Free Cinderella Screwed Me Over by Cindi Madsen Page A

head toward the other room and I followed him. Inside was a giant, metal sculpture of a skeleton riding a bicycle.
    “That’s actually really cool,” I said. “Interesting and unique.”
    “Should we have them wrap it up and take it to your place?”
    “Um. Yeah, it’s more of a look-at-once kind of cool. See, when you decorate a place the size of mine, you have to exercise proportion control.”
    The murmur of voices floated from a room in the back. I peeked past the divider and saw a couple people milling around the area. “I’m guessing your friend is in there.”
    “I bet you’re right.”
    The back room had a sea of colorful, twisted glass sculptures. Sculptures I could easily place in my clients’ homes. I turned to study one that looked like blue-and-silver flames.
    “Jake, you came!”
    I turned to see a petite girl with choppy black-and-red hair—like the brightest, most unnatural shade of red—hug Jake.
    “What do you think?” she asked.
    Not wanting to intrude, I moved to study the rest of the sculptures. There was a yellow-and-purple one with thin, squiggly pieces exploding from it. Then I saw the little pink sculpture up on a pedestal. It had a green stem and a giant pink bud flopped over the front. Mrs. Crabtree would love it.
    Jake and Tina walked up to me. Anyway, I assumed it was Tina. For some reason, the girl was looking at me like I was some kind of adorable woodland creature.
    “This is Darby,” Jake said. “Darby, this is my friend Tina.”
    “Your stuff is amazing,” I said.
    “Darby’s thing is honesty, so you can be sure she wouldn’t say that unless she meant it.”
    I pointed at the flower. “And I need this. Mrs. Crabtree’s got a pink bathroom and it has this shelf that needs decorations. That piece will fit perfectly there and luckily the shelf’s high enough her granddaughter won’t be able to reach it, so it won’t get broken.” I smiled at Tina. “Sorry, you don’t know her, so you probably don’t care.”
    Tina returned my smile. “I just like hearing that my stuff will be in a bathroom.”
    I laughed. “This bathroom is the size of most people’s bedrooms, so I swear, it’s going to be very well done.” I glanced around the room. “Actually, I’d love to get your card. I’m an interior designer and I’m always on the lookout for good accent pieces. And these are all extraordinary.”
    Tina nudged Jake. “I like her.”
    Jake’s eyes locked onto mine and I forgot how to breathe for a second. “Me, too.”
    …
    “I better take that,” Jake said as we walked out of the gallery.
    I had Mrs. Crabtree’s sculpture in a bag hanging from my arm. Tina had wrapped it in padding and stuffed it into a box. “It’s not like it’s heavy.”
    “No offense, but I haven’t known you very long, and I’ve already seen you lose your shoe and dump everything out of your purse.”
    “I swear I’m not normally clumsy.”
    Jake flashed me a skeptical look and held out his hand. I hesitated for a moment, then went ahead and gave him the bag. “We fixed the floor in the restaurant, by the way. There was a crack that needed to be filled in. I think that’s why your heel caught.”
    “Then it’s a good thing you took care of it.” I bumped my shoulder into his, no longer able to keep myself from flirting with him a little bit. “Especially if someone as clumsy as me is going to be in there again.” And who was I kidding? I couldn’t avoid Blue much longer.
    After being around Jake and Tina, I’d seen another side of him. He was still his charming self, but there was something more. The way he talked to Tina, the way he listened as she went into excruciating detail about how she made each sculpture. I’d also been in the elevator with him enough times to know that his floor was at the top, where the expensive, great-view condos were. “So, you’re a good-looking, successful guy…”
    “Thanks,” Jake said.
    “Not a compliment. I’m wondering why