Free Seducing Cinderella by Gina L. Maxwell Page A

walking into a room with all eyes on her no longer sent her into a panic. He was right. She might not be celebrity beautiful, but she did look one hundred percent better than she had a week ago. There was no reason she shouldn’t find some confidence in that. Stretching up on her tiptoes Lucie placed a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, Reid.”
    One side of his mouth quirked up. “Anytime, sweetheart.”
    With her newfound conviction and brand-new look, Lucie pushed her shoulders back and strode down the hall.
    …
     
    Reid dragged his hands down his face as soon as Lucie turned the corner. What he wouldn’t give for a sweaty gym and a tough sparring partner to beat him senseless right now. The visualization technique was something that could be applied in any situation so he knew it would work for her. What he hadn’t known was how it would work him over .
    He couldn’t even say for sure who he’d been speaking as that whole time. At some point it felt like he’d slipped out of character. He hadn’t been picturing Dr. Dipwad staring at her lips and kissing her. He’d been picturing himself.
    “I need a drink,” he mumbled, making his way to the room. As soon as he crossed the threshold he spotted Lucie. Like she was the North his gaze would always point to. The simple pale blue shift dress she wore was understated and yet magnificent. He kept eyes on her as he crossed to the table set up with punch and premade cocktails. Grabbing one of the drinks he watched her ass as it moved under the thin material with every step she took. His gaze drifted lower to wander over the curves of her smooth legs. Damn, she’s hot .
    He raised the glass then stopped. If he had to guess based on the shower’s signature drink, Lizzie was due to have a girl. It looked like a crazy version of a Shirley Temple, bright pink with cherries stabbed on an open plastic diaper pin straddling the rim of the glass.
    “It’s emasculating, isn’t it?”
    Reid glanced to his left to see a well-built Hispanic guy standing next to him with an amused smirk on his face. He was holding two open bottles of Corona instead of the current embarrassment he held.
    “There’s not even any alcohol in that thing,” the guy said.
    “Holy shit, that’s inexcusable.” He put it back on the table with a disgusted look at the whole set up. “How can they justify that?”
    The man laughed, and held out the extra beer. “It’s a baby shower, man. That’s all the excuse they need to suck anything even remotely manly out of the occasion. Normally we aren’t even supposed to step foot in these things, but Lizzie’s kind of like the darling of the hospital staff. Everyone loves her so it became an ‘everyone’ event. I’m Eric.”
    “Reid.” Gladly accepting the offered bottle, he shook Eric’s hand before twisting off the cap and downing half of it in one shot. “Thanks, man, you’re a lifesaver.”
    “Don’t mention it.”
    Looking past Eric he saw Lucie break a hug with a very pregnant girl and then walk toward her doctor who was talking with another gentleman at a table across the room. Dressed in an expensive suit and his dark hair gelled and combed to the side, he looked like the stereotypical trust-fund baby. Someone who’d always had money even before he became a doctor and was very comfortable with the finer things in life.
    The doctor was in midsentence when he noticed Lucie. It was a true record-scratch moment. He did a small double take and his eyes damn near popped out of his head while his tongue rolled out of his mouth onto the floor like one of those old cartoons.
    But Reid couldn’t blame the guy. Lucie was in rare form. She was crossing the room with obvious intent. A huntress approaching her trapped prey with a hint of a knowing smile at the corner of her mouth. He could almost hear her saying, Nowhere to run…I’ve got you now.
    Mann excused himself from the table without even sparing the guy he’d been talking to a courtesy