Say Yes & The Cinderella Solution

by Lori Foster

  If I had started with Gabe, I never would have moved on to anybody else.

  She glanced down at the note he had left by her bedside. Meet him at Hennessy’s. She smiled. Funny that he should pick one of the Hoodlums’ hangouts. Maybe he wanted to make their new status public as soon as possible. She’d only been to Hennessy’s a few times herself. It was more of a guy’s place, a real pickup joint. She seemed to remember they had some nickname for it, but she couldn’t recall it offhand. It probably involved “babe-hunting,” if she knew the guys.

  She smiled, hugging herself as she felt goose bumps crawl up her arms. Gabe wouldn’t have to look very far to find a “babe” tonight, she decided. Tonight was the first night of her new future. She shook her hair out of its ponytail, letting it fall in loose waves over her shoulders.

  Last night she’d been a goddess, fiery and unconquerable. It had been Gabe’s tenderness and passion, and her own confidence, that had finally gotten her there. She couldn’t go back to what she was. She didn’t want to. Tonight, she was going to show Gabe exactly how sexy he made her feel.

  She grinned. And she was going to show him until the sun came up tomorrow morning.

  GABE SAT AT ONE of the high, round tables at Hennessy’s. It was the height of happy hour, with plenty of men and women laughing, flirting and generally being rowdy as they munched on the buffet and ordered rounds of margaritas. He nursed his beer, glancing at his watch. She would be there any minute. The rest of the Hoodlums called Hennessy’s “Heartbreak Hotel,” because at one point or another, they had all brought women there to break up with them. It was a perfect setting for it—public, loud, hard to cause a scene in. He had picked it out of habit, and out of cowardice. He wasn’t sure how Charlotte was going to handle the news that last night had been a mistake, a poor decision that their overexcited bodies had thrown them into. For that matter, he wasn’t sure how he was handling it himself.

  He’d rather put a gun to his head than hurt Charlotte. He knew that. But this was the only way to prevent her from getting even more hurt later. He had a chance to catch it now, quickly, before it went too far.

  Of course, you’re assuming that last night meant as much to her as it did to you.

  Ah, my conscience, he thought. He’d been beginning to miss it.

  He took a long draw of his beer. Of course it meant as much to her. No one could have gone through what they went through and not have felt the power of it. Just memories of their night together sent pulses of heat through him. He’d been with more women than he cared to remember, but he had never had as intense an experience as he’d had with Charlotte.

  But it had to be more than just an experience, dammit. She deserved more. He rubbed his hands wearily over his face. Why in the hell had he slept with her? She was his little Charlie, his best friend, his pal. The tomboy. The one who could play poker or football, help you fix your car or hear you out. She was the perfect sidekick. She wasn’t the type of woman you fell in love with, right?

  He looked up, midthought, and his breath caught in his throat.

  She was standing in the doorway, looking as if she’d just stepped off the Babe of the Week Web site…or better yet, off some runway in Milan. She had on a little black dress with those teeny shoulder straps that made his eyes pop. The dress had a slick, satiny sheen that seemed to take what little light there was in the place and caress it over her curves. It clung to her body like a lover. Her hair was up in a simple twist, framing her face like a work of art. Her eyes looked huge, like hazel-green gems. She looked like a painting, or a sculpture. Or a goddess. She wore deep, dark lipstick, emphasizing the quirk of a smile, and showing just how immensely kissable that mobile mouth of hers was.

  He tore his gaze away. Oh, my God.

  As he glanced away from her, he noticed that he wasn’t the only man who’d been struck by Charlotte’s entrance. He noted the predatory interest showing on the faces of several of the men around him. It was all he could do not to beat the gleam of lechery off of their smug, beer-guzzling faces. She spotted him, waved to him, her smile growing sexier by degrees. She started walking. She was wearing high heels and her hips swayed hypnotically as she strode toward him.

  “Hi, Charlotte,” he said hoarsely, leaning forward to be heard over the noisy din of the crowd.

  “Hi,” she said huskily, then moved in to kiss him.

  The urge to kiss back was strong, but he dodged. Her kiss landed on his cheek. She gave him a puzzled glance, looking around. “What? Are the guys here or something?”

  He wiped the lipstick off his face. “No. At least, I haven’t seen them.”

  She smiled, sending heat straight to his groin. “I thought about you all day. Thanks for letting me sleep in, by the way.” The smile grew more intense. “If you hadn’t, I don’t think we would have made it in to work today.”

  Hearing his cowardice interpreted as thoughtfulness, and hearing his own thought from that morning come from her sexy lips, sent pangs of pain through him. He took a deep breath. “Charlotte, we need to talk.”

  She went still. She reminded him of a nature documentary he’d seen of a gazelle scenting a lion. Her eyes were wary. “Do we?” she asked, reaching over and taking a sip of his beer.

  He nodded, taking a deep, aching breath. “It’s about last night.”

  She nodded slowly in return. “What about last night?”

  “Last night was…incredible.” He hadn’t meant to say that, but it was the truth. She deserved to hear it.

  Her eyes lit with sultry fire. “Tell me about it.”

  “But it was probably not a great idea.” He saw her eyes widen, and he plunged forward, as if saying the words faster would somehow lessen the blow. “You’re my best friend, angel. I don’t want to do anything to hurt you, but we’ve known each other way too long for me to lie to you. You want somebody to fall head over heels in love with you. You want to get married. You deserve that.” He swallowed hard. “You deserve better than some fling with me.”

  She blinked. He felt like he’d slapped her.

  “Angel?” Gabe finally said, after a long, pregnant pause. He reached out for her hand, but she didn’t take it. He sighed. “Come on. Talk to me. We can always talk to each other, right?”

  She continued studying him, shaking her head. Without a word, she began to tremble, putting her head down on the table into her cradled arms.

  She was crying. Oh, God, he was such scum. He reached over to stroke her silken, soft hair. “Oh, Charlotte, I’m so sorry….”

  Her head popped up, and she wiped at the tears at the corners of her eyes. And that’s when it hit him.

  She was laughing.

  “Oh, for pity’s sake, Gabe. You are such an idiot,” she announced, taking a deep, hitching breath between laughs.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “As well you should,” she said, between chuckles. “Could you be a little more into yourself?”

  Now he felt like she’d slapped him. Reeling from the shock, he finally stammered, “What are you talking about, Charlotte?”

  “Have you taken a good look at me lately?” She stood up, did a slow twirl that caught the eye of every man in the bar. She leaned forward so only he could hear her. “For the first time in my life, I feel beautiful. Desirable. It’s been a slow, uphill process, but now that I’ve got it…sweetie, there’s no way a rejection from you is going to ruin all that.”

  He watched the way her eyes shone, and his hand reached out to stroke her cheek before he could stop himself. “Of course not. I never thought that it would.”

  She pulled away, her eyes flashing. “What I’m trying to tell you is that I’m a big girl now, Gabe. I’m not little Charlotte whom you need to protect. If you feel you can’t handle a relationship with me, that’s fine. But don’t you dare think you can pin this on ‘protecting’ me, because that just won’t cut it.”

  “But I wasn’t—” he started, then cut himself off. Well, in a way, he was trying
to protect her. He was trying to protect them both. And what was wrong with that?

  “We can agree on one thing, though. I’m glad you said something before this went any further. Neither of us needs the drama.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re not hurt,” he said numbly. Funny that his own chest felt like a glacier, tearing a cold path through his heart.

  “Are we done with this, then?” She picked up her purse in a businesslike fashion. “I’ve got to get going.”

  “Why? Got a date?” He regretted the question as soon as it was out of his mouth.

  She surveyed him wryly. “No offense, Gabe, but I’ve got this whole life besides you, you know. And amazing as it sounds, it appears that I do have a good chance of getting married and having a wonderful husband and family. In a way, it’s all thanks to you.” She leaned over and brushed a quick kiss on his cheek. “I’ll let you pay me that thousand in installments. Got to run. I’ll catch you later.”

  “When?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. My social life just got a lot more hectic. I’ll call you.”

  She turned to go.

  “Charlotte?”

  She turned, sighing. “Yes?”

  He swallowed hard. “You know I love you, right?”

  Did he see the pain shoot across her face, or did he just imagine it? Her face was now a mask of amused tolerance. She shrugged. “Of course I know that, Gabe. But you’re not in love with me, and I guess we both know that.” She sighed. “Maybe we just need a little breathing room. This is all getting too crazy. Steer clear of me for a while.”

  He watched as she walked slowly across the floor, smiling at various men as she made her way to the door. One man stopped her. Gabe was on his feet before he realized he’d moved.

  She simply smiled, patted the man on his shoulder while shaking her head and laughing at something the man said. Then she walked out, every male gaze riveted to her. With her head held high and her hips swaying gently, Gabe could only think of two things.

  She was so beautiful, his heart ached to look at her.

  She was walking out of his life forever.

  11

  “CHARLOTTE, HONEY, can we talk?”

  Charlotte glanced over at Dana, barely hearing her over the pounding beat of the dance club. “Something wrong?”

  Dana turned to where Bella, Brad, Jack, and Dana’s husband, Stan, were sitting off to the side. She motioned to Bella, who nodded and hurried over to join them. Charlotte frowned when the two women tugged her outside. The night air was refreshingly cool, and she bloused out the top of her dress.

  “Charlotte, we’re worried about you,” Dana said, in her usual straightforward manner.

  “Worried about me?” Charlotte knew from the look of concern etched on both of their faces that this conversation was going to be a doozy. “Why? I’m fine.”

  “You are not fine,” Bella contradicted her gently.

  “I really appreciate you going out with me as much as you have in the past week, but the truth is, I haven’t had a social life this jam-packed since…” Charlotte thought about it. “Actually, I’ve never had a social life like this.” She adjusted the fit of the short cherry-red dress she was wearing. “I’ve had men stop me on the street and ask me for my phone number. I’ve been hit on at the grocery store. Somebody tried to pick me up at a stoplight, for pity’s sake. It’s the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen.” And it was. Any other time, she would be bewildered by the attention, possibly even frightened by it. But after what happened with Gabe, it didn’t matter in the slightest. Very little did. If anything, she was somewhat amused.

  “Yes, your social life is skyrocketing,” Dana admitted. “But that’s not excessive dating that’s putting those shadows in your eyes. And have you lost a little weight?”

  “Upped my workout a little bit,” Charlotte explained, not adding that she’d needed to wear herself out to get a few hours of sleep at night. “And I suppose I’ve been running myself a little ragged, between work and all of this going out. I’ll rest more this weekend, I promise.”

  “Charlotte,” Bella said gently, “nobody could be more pleased than we are that you’ve blossomed so beautifully. What’s more, that you believe in yourself.” She crossed her arms. “But we know that you’re not happy. Not really.”

  Charlotte replied impatiently. “First, I’m not paying enough attention to my appearance, and you say you’d leave me alone if you thought I was happy. Now I’m painting the town red and you say you’d leave me alone if you thought I was happy. There’s just no pleasing some people!”

  Dana and Bella could have been twins, the look of concern and caring on their faces was so similar. They stared at her, waiting for her to speak, ignoring her waspish remark. They also obviously weren’t going anywhere until they found out what was wrong.

  Charlotte sighed. She loved them for loving her, for trying so hard to help her. But she needed to do this on her own.

  “Let me tell you a little story,” Charlotte finally said, her voice calm and detached. “Say you take a woman who doesn’t have much confidence in her looks, who hides behind being a tomboy. Say you add a man who is kind and loving with a perfect sense of humor. Someone who she could easily spend the rest of her life with.” She felt her voice catching in her throat, and she focused on the wall of the club, rather than Dana’s and Bella’s sympathetic eyes. “That man shows her that not only is she beautiful, she’s exquisite and extraordinary. He brings things out of her that she’s never felt with anyone else. Say that woman decides she’s completely, madly in love and spends the night with him, expecting it to be the beginning of happily ever after.” She glanced at them. “Only instead of a relationship, he decides at that point that they would be better off as friends.”

  Dana gasped in outrage, while Bella simply nodded sadly, encouraging her to go on.

  “The woman now has two choices. She can do what she’s always done before…retreat behind her baggy clothes and straggly hair, and never let a man suspect what she’s really like. Never let any man hurt her, ever again.” Charlotte sent them a watery smile. “Or she can remember one very important thing that the man taught her: he may have shown her how special she was, but he didn’t make her special. She’s special all on her own. And if he can’t appreciate that, that’s his problem. Not hers.”

  “Oh, honey.” With that, the two women threw their arms around her in a big, comforting hug.

  “So maybe I’m not happy,” Charlotte whispered. “But for the first time in a long time, I can honestly say that I’m fine.”

  They stood there like that for a minute, drawing strength from one another, giving strength to one another. After a minute, they stepped apart, each mopping at her eyes.

  “Charlotte, I’m so proud of you,” Dana said, wiping at a small blot of mascara. “If I were you, I’d be egging his car right now.”

  Charlotte laughed. “Well, it had crossed my mind.”

  Bella looked resolved. “I’m going to tell Gabe that the stupid bet is off. You don’t need one more hassle hanging over your head, when you’ve obviously got so much more important things going on!”

  “The bet has been the last thing on my mind. I think Gabe’s pretty much decided to forget it, too.” Charlotte was glad her voice stayed steady. Even saying his name was difficult.

  “Well, I’m so mad I could spit,” Dana said, her green eyes flashing with fire. “Who does that guy think he is, anyway? Mr. Most Eligible Bachelor in America! I tell you, if I had him in front of me, I’d make sure his next photo shoot looked like a police report!”

  Charlotte stared at her. “What are you talking about?”

  Bella sighed. “She’s just mad at Jack, Charlotte. We’d have to be blind not to put it together.”

  Oh, God. Charlotte shook her head quickly. “It wasn’t Jack.”

  Now both women stared at her. “It wasn’t?” Dana asked. “Then who was it?”

  “I’m not telling you.�
� Charlotte’s chin jutted up, determined. “This is my problem, and I’ll handle it on my own.”

  Dana looked ready to argue, but Bella put a hand on her shoulder. “Looks like our little girl has grown up,” Bella murmured, smiling.

  Charlotte gave each of them a hug. “That, and I don’t want you to egg his car.”

  “WHOO-EE. THE BABES are out tonight!” Ryan said, handing a beer to Mike.

  Mike grinned, eyeing the crowd. “Honey alert, twelve o’clock. Get a look at that one, Gabe!”

  Gabe swirled his soda around in his glass. He gave the woman a cursory glance, then shrugged.

  Mike huffed, nudging Sean. “What is up with this man lately?”

  Sean studied Gabe intently. “Offhand, I’d say woman trouble.”

  Ryan gave Gabe a quick glance, then laughed. “No question. Only a woman, or lack thereof, could make a guy this miserable.”

  “Now that you mention it, he hasn’t gotten a lot of action lately. Maybe you should try diving back into the dating pool, bud,” Mike suggested helpfully. “This is a target-rich environment. I’m sure there are a ton of babes here who’d love to be your flavor of the month.”

  “Hah. Of the weekend, maybe, knowing our man’s track record,” Ryan corrected him.

  Gabe ignored them, letting their voices blend into the din. He stared at the tabletop, sighing.

  He could remember the past week in crystal-clear detail. His life was a steady routine. He worked out. He surfed. His job was going like clockwork, and he was getting a lot done. Some of what he’d come up with was even usable. He was also going out with the guys every night, something he hadn’t done in years. His life was going fine, just fine.

  Sure he missed Charlotte. She was his best friend, why shouldn’t he miss her? So he’d reached for the phone to call her a couple of times a day. Big deal. And he’d canceled poker night. She was one of the best poker players there. It was pointless to keep playing without that level of competition.

  He’d given the football games last Saturday and Sunday a miss, too. There was such a thing as too much football, even for a guy like him. Just because he couldn’t watch it with Charlotte didn’t mean anything.