The Cinderella Seduction: A Suddenly Cinderella Novel (Entangled Indulgence) (10 page)

“Race you to the hotel!” Mara squealed, obviously still in the throes of a sugar high.

Nick grabbed hold of her hand. “It is too hot to race.”

Stefanie took her other hand. “Your father’s right. What if we walk really fast?”

The Four Seasons on Pennsylvania Avenue was five minutes away. Until now, Stefanie hadn’t ventured beyond the hotel lobby. Entering the sleek space and heading to the private elevator with Nick and Mara, she admitted that hanging out with a One Percenter came with perks.
Maybe I could get used to this,
she mused, watching the floor numbers ascend as the car glided upward.

They stepped out and Nick led the way down the hall, his card key in hand. “After you, please.” Drawing back the door, he held it for Stefanie to enter.

Schooling herself not to stare, she walked into the foyer. She had catering clients in stately Capitol Hill brownstones, suburban McMansions, and sleek city condos such as Macie’s, but Nick’s penthouse suite still stood out as impressive. Cream-colored calla lilies served as the centerpiece for a circular foyer table. Original artwork hung from the walls. French doors opened onto a furnished terrace. Elegant crystal fixtures contrasted with rich wood paneling and a pale palette of silver and cream, offsetting a decor that was cleanly contemporary yet richly classical with Art Deco detailing. More fresh flowers, hydrangeas, were set in low vases about the living and media rooms. Even this late in the afternoon, sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows. What must it be like to live in such grand style, to have extravagance as one’s “normal”?

Aware of his eyes following her, she turned to look at him. “It’s beautiful,” she said simply, tracing a finger along a table’s rich wood inlay.

He flicked his gaze from the fireplace to a large flat-screen TV to the bar area as if seeing it all for the first time. “I suppose it is.” He focused back on her. “So are you.”

Heat suffused her face. Nick’s flirting suggested she’d soon be getting the spice she’d craved and yet she’d never been the best about accepting compliments.

Mara’s yawn saved her from answering. She crawled up onto the cream-colored couch, and Stefanie and Nick exchanged glances.

Nick walked over, propping Raggedy Ann beside her. “The sitter will be here soon. You should have a nap.”

Mara frowned. “But I’m not sleepy.” Another yawn, even bigger, belied the protest.

Stefanie intervened. “What if I tuck you in? If you’re not asleep in five minutes, you can get back up, deal?”

Mara sent her a skeptical look. “How will I know when it’s five minutes?”

“You can count…sheep,” Stefanie said, sliding Nick a glance. “By the time you reach one hundred, it will have been five minutes.”

“That’s a lot of sheep,” Mara said, expression sober.

“The trick is to count them backward starting with one hundred. That makes the counting go more quickly,” Stefanie fibbed. “I’ll help you get started.”

Mara picked up her doll and slid off the sofa. She looked over to her father. “I will be back in
five
minutes, Papa.”

“Yes, Mara,” Nick said, losing the battle against smiling.

Taking hold of Stefanie’s hand, she announced, “I will show you the way, so you don’t get lost.”

Folding her fingers around that little hand, Stefanie fought a smile. She’d always wanted a big family. Guiding them toward the alcove, Mara said, “At home I have my own room, but here I share with Papa.”

Oh, God.
Unwittingly she’d invited herself into Nick’s bedroom.

She swiveled to look back at him, his innocent smile at odds with the glint in his gaze. “The hotel brought in a rollaway for Mara but she prefers sleeping with me,” he confirmed.

The casual comment further confirmed that Nick’s womanizing ways were in the past. His focus now was on being a father. Turning away, Stefanie gave herself up to Mara’s lead.

The bedroom was big and beige with touches of chocolate brown. A door left ajar revealed an en-suite bath. A love seat, coffee table, and chair created an elegant yet cozy sitting area. Twin pedestal tables bracketed the curtained floor-to-ceiling window, one holding the sort of amorphous modern sculpture Stefanie had never been able to appreciate, the other a low vase of hydrangeas. A man’s long-sleeved dress shirt was draped over the chair back. A closed laptop had been left out on the coffee table along with a handful of coins and a fountain pen; otherwise there was nothing in the way of mess, no socks or other dirty clothes strewn about.

Dominating the room was the bed, a California king draped in cloud soft colors. The mattress could have fit a small family. But Stefanie wasn’t thinking of a small family; she was thinking of Nick. Knowing he’d spent the last several nights beneath its no doubt 100 percent Egyptian cotton sheets made it impossible not to imagine him there now—and her with him.

Breaking hands, Mara pounced atop the mattress. Following her over, Stefanie drew down the comforter. As she did, Nick’s scent wafted up to her, still exotic and yet now achingly familiar.

Mara’s burrowing beneath called her back to more chaste thoughts. Slipping Raggedy Ann in beside her, Stefanie hesitated and then sat down on the side of the mattress.

“Stefanie?”

“Yes?’

“Will you visit Papa and me in Greece?”

Taken by surprise, Stefanie hedged, “I uh…don’t know, honey. It depends.”

Mara eyed her. “On what?”

“On a lot of stuff.”

“What sort of…
stuff
?” Clearly Nick’s daughter had inherited his persistence.

“Well, I’d have to be invited.”

Beneath the covers, narrow shoulders shifted. “Oh, is that all? I invite you.”

Touched, Stefanie nodded. “Thanks, sweetie. Now let’s get you counting those sheep, okay?”

Mara nodded. “One hundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight, ninety-seven, ninety-six, ninety-five, ninety-four…” The counting broke into soft snuffling.

I’m not so bad at this kid stuff.
She eased off the bed and tiptoed toward the door, a lump in her throat. Before the end of the week, Nick and Mara would be on their way home to Greece. Stefanie could go back to wearing no makeup and her old comfortable clothes, resume all her normal routines.

Only normalcy no longer seemed like such an awesome deal.

Chapter Six

Nick used Stefanie’s stepping out to answer e-mail. The one from his mother was filled with questions about Mara. In the midst of reassuring her that her granddaughter was not only well but thriving, more than once he’d caught himself enthusing over Stefanie. His father had written as well. Naturally he wanted to know how things were progressing with Stefanie’s father. Reluctant to admit they’d yet to meet, Nick postponed answering. Instead he’d fired off a few lines to Stefanie’s father.

Subject: Wednesday Meeting Re: Debt Repayment to Costas Internat’l

From: [email protected]

To: C_ [email protected]

Sir:

I look forward to meeting with you this Wednesday, the 9
th
of July, regarding the terms of loan #d08xch-08-12-6, specifically your obligation to repay the outstanding lump sum amount of 2.5 million US dollars—with interest as previously agreed.

I anticipate the session will require, at minimum, two hours, possibly more. Please reply with a time that you and your attorney will be available. If you remain indisposed, I am prepared to conduct the meeting at your bedside.

i anticipate your timely response and may be contacted directly at the above e-mail address and/or mobile number provided below.

sincerely,

n. costas, president and ceo

P.S. my father sends his regards.

Justified though he was, he couldn’t help feeling torn. Pushing for the loan repayment would likely lead to seizing Olympia Development and its assets and that wouldn’t only hurt Stefanopoulos. It would hurt Stefanie, too. He thought back to their onsite visit to Acropolis Village, and her failed attempts to fool him. Looking past all the subterfuge, he hadn’t missed how her pride in and passion for the project had shown in everything she did and said—or didn’t say. Despite the past missed milestones and current construction shutdown, an affordably priced residential resort community for Greek seniors was a really good idea, even a noble one. It was exactly the sort of project Nick hoped to launch back in Greece—just as soon as he completed construction on his orphanage.

A
ding
drew his attention back to the screen. An automated receipt showed his message had been “read by the recipient.” So far no reply had shown up in his in-box. Par for the course.

Nick didn’t get it. Were he Christos Stefanopoulos, he would have launched into his recovery pitch on day one. Instead the old man had seized on sickness and sent Stefanie to stall for him. The tactic had worked but only to a point. If Nick were honest with himself, he’d admit he’d gone along with the stonewalling for one reason: it had bought him more time with Stefanie. Was it possible to have his company’s money back and her both? Nick couldn’t yet know, but suddenly he was determined to find out.

Hearing the bedroom door open and then close, he logged out and closed the laptop. He’d just put it away when Stefanie entered.

He stood. “She is asleep so soon?” If so, Stefanie wasn’t only warm and loving and maternal. She was a child whisperer.

She nodded. “Out like a light.” Hesitating, she bypassed a wing chair and slipped onto the couch cushion next to him. “She almost made it to ninety-four. I have to admit I’m impressed.”

Nick was impressed, too—with Stefanie. How was it possible to hold so much in his heart for someone he’d so recently met?

Sitting down beside her, he resisted the very real urge to embrace her. Instead he said, “You are good with her.”

“So are you,” she said, battling another of those adorable blushes. “I’m going to miss her when you leave on Thursday.” She bit her lip, turning to look out the window. Despite the curtain having been drawn, she stared at it intently.

Gaze on her profile, pure as a sibyl’s, Nick swallowed against the sudden thickness in his throat. “As she will miss you—deeply.” Regardless of how Wednesday went, he didn’t want to think about leaving. “If you will excuse me, I have a few calls to make before Mara’s sitter arrives.”

He also wanted a shave. If things went as he hoped, he would be kissing Stefanie very soon. She was altogether too sweet, too tempting, and too good-hearted to let go without first exploring the possibility that she might be his soul’s mate, his perfect love.

“Of course,” she said, gaze going to her handbag as if she too might be contemplating freshening up.

Eager to get on with their evening, he rose. “The guest powder room is there,” he said, gesturing toward one of several side doors. “Please help yourself to anything you desire—a glass of wine, a snack perhaps. There is a bar and a mini-refrigerator and—”

She cut him off with a smile. “Thanks but I have everything I need.”

Once he’d discovered Mara, Nick had thought the same, but since meeting Stefanie, he’d become keenly aware of how very much his life still lacked. He’d known women aplenty but none of them had come close to being someone he might see as a partner. Then again, he hadn’t been looking for anything beyond a good time. Glancing at Stefanie, it struck him how hollow his bachelorhood had been.

“Very well. I will be back soon.”

Whatever they might be to one another remained to be seen. At the moment, he couldn’t contemplate a future beyond Wednesday’s meeting. Whether he seized Olympia or bankrupted her by forcing repayment of the 2.5 million, Stefanie would likely despise him. He couldn’t blame her. But if he reneged on his word to the mother superior, he would despise himself. It was, indeed, a Catch 22. So far, he couldn’t see a way out.

But it was not yet Wednesday. The night stretched ahead, filled with possibilities, none of which involved work. Determined to make the most of it, he retraced Stefanie’s path to the bedroom.

…

Once Nick stepped out, Stefanie seized on the opportunity to phone her father.

As soon as he picked up, she asked, “How did the appraisal go?”

“The market is a little…soft. The comparables may not… We will have to wait and see.” He might not be sick, but he certainly sounded it. “I will know tomorrow. We must be patient and give it another day.”

Another
day. “Pop, you can’t avoid him forever,” she whispered into the cell. “He’s leaving on Thursday. He’s got…
stuff
to do tomorrow.” She declined to specify the nature of the “stuff.” She didn’t think her father hearing about the international investors meeting could hurt Nick, but there was no way to be sure. Feeling like a double agent, a traitor, she added, “That only leaves Wednesday.”

“Why are you whispering? And for your information, it is still Monday. I need one more day and then yes, I will see him on Wednesday. It has been…arranged.”

This was news. “It has?”

“What, you are interrogating your own father? Do you work for the Department of Homeland Security now? You are FBI, CIA, what?”

“Pop, come on, that’s not f—”

“Where are you?” he demanded, turning the topic—and the tables.

Stefanie hesitated. This was awkward, really awkward. “I’m in DC.” That was nothing but the truth.

“Where in DC?”

“Georgetown.” True again.

“Why do you sound so guilty?”

“I’m not guilty. I-I’m at the Four Seasons.” There, she’d said it.

“With Nikolaos Costas?”

“Yes.”

“You’re in his room, aren’t you?”

Stefanie surrendered. “Actually, it’s a suite, and I absolutely am. We’re about to hit the sheets, and I thought I’d give you a shout first. Quick, before he rips off my clothes and makes passionate love to me, where are you on repaying the rest of the 2.5 mil?”

“You have a fresh mouth. You never used to have a fresh mouth. You used to be a nice, respectful girl.”

Stefanie blew out a breath. “He’s taking me out to dinner tonight, just the two of us. There you have it, the whole truth.” The latter wasn’t a lie—yet.

“Put him on the phone. I want to speak with him. If he thinks he can dishonor my daughter because I owe—”

“It’s not like that. It’s not what you’re thinking.” Stefanie felt herself flushing. Though she’d sooner eat tofu than admit it, she’d started wishing it was exactly “like that” between her and Nick. “His little girl has been with us the whole time.”

Her father’s voice thundered through the phone, “He’s
married!
”

“No, he’s not.”

Calmer, he asked, “He’s a widower, then?”

“That’s not exactly the situation.”

“There’s a situation? What kind of situation?”

“Listen, Pop, he’s coming back at any minute. I’ll call you—
tomorrow
.”

“But, Stef—”

“I love you. Good night.”

Stefanie clicked off the call just as Nick emerged from his bedroom. Judging from his damp hair and smooth face, he’d shaved as well as changed into a fresh shirt, the one she’d seen hanging on the chair. Had he planned their dinner as far in advance as that morning?

He slanted a smile. “My apologies for keeping you waiting.”

“That’s okay, I don’t mind. I had a call to make, too,” she added in case he’d overheard her. Feeling her courage curdle, she asked, “Are you sure Mara’s okay with staying behind? Maybe after her nap—”

“Stefanie.” He moved closer. He smelled more strongly of mint, as though he’d just brushed his teeth. Like lasers, his hazel eyes seemed to see straight through her, boring into her brain, her soul. “Last week when I returned from leaving her with the sitter, watching Disney DVDs and eating pizza from the box was all she could speak of. She will be fine.”

Her breath caught. Suddenly this whole seduction scheme seemed to be working…a little too well. He’d asked her out on what was undoubtedly a date. She was going to dinner with Nick—alone. The kiss that had almost happened on the Fourth in her kitchen was going to get a serious second chance. At the very least, it was going to happen. She wanted it to happen and yet a part of her felt frightened and unprepared. Until now, all her flirting had taken place with Mara around. Like a circus performer scaling a tight rope, knowing there was a safety net had made it easy to feel bold, confident, poised. But now that net was about to be whisked away, raising the stakes—and the risk.

“Okay, as long as she doesn’t mind.”

“She does not seem to. Do you?”

“Of course not, why do you ask?”

“You seem…on edge.”

“No, it’s just…”

He leaned in, sending another whiff of minty breath her way. “Tell me.”

His intensity had her wishing she’d remembered to refresh her lipstick. She hadn’t packed her travel toothbrush either but at the very least she could have popped a breath mint. “I hadn’t planned on dinner out. I’m not sure what I’m wearing is appropriate.”

It wasn’t the whole truth, but it was certainly true. Her print sundress and sandals had been ideal for sightseeing, but the outfit didn’t really transition into evening. And though she probably couldn’t ever come close to matching his pressed-ness, a shower would be a big boost in the self-confidence department.

His gaze softened. “You look lovely. You
always
look lovely. But if you would feel more comfortable changing, we will stop by your house.”

He was so accommodating, even chivalrous. Pete had complained if she took an extra ten minutes to flatiron her hair. “Are you sure?”

He shrugged off the question. “In English, I believe the proverb is ‘good things come to those who wait.’”

Her mother had said the same. “In that case, thank you.”

He stepped back. His gaze, however, remained fixed on hers. “The sitter should arrive shortly. I will call for the car to be brought from the garage.”

“Okay…thanks.”

Watching him walk over to the desk, pick up the hotel phone, and punch the button for valet parking, Stefanie caught up on her breathing. Or at least she tried to. So much for staying in control, for being the seducer and not the seducee. Nick was still the enemy, but she’d never wanted to sleep with a man so badly in all her life. Could she really take them both to the brink and then walk away? Until now, she’d told herself that wouldn’t be a problem but looking at him across the breadth of the room, she was no longer so sure. He was everything she’d ever wanted in a man and if it wasn’t for their cross-purposes and disparate geography, she might actually be able to have him.

He’d just put the phone down when the buzzer sounded. The sitter was fresh-faced, twentysomething, and working on a master’s in early childhood education. After confirming cell phone numbers and mutual assurances that no problem was too minor to merit an immediate call, Nick and Stefanie headed out.

They crossed the sleek, cream-marbled lobby to the entrance. Laying a light hand on her elbow, Nick steered her toward the waiting Ferrari.

The valet opened the passenger’s side door and Stefanie slid inside. The other day she’d been too nervous to note it but now her body melted into the buttery, cream-colored leather. Nick turned the ignition and they were off, weaving seamlessly through the heavy Georgetown traffic. As she’d observed before, he was an excellent driver, although he drove faster than she was used to. Once he crossed the Arlington Memorial Bridge, he let it rip. She watched the escalating speedometer with widening eyes.

Catching her gripping the dashboard, he chuckled. “Too much?”

She hesitated and then admitted, “A little.”

“Sorry, it’s just that I am in such a good mood.” He slowed immediately, the barometer dropping to a tame forty-five MPH. “This is better, yes?”

Exhaling, she nodded. “Much, thank you.”

Turning off North Fairfax Street onto Wilkes, he once again scored a parking space in front of her house.

“How do you do it? I hardly ever get parking this close!” Stefanie exclaimed, unbuckling her seat belt.

Cutting off the ignition, he turned to her. “I suppose I see it as mine and then it becomes so. Or perhaps the gods are on our side.”

She reached inside her bag for her city resident parking decal. “Just in case they decide to go on break, you’d better put this on the dash.”