Overnight Cinderella by Katherine Garbera Page B

emotions for him, he wanted to take her to the baseball game. He wanted to see her relaxed and having fun. Sitting next to him and driving his hormones crazy. Suddenly he could think of no other way to spend the evening.
    Max smiled, an expression of masculine understanding. A knock at the door interrupted his next comment. Duke beckoned the person to enter.
    Cami strode into the room with her usual energy. Face flushed, her dress design bustling with activity, she held a piece of paper crushed in her grip. Her glasses were slightly askew, and her hair strained to escape the barrette she’d used to confine it.
    â€œDuke, we’ve got trouble—”
    â€œGood afternoon, Ms. Jones,” Max said. “I’ll leave you to discuss this new crisis.”
    Max left quietly, with a dignity Duke had often tried to imitate. He remained standing and Cami rushed to his side. “What’s up?”
    She explained the problem with the florist she’d arranged to create the centerpieces for the Gala and the fact that two florist employees hadn’t passed the security requirement. Duke listened to her talk a mile-a-minute and watched her gesture frantically.
    She enchanted him, he realized. How was he ever going to keep his emotions uninvolved with her?How was he going to keep her safe from whatever it was inside him that drove the people he needed the most away? How was he going to make love to her then walk away?
    And he knew he must walk away. If he didn’t, Cami would, and though he didn’t want to admit it, he thought watching her leave him might destroy him in the process.
    She wound down and Duke found himself wanting to comfort her. No, he thought. Stop it now. Cami Jones was involved in his life for one reason and one reason alone. Sex.
    Even as he told himself those harsh words, he reached out and gave her shoulder a quick squeeze. It was less than she needed at this moment but more than he’d wanted to give. “I trust you to take care of it.”
    Her brown eyes were weary and strained when she looked at him. “What if this whole thing falls apart?”
    â€œIt won’t.”
    â€œI don’t know if I’m the right woman for this job.”
    â€œI couldn’t have handled the event any better than you are.”
    She lit up from the inside, a brilliant fireworks display of joy. “Really?”
    â€œReally,” he said, biting back a smile. Something he found himself doing more and more often. In his entire life, he’d never really found too much to smile about until he’d met this woman.
    â€œI saw that,” she said with a cheeky grin.
    â€œSaw what?”
    â€œYou almost smiled.”
    â€œYou’re right. I almost did.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you?”
    â€œI’m saving my smile for a special occasion.” Reaching out, he pulled her close to hug her. Though he’d promised himself he’d keep his distance. Though he knew that his emotions couldn’t be involved. He also knew it was too late. Already he cared deeply for this woman.
    Â 
    The crowd at Turner Field surged to its feet and cheered on a player but, for the life of him, Duke couldn’t have said what was going on. After years in Japan watching Japanese baseball, the Braves games were a reward he’d promised himself. Tonight he couldn’t say who was at bat and who had the field.
    The only details he knew for certain were that Cami Jones sat next to him, bra-less and sexier than any average woman had a right to be.
    Her long bare legs tempted the hell out of him. From the tips of her blood-red toenails visible through her sandals to her barely-touching-the-top-of-her-thighs white denim shorts. When he’d followed her up the steps to their seats he’d gotten hard. Her bottom was first-class. In fact her entire body was first-class when she wore clothes that didn’t cover her like a bag. She was a knockout.
    Her T-shirt looked