Free One Night Forever (The Cinderella Chronicles) by Lisa Renée Jones Page A

moment. “I’ve never had anything
like this happen.”
    “ Anything like
what?” Lauren said feeling a flutter in her chest as she waited for
the response.
    “ I don’t date
employees. Work and personal don’t mix.”
    “ Exactly.”
    “ But what do
two people in our circumstances do? We met outside of work a year
ago. It’s a unique situation I never thought to find myself in.
What do you think we should do, Lauren?”
    This should be an easy
question to answer, but she found herself wanting to ignore good
reason. “We…we have to pretend the past never happened.”
    His brow inched upward.
“Can you?” Matt paused a moment but not long enough for an answer.
“Because I haven’t.”
    Lauren looked down,
trying to hide the emotion she knew would show in her face. She
liked Matt so much. And it went beyond desire. They hardly knew
each other, and yet, he felt like so much more than a
stranger.
    “ I tried to
find you,” he added when she didn’t immediately answer.
    Her eyes instantly
lifted. “You did?”
    “ Why does that
surprise you?”
    Mind racing, Lauren
couldn’t find the words to respond. She didn’t know what to say.
Shocked and more than a little confused, she couldn’t think
straight. Desperate for space, for a way to get her head cleared,
Lauren reached for her purse. And reality slid into her mind with a
hard thud. “I can’t do this. Don’t you see? You have nothing to
lose and I have everything. You are the boss. You have a career and
a future. This industry is small when it comes to reputation. I
can’t allow people to think I slept my way to the top.”
    Pushing to her feet,
Lauren intended to flee. Matt stood, facing her, and effectively
blocked her with his big frame. “Wait.” He paused. “Lauren.” He
said her name and let it linger in the air as if he was trying to
decide what to say. “Tell me you don’t feel anything for me and
I’ll walk away.”
    Why couldn’t he
understand? Frustration made her respond quickly. “It’s not about
that. Don’t you see? It’s about my future. About a mother I support
and a career I have worked my butt off to achieve.”
    His dark eyes studied her
for long moments. “Let me be clear. You’re interested but not at
the risk of damaging your career?”
    She saw no reason to deny
the truth because the final answer was the same. There could be
nothing between them. “Exactly. You have nothing to lose. I, on the
other hand, have everything.“
    Matt didn’t say anything
for a long moment. “I’ll walk you back to the office.”
    “ No!” Lauren
felt the rise of panic. “People might think…”
    “ That we
happened to bump into each other?” he asked, a hint of tightness to
his voice.
    “ I’ll walk
back on my own.” With that said, Lauren stepped around him and
started for the door.
    And as she stepped
outside, her chest was tight, and her stomach in knots. It felt as
if she’d just walked away from something much bigger than a chance
meeting. Something about Matt really felt right. She liked
him.
    But it didn’t
matter.
    There was no hope for
them.
    * * * * *
    Matt turned and watched
Lauren walk from the restaurant. She did things to him. Made him
feel alive. Made him smile and laugh. He couldn’t let her be hurt
because of their shared attraction. She was right. The industry
would punish her reputation if the wrong things evolved out of
this. But what was he supposed to do when his gut said Lauren may
just be “the one”? He’d always heard, when you met that person, you
just knew but he hadn’t believed it. Now, he wasn’t so sure. Lauren
felt special. Somehow, he had to come up with a way to protect her,
and still find out what lie between them.
    And then it hit him. A
slow smile slid onto his mouth as an idea formed.

Chapter Eleven
     
    Lauren knocked on Cat’s
door. In her hands, she held the light blue outfit she’d borrowed a
year ago, fresh from the dry cleaners. She’d taken it that morning.
Why