The Cinderella Project (A Comedy of Love, #1) Read Online Free Page B

feel flattered or invaded, to be honest. I’m pretty sure none of that is on the Internet either… .”
    Her smile widened. “Well? Does that at least give you a hint that I might know what I’m doing here? No need to play catch up?”
    I nodded slightly, still awed that that much information was available on me without my knowledge. I had to wonder if she knew my social security number and credit card information as well. This was just weird. It still didn’t change the fact that she was a big risk I didn’t want.
    “You look too professional for this project,” I blurted thoughtlessly. What had I just said? Was that even an excuse for dismissing someone who had obviously done their homework? I groaned inwardly. She didn’t say a word; she just took down her hair and shook it out. I noticed that it flowed to several inches below her shoulders and looked not unlike a mass of liquid fire.
    “There. How’s that?” she said coyly. “I could undo a few of the top buttons on my blouse, too, if that would work. But something tells me that would violate the dress code, among other things.” She winked at me playfully.
    I stammered something, stunned at her forwardness, but she just laughed and said, “Don’t worry, Doctor Cairn. I’m teasing you. Anyway, I won’t get in your way and I’ll be as professional as this job demands. After all, respect is earned. Besides, you have to admit that you need the help now more than ever, what, with the big day closing in on you.”
    What had she just said? How could she know about that ? But then, she somehow knew my favorite color, so why not that I was about to get married? I felt my face flush and my tongue lock up.
    “Your… dissertation defense?” she said, eyeing me quizzically. “It’s coming closer. What… did you think I meant? I really think you could benefit from having someone around to help, even if it’s just filing and organizing your notes, don’t you?”
    “Oh, um… , never mind. I’m still dealing with the effects of a late night and an early morning is all.”
    “So… do we still have a deal?” she asked, tilting her head just a little. Just enough to make her eyes glimmer in a nice way. I glanced away.
    I admired her confidence, her easy manner and her real spirit. I made it a point not to admire anything else. There was no denying that she was considerably better versed on what I was doing than all my other assistants had been combined—even after some of them were done working for me. I also had to admit that I had been rather swamped, of late, between school and work and the wedding. Granted, Ella had been doing the lion’s share of the wedding planning (perhaps a little too much) but it’s not like it wasn’t on my mind at all. I was falling behind on sleep and my personal organizational levels were at an all time low; they weren’t looking to improve any time soon. Maybe… maybe it would be good to get a bit of help, especially since she didn’t seem to be worried about money. Maybe that would give me more time to spend with Ella. I could just assign Moiré to work when I wasn’t there—or at least when I’m not there alone—and I could neatly avoid undesirable situations that might compromise my promise to Ella. I would simply have to keep my personal life completely separate from my work life and ensure the potential for problems was avoided from the get-go. Perhaps this might not be as bad an idea as I had originally thought.
    Somewhere, deep inside of me, I had a feeling that I really just wanted to keep Moiré around. Luckily, that feeling was deep enough that I was able to chalk it up to a standard “male hormone response,” and ignore it.
    “Well,” I said at last, “it might just be that you could help me out with one or two little things. I still think you’d get a better, more comprehensive experience with someone else, but this would only set you back this one semester and you’re what year in