Read Online Sweet Cinderella (A Christmas Novella) (The Klaus Brothers Book 4) by Penny Watson - Free Book Online Page A

looked into his face. “Don’t you understand? It was only supposed to be one night. Just
one
night.” Her voice cracked.
    Gregor frowned. “What are you talking about?”
    “The gala. I wanted one night of magic, to keep my hopes up. To help me get through the Christmas season. I wasn’t looking for anything long-term. But you keep coming back!”
    His eyes blazed. “I’ll never be satisfied with just one night. Neither will you.”
    “You’re wrong. I know where this is heading—the boys and me being heart-broken.” Hannah began to tremble. Every time Gregor touched her, she came alive. This was a dangerous situation. She needed to put an end to it.
Now.
    She tried to push him away. He wouldn’t let her.
    Relentless.
He was relentless.
    Well, she could be relentless, too. And if it meant her self-preservation, she needed to step up her game.
    She pushed with all of her strength and he finally backed up with a frown.
    “Gregor, I’m asking you to leave. We both know this thing between us has no chance. I don’t think you’re shallow. I just think that you and I have very different lives.” She looked away from him and blinked back tears. “Please. I need to work.” She buried her face in the bouquet of flowers and inhaled their lovely scent. “Th—Thank you for the flowers.”
    He leaned close to her face and whispered in her ear. “I’m leaving so you can get your work done today. But understand this.
We’re not over
.”
    After the door clicked shut and Gregor stomped away, Hannah finally let the tears fall.
    She wished that could be true.

 
    C hapter 8
    Gregor was in a snit.
    A big honkin’ snit.
    Shirley perched on the edge of his desk—which was now covered with bowls of candy, homemade paper snowflakes, and postcards of Harry Styles—and waited for his next directive. It was clear as day that Gregor was moving onto Plan B.
    She squinted her eyes. Gregor looked . . . different. A little bit mussed up. And his outfit was ridiculous. He had dark grey trousers paired with a hoodie sweatshirt that said “
I CLAP FOR SEA LIONS
” from the Central Park Zoo.
    She coughed. “Nice sweatshirt, Klaus. That’s not your normal get-up.”
    Gregor frowned. “The boys and I got matching sweatshirts at the zoo. They loved the sea lion show.”
    “Nice. Pretty soon you’ll be wearing ratty blue jeans.”
    Gregor shot her a look to kill. “Enough about my clothes. We need to talk. I did everything you suggested. I took Hannah and the boys to all of their favorite activities. We had an intimate date. I tried to show her that we’re compatible, but she’s fighting me.” He downed a generous gulp of Scotch. “No matter what I do or say, she’s running scared.”
    “Well, you are sort of a scary guy.”
    Gregor stalked over to his desk and Shirley cringed.
    “Just kidding. Not really scary. More like . . . a little bit intimidating . . .”
    “Enough!”
    Gregor yelled it loud enough to make her jump. “Calm down. We’ll figure this out.”
    “I know what I have to do. I’m just not sure how to do it.” Gregor had a gleam in his eye that made her nervous.
    “What are you talking about?” She unwrapped a banana-flavored sucker and popped it into her mouth. Time for anxiety-candy-consumption.
    “It’s time to seduce Hannah. She practically melts when I touch her. If I could just have one night with her, I know I could convince her that we belong together.”
    “Ewwww. Yuck. I totally don’t want to hear about this part.” Shirley covered her ears. “La la la la la . . . I can’t hear you.”
    Gregor ripped her hands off her ears. “Hey. I need some help.”
    “Oh, no. Gross. I am not helping you with—”
    Gregor rolled his eyes. “I need help with a spell.
Zeit einfrieren
.”
    Her eyebrows shot up to her forehead. “
Zeit einfrieren
? Time Freeze? Why do you need that spell?”
    “Hannah would never leave the boys alone for a whole night. She feels guilty enough