Cinderella Screwed Me Over

my feet all night.”

“It’s no trouble. In fact, it’ll be nice. I’ve been going all day.” Jake extended his hand. “You ready?”

Jake and I made the short journey up to his place. Admittedly, his living in my same building was a perk tonight.

He opened the fridge and stared inside. “How does lemon-pepper chicken sound?”

“Sounds amazing.” I leaned back against the island counter as he pulled out the ingredients. “What do you need me to do?”

“Just keep me company.” Within a few minutes, the lemony scent of the grilling chicken filled the air, making my mouth water. Jake washed his hands then turned to me. “So, about the guy in the elevator the other night…?”

“I practically forgot about that.” I wondered how Karl’s eye was shaping up. Probably more yellow than purple. “It seems like ages ago.”

“I was worried that’s why you were avoiding me.”

“I wasn’t avoiding you, I swear. Everything’s been crazy lately.” I put more of my weight on the counter and crossed my ankles. I told him about ending up in the wrong bar, and as I gave the recap of the pool game gone wrong, the muscles along Jake’s jaw tensed.

“What happened to the other guy?” he asked. “At least tell me they threw him out.”

“I think they were regulars, because the bouncer picked them over us.”

Jake shook his head. “I would’ve taken his head off for something like that.” The protective way he said it made my heart skip a couple of beats.

“Believe me, I wanted to. Anyway, Karl’s eye was swelling pretty badly, and since he lives in north Boulder, I had him come up to ice his eye. The guy can actually be pretty funny when he wants to be.”

Jake braced his hands on the island on either side of me. “Sounds like I have some competition. I better step up my game.”

I placed my hand on his bicep and brushed my thumb across the curve of it. “I’m your only competition.”

He cocked his head, confusion creasing his features. “You’re my competition to win you over?”

“Yep. Me and all my issues. And the exes who gave me issues. Oh, and Ms. Barbara Covington.”

Jake’s eyebrows shot up. “This is getting more interesting by the second.”

“She’s my new client—the one I was with at Blue on Monday. She’s had four husbands and all she talks about is how horrible the marriages were.”

“So let me guess, she’s telling you that you should never get married.”

“Actually, she told me I should find a wealthy man and marry him so that when it ends, I can console myself with the finer things in life. I told her that in my experience, men like that are either workaholics who ignore you or rich, lazy pricks.” I ran my hand up his arm and placed it on the side of his neck. “She suggested I go for the workaholic so I can take a lover.”

“Nice,” he said, and I could feel his deep voice vibrate through my palm.

“She also has this strange philosophy about how a woman should reel in a man.” I shook my head. “I don’t really want to get into it, because just thinking about it makes me angry.” I looked into his blue eyes—they were pale tonight, no hint of the green I saw the other day.

Then it hit me. Maybe Barbara was right. “Do you think I’m some damsel in distress who needs a big strong man to save me? Is that the appeal of this…?” I motioned between us.

Jake laughed. “Are you serious?”

“Every time I’m around you, I’m a complete mess. It’s the only explanation for why you keep asking me out. You think I need rescuing.”

Jake closed the gap between us, pinning me against the counter. His eyes locked onto mine. “I like you, Darby. That’s why I keep asking you out. You act tough—and I’m not saying you’re not —but you’ve also got a kind heart. You’re funny. And instead of playing games, you tell me what you’re thinking.”

He leaned down and lightly pressed his lips against mine. “And you’re really sexy.” He ran his tongue along my bottom lip, his weight holding me in place. My knees went weak and a whole lot of fire, fire, fire wound through every inch of my body.

“I like you, too,” I said, my voice coming out breathy. “But I always choose the wrong guys. Always. Trust me, I’ve studied all my relationships in and out, and no matter how much I learn, I still choose wrong.”

Jake put his hand on my hip, like he had done so many times before, and slid his thumb between my shirt and pants, brushing the skin underneath. “I guess it’s a good thing I chose you, then.”

The way he was looking at me made it hard to breathe. Thinking clearly wasn’t really possible with his lips so close to mine either. So instead of trying to come up with something to say, I closed the gap and kissed him. I didn’t hold back, putting all the overwhelming emotions swirling through me into the kiss.

He made a low sound in the back of his throat, and it seemed to take him great effort to pull away. He exhaled, then turned to the stove and flipped the chicken.

I walked up behind him, put my arms around him, and leaned my head on his strong back. “Sweet talk and a guy who knows how to cook? A girl could get used to this.”

Chapter Seventeen

Stephanie had shown up at my office on Friday and announced we were going to Blue for our weekly wedding planning session so she could meet “this Jake guy.” When I couldn’t talk her out of it, I’d reminded her that he and I were keeping things light, no matter what she thought of him. The fact that she’d rolled her eyes and said, Yeah, I’ve heard the speech. Numerous times, didn’t give me a whole lot of confidence in how this lunch was about to go down.

After Mindy seated us, Stephanie shook her head, her disappointed expression aimed at me. “I can’t believe you didn’t ask for him.”

I placed my napkin on my lap. “I’m not going to march in unannounced and demand to see him. Mindy will tell him I’m here, and he’ll come over if he gets a chance.”

Stephanie picked up her phone when it rang. To my surprise, she sent the call to voice mail. I watched her turn it off and toss it in her purse. “Whatever it is, it can wait.”

“If reaching over the table and checking your temperature wouldn’t knock over our water glasses, I’d do it.”

“I feel like I never see you anymore. Our short e-mails and texts just aren’t enough.” Stephanie placed her purse in the seat next to her. “By the way, Karl called and got your number. I hope that was okay.”

“Yeah, it’s cool. He sent me a picture of his black eye and we made jokes back and forth. He’s actually pretty funny.”

Stephanie leaned in. “You two aren’t…starting something?”

“No. Nothing like that. But we don’t hate each other anymore.”

“I never know with your philosophy on relationships…”

Jake neared the table. He smiled at me and I smiled back, my heart skipping a couple beats.

“…maybe you’re juggling half the guys in the city and you just forgot to tell me,” Stephanie finished.

My smile faded. I wasn’t sure what to say. Every damn time he came around, someone said something about me that I wished they hadn’t.

“I guess I should just feel lucky I’m one of them,” Jake said from behind Steph, causing her to jump.

That made my smile reappear. “Stephanie, I’d like you to meet Jake. Jake, my best friend, Stephanie.”

Stephanie twisted toward him. “That part about her juggling lots of guys was a joke. She’s really not.”

Jake sat next to me and draped his arm over my shoulders. “I know you have a no-kissing policy in front of clients. What’re the rules about kissing in front of your friends?”

I leaned in and pressed my lips against his. “I don’t have rules about