messes?”

She nodded. “Lots of them.”

“Do you get mad at him?”

“How can I get mad? He’s just a baby.”

“Will you bring him over for me to play with sometime?”

“I will. I promise.”

He glanced toward the door, then said, “I’d better go inside. Want to come with me?”

She shook her head. “I think I’ll just wait out here awhile.”

“Okay. Bye.” He hugged her, then danced away.

She stood, smoothing down her skirt. As she turned, she caught sight of Jace leaning against the wall, smoke from his cigar curling over his head.

She brought her hand to her throat in a gesture of surprise. “I didn’t realize you were there.”

“Yeah. I could tell.” She’d been so relaxed and easy with Sawyer. It had been a joy to watch her. Joy, mingled with sorrow. If only she could be that easy and relaxed with him. But he’d managed to ruin whatever chance he’d had.

Ciara studied the way he looked, leaning comfortably against the wall, ankles crossed. Yet the relaxed pose seemed a contradiction. She could sense a tension in him. In the way he looked at her. In the hand, clenched at his side.

He still had the ability to hurt her, she realized. Just
seeing him here caused a pain inside her that couldn’t be denied.

A maid came by with a tray of hors d’oeuvres. Ciara shook her head. The thought of food made her stomach clench.

When the maid walked away, Jace kept his tone even. “Congratulations on the screenplay. I know it means a lot to you.” She smelled the way he remembered. Soap-and-water clean. At the thought of burying his face in her hair and breathing her in until he was drunk with her, a little muscle began working in his jaw.

“Thanks. I’m really excited about it. Congratulations on your book as well. Have you already started it?”

“I have the first couple of chapters roughed in. It helps that I had deadlines to meet for so many years. I’m trying to keep that same discipline and focus now.”

“I’m not surprised. You’re a disciplined man, Jace.” And so handsome, she thought. There was just something about a man in a tuxedo. Especially when he was tall and rugged, with just a hint of danger. Oh, why did he have to look so good?

He cleared his throat, struggled to keep his tone even. “I have a lot more respect for what you’re doing, now that I’m doing the same thing. The fact that you wrote your first screenplay while you were busy acting in films makes it even more amazing.”

She flushed under his praise. Her heart felt as if it
had grown two sizes too big. “So when do you return to Europe?”

“I’m not going back.”

She hoped her expression hadn’t changed. “You mean you’re staying here? In Texas?”

“No. I accepted a teaching job at a university. In California.”

Her heartbeat sped up, and she had to pause a moment to catch her breath. “What part?”

“Southern California.”

“I guess that means we’ll be neighbors. Have you found a place to live?”

“Not yet. But I’m going to keep an eye out for something on the ocean. Malibu, maybe. I think… I’d like to watch the storms.”

Was that laughter lurking in his eyes? She couldn’t be certain without staring. And she was afraid to stare too deeply, for fear of what he’d see in her eyes. A hunger, a longing for what might have been.

“Maybe you’d like to look over my place. I’m thinking of selling it.” She struggled to keep her tone casual.

“Why?”

“It’s too big for one person.”

“Just one?”

“Well, one person and a puppy.”

He allowed himself to smile now, and his tone lightened. “I heard you telling Sawyer about your dog. Very interesting name.” He wouldn’t bother to tell her how relieved he’d been to learn that the photo wasn’t of his competitor. “What breed?”

“Nothing fancy. I went to the dog pound.” She laughed, and the sound of it washed over him, warming him. She pulled the photo from her purse. “Blizzard is just a mutt. A white, fuzzy little mutt, with overgrown paws and floppy ears, and the sweetest disposition in the world.” She held the picture up for Jace’s inspection. “I just love him. And best of all, he loves me.”

“I don’t blame him. A guy would have to be a fool not to.”

“You mean ‘a dog.”’

He blinked. “Isn’t that what I said?”

“No. You said—”

“I know what I said.” He debated for one more moment, then, tired of this verbal sparring, he put out his cigar and took her arm.

“Jace, what are you doing?”

“I just want to get away from these glass doors, and all those eyes watching us.” He hauled her around the corner of the house.

“Whatever for?”

“No reason. I just prefer a little privacy.”

“But the wedding’s about to start any minute now.”

“This won’t take long. I want you to know that the quarter-of-a-million-dollar offer you warned me about actually happened.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That first night at the cabin, you warned me that I’d have a hard time passing up a fortune to write about my weekend with Ciara Wilde.”

“Somebody found out about us?”

He nodded, watching her eyes. “A very enterprising reporter showed up on my doorstep. It was only hours after you’d left. His magazine offered me a windfall to give them the details. But you were wrong about how hard it would be to refuse. As I recall, in my current mood that day, I nearly tore him limb from limb before he managed to escape to his car and drive away as fast as he could. I’m sure he’s still telling everyone he meets about the madman he came upon at that cabin.”

She smiled, remembering Jace’s temper. “Poor guy. That’s not the reception he’d expect to receive after offering all that money.”

“No.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “I read about your ex-fiancé. Are you hurt that he tied the knot only two weeks after you dumped him?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Answer me. Are you hurt?”

“Why would I be?”

His eyes darkened. “Humor me, Hollywood. I need to know.”

Hollywood.
She nearly wept at his use of that name. “All right. If you must know, I was relieved. His new love interest attracted the media circus away from me. And since she loves the spotlight almost as much as Brendan does, I figure they’ll be a perfect match. They’ll both try to get all the publicity they can out of this marriage before it ends in a spectacular display of fireworks.”

“It could have been you.”

She nodded. “I guess I’m just unlucky in love.”

“Yeah. Me too.” He shot her that heart-stopping grin, and she felt her heart spinning dangerously out of control.

He touched a hand to her shoulder. When she didn’t pull away, he leaned close. “I owe you an apology. I reacted to those tabloid headlines with all the finesse of a wounded grizzly.”

“You were a bit rough.” She could feel the heat of his touch through her clothes. When he leaned closer, the warmth of his breath whispered over her cheek, and she had to close her eyes for a moment to keep from pulling him to her. “But I deserved it. I had no right to keep my engagement a secret.”

“Some secret. By the time I left the cabin I’d learned that everyone in this country knew about it. You couldn’t help it if I was like an alien from another planet.”

“Jace—”

He held up a hand. “I’m apologizing. Are you in a mood to accept that?”

She shrugged. “I guess… I’m apologizing, too.”

“Accepted. Now to the really important thing.”

She lifted her head. “What?”

“I heard what you told Sawyer. About not holding a butterfly too tightly, or you’ll hurt it. You’re like that to me—a beautiful butterfly. And I’m afraid I’ll hurt you. But—” His hands were already on her shoulders, drawing her against him.

“Jace—”

“Shut up, Hollywood. I promise I won’t hold you
so tight that I break your pretty wings. But I need to kiss you. Right now.”

His face lowered slowly to hers. So slowly that she felt her heart stop, and her throat close, just waiting. And then his lips were on hers, and everything she’d ever felt for him came spiraling upward, making her head whirl, and her heart tumble, until she had to grab on to him to keep from falling.

Against her lips he muttered, “I’ve never known such happiness, or such misery, in my entire life. And it’s all because of you. I realized, too late, that I love you, Ciara Wilde.”

“You…love me?” She pushed away. Her eyes were wide, disbelieving.

“It must be love. Because all I can think of is spending the rest of my life with you. And Blizzard. And, hell…maybe a couple of kids, too.”

“Children? Jace, you…you want children?”

“I was looking around in there at all those happy parents, and it made me realize something. I’ve been chasing all over the world, and missing the most important things of all. I’d like a little girl first, with golden hair and laughing green eyes. And then, who knows? Maybe a half dozen of them after I get used to the idea.”

Her eyes filled and she blinked furiously.

“Hey.” He lifted her face for his inspection. “Tears, Hollywood?”

“Oh, Jace. I thought— I thought it was too late for us. I figured you could never forgive me for the mess I made.”

“
We
made.” He brushed his lips over hers and felt his need for her rising. “And we’ll probably make a few more. But as long as we make them together, we can clean them up. I never thought I’d hear myself say these words, but I want it all with you. I want to settle down. I want commitment, marriage and all that goes with it. Deal, Hollywood?”