Cinderella's Christmas Affair by Katherine Garbera Page B

What were you planning to discuss?”
    “At the time I was afraid to be alone with you. But now…”
    “Now?” he asked.
    “I think I might have sabotaged myself. Because I can’t wait to be alone with you.”
    “Promise?”
    She leaned up and hugged him tightly to her. He forced himself to let her control the embrace but he wanted—hell, he needed—to crush her to him. To keep her close to him so that she didn’t change her mind.
    “Promise,” she said in his ear.

    Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory had been a noisy affair. CJ’s staff had a million ideas and Pierce had been a jovial host spurring them on. Halfway through dinner Pierce’s significant other, Tawny O’Neil had joined them. The leggy blonde had dropped onto Pierce’s lap and planted one hot kiss on his lips.
    Tawny had been funny and watching her and Pierce together had made CJ long for something she’d never had. A real relationship. One that was based on mutual desire, respect and affection.
    Tad by comparison seemed quiet and brooding. And now that they were sitting in his car outside her condo building, she wasn’t sure how to proceed. So much had changed between them and yet her fears remained.
    “Alone at last,” Tad said.
    She wanted to smile at him and keep it light. He was just a guy. Just an ordinary guy. But he wasn’t. And she’d always known that.
    Sleeping with Tad was the biggest risk she could take. Because she was already half in love with him. He embodied so many of the qualities she wanted in her Mr. Right. Cementing their relationship by making it a sexual one was all she’d thought of since this morning when he’d kissed her in the elevator. But he wanted something from her she’d promised herself she’d give no man.
    “Second thoughts?” he asked, tracing one finger down the side of her face.
    “Not really. It’s just that now that we’re alone, I’m not sure what to do.”
    His features were illuminated by the dashboard lights and in his eyes she searched for some emotion that he felt but couldn’t acknowledge. She saw tenderness and desire. Was that enough?
    She was trying so hard not to let her body control her life again. And she realized that protecting herself from being hurt might be a bigger risk. Was it a risk she was willing to take?
    He leaned close to her; his breath brushed her cheek. Her face still tingled from the rough rasp of his fingertip. Awareness spread throughout her body, pooling in her center. She shifted on the seat, clenching her thighs together.
    “Invite me up for a cup of coffee,” he said. He had no doubts. Maybe she was thinking about this too much.
    She tilted her head to the side. Inside her the heavy beating of lust awoke. Each beat of her heart seemed louder and fiercer than the one before it. Her clothes felt constricting.
    Tad’s breathing was shallow as well. His nostrils flared and pupils dilated. Her mind noted every masculine detail and she realized that there was no turning back. She’d made up her mind earlier in the day.
    “Want some coffee?”
    “Hell, I want more than that,” he said.
    “How about something sweet with your coffee? I still have some cookies, pies and cakes I baked the other night. Is that enough to satisfy you?”
    “You’re all the dessert I need.”
    She hesitated with her hand on the door. “Am I really?”
    Tad framed her face with both of his hands and brushed his lips against hers. “Are you having doubts again?”
    “You already asked me that.”
    “I want you to be very sure of this, Cathy Jane, because once we make love everything will change.”
    She swallowed. She knew that it would. And perhaps that was why she was hesitating. But she couldn’t live the rest of her life in fear of a man’s touch. Afraid that she’d indulge the passionate side of her nature at the cost of her sanity.
    “No doubts.”
    She got out of the car and led the way into her building. The doorman smiled and waved at them as they waited for the