Once Upon a Fairy tale: A Collection of 11 Fairy Tale Inspired Romances

by Danielle Monsch, Cate Rowan, Jennifer Lewis, Jeannie Lin, Nadia Lee, Dee Carney

  Had it really been that obvious? “What makes you say that?”

  “I never get to see you at company functions. I came here tonight kind of hoping…”

  “Wait.” Elle took a step back, and oxygen seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Had she even taken a breath for the past several minutes? “You came here looking for me?”

  “Is that a bad thing?” His brow furrowed and she realized his question was asked in all seriousness. He didn’t see his behavior as creepy or flattering. Just matter of fact.

  “I don’t even know your name, but you know me. You knew my name. In fact, you seem to know a bit about me.”

  “Not much. I know you’ve worked here a while, about the same amount of time as me. I know you work in Design. I know you put in long hours. That’s the bulk of it.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t believe that’s all you know.”

  He swallowed before licking his lips. “All right, Elle. Maybe I do know a little bit more. You’ve got this magical aura about you when it comes to your art and designs, but you’re untouchable.”

  So she was an ice queen in other words. Her heart deflated a bit at that and her hands began a slow slide away from his shoulders. “So you need a career boost? Send me your portfolio—”

  “No… God, no. No. That’s not what I mean.” He looked dismayed. Hurt.

  “Then what is it?”

  The music cranked up louder, as if it knew he wanted to tell her something. The vibratory thumps echoed through her bones, jarring her thoughts and making it impossible to settle on one. The silver bangles on her wrist stood out in stark relief against his dark suit, and she realized then that he did seem a little ethereal in the darkness of the room. That maybe what was happening, what she’d been hoping—had been hoping—might have been made of the stuff of dreams. A young cutie hitting on her in the middle of the company Christmas party just seemed a little too fantastical. The mysterious air he’d been hell bent on maintaining adding to her doubt.

  Elle studied his face for a moment before she said, “Thanks for the dance.”

  “Wait.” His arms tightened around her waist, keeping her with him. His head dropped next to hers, his breath caressing the side of her face as he spoke. Without his closeness, she might not have heard what he had to say. “I do know a few more things.”

  “So tell me.” She inhaled, taking in the enticing scent of his cologne again, not sure if this would be the last time. She memorized the way he felt beneath her palms, the way his body molded so well against hers.

  “I know you’ve got the bluest eyes I’ve ever had the pleasure of looking into. And I know that your skin looks so soft, I have to force myself not to touch it and decide once and for all. I know that your hair is long and beautiful and I just want to thread my fingers into it while I kiss you senseless.”

  “What?” she whispered. Of all the things he could have admitted, none of these…

  “I know I’ve probably just embarrassed myself all to hell, but for some reason, I’m here with you, and I wasn’t about to let the opportunity go by. Even if you don’t give me the time of day from here on out, at least you know.”

  Oh, her heart. It beat so hard and so fast. “But I don’t understand.”

  “That you’re a desirable woman? That I want you so badly that I will never forget dancing with you for as long as I live? Never, not once, did it ever occur to me that I’d be standing here with you tonight. I’d come here with the intention of standing on the sidelines, maybe hanging out with some of my buds. And just maybe catching a glimpse or two of you with the higher-ups. This, tonight, is beyond me. I never dreamed of it.”

  Elle couldn’t get her fingers to listen. They wouldn’t move from his pectorals, resting there as if he was their property. And she felt the thudding of his heart. The passion from his words traveling through the material to touch her.

  “But who are you?” she asked, unable to keep a tremor from her own voice.

  “No one special. Simply the man who wants to kiss you now.” A pause as his gaze dropped to her lips. “No, the man who is going to kiss you now.”

  Chapter Five

  ‡

  But then, the wicked step-sisters supervisors returned…

  Some compulsion drove Elle to tilt her face toward his, breath held, as she waited for his lips to descend. It was wrong; she didn’t know him. Didn’t even know his name, but the raw desire arcing between them proved too strong to ignore. So Elle didn’t ignore it, instead choosing to allow herself to be swept up by the feeling swimming through her. And when their mouths met, their lips touching with the gentlest of caresses, she gave in to a small moan that rumbled to life.

  She vaguely remembered what he desired as a hand wound through her curls, fingers threading into the locks of hair to hold her close as they kissed. It was sweet possession to have him kiss her like this. It last forever. It lasted only seconds.

  “I can’t,” she said softly, forcing her mouth away. “Not here. Not in front of everyone.”

  In the darkened room, it was unlikely they would draw the attention of many, but if one wrong person observed her atypical behavior, she could find herself facing reprimand or worse. She didn’t want to risk it. Not for a stranger. No matter how much she burned for more of his kiss.

  “Come with me,” he said in a thick voice.

  They grasped hands, and he led them away from the center of the room. She didn’t dare retreat to a corner, as much as she wanted to. “If the wrong person…”

  “Blame it on the mistletoe.” He sounded rushed. Not unaffected by the kiss, the same as her.

  She found it easier to run on tiptoe behind him, his long strides eating up the room in seconds. He wound them through tables and around loitering bodies. It was all a whir. Their hands remained clasped as they moved, and she trusted him to lead.

  Elle focused on his back, on the way his hair curled over the dark suit. The broadness of his shoulders, which tapered down to a slim waist. The suit had been tailored, fitting him with the same jealousy that clothing most models wore typically did. It encouraged her belief that he did work for the company as one of their show pieces. Or at the very least, they should hire him as one. God, she could have spent all night looking at him. Staring into those amazing eyes.

  But when he took her to a dimly lit corner, where there were no food stands or waiters hovering with a tray of alcohol, she forgot all about looking into his eyes. Instead, she placed her hands against the strength of his chest, an anchor when his lips claimed hers once again. His tongue swept into her mouth, teasing her with the taste of wine.

  His lips whispered over hers, and she groaned from the decadence. When Thomas had insisted she do something out of her element, she’d bet the house he hadn’t meant this. Yet she couldn’t stop herself. Refused to not indulge for just a little while longer.

  “Give me something. If not your name, tell me something that won’t make me regret this tomorrow,” she said hurriedly, speaking between bruising kisses.

  He brought his hands to either side of her face, holding her gently. “I won’t let you regret it.” The next kiss almost made her ache with its tenderness. “This doesn’t end here. It’s only a beginning.”

  She laughed, frustrated. “Tell me your name!”

  The smile he offered her was amused and indulgent. “What? You don’t like the mystery? Besides, doesn’t it add a certain naughtiness to it? Locking lips with a stranger at the company Christmas party.”

  “That’s the plot to some secret baby romance novel, I think. Office tryst leads to yadda yadda yadda.”

  He laughed then too, and it was a deep, rumbling sound that made her warm all over. “My God, you’re fun.”

  Elle tried not to grin back at him, but the temptation rode her hard. “This is so crazy! I cannot believe that I’ve been here for half an hour and am making out like a teenager.”

  “I consider it a compliment. The teen years were the good old days,
weren’t they?” He caught a hand and pulled it to her mouth. The most delicate kisses brushed against her palm, and she barely suppressed a shiver of delight.

  “You’re not too far away from those days.”

  He threaded their fingers together and tugged on her arm as he began to stroll away from the dark corner. Elle fell in step beside him, allowing an instrumental version of The Christmas Song floating around them to set the pace. “Nah. I’ve seen my share of things around the world.”

  “You make it sound like you’re one pinky-toe out of the grave.”

  “Not that bad.”

  A waiter walked by with some sort of strawberry tartlet dessert artfully styled in little white cups, and he stopped long enough to pluck off two. “Open,” he murmured and it didn’t cross her mind to disobey.

  “So will you tell me that then? Your age?” she asked while swallowing down the fruit.

  “Thirty. Anything else?”

  “Of course! There are a million things to ask you.”

  “Or you could just follow your gut. It’s not steering you wrong.”

  It never had. And her gut insisted she stay a little while longer and indulge in his game. It was different and fun. Like he’d said, the naughtiness almost too teasing to give up. “So far, but I just can’t resist my curiosity.” Elle said.

  “All right then, shoot.”

  “What do you do for a living?”

  “Work here. Next?”

  She laughed, so very frustrated. The building held over four hundred people. “Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re any good at twenty questions. You’re horrible at it.”

  “Fine. Ask me another one and maybe I’ll behave.”

  Elle considered, trying to come up with one that told her a little bit more about him without being too direct. Obviously, he wanted to keep his identity to himself for the time being, and with as much fun as they’d been having with it, what harm could there be in waiting a little while longer?

  This was so unlike her though. This laughing and flirting. The smiling. She was on company time and company property. There was an executive with a contract she wanted to land within shouting distance. Others from Xane probably mingled throughout the party as well.

  So what was it about him, her mystery man? What about that seductive sly smile made her forget that she didn’t fraternize with the underlings?

  Could it be the way he looked at her with that brown-eyed hypnotic gaze? Maybe the way he allowed his hand to come so close to her skin, lingering, suggesting an erotic heat could touch down at any moment, but never quite touching after all. Her nerve endings seemed overly sensitive, a craving to be stroked by him almost a palpable thing.

  “Who are you?” she asked for what had to be for the hundredth time. Except now, she asked with a tone of wonder. Trying to determine what made him so special.

  “One of your many admirers.” His head dipped down and lips grazed the flesh of her cheek. She turned into the slight brush, willing it to be more. Her mouth ached for another kiss.

  The next waiter to stroll by in a stiff tuxedo carried a try of ceramic spoons. Her date lifted two from the tray still in motion and held one out. Elle reached for it, popping the business end into her mouth without a second thought. She moaned a soft sound as creamy custard and the slight bittery burn of browned sugar filled her senses. Crème brulee. One of her favorite desserts, allowed rarely more than once or twice a year.

  “This isn’t like me,” she murmured and watched pleasure spread across his face as he finished his own spoonful.

  A quick lick of the lips later and his lips curved up at the corners. “What isn’t?”

  “This behavior! Kissing a stranger. Dancing. Eating like there’s no tomorrow—”

  “This is hardly eating like there’s no tomorrow.”

  “—Not giving a damn about the contract I have worked my ass off to obtain.”

  His expression straightened, a little bit of seriousness finally edging into it. For the first time all evening, she got the sense that he did have a sense of responsibility. That this flirting and teasing wasn’t something he did all the time. “What were your plans for the night? The real ones.”

  Go home. Microwave something frozen. Review budgets until her eyes crossed, then go to sleep. Wake up tomorrow and start it all over again. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

  “The look on your face tells me that they weren’t much to look forward to. So…blame your behavior on the holiday season. Blame it on good will among men. Hell, blame it on me,” he said passionately. His arms came around her waist, pulling her up close. From a distance, it would look like a dance partner having another whirl with a woman. The hard ridge pressing against her belly indicated otherwise. “There doesn’t have to be a reason. Just want to be here and then be here with me. Tomorrow we’ll deal with tomorrow. But tonight, right now, it’s you and me. Is that all right?”

  She wanted to say yes, but tomorrow could she live with her decision? Would she look back on tonight as hours of wasted time that could have spent inching just a little bit farther up the corporate ladder? Her goals and ambition always came first. But it was so hard sometimes. Every once in a while, she wanted to kick up her feet and read a good book. Maybe watch a sitcom while munching on popcorn. She wanted to go on a date that didn’t end in her kicking the guy out before nine, just so she could catch a few more hours of work time before turning in.

  “Why should I trust you?” Elle wanted to keep her voice low, but a new song blaring from the speakers forced her to speak louder. To lean close to his ear and let him hear the trepidation trembling her voice.

  “Don’t trust me. Trust you. We never have to leave this party, but at least stay and enjoy it with me.”

  Something inside her had already begun to bounce to the music, decision made. It whispered that one more dance couldn’t hurt. One more glass of champagne, an indulgence she could afford. The presentation for Xane could be put off for a little while longer, especially after that dicey encounter with Champ. It was already a past ten, and she’d put in an eleven-hour day before the party. By all rights she should have been dead on her feet, but adrenaline pumping, she knew she could stand it a little while longer.

  “One hour,” she said. “That’s all I’m promising.”

  At the end of that time, she’d consider more. Maybe. For now, it would have to do.

  “One hour,” he agreed.

  A warm flush filled her body, and she didn’t know if it was from all the dancing, the alcohol or from being so close to him. Her heart pulsed in her throat, a gentle reminder she was alive. Somehow, in the last several years, she’d shut down from being fun and passionate and replaced those qualities with drive and ambition. What happened to her, the woman she’d been once upon a time?

  “Elle, it’s a surprise to see you here.”

  Turning, she pushed down the old, familiar feeling in her gut at the sound of Ana’s voice. Things had gone from bad to worse when Thomas noticed that Elle had been passed over for a promotion more than once and then personally took her under his wing as a result. Mrs. Tremaine couldn’t be bothered to keep tabs on her any longer, but Ana and Drusilla still poked their long noses into her business from time to time.

  Tonight, Ana wore Liancarlo, suited for her very slender frame. The dress was stunning perfection, and she could have been posing on a magazine cover within a few minutes. It accentuated her long neck and tiny waist. Heels made Ana seem to loom over them.

  Just beyond Ana, standing a few feet away, ever present Drusilla wore something Elle thought might have been Karan. She’d been similarly dressed to impress, hardly sparing an expense if the diamond pendant hanging at her neckline and the tennis bracelet sparkling on her wrist told any stories.

  “It is the holidays,” Elle said, fumbling for a polite response. She avoided the women whenever possible and tonight, especially with everything going so well, wouldn’t be an exception.

  “I see you’ve decided to dr
ess down a little bit. I suppose it’s hard to get out and shop when you work such long hours.”

  Heat creeping into her face, Elle bared her teeth in what she hoped passed for a smile. The barb hit home, more than she would have cared to admit.

  Before she could think of a witty response, Ana turned to the man still holding Elle in his embrace. “Mind if I cut in? I’m sure Elle could use a break from those heels. Remember that time you came hobbling into my office because you couldn’t stand wearing them a second longer?” Her mosquito-whine of a laugh pierced the music blaring around them.

  Elle’s fingers instinctively curled in, holding on to her date and keeping him close.

  “Thanks for the offer, but we’re not done here,” he said. “Every minute with Elle makes me want another minute more, so it might be a while. I wouldn’t wait on me if I were you.”

  And with those words, he stole Elle’s heart.

  Ana’s face blanched, her lips thinning. As Ana stormed away without saying another word, Elle wanted to high-five someone, fist-bump someone, hell, ass-slap someone. After she left the party, Renna was going to be bombarded with a hundred different texts, all of them describing the look on Ana’s face as she was shot down by the hottest man in the room.

  “She’s a piece of work, isn’t she?” he asked as they began to sway to the music again.

  “Yeah…well, guys usually respond to her type.”

  “What type is that?”

  “Long, tall, and beautiful. You know, skinny.”

  He put his head next to hers, his lips next to her ear. He whispered, “Skinny girls might look good in clothes, but curvy girls look good naked.”

  Elle laughed, utterly and completely charmed. “I do believe you’re flirting with me,” she said with a smile.

  “If I manage to get you naked, you’ll know for certain.”

  She pulled away from him, just far enough to study the beautiful eyes, eloquent nose, angled jaw, and of course, his lickable cleft chin. She didn’t know his name, and for now, it suited her just fine. She didn’t know what tomorrow might bring, but that sat well with her too.