A Modern Cinderella. Kate Hardy

having to control his smile, Will leaned back and nodded. ‘See, I was going to tell you what I really think is making you feel cooped up…and how I feel about the same thing…But now…? Now I think I’m just going to let you come to your own conclusions. That way I get to be both cute and mysterious…’

      ‘That’s not what I—’ She fought the need to throw her sandwich at him as she felt heat rising on her neck. ‘Don’t edit my lines outside the office, Ryan.’

      ‘You know,’ he sighed dramatically, and let loose a killer one of those smiles, ‘suddenly I’m in a much better mood than I was twenty minutes ago.’

      Will had the gall to chuckle, looking at her from the corner of his sparkling eyes. Darn it. He was gloating, wasn’t he? What had happened to the supposedly professional relationship they’d agreed to have? Flirting with her, using a combination of random winks, sparkling eyes and that smile, could hardly be considered professional.

      Cassidy felt distinctly as if she was constantly waging a battle of some kind with him and…heaven help her…he was winning.

      He was showing her that he could read her better than anyone ever had—get under her skin and bug her more than anyone ever had—get her hormones to scatter all rational thought to the wind and make her laugh when she really didn’t want to by lifting his eyebrows ridiculously at her like he currently was…

      With a shake of her head she dragged her gaze away from him, to look for some of the peace the ocean had briefly brought her way. ‘You are still the most annoying man on the planet, you know.’

      ‘Ahh…but I’m also cute.’ He inhaled deeply through his nose, smug satisfaction oozing from the rumble of his voice. ‘And mysterious…’

      When she glanced sideways she saw him take another bite of his sandwich. Instead of saying anything smart in return she did the same thing. They sat for another ten minutes in what could almost have been misconstrued as a companionable silence, eating and looking out over the ocean. It was nice. Under further scrutiny Cassidy realised to her complete and utter astonishment it was better than nice. She almost felt…content…and it had been a long time since she’d felt that way…

      ‘Do you think she’ll ever forgive him?’ Will asked.

      Cassidy turned her head to look at his face. ‘Rachel?’

      He nodded, studying her eyes with the silent intensity she was now almost used to. ‘She can be pretty bloody-minded when she digs her heels in.’

      Cassidy shrugged one shoulder. ‘It’s self-preservation. Look where being up-front with him got her last time.’

      ‘She knew how Nick felt about her.’

      ‘No. She thought she knew how Nick felt about her. Then she convinced herself she was wrong…’ A memory from real life wrapped itself around Cassidy’s memories of their last script, making her turn her gaze away and frown at the ocean. ‘The last argument they had was pretty heated.’

      ‘Lots of things can get said in the heat of an argument that might not have been meant the way they sounded…’

      ‘They can.’

      ‘Maybe we should have them talk it through?’

      Cassidy grimaced, then looked sideways at him. ‘I think Rachel would rather have needles poked in her eyes.’

      ‘So would Nick. Hot ones.’

      It made her smile. ‘They both need a smack upside the head.’

      To her amazement, Will smiled back. ‘That would make for a short script.’

      ‘True.’

      Dark lashes flickered as he searched her eyes, then Will nodded firmly—just the once—as if he’d made some kind of momentous decision. Swiping a palm against his thigh, he reached his large hand towards her. ‘Will Ryan.’

      Cassidy arched a brow, her smile still in place. ‘What are you doing, you idiot?’

      ‘Starting over.’ He jerked his chin at his hand. ‘The idea is that you now put your hand in mine and introduce yourself the way I just did. Give it a try. Take a deep breath if you need to. Go on. You can do it.’

      ‘Uh-huh.’ The smile grew. ‘Patronising me is really going to help your cause.’

      Will shook his head. ‘Count to ten and swallow down the sarcasm. Otherwise it’s going to get to the point where—when we’re done with the script—only one of us is coming out of that room alive…’

      ‘You were the one who suggested getting a knife.’

      ‘Malone. Don’t make me turn on the charm.’

      It wasn’t an empty threat. If Cassidy hadn’t known that from experience she’d have known it from the way his eyes darkened several shades and his voice lowered an octave to a deep grumble that spoke of tangled sheets and early morning pillow talk. The thought made her smile falter.

      Dropping her chin so she could study his outstretched hand with caution, she weighed up the danger of keeping her distance versus taking a chance and ending up friends with him again without her heart wanting more. It was risky.

      Long fingers waggled in the air between them, and his voice lowered another octave, sending a shimmer of sensual feminine awareness of nearby hot male across her body. ‘Come on, Cass…’

      She wondered how he managed to sound like temptation itself—and scary at the same time. Did he even know he was doing it? Or how dangerous a decision it was? Because, despite the intimation, they had never actually been ‘friends’ at any point of their relationship—there had always been something more.

      Taking a deep breath, she swallowed hard and lifted her arm, her hand hesitating mere inches from his. It was Will who closed the gap this time, circling his fingers around hers and holding on—allowing the warmth of his touch to seep through her skin and travel into her veins, where it rushed up her arm towards her racing heart. He clasped more firmly and shook their joined hands up and down.

      Then he repeated, in a voice laced with determination, ‘Will Ryan. Known to be the most annoying man on the planet at times. Tendency towards occasional arrogance that I’m never going to learn to control. Strange obsession with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at two in the morning…’

      Cassidy smiled as her gaze travelled up his arm, past the lock of errantly curled hair below his ear to the sparkling green of his eyes. Then she shook her head and swallowed down the need to giggle like a shy schoolgirl. ‘Cassidy Malone. Known to be the woman with a natural knack for public humiliation. Tendency to over-think things to the point of complete randomness. Strong belief that peanut butter and jelly anywhere in the vicinity of a slice of bread is just wrong…’

      ‘Hello, Cassidy Malone—can I call you Cass?’

      ‘Somehow I doubt I’ll be able to stop you.’

      Will smiled that smile, then cocked his head as he ran the pad of his thumb back and forth over her knuckles. ‘We could use this for Nick and Rachel, you know…’

      Cassidy rolled her eyes and attempted to quietly extricate her hand from his. ‘Just no escaping those two, is there?’

      ‘You want to?’ He held onto her hand.

      ‘Do I want to what?’

      ‘Escape them for a while?’ The thumb kept brushing over her skin, distracting her from looking away from his mesmerising eyes.

      It meant it took a second or two longer than normal for her to focus on what he’d said. ‘Will, we can’t keep taking breaks if you want to get this thing done. It’s counter-productive. You know that.’

      He studied her intently. ‘You’re hating every minute of this, aren’t you?’

      Not every minute, no. She loved rediscovering her muse, she loved it