The Cinderella Bride Read Online Free Page B

uncomfortable.”
    â€œReally? Even these stainless steel padded benches?”
    She caught the sarcasm. “I’m not sure even your cat would sleep on those.”
    â€œWhen I left, Hinckley was sleeping in the sink, so I wouldn’t use him as a benchmark.”
    â€œI’m sure I’m simply missing the point.”
    â€œShe says, desperately trying to regain her diplomacy,” he replied with a chuckle. “Tell me, if you don’t like this design, what do you like?”
    Emma shrugged. Her experience in hotel rooms, particularly five-star hotel rooms, was limited to the Fairlane. “A comfortable bed.”
    â€œThat’s all? A good bed?”
    â€œOkay, a very comfortable bed. What can I say? I’m practical. After all, that’s where I’d be spending the bulk of my time, right?”
    He arched a brow. “You don’t say.”
    â€œSleeping,” she stated hastily. Heat flooded every inch of her, and the mischievous glint in his eye didn’t help. “If I’m staying in a hotel room, it’s because I need a place to sleep.”
    â€œOf course.” The glint persisted. Emma fought another rush of heat.
    â€œBut,” Gideon continued, “if all you want is a bed, you can go to the local motel. You go to a hotel like the Landmark because you want atmosphere.”
    â€œThe best for the best,” she replied, parroting hotel management’s catch phrase.
    â€œMore than that. You have to exceed their expectations.” With the file still in his grip, he perched on the corner of her desk, close enough that Emma noticed his windburned knuckles. Outdoorsman’s hands. Raw and weathered from work. The hands of a man who wasn’t afraid to use them.
    â€œâ€¦fantasies.”
    She jerked her attention back to Gideon’s questioning stare.
    â€œI was saying that for some people, a hotel room is their way of living out their fantasies,” he said.
    â€œWhich leads me back to my original question. What do you want in a hotel room?” He leaned a little closer.
    â€œSurely you have one or two fantasies of your own, Miss O’Rourke.”
    Beneath her ribs, Emma’s heart skipped a beat. She could swear his eyes had grown two shades darker, as if he knew the path her mind had started to travel. It didn’t help matters that his ear hovered close to her lips, as if he expected her to confess some little secret.
    He’s talking about hotel marketing, she reminded herself.
    Yet the air between them had grown still. Disturbingly so. She hadn’t realized before how Gideon’s foot dangled perilously close to her calf. They hadn’t made contact, but she could still feel him through her stockings.
    She turned to her left, hoping to break the spell. “I doubt I could suggest anything marketing hasn’t thought of already.”
    â€œStop dodging the question.”
    â€œI’m not dodging.” Not much, anyway. She grabbed the first stack of papers available and pretended to sort them. “I’m pretty basic when it comes to fantasies.”
    To her dismay, that earned her a melodic chuckle. “Anyone ever tell you that you’re too serious, Miss O’Rourke?”
    Better serious than foolish. “Maybe I’m just easy to satisfy.”
    â€œOh, I hope not. That would be a shame.”
    Why? Emma glanced over her shoulder at him. He was studying her again, with that probing look that made her skin come alive. “Three o’clock,” she said, saved by the chiming of her desk clock. “Your grandmother’s free now.”
    â€œTime then for my command appearance.” He rose and put the sketches back in the file. “This has been a very interesting conversation, Miss O’Rourke. We’ll have to do it again sometime.”
    â€œSure,” she answered. Whenever you’re killing time.
    She tried to ignore the way her stomach somersaulted