Cinderella Screwed Me Over

Chapter Twenty-five

You can tell a lot about people by the way they act when they don’t think anyone’s looking. I lingered near the bar of the restaurant, watching Drew and Lisa laughing and talking. I couldn’t believe I’d let him convince me to go to dinner with them—I was the third wheel way too often. But Drew was right. There was something different about Lisa. For one, I didn’t immediately dislike her. Most of the girls he dated got on my nerves within the first thirty minutes. But Lisa was actually easy to talk to and totally down to earth.

“Can I get you something?” the bartender asked, drawing my attention away from my brother and his girlfriend.

“No thanks.” I walked across the room and sat opposite Drew and Lisa.

She leaned her elbows on the table. “Drew talks to me about all the stuff he has to do on the ranch, and it sounds like a lot of long, hard days. How’d you like growing up there?”

“I hated it at first,” I said. “Moving there at thirteen wasn’t exactly easy.”

Her brows knit together as she turned to Drew. “I thought you said you lived there your whole life?”

“I did. Darby and Janet didn’t move in until Janet and my dad got married. I was fourteen.”

“Oh. I knew Janet was your stepmom. I guess I didn’t realize Darby was your stepsister. You two are so close.”

“It wasn’t always that way. I thought Drew and Devin hated me. I didn’t realize that’s just how brothers are.” I picked up a fry, swiped it through the puddle of ketchup, and tossed it in my mouth. “I never would’ve survived high school without them, though.”

“Darby learned to be tough by the end of her time on the ranch,” Drew said. “She actually turned into a pretty good cowgirl.”

“Aw, thanks.” I took a sip of my drink and turned my attention back on Lisa. “Drew tells me you’re a veterinarian.”

She tucked her red hair behind an ear. “I specialize in dogs and cats. I haven’t seen horses or cows since vet school.”

Most of the girls Drew dated couldn’t handle the farm. It never made any sense to me. They didn’t want to be there but freaked out when he dumped them, even though being with him would mean being on the farm. Sitting here, I started to wonder if Drew was actually going to break his pattern.

Great. If Drew falls in love and does the wedding thing, I’m going to have no one to hang out with. Or live with.

Lisa kissed Drew’s cheek. “Excuse me, honey. I’ve got to go to the bathroom.”

Drew moved out of her way, then watched her walk away, a goofy grin on his face.

“Traitor,” I said.

He grinned at me. “I told you she was great.”

…

Monday after he got off work, Jake came over, even though he’d spent most of yesterday evening at my place as well. I’m pretty anti-let-me-cook-and-serve-you when it comes to men, but Jake had cooked for me twice—three times if you count the brownies. So I’d made him Sunday dinner, going so far as to set my table with candles and buy a good bottle of wine. It felt like a big step, and for me, it was. I was preparing meals and making plans that revolved around his schedule. We talked about my job, and options for my career if things at work continued going badly. And instead of pushing him away because of that, I just went with it. Mostly because I was so damn happy around him I couldn’t help myself.

We ate the leftovers and settled onto the couch to watch a movie. I scrolled through the selection on my TV, enjoying being tucked next to him. “How about this one?”

His eyebrows lowered. “It looks…awful. The guy in it bugs me.”

“He’s funny.”

“Go down two more. I remember thinking that one sounded good.”

I clicked down to the movie he wanted and hit the info button. I started reading about the true-life events of two brave men in World War I. And then my mind shut down. “I can’t even read what it’s about without getting bored. After my day today, I need something funny. And this one,” I said, scrolling back up to my original choice, “will be funny.” I stuck out my lower lip. “Are you telling me that you won’t watch it with me?”

“Don’t,” Jake said, the corners of his mouth twitching from fighting a smile. “That’s not fair.”

I worked at looking even sadder. “All I want is to sit back with a funny movie, and even after I watched baseball with you, you’re going to make me see it all alone?” I leaned in and kissed his neck. “Come on. You know you want to watch it with me.”

Jake laughed. “You think you can just pout and get your way?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Fine. We’ll watch your stupid movie.”

I grinned at him. “Oh, okay. If you insist.” I bought the comedy and settled in next to Jake, happy to have a simple night at home to relax and watch a movie with my really cute…whatever he was.

Shortly after the movie got going, my eyelids felt heavy—I’d stayed up too late with Jake last night and it was catching up with me. I blinked a couple times, and with each blink it took a little longer to keep my eyes open. I rested my head on Jake’s shoulder, thinking I’d just close my eyes for a minute.

When I awoke, the credits were rolling up my TV screen, accompanied by an obnoxious wannabe rap song. Apparently, my minute had turned into two hours.

“You know how you pouted to get your way?” Jake asked.

“Nope,” I said with a smile. “I don’t remember that at all.”

“Then you fell asleep, leaving me to watch this stupid movie by myself. I kept eyeing the remote on the coffee table, wanting to turn it off and watch something else, but I didn’t want to wake you up.”

I stifled a yawn. “The twenty or so minutes I saw of it weren’t that bad.”

Jake kissed my forehead, leaving his lips there as he spoke. “Next time, I’m going to rent the war drama.”

The clock on the cable box read 1:34. In a little over five hours, my alarm would go off. “I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

Jake sighed. “Not this again.”

It took me a second to put it together. “I mean staying up this late night after night Dragging myself out of bed in the morning is going to be killer, and I’m already having enough stress at work without adding lack of sleep.”

“I guess I should go then.”

“I guess so,” I said, but I didn’t move. “It’s just that you’re really comfortable. And you’re warm and you smell nice…”

He ran his fingers down my back, and I had to fight hard to keep my eyes open. I pushed myself up. “Okay, I’ve got to get to bed before I fall asleep again and then you have to deal with me being grouchy in the morning.”

Just before we reached the door, Jake turned and wrapped his arms around my waist. “You know, you forced me to watch a horrible movie—which you slept through—and I still had a good time. You know what that means, right?”

I tipped onto my toes and kissed his perfect lips, one kiss to hold onto tonight. Another to get me through the hours until I could see him again. “That pouting works better than I thought?”

Jake smiled, then his expression turned serious. The way his eyes were boring into mine somehow sent both heat and nerves through my stomach. “I want to tell you something, but I’m afraid it’ll freak you out.”

I swallowed, the gesture taking a lot more effort than usual. I suspected it might include the L-word, and he was right about it freaking me out. Things were finally easy between us again, and I didn’t want to step into the dangerous, serious zone. “Then you better not say it.”

He pulled me closer, our hips bumping together, and covered my mouth with his. As tired as I was a few seconds ago, every part of me was suddenly very alert. He slid a hand under my shirt, his fingertips stroking my bare back. I bit lightly at his bottom lip. He groaned and crushed me to him. Then he thrust his tongue in to meet mine, kissing me so deeply the room spun.

I clung onto him, losing myself in the moment, wanting to drag him to my bedroom but knowing I couldn’t yet. For some reason…I was having trouble remembering it right now. I broke the kiss and worked on getting air back into my lungs.

Jake blew out his breath. He raked a hand through his hair, making it messy. He looked so hot I had to work at holding back my surging hormones. “Good night,” he said, his voice husky. Then he shot me a roguish smile that sent desire burning through my veins. “Sweet dreams.”

Oh, I was pretty sure my dreams would be featuring him tonight. And they’d probably be more dirty than sweet.