The Cinderella Arrangement Read online

  Then it all shattered and freedom’s intoxicating aroma beckoned me to Europe. William crashed into my life, promising excitement and spontaneity and suddenly I was flying thousands of miles with a complete stranger. It was overwhelming.

  Jessica’s arms slipped from my neck and I turned away from her, rubbing my eyes. A warm, heavy hand patted my shoulder.

  “If Will gives you any problems, call me,” Luke said in a gruff voice.

  “I will, thanks. Bye!”

  “Call when you get there!”

  I hurried outside before I could change my mind and saw an Audi R8 parked by the curb. I laughed at the contrast between it and the rusty, Ford truck parked in front of it. Will had his arms crossed over his chest, sunglasses perched on his long, straight nose, looking bored. He said nothing about my red eyes. Will took my backpack from my shoulders and I flinched as his fingers grazed my shoulder, unprepared for the wave of dizzying heat. He popped open the door for me and I slid inside the leather seat, watching Jessica’s anxious face in the window.

  I’m leaving it all. Finally.

  The opening of the driver’s door interrupted the cocoon of my thoughts. Without being able to stop myself, I watched Will’s lithe body slide into the seat. His lean arm yanked on the parking brake and the engine roared under my thighs, revving like the feelings bursting in my chest as I watched him. His dark hair fell into his eyes and I wanted to reach up and push it behind his ears.

  But he didn’t so much as glance at me.

  My stomach lurched as Will peeled out of our street, whipping around corners as if his life depended on it. I gasped and gripped the armrests as he suddenly braked in front of the first red light. The slightest smile flickered on his face.

  “Too fast for you?”

  I muttered something in denial of that. “I need to call my parents and tell them where I’m going.”

  Will said nothing. My eyes kept wandering up and down his thick biceps and the powerful thighs pressing against his jeans. I could even make out the faint crease between his pecs—and then I looked up and saw him staring at me.

  I slammed the phone to the side of my face, hoping that it would hide my blush. Then it rang.

  Don’t pick up, don’t pick up, don’t pick up.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, Mom.” I braced myself.

  “Natalie.”

  The stiffness in her voice meant that she was still very pissed off.

  “Mom,” I said, my voice wavering. “I’m just calling to tell you I’ll be in Europe for the next few weeks.”

  “What? With who?”

  My mouth opened and closed. What should I say? I didn’t want to tell her the truth. My eyes watered as I thought of what she’d say. “I’m going with my boyfriend,” I blurted.

  Will whipped his head around. My face was melting off my skull at this point.

  “You have a boyfriend?”

  My mind was galloping ahead. “I’ve been dating him for a while. You’ve never met him. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you both liked Ben so much—”

  “What’s his name? What does he do? Who—”

  I grimaced. “His name is William. He’s Luke’s cousin.”

  “The rich guy?” Mom said in a much more excited voice. “When are we going to meet him?”

  I would have laughed at her excitement if I couldn’t feel Will’s eyes burning my skin. “Mom, I have to go.”

  “It’s not true! She’s lying!” Will suddenly shouted.

  I snarled at him. “Shut up!”

  “Who is that?”

  “NobodyIhavetogo. Goodbye!”

  “Okay, sweetie! Love you!” I could hear the confusion in my mom’s voice from Will’s shouting.

  I hung up the phone and buried my face into my hands.

  Why the hell did I do that?

  “You’re such a little liar,” he tutted in a low growl that made my forehead sear with heat.

  “I won’t play along with your charade. I’m not Luke.”

  He didn’t look too pissed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t plan on doing that—I didn’t feel like telling her the truth and disappointing them.”

  He throttled the engine, and I winced as the car lurched forward. We were already speeding past Oakland, merging into the lanes that would take us across the Bay Bridge.

  “Well, we’ll be photographed so that’ll corroborate your lie. Your ex might not be pleased though.”

  Shit. I hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t care.”

  “You care about using me to make yourself look better in your parent’s eyes.”

  He wasn’t impressed with what I did.

  “I don’t judge you for all the things you do—don’t judge me. I’m just trying to make them happy.”

  “Make them happy?” he said in an incredulous voice. “Natalie, Natalie, Natalie.”

  My frown deepened with every repetition of my name.

  “You’ll never be able to live up to their standards. You’ll never be able to make them happy. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you can move on with your life. I’m the only one out of my brothers who doesn’t suck up to my dad.”

  “How’s that working out for you?”

  His fingers whitened on the steering wheel.

  That’s what I thought.

  The rest of the car ride was silent. I kept waiting for him to slip some sexual innuendo into the conversation, but instead he seemed keen on pissing me off.

  “Oh, you’ll have to take all the trains and buses that the laypeople use by yourself. You have to do a write-up of how to get to all these places.”

  I didn’t expect that. “I’ll have to go by myself?”

  He smirked. “Pardinis don’t take public transport.”

  Whatever. Rolling my eyes at the smugness, I turned my head so I wouldn’t have to look at his irritating face.

  “I got you a seat in coach. It’s a ten-hour flight, so that’ll suck.” He sniggered.

  Another flare shot up my face. “It’s not a problem when you’re short. Coach suits me fine.”

  Will’s jaw went slack.

  I expected a crowd of paparazzi to follow us around, but Will parked us in the long-term parking lot and we took the train to the international terminal. I had never flown out of the country before and couldn’t keep my excitement from ramping up.

  After we shot through security, we were ushered through a series of corridors while I wondered what the hell was going on.

  Why weren’t we going to one of the airport terminals? Delta, US Airways, whatever?

  It was only when we were walking across the tarmac and I saw the white jet, stamped in bold, gold letters with his name I realized Will had been joking about flying me in coach.

  He smiled at my wide-eyed expression. “Ladies first.” He swept his arm toward the staircase leading to the airplane.

  My hair whipped around my head as I bounded up the steps. I felt like a little kid with a shiny, new toy. There were rows of plush, white leather seats and flat screen TVs.

  “YOW!”

  A tabby cat sat on the table in his blue cage, his yellow eyes extremely round.

  “What the hell? What’s a cat doing here?”

  “Kitty!” he exclaimed.

  I almost laughed at the delight transporting William’s face. He rushed past me to unlock the cage and a handsome cat with dark tiger stripes walked out, stretching his back legs.

  The stewardess pursed her lips. I had a feeling that animals were required to stay inside their cages at all times, but she would not argue with the man giving her paychecks.

  “This is Tom,” Will said with his hand on the cat’s back.

  Tom head-butted his fist, purring.

  “You brought a cat to Europe,” I deadpanned. “Do these bed and breakfasts even take pets?”

  “They’ll do as I ask.” He glowered at me as if to add: Or else.

  He sat down on one chair and Tom the cat jumped on his lap, settl
ing in for a nice, long nap. Will talked to the cat in a baby, singsong voice. My head was ringing with the strangeness of it.

  “Tom follows me everywhere. Isn’t that right, baby boy?”

  The cat closed his eyes and lifted his white chin as Will scratched his fur. His black lips rounded in a soft mow.

  He’s crazy. I opened my phone and texted to Jessica: He brought a cat on the plane. He’s singing to it now. I’m scared.

  She replied. Get out while you still can.

  I stifled laughter from her text and was distracted by Will’s high-pitched voice. Now, he was kissing the top of the cat’s head.

  “What’s the deal with the cat?”

  I had nothing against cats. I even liked them, but I couldn’t imagine how he would take care of him for three weeks.

  He stood, holding the cat over his shoulder, almost as if he was burping a baby. The cat licked his lips and stared at me through yellow slits as Will rubbed his back. He stopped in front of me and I yelped as he deposited him in my lap.

  “Tom is my therapy. He goes wherever I go. Think of him as a service animal.”

  Tom stood and faced me, his whiskers fanning out and his tail curled in the air like a question mark. Then he head-butted my face, rubbing his cheeks hard against my nose as a line of cat drool smeared my skin.

  “Urgh.” I spat out the cat hair.

  “He likes you. That’s good,” he said, as if the animal was a good judge of character. He sat down and looked at us with his head in his hand, smiling with sadness in his eyes.

  “You seem different. A lot more mellow.”

  I held Tom against me, feeling his little heartbeat hammer against mine. Petting him over and over with his reassuring, motor-like purr vibrating in my stomach made me feel lighter. Happier. Maybe he was right about the cat.

  “Should we talk about what happened? In the conference room?”

  It was really the last thing I wanted to talk about, but if would spend the next few weeks together…

  “What’s there to say? You couldn't resist my charms.”

  “You were the one hitting on me!”

  He sent me a smile full of regret. “Look, it can’t continue.”

  Why?

  “Okay, I get it. You want to keep it professional.”

  “Right.”

  “Then why did you—”

  “—Because I’m an impulsive ass who doesn’t think things through. If I want to get anywhere in this company, I’ve got to pull my head out of my dick.”

  “Thanks. It’s nice to know that your dick was basically the only reason I was hired.”

  “Can we please stop talking about my private parts? It’s making me uncomfortable.”

  God, I’m so close to telling him to shut up.

  He grinned at the outrage on my face.

  5

  Will kept a civil attitude the entire flight without a single sarcastic comment. I suspected that guilt was eating through his insides, but if this was how the rest of our trip would be; I was in for a lot of boredom.

  Ironic, really.

  I was determined to get along with Will. This would not ruin the trip. I would have a fantastic time.

  I followed Will through the confusing maze that was Heathrow International, Tom the cat occasionally let out the smallest of meows in his cage propped on our luggage. We were getting a lot of weird looks.

  “Where are we going first?”

  He glanced back at me. “We need to get to Paddington station.”

  The train in Paddington would take us to Cheltenham, and afterwards we needed to rent a car for the first location of our British tour: the Cotswolds.

  I was sad to leave London. After months of listening to Jessica rave about the city, it was hard leaving it behind.

  William had been here before. Within minutes, we were speeding away on the Heathrow Express and arrived at Paddington station. We disembarked to find ourselves under a massive dome. I caught my first glimpse of the London Underground. Hundreds of people milled around the ground floor, buying coffee and pastries from the stalls and relaxing in chairs. On a glass table, a flock of pigeons attacked an abandoned muffin. I was surprised to see a shopping mall within the station, but I followed Will across the platform to the train that would take us to Cheltenham.

  My energy should have been shot, but I was excited to be traveling to the first location where I would think of a concept for my first design. It would be really labor intensive. Will wanted the websites to be redesigned, so I would create banners, avatars, and logos. I also would design the newsletters and draft write-ups for each place. It was exciting. I’d never had such a huge project before.

  As we approached the train, Will handed me my ticket. As promised, I would be riding coach.

  “Well, see you when we get there.”

  Will rolled his eyes at me as if he could hardly believe that someone could be so slow.

  “I’m riding in the same car, Natalie. I didn’t buy first-class tickets for myself and not you.”

  He chuckled to himself and walked down the length of the train. I sighed and followed him.

  Well, at least he hasn’t lost his sense of humor.

  Inside, we took seats that had a table so that Tom could sit on top. His yellow eyes glowed through the slits of the cage. A plaintive, low meow warbled through the recycled air.

  “Quiet, Tom.”

  Desperate for a long nap, Will suddenly sank in his seat and used his arms over the table as a pillow. I leaned against the window and watched the English countryside roll beside me. There were patches of yellow fields everywhere, and small, idyllic hamlets that didn’t exist in California. I marveled at all the open space. Living in California, I was accustomed to seeing every available patch of land crammed with as many homes as possible.

  I couldn't believe that I was really here. I blinked and felt my eyelids scrape over my eyes.

  “Anything from the trolley?”

  I shook my head and the coffee cart moved past me. The lull of sleep was too strong with the gentle rocking motion of the train.

  After Will prodded me awake, I got to my feet and followed him off, thoroughly exhausted.

  “Jesus, I don’t think I’ve ever done so much traveling in one day.”

  I felt sorry for Tom, who had long ago given up on voicing his displeasure. Now we had to drive toward our destination. Luckily, the car rental was right next to the train station.

  Outside was a wet, dreary expanse of concrete and gray skies. I wrapped my jacket around myself, shivering already as we walked to the car.

  The real shock came when we went to the car, which could hardly fit our luggage. It was beyond bizarre to sit on the left side, where the driver would normally sit back home. Tom was in the backseat and Will wove the seat belt through the cage.

  “It’s okay, Tommy. We’ll be there soon,” he crooned. “You can stop rolling your eyes at me,” he said with his back facing me.

  “Whatever. Let’s just go.”

  Will shifted into gear and our tiny car sped out of the train station. I gripped my seat as we joined roundabout after roundabout.

  The English countryside was beautiful to look at. The deep green hills, the flocks of sheep, the little hamlets with their gardens and parishes reminded me of all the pastoral watercolor paintings I used to study in college. I closed my eyes and listened to the classic music playing in the radio. I drifted off.

  “NATALIE!”

  Screaming pierced my ears. Both a high-pitched, animal sound and a man’s yell. My eyes snapped open, and I felt the car trembling. I looked to my right and saw Will’s face rigid with fear. I jumped in my seat.

  He was hunched over the steering wheel, driving at a speed that was way, way too fast. He gulped for air and one hand clutched his chest. White-hot terror seized my heart. We passed a smoking, twisted tangle of a car wreck and I realized that we could have the same fate.

  “Will, stop the car!”

  “
I can’t breathe."

  I couldn’t think. The cat kept yowling, even it knew something was wrong.

  “WILL, STOP THE FUCKING CAR!”

  We barreled toward slow traffic. I reached over without thinking and yanked on the parking break. The car made an ungodly screech and my seatbelt cut into my stomach. Smoke billowed around the windows and I screamed, adding my voice to the shrieking behind me. I braced myself for the impact, but by some miracle the car ground to a halt only a millimeter from the next car’s bumper.

  My heart felt like it was injected with a large dose of caffeine. The fear still pounded through my body with every rush of blood. Will gripped the wheel, looking like he would faint. He unbuckled himself and opened the door. Smoke curled inside the car. He collapsed beside the window.

  “Will!”

  I ran around the car to see William hunched over with his head between his knees. I stooped down next to him on the concrete and rubbed his back.

  What the fuck just happened?

  “Are you hurt? What happened?”

  His head peeked out from his knees, glancing at the wreck half a mile down the highway. The blood drained from his face as ambulance sirens screamed. The blue and red lights flashed across his face.

  I squeezed his shoulders and shook him. “Will? Snap out of it!”

  His eyes slid over. My fingernails bit into his shoulder. No response.

  I shot out with my hand, slapping his face a little too hard. His head whipped to the left, but he caught himself on the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut as if I had really hurt him and his shoulders shook.

  “Oh my God, Will! I didn’t mean—”

  “I’m sorry,” he said in a small voice.

  “I’m going to get help.”

  “No!” He lashed out and gripped my arm.

  “Will, don’t be fucking stupid! You had a—”

  “Panic attack,” he said, his face gradually returning to its normal color. “I have PTSD. It happens.”