If The Shoe Fits (37 page)

It was the idea behind them, however, that
still had her stumped.

“
What does this mean?” Her voice
was a whisper because of the shock.

“
They mean just what they say.
Madeleine sold me the restaurant and is giving custody of Sophia to
you.”

“
But why?”

Reese glanced behind him at all the news vans.
“Let’s just say that it’s in her best interests, especially if she
wants to be on the Arts Center Board.”

“
But your mother has the last
seat.”

“
No, my mother was
offered
the last seat. She declined—and very generously suggested Madeleine
as her replacement.”

“
But why would the Board want
Madeleine? She doesn’t have a high profile or any big social or
philanthropical connections.”

“
Ah, well, you see, that’s where
this gets a bit hazy. It’s where you come in.”

“
Me?”

Reese nodded and pulled something from his
jacket pocket as he bent down.

Onto one knee.

And then she saw what he was
holding.

Her shoe. The one she’d lost on the
boat.

Just like the first time they’d
met.

Reese smiled up at her. “The reason you come
in here is because Madeleine will have enough cachet for the Board
if you would do one little thing.” He held out his hand for her to
put her foot in it.

Bella bit her lip to keep from laughing out
loud. “Oh? And what little thing is that?”

He slid the shoe onto her foot. “That you
marry me.”

“
Marry—?” She hadn’t seen
that
coming.

Reese stood up and gripped her arms as she
teetered in shock. “Yes, marry me. Be my wife. I love you, Bella,
and I want you, me, and Sophia to be a family. Forever.”

His gaze was so intense, this had to be real.
It wasn’t a dream. She glanced around. The cameras were trained on
them, Gus, Giac, Mr. Griff, Chloe and all the kids, especially
Sophia, were watching, hopeful smiles on everyone’s
face.

“
Marry me, Bella. Make me the
happiest man in the world.”

She flung her arms around his neck. “Yes! Yes!
Of course I will marry you!” she said as she rained kisses all over
his face.

Until he gripped her head in his hands and
brought her lips to his and sealed their pact for ever.

Bella got her family’s legacy, her little
sister, her Prince Charming, and her fairy tale all wrapped up in
one.

The End

M E M O R A N D U M

TO:
Raphael, Archangel

RE: HEA
, Case
#HRHCLICC11134529875004213534.A1A

As follow-up to report A1 concerning Charges,
Henry Reese Hapsburg Charmant and Lucinda Isabella Casteleoni
Charmant, I have the following additions:

This angel-in-training wishes to acknowledge
the exemplary contributions of fellow Guardians, Giovanni Fiorello
and Angela Custode for their diligent supervision of their Charges,
who were not always the most “suggestible” of
individuals.

Angela Custode has affected great change in
Anastasia Fontaine and cemented by the bidding process at the
hospital auction, bringing about the woman’s True Love three years
early. As such, Colton Jamison has been granted a life that had not
been Foreseen. His big brother Jared is thrilled with the latest
addition to the family. Plans are still on track for Olivia Jamison
to be born in the normal timeframe.

And to Giovanni Fiorello for diligently
directing Madeleine Jean Smith Fontaine’s contrary actions down a
path that led to the final reconciliation with her objectives and
The Grand Plan. Not knowing the final outcome is always tricky with
maverick Charges such as Ms. Fontaine, and Giovanni comported
himself well and in the best interests of his Charge, The Grand
Plan, and our working relationship.

This Guardian-in-training is thankful to have
had two such talented Guardians to assist him in this assignment
and is happy to report that everyone has attained their prescribed
Happily-Ever-After.

Respectfully submitted,

Jonathan Griff,
Guardian-in-training

About the Author

Judi Fennell has had her nose in a book and
her head in some celestial realm all her life, including those
early years when her mom would exhort her to “get outside!” instead
of watching
Bewitched
or
I Dream of Jeannie
on
television. So she did—right into Dad’s hammock with her Nancy Drew
books.

These days she’s more likely to have her nose
in her laptop and her head (and the rest of her) at a favorite
writing spot, but she’s still reading either her latest manuscript
or friends’ books.

A PRISM Award and Golden Leaf Award winner,
Judi is the author of the Mer series:
In Over Her Head, Wild
Blue Under,
and
Catch of a Lifetime
; the Bottled Magic
series:
I Dream of Genies, Genie Knows Best,
and
Magic
Gone Wild;
and the Once-Upon-A-Time Romance series featuring:
Beauty and The Best, If The Shoe Fits,
and
Fairest of
Them All
; as well as the Beefcake Inc series:
Beefcake &
Cupcakes, Beefcake & Mistakes,
and
Beefcake &
Retakes
.

Check out her website at
www.JudiFennell.com
for
excerpts, deleted scenes, reviews, and contests, as well as the
chance to discover a whole new world!

Connect online at:

Twitter.com/JudiFennell

Facebook.com/JudiFennell

And now, read on for a preview of another
Once-Upon-A-Time Romance

Beauty and The Best

Published by Judi Fennell

Copyright 2012 Judi Fennell

Cover design by Kimberly Van Meter

Digital and Interior Layout by
www.formatting4U.com

All rights reserved. This ebook is licensed for
your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or
given away to other people. If you would like to share this book
with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each
person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it
was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and
purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of
this author. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or
by any electronic or mechanical means, including information
storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without
permission in writing from the author. Please contact the author at
[email protected]. This book is a work of fiction. The
characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products
of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used
fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is
purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

For more information on the author and her
works, please see www.JudiFennell.com

ISBN: 978-0-9854534-1-1

This book is also available in print from some
online retailers.

Jolie Gardener’s new boss, reclusive widowed
artist Todd Best, who hasn’t produced anything since the death of
his wife two years ago, is a pretty interesting guy. He:

a) shows up buck naked on her first day on the
job,

b) asks her to pose for him - in the
nude!

and

c) discovers she’s an aspiring romance novelist
who finds the tragedy of his lost love inspiring, thereby throwing
her out of his house, his life...and his heart.

What’s a girl to do?

Fall in love, of course!

Once upon a time…

a long time ago,

there lived a beast of a man,

locked within a castle

with no one to love him.

This is not his story.

This
is the story of another
man,

locked within himself,

and the Beauty

who sets him free.

Chapter One

There’s a naked man in my
kitchen.

The thought registered just as the terse, “Who
the hell are you?” had Jolie Gardener spinning around faster than a
figure skater on speed.

He
had the nerve to ask this? He of the
broad shoulders, six-pack abs, and other, nice, um,
parts...

Really
. A naked man. In her
kitchen.

Well,
technically
, she was in a naked
man’s kitchen. Even more technically, she was in a naked Todd
Best’s kitchen—and there wasn’t one hint of self-consciousness or
embarrassment on his part.

Of course with that body, there shouldn’t be.
The guy
should
flaunt his nudity for the world to see.
Which, at present, consisted of one single, solitary person: Jolie
Gardener, aspiring writer and personal chef
extraordinaire.

“
Well?” His hands slammed to his
hips.

“
You’re naked,” she squeaked,
which, really, was the only way to state that kind of
obvious.

“
I’m what?” Mr. Six-Pack Abs
glanced down.

Jolie tried not to—so unsuccessfully it was
pitiful.

“
Shit,” he muttered. “I am. I, uh,
fell asleep last night…”

As butter sizzled in the new super-slick
omelet pan on the top-of-the-line range, Jolie’s gaze alternated
between some rock-hard abs and a scruffy eight a.m. shadow while
her fingers danced along the speckled granite countertop in search
of a napkin, placemat, oven mitt… something.

Mercifully, they scooped up a thick dishtowel
that, in her world, would constitute a very plush, very luxurious
hand towel from The Ritz or The Four Seasons, but which, here,
apparently, was used to soak up water from designer flatware. She
dangled it in the direction of Mr.
Au Naturel
.
“Here.”

He placed an empty bottle of Jim Beam on the
island countertop with a
clink
, then took the towel with a
grunt. “So, who are you, what are you doing in my kitchen, and
would you mind turning around?”

She turned. “I’m the new girl the agency sent
over.”

“
Hell. There better be some
aspirin left,” he muttered beside her, his bare (of course) feet
making no sound on the limestone floor.

She peeked over at him.

His eyebrow soared skyward.

Right
.

She turned back to the sizzling butter. Which
had started to burn. Sigh.

He rummaged around in one of the drawers as
she carried the pan to the sink. Trying to impress the new boss on
her first day with his favorite omelet ranchero and she burned the
butter. Not good, but then, it wasn’t exactly her fault because
nowhere in those papers she’d signed with her employment agency,
Domestic Gods & Goddesses, was mention made of an optional
dress code. And she didn’t care how much they were paying her,
nudity did tend to throw one off. As for the
alcohol-before-breakfast debacle, she wasn’t even going to address
that. His rudeness said it all.