Free Overnight Cinderella by Katherine Garbera Page A

sailing” until they landed in Atlanta.
    â€œFigures I’d make my big confession and we’d live,” she said, laughing.
    Duke recognized the laughter as a defense mechanism. Dropping a quick kiss on her lips, he tasted her laughter and fear. He wanted to deepen the embrace but didn’t. He knew in his heart that one kiss would never be enough with Cami.
    Cami sighed and leaned closer to him. Resting her shoulder against the back of the seat, she faced him. Her eyes were luminous in the dim overhead light and her skin tumescent. He wanted to caress her skin, to revel in the fact they’d come out of a tricky situation unscathed.
    To feel the softness that had been lacking for so much of his life. He wanted to revel in the differences between man and woman. He wanted to pull her close, then closer, and kiss her pink lips and taste once again her clever tongue.
    â€œOkay?” A strand of her hair escaped the barrette at the back of her neck and curled against her cheek. He wanted to smooth it back. To use that gesture as an excuse to touch her. But she threatened his control.
    She sighed and touched his arm where it lay between them. Her fingers played with the fabric of his white dress shirt. He realized her guards were down because of fatigue and maybe her whispered confession. There was an air of intimacy between them and Duke didn’t want to lose it.
    â€œYes. I hate flying,” she said.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI don’t know. I feel vulnerable in the sky.”
    He wanted to give her his vow. As a knight from days of old. To tell her that whenever he was with her he’d protect her. But in his heart he knew that he might not be able to keep her safe.
    â€œWere you really a cop?”
    â€œYes,” he said.
    â€œWhy did you quit?”
    Ah, the questions of innocence, he thought. Because it was quiet on the aircraft, the lighting created an intimate setting. He found himself leaning a bit closer to her.
    â€œMy wife was killed.”
    â€œYou were married?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œHow did she die? Do you mind telling me? I don’t want to pry.”
    Should he tell her? He thought of Rebecca’s joy when they’d both graduated from the academy and started working for different departments. He slid his free hand into his pocket and fumbled around for Rebecca’s ring. “She was a cop, like me. One night she was killed while on duty.”
    â€œDuke,” she said softly.
    Her eyes said I’m sorry. Her touch said take comfort from me. Her arms, when she opened them, said Come rest against my breast and forget your worries.
    Though he knew he shouldn’t, he was still a man and given to the weaknesses of being human. So he let her pull him into an embrace.
    An embrace that was warm and felt unending. An embrace he realized as he felt her fragile bones beneath his hands he’d craved for a long, long time.

Six
    D uke wanted to escape Cami’s presence after the emotional baring he’d done on the plane, but his code of ethics refused to let her ride the MARTA home from the airport. If they were merely business associates, he’d have had no problem, but they were more. Much more. He needed to set her straight before the situation between them went any further.
    He needed to let her know he wasn’t the kind of guy she wanted. He wasn’t a nine-to-five man or the hero in one of her books. He was a scarred, emotionally aloof man who could offer her only one thing—sex.
    â€œThanks for bringing me home,” she said in the doorway of her condo. “I’m sorry you had to drive all the way to Dunwoody.”
    â€œNo problem,” he said.
    â€œOkay, but I’ll owe you. How about dinner at my place tomorrow night? Believe it or not, I’m a great cook.”
    He believed it. The more he learned about Cami, the more he realized she was his secret fantasy woman. Not the sexual fantasies he’d had as a