Lisa Childs - Colton's Cinderella Bride

He showed her why—with his mouth. He lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers before deepening the kiss.

Passion coursed through Juliette, and she kissed him back with all the desire she felt for him. Her hands moved through his short, spiky dark gold hair as she held his head to hers.

His arms tightened around her, and he shuddered slightly. Lifting his mouth from hers, he panted for breath and murmured, “The key card...”

She fumbled inside his jacket until she found it. When she pulled it out, the card nearly slipped from her fingers. Blake caught it and swiped it through the lock. Then he pushed open the door and carried her over the threshold.

The significance of the gesture must have sobered him a little because he set her on her feet and closed the door. And as he did, he ran his hand through the hair she’d tousled. “I—I got carried away,” he murmured, his face flushed.

“Uh, technically I was the one who got carried away,” she said. “Or carried down...the stairs.”

His sexy mouth curved into a grin. But the humor didn’t entirely reach his green eyes; he still looked troubled. Maybe he’d changed his mind about bringing her to his room. He left her standing by the door as he headed to the bar on the other side of the large suite.

“Don’t worry,” she assured him. “I know you carrying me over the threshold doesn’t make me your bride.”

He shuddered at the thought.

She’d been so hot earlier—in his arms, with his mouth on hers. But now she was chilled.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just that I want nothing to do with marriage. My dad has had more than his share of marriages and I don’t think any of them made him happy.” His mouth pulled down into a frown now. “Actually I don’t think anything makes him happy...except maybe his company and his money...”

“I’m sure that you do,” she said. “That he loves you very much...” He had to be so proud of Blake; she’d heard that instead of going to work for Colton Energy with his oldest sister, Blake had launched his own successful start-up company straight out of business school.

He snorted. “You don’t know my father,” he said. “He doesn’t love anyone but himself.”

She’d heard that Fenwick Colton was one selfish son of a bitch. But how could he not love his own child?

She’d been feeling sorry for herself until now—until realizing that even though she’d lost her parents, at least she’d had no doubt that she had made them happy and that they had loved her.

His jaw was tense, a muscle ticking in his cheek. “I’m not going to make the mistakes he has. No marriage for me. No kids. Then nobody will feel like they don’t matter as much as business does to me—because that is all that’s going to ever matter to me.”

He was warning her, but it wasn’t a warning that she needed. She had no intention of getting married or having kids, either. She was taking criminal justice courses at community college because she wanted to be a cop, specifically a K9 cop. Her other job was helping out at the Red Ridge canine training center, and she loved working with the dogs.

“Maybe I’m more like my dad than I realized,” he murmured. Along with Blake’s words, she heard the pain and resentment in his voice. And she felt his pain, as well.

She stepped away from the door, crossing the room to where he stood by the bar with the wall of windows behind him, looking down on Red Ridge. Like she’d always thought he would look down on her.

But Blake Colton wasn’t the spoiled, privileged prince she’d thought he would be. He was vulnerable and charming and incredibly handsome. He sighed and blew out a ragged breath. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t be thinking about anything but how lucky I am.”

She’d always thought he’d been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. But while he didn’t have to worry about money, he had more emotional concerns.

He stepped closer and touched her chin. Sliding his fingertips along her jaw, he tipped her face up toward his. “I’m the luckiest man in Red Ridge that you came back to my room with me.”

Her lips curved into a smile. And there was the charm again. Her prince...

She linked her arms around his neck again and pulled his head down for her kiss. She’d just felt his vulnerability, his pain, and she sought to soothe it with her lips and her passion. That kiss led to more—to making love the entire evening—over and over again.

But just before dawn, when Juliette had heard the creak and clatter of a cart in the corridor, she’d remembered who she was and that she had a shift to begin soon. So she’d slipped out of the arms of her sleeping prince, back into her dress and heels and into the hall.

Within minutes the dress and heels had been stowed in her locker, and she’d been back in her drab uniform of a Colton Plaza Hotel maid. Hours later, Blake had passed her in the hall while she was wearing that uniform, and he hadn’t noticed her at all.

And she’d realized the night that had seemed so special to her was just a dream born of a silly fantasy. She was no Cinderella and Blake Colton was no prince charming. He would never try to find her and propose. He’d made it all too clear what he thought of marriage and that he never intended to make the mistakes his father had made—with women or children.

So when she’d missed her period and taken that pregnancy test, she’d been reluctant to seek him out with the news that he was going to be the father he’d sworn he never wanted to become. She’d known he would be furious with her—maybe even think she’d tricked him.

But before she’d been able to build up her courage to confront him, she’d seen in the Red Ridge Gazette “People” section that he’d left Red Ridge and not just for a vacation. He intended to launch his start-up company in other countries and call it Blake Colton International.

International...

So why was he back in town?

He wanted to talk to Juliette. Why? What did he want from her? Their child? He’d vowed he’d never wanted to be a father. That was why, even when Elle had been urging her to tell him, Juliette had hesitated to seek him out. She hadn’t wanted him to reject his child.

But he hadn’t looked at Pandora like he was going to reject her. Juliette closed her eyes as fear overwhelmed her. Why had he wanted to see their daughter now—when she’d just witnessed a crime?

Now Juliette had to worry about losing Pandora to her father as well as to a killer.

Chapter 4

Blake paced the suite on the twenty-first floor of the Colton Plaza Hotel. This was the same room where he’d spent that incredible evening with Juliette . He hadn’t known her last name then. And after she’d slipped away from him, he hadn’t even known if Juliette was her real first name or if she’d just been a Shakespeare fan. He’d had no idea who she really was. Hell, he still didn’t know who she was or even if she would show up like he’d requested.

He stopped at the windows that looked down onto the lights of Red Ridge. He’d turned on only one of the lamps in the room, so his reflection stared back at him in the glass.

And he had to be honest. He hadn’t requested that she come; he’d demanded. Maybe he was more like his old man than he’d thought—than he’d ever hoped to be. But then, he had every reason to make demands of Juliette. She’d been lying to him—that night all those years ago and every day since, when she’d kept his daughter from him.

The fury he’d felt when he’d seen her—with that child in her arms—coursed through him again. He was not going to spend another day in the dark. Hell, he was not going to spend another minute. He’d give her a little more time to show up tonight. Then he would track her down, and at least this time—unlike last—he knew where to look for her. At the Red Ridge Police Department...