Cinderella And The Ceo. SUSAN MEIER

work for the rest of the day. When they got home, Laurel started dinner. Deke took Audra to softball practice. Aside from a few giggled comments from Sophie about junior kindergarten, dinner conversation centered on softball. Deke and Laurel’s mother cleared up the dishes. Laurel helped with homework. When Deke drove Laurel’s mother home for the night, Laurel got the girls ready for bed.

      And the whole time Laurel saw—favor by favor, kindness by kindness—that this man was not at all who he said he was. But more than that, he wasn’t who he thought he was. He said he didn’t want to be tied down, but he easily committed to Audra and her softball team, he played with Sophie and even drove Judy home. He didn’t have a selfish bone in his luscious body.

      He also liked company, evidenced by the way he had never used the TV upstairs. He sat downstairs with Laurel, Judy and the girls. He liked being part of a family, and he fit into Laurel’s as if he was meant to be there. Yet he honestly believed he wasn’t the kind to settle down.