Overnight Cinderella by Katherine Garbera

you to love me.”
    â€œHell, woman. I know that, but I’m trying my damnedest not to hurt you. Help me.”
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    â€œPlease, let me go,” she said softly. Cami sounded as though she was talking around a huge lump in her throat. Felt as if she was, too. As though if she opened her mouth one more time she’d break down and beg him to reconsider.
    â€œI can’t,” he said.
    His voice was raw and husky and made her want to pull him close to her. To hold him against her bosom and comfort him. To rock him slowly in her arms with the same ageless rhythm of the sea caressing the beach. The urge was the opposite of what she’d felt earlier in his arms. But friendship and comfort were her mainstays and passion was unfamiliar.
    He lowered them both to the blanket and lay on his side, enfolding her in his embrace. His body pressed to her back, he rested his chin on the top of her head. His breath stirred her bangs, and it felt so darned right to be held by him. His arousal jutted against her buttocks and she couldn’t fathom why he hadn’t at least taken her up on her offer of her body.
    She closed her eyes. Gripping her hands on his forearms, she held on to him. She wouldn’t let him back away from her again. The fireworks continued to ignite the sky, and she wanted to focus on them but felt surrounded by Duke. She didn’t want to acknowledge that he was going to leave her and probably shortly.
    Unable to help herself, she rocked her hips against his arousal. Never in her dull, boring life had she been held by a man. A man who was aroused by her. A man she wanted so badly she’d take whatever he offered and not count the cost.
    Suddenly the entire situation crystallized in her head. She acknowledged to herself that she wanted Duke in her life. She wanted to continue a relationship with him after their work lives went their separate ways. She wanted to take him into her home and family and shower him with everything he’d never had.
    â€œI’m not asking you for love,” she said quietly.Even though in her heart it was what she wanted most of all. She thought if she convinced him to try a relationship with her she could cover him in love and make him realize what he really needed.
    â€œYou deserve love,” he said firmly.
    â€œMy whole life I’ve waited for a man to see more than a bookish girl with glasses. Finally, I’ve found that man and he wants nothing to do with me.”
    He propelled her around to face him. His hands on her hips, he kneaded her flesh as his gray gaze bore into her. “I want you like hell on fire. I want you like I’ve craved nothing except family and acceptance, so don’t blithely dismiss your effect on me.”
    â€œWhy are you pushing me away?”
    â€œI’ve never been compared to a white knight. I’ve never been any woman’s hero. Cami, sweetheart, I don’t think I have it in me.”
    It’s okay, she thought. I’ll take whatever you have to give me. But she didn’t say the words because then he’d know without a doubt she was in love with him.
    â€œI want you more than any woman I’ve ever met,” he said again.
    Cami let the silence build around them. She had no response for him. She’d given him the key to herself. She’d bartered her body and her emotions, and he’d turned her down. She was probably a fool for staying now but she knew she’d regret it if she left.
    â€œGive me what you can for now. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
    He snorted and lowered her head to his shoulder as if he could no longer look at her. His hands on her back were unsettling. As she lay under the night sky with his arms around her she realized what had been missing in her life.
    She’d heard some people say the moon was elegant and sophisticated, but Cami knew the truth. The moon was a pale reflection of the shining sun. In Duke’s arms