Happily Ever After Collection by Hart Cassi

Author:Hart , Cassi [Hart , Cassi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-12-25T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 6

Cindy

I’m on cloud nine as I race to the coffee shop the next morning. I had to slip out at the crack of dawn to get here for the opening shift, telling Henry I had a busy day but not elaborating further. He adorably wanted to take me out to breakfast, and then offered to drop me off at home, but I can’t risk one of the step-monsters seeing his fancy car and discovering our relationship. Since their main goal in life, after making it big on Broadway, of course, is to ruin mine, I can’t let them know anything about Henry.

My joy dissolves a little as I unlock the shop. Even as my heart is soaring that Henry loves me, I know it can’t last. How can it when I keep chickening out of telling him the truth? I know I don’t deserve him, despite his sweet reassurances. I can only enjoy it while it lasts.

The morning is hectic, and I’m starting out with a sleep deficit thanks to Henry’s eagerness last night. After a brief nap in his office, we’d returned to his apartment where we had sex twice before falling asleep in the wee hours of the morning. I loved every minute of it, but now I’m exhausted and a little sore, with another six hours to go before I can get back to my attic room for some sleep.

The espresso machine clogs, and taking it apart to clear the nozzle interrupts my seventy-fifth daydream about Henry’s roaming hands and tender lips and what they can do to my body. It’s just as I get it put back together again that my step-sisters burst into the shop, wielding a newspaper like a sword. They round the counter and wave it in my face.

“This is you, isn’t it?” Malory shrieks.

Confused, I take it and look at it. There’s a paparazzi style picture of Henry leaving the swanky restaurant we’d gone to on our first date. And I’m there too, a step behind him, his hand tight around mine. You can’t see my face, so I shake my head and feign confusion.

“What is this?” I ask.

Etta rolls her eyes and snaps the paper away from me. “Don’t play dumber than usual. We can tell it’s you by your ridiculous thrift store shoes.”

My cheeks burn with outrage for my precious shoes. She pokes the picture some more. “You can see all the stupid plastic gems you glued on the heels. They’re the only shoes you ever wear besides those filthy sneakers.” She points to my work shoes, which are spotlessly clean, and it’s all I can do to keep from slapping her. After being treated like a human by Henry lately, I guess I’ve grown less patient with their awful barbs.

“What in the hell do you think you’re doing with Henry Blanchard?” Mal asks, as if she’s the one who should be with him instead.

Thankfully, the bell above the door tinkles, and I push past them, grateful to have

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