“I’m Cinderella,” she says, and I can’t tell if she’s serious or if she’s falling asleep. Maybe it’s a little bit of both.
“How so?” I ask.
“Oh, you know. Rags to riches. Little apartment and waiting tables to a mansion with a grotto. Clearance rack to Prada. A ring that would make Grace Kelly jealous. Soon we’ll be married and then…it’ll be over. Midnight. And we all know what happens to Cinderella at midnight,” she murmurs.
“You’re not Cinderella,” I tell her.
But she’s dozing off. “And I love the ring,” she says, and like a dimming light, she’s out.
After that, I roll onto my back. Despite being exhausted, I’m wide awake. My brain is anyway. I can’t stop thinking about all the moments we’ve spent together. The heated banter in the beginning, running into her at the Cockpit. Watching her dance. Feeling myself inside her. Watching her face as orgasms rolled from me into her. The way she lit up in the studio when I told her we could make it a dance studio. I guess I never realized in all of those moments what was happening.
I hate to say it, but Andrew was right. I’m falling for her, hard. And the worst part about it all is that I never thought about what that would mean when it all comes to an end.
Chapter 32
Mila
“Is Dom really okay with this?”Brynn asks as she helps me with my eyeliner. I used to do my makeup for dance when I was younger, but that was years ago and it wasn’t this kind of dancing. I was never very good at cat-eye.
“He told me that he doesn’t think that the future wife of a CEO should waitress, but he said nothing about dancing,” I tell her.
“I can’t believe you’re engaged,” Amanda swoons. “It’s so romantic.”
“And out of character,” Brynn says, moving to the other eye. There’s a big match tonight at the ring, and the girls are going to be dancing in between rounds.
“I want to see the ring again,” Rachel says. I pull back from Brynn and hold out my hand with a smile.
“God, it’s so gorgeous!” Amanda says.
“It is,” I say, biting my lip.
“I wonder how much he dropped on that,” Rachel says.
“It was his mother’s,” I say, and they all freak out. Well, all except Brynn.
“What do you mean out of character?” I ask her as she touches up her own make-up in her locker mirror.
“Hmm? Oh, just that he’s willing to go through with it,” she says, and my eyes lock on her. I don’t know if she’s told the other two about what she overheard. That the relationship and marriage are all a ruse.
“Go through with what?” Rachel asks.
“Marriage,” she says, and I feel a small amount of relief. She’s not dropping the bomb. But I still find myself curious.
“A rich, handsome man like that? Not get married?” Amanda asks.
“Not Dom,” Brynn says.
“Why do you say that?” I ask carefully. Brynn knows that it’s all fake. But I’m starting to think that she doesn’tbelieveit’s all fake. And she’s prodding me to see if she can figure it out.
“Think about it. Dom is filthy rich, sexy, and has a very high status. If the man wanted to fall in love, he could. If he wanted to be married, he could. But here he is, a silver fox–”
“With no Fox-ette.” Amanda shakes her head pitifully.
“Exactly,” Brynn says.
“I think you forget I have a rock on my finger that says otherwise,” I tell her, and her eyes lock on mine. Then a small, knowing smile crosses her lips.
“I guess I forgot that you two are in love and you’re going to get married soon, and it’ll be happily-ever-after from that day on.”
