Cinderella Wore Tennis Shoes: A Novella Read Free

in front of everyone, Charlie had realized that he’d never mentioned the word love.
    Okay, so she should have corrected it before she stood in front of the priest with a church full of guests waiting to hear her I-do’s. Instead they heard an I-don’t and watched as she fled.
    Why had he been so insistent about marrying her?
    Winslow’s motives were his own, though she suspected he wanted the marriage to save face. He’d broken up with longtime girlfriend Susan Michaels the year before, and Charlie suspected he’d started dating her on the rebound.
    So now what?
    Maybe she could convince the driver, Dan, to let her finish out the trip with him. It would give her time to think and plan her next move before they returned to Erie. That was, if he was going back through Erie.
    Charlie realized she couldn’t make any plans until she knew more about Dan. Time to talk to him. Then she’d make plans. If there was one thing Charlie Eaton was good at, it was making plans. Of course, frequently those plans went awry, but that was neither here nor there. She was good at making them.
    Giving her hair another fluff with her fingers, she pulled back the curtain and crept into the passenger seat.
    Dan glanced at her, his eyes making a quick appraisal. “Little big, huh?”
    “I guess that when you’re standing, you’re taller than I am. I’m not usually anyone’s little girl at five ten.”
    “I’ve got you by four inches.”
    “And a couple more around the waist.” She’d turned the waistband on itself a couple of times, which gave the elastic more to hold on to. “I don’t think I’ve mentioned it yet, but thanks for rescuing me. Most knights ride horses, but I think a semi has a certain sense of flair.”
    Actually, everything about Dan possessed a certain sense of rugged flair. From his perfect black hair to his slightly crooked smile. Charlie had no trouble picturing him as a knight. He seemed perfectly at home riding to her rescue.
    “Just give me a little warning next time, and I’ll see what I can do about a charger. Until then, Gloria will just have to do.”
    “You named your truck Gloria?” Charlie tried to hold back the laughter that was threatening to bubble over.
    “Any rig I’m driving is Gloria.”
    “In remembrance of?”
    “The first woman I . . .” He turned a brilliant shade of red and seemed to be searching for something to say. “I, ah, dated.”
    “Dated?”
    “Dated.” Dan’s tone left no room for further teasing, though the faint blush still tingeing his cheeks almost begged for it.
    A small giggle escaped.
    Sensing that Dan wasn’t a man who appreciated being laughed at, Charlie covered it by coughing.
    “Gloria is just fine with me,” she said when she had herself under control. “I doubt I’ll ever name a car after my almost-husband, unless I was renaming Stephan King’s Christine. And I doubt there will be another man to name one after. I’m done with men. Especially rich men.”
    “Why just rich men?” he asked.
    “Because they think their money is enough, that they don’t have to worry about things like feelings. They think any woman would be glad to have them, simply because of their money. It’s not enough. So I’ve decided that I’m done with them in particular, but all men in general.”
    Men. Who needed them?
    She glanced at Dan. Well, he seemed decent enough, but give him time and he’d probably show his true colors as well.
    Dan’s lips quirked, as if he wanted to laugh but was valiantly holding it back. “Are you done with food as well or are you hungry?”
    Never one to beat around the bush, Charlie said, “But you see, I have a bit of a problem. That dress didn’t have any pockets, so I’m sort of—”
    “Broke,” Dan supplied. “I figured as much. Don’t worry about it. I think I can spot you to a lunch. It might be better to stop somewhere and decide what we’re going to do.”
    We , he’d said. Just like that. He’d not only jumped