Read Cinderella's Big Sky Groom for Free Online Page B

pay the check and take the woman back to her car.
    Unfortunately, though, for some insane reason, he couldn’t bear to let her go. Not quite yet.
    She glanced up from her meal and asked softly, “You do like it here in Whitehorn, don’t you?”
    â€œYes. I do.”
    â€œYou said you were raised in Billings?”
    â€œRight.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you move back there, when you were…ready for a change?”
    â€œI have no family there anymore. My folks have been dead for several years now.”
    â€œNo brothers or sisters?”
    â€œOne of each. But we’re not close. And they’ve moved away, too. My sister lives in Salt Lake City. And my brother’s in Southern California now. Works for some electronics firm, I think.”
    She picked up her water glass. Her champagne flute was empty. He checked the bottle—empty, too. “I’ll order another one.”
    â€œNo.” She drank, set the water glass down. “Better not.” He upended the bottle in its bucket of ice as she started to slide her napkin in at the side of her plate.
    He could see the end of the evening in those eyes of hers.
    â€œDessert,” he said. “You have to have dessert.”
    â€œOh.” Her eyelashes fluttered down, then lifted again. “No more. Really.” A busman appeared and whisked their plates away.
    Ross waited for him to leave before coaxing, “It is your birthday, after all. And they have something really special here. Dark chocolate truffle cake. It’s my own personal weakness, I have to admit.”
    â€œTruffle cake.” She considered. And she did it charmingly, tipping her head to the side, touching the tip of her tongue to the corner of her lip for an instant, as if she could actually taste a bit of chocolate there.
    What would it feel like, to touch his own tongue to those lips of hers? Good, he imagined. Very, very good…
    She drew in a breath. “No. I’m not hungry anymore. Not hungry at all.”
    He should have just let it go at that. But he didn’t. “So what? It’s chocolate. Eat it for…the pleasure of it. And because it’s your birthday.”
    She stared at him. Awareness, and of much more than the temptation of chocolate, seemed to weave itself around them like a net of silk—or like the silver threads in that dress of hers, subtle, but so damn seductive.
    Then she blinked. “No.” Her voice was firmer now. “I really don’t want dessert.”
    Time to call for the check. But he didn’t. “Well, you’ll wait for me, won’t you, if I want some?”
    â€œOf course.”
    â€œCoffee?”
    â€œI’d love some.”
    He signaled the waiter and whispered in the man’s ear.
    â€œWhat did you tell him?” she demanded when the waiter had hurried off.
    â€œGuess.”
    She laughed again. God, he really did like the sound of her laugh.
    â€œI know what you did. You told him it was my birthday, didn’t you?”
    â€œGuilty as charged.”
    â€œOh, Ross…”
    It was the first time she’d called him Ross. He liked the way his name sounded on her lips. Liked it far too much.
    â€œYou can blow out the candle,” he said. “And I’ll eat the cake.”
    Three waiters appeared, singing the birthday song.
    They marched to the table, and put the slice of cake with its single candle in front of her. The song ended. Delicately she blew out the flame.
    â€œHappy birthday!” the waiters chorused one more time.
    â€œOh, thank you,” she said, giggling like a kid and clapping her hands.
    The waiters served the coffee, then made themselves scarce.
    Lynn plucked the candle from the cake, set it on a side dish and slid the plate across to him. “There you go. Indulge yourself.”
    He picked up his fork. “You sure you won’t have any?”
    â€œDon’t you start in again.”
    â€œJust