Cindy and the Prince by Debbie Macomber

Author:Debbie Macomber
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2018-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

“Asking about me…What did you tell him?”

“Not a thing.”

“But…”

“He wanted to look at my appointment schedule for December twelfth, but I wouldn’t let him.”

The chilly sensation that had settled over Cindy dropped below freezing. Her uncle’s refusal would only create suspicion. The detective would be back, and there’d be more questions Sal would refuse to answer. The detective wouldn’t accept that, and he’d return again and again until he had the information he wanted. This stranger would make trouble for her family. In a hundred years, she never would’ve guessed that Thorne would go to such lengths to locate her. She had to find a way to stop him…a way to make him understand and leave things as they were.

Cindy went to bed still thinking about the whole mess and got up even more tired and troubled than she’d been before. She’d repeatedly examined her own role in this situation. Playing the part of Cinderella for one night had seemed so innocent, so adventurous, so exciting. She’d slipped into the fantasy with ease, but the night had ended with the stroke of midnight and she could never go back to being a fairy-tale character again. She’d let go of the illusion, and yes, it had been painful, but she’d had no choice. The consequences of that one foolhardy night would follow her for the rest of her life.

She’d never dreamed it would be possible to feel as strongly about a man in so short a time as she did about Thorne. But her emotion wasn’t based on any of the usual prerequisites for love. It couldn’t be. They’d seen each other only twice.

Thorne might believe he felt as strongly about her, Cindy realized, but that wasn’t real, either. She was a challenge—the mystery woman who’d briefly touched his life. Once he learned the truth and recognized that she’d made a fool of him, it would be over. Given no alternative, Cindy knew she’d have to tell Thorne who she really was.

“He could get me fired,” she said aloud several soul-searching hours later. Her hands clutched her purse protectively as she waited outside the Oakes-Jenning Financial Services building. Employees streamed out in a steady flow. Cindy stood against the side of the building, just far enough back to examine their faces as they made their way out. They all looked so serious. Cindy didn’t know much about the business world, but it certainly seemed to employ dour people, Thorne included.

For most of the afternoon, Cindy had weighed the possible consequences of telling Thorne the truth. Losing her job was only one of several unpleasant options that had entered her mind. And ultimately he could hate her, which would be so much worse than anything else he could do. She wanted to scream at him for being so obstinate, so willful, so determined to be part of her life. He had to know she didn’t want to be found, and yet he’d ignored her wishes and driven her to this. He’d forced her into doing the one thing she dreaded most—telling him the truth.

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