Cassidy Bright blinked at her image in the mirror. Her hair now went just below the shoulders. She still had brown curls, but they were wavier and softer than her normal disaster. Not a single hair fell in her face.

This wasn’t good at all. She looked a little bit like her mother now. Her pulse sped up. Her mother had once been considered one of the prettiest women on the planet, and her modeling photographs kept food on the table when Cassidy had been young.

She couldn’t look like someone who never took responsibility seriously. Her skin felt jittery. She turned in the chair and stared at the blond, blue-eyed stylist. “Michael, make my hair as plain as you can before I go.”

His sigh exuded his disapproval, and he picked up pieces of her hair from the chair. “But this is the first step toward showcasing your beauty.”

Her choice was self-preservation. Remy didn’t need to see her as anything other than a partner to run their estates. She’d never want to live like her mother’s friends in California. It was better to be smart, but she couldn’t explain that to Michael. He’d not like her answer. She bit her lower lip and formed her argument. “I am living with Remington and I want him to be surprised on our wedding day. Tomorrow we’ll finish the second treatment. Then on my wedding day, when you style it, he’ll get to see the new me.”

Michael made another sigh, but this one sounded more like a concession. “I want everyone to know this masterpiece of hair came from me when it’s time.”

She smiled easily, happy to tell everyone who had helped her. If she had any say, his name would be under hers as the miracle worker that transformed plain into the glamazon her mother had once been. “Of course! Thank you for everything.”

Without waiting she wrangled her remaining hair and tugged it into a ponytail, not caring if she had bumps. Michael stepped back and stared at her with huge bug eyes. “This ponytail thing is so plain. Let me-”

“No.” She interrupted fast. The last thing she needed was to be stylish too soon. She jumped out of the chair. “Tomorrow, we’ll continue. For now, hand me those glasses.”

The color of his face changed and he stood behind her, pointing to her reflection in the mirror. “You don’t have to hide, y’know. Your fiancé might just approve of you more if you show him who you truly are.”

This wasn’t who she was. At least she wasn’t wearing makeup. A hair cut alone didn’t completely change her. She picked up an Angels baseball hat and tucked the ponytail into the back of it, covering half of her face. “Yeah, no. Right now, I want to look like I always did.”

Her phone rang. Michael picked it up from the stylist center and handed it to her. “Your sister is calling.”

Denied. She clicked the button and stuffed the phone in her back pocket without answering it. “I’ll call her later. Thanks again, Michael.”

He hugged her tight. “You’re welcome, darling.”

She waved goodbye at the door and practically raced to the parking lot. The black Mercedes unlocked with a click when she hit the button to open her doors.

No one would suspect that she had done this for Remy—which wasn’t completely true. Part of getting her hair done was for her. She was beyond tired of her sister calling her the ugly duckling behind her back.

Cassidy raced down the street and her fingers clutched the steering wheel hard. The evening air was still warm but chillier than earlier. Once home, she’d grab a cardigan before dinner—how would Gigi be today?

Her phone rang again. Cassidy adjusted herself in her car seat and reached into her back pocket, hit deny again and tossed the phone with her sister’s picture on it on the empty seat next to her. “Stop calling.”

She blew past a stop sign and then slowed down. Drat. She was usually a more cautious driver but today she’d been distracted. She unlocked her fingers from the wheel and rolled her shoulders to relax.

Finally, she made it back to the Bei Giardini Manor and handed the keys to Fari in the parking area. Coming here should make her feel more at ease, but she was jittery, for no reason really.

Birds chirped in the late afternoon sky—the golden hue a portent that tonight was going to be one of the gorgeous sunsets they had in Avce.

Cassidy clutched her straps to the backpack with her laptop and strolled in the front door. She unhooked her bag and left it on the side table, intending to see Gigi before going to her bedroom. When, she glanced up she saw Remy walking down the staircase, toward her.

Remington’s forehead was streaked with red and his mouth downturned into a frown. Was he angry? He came in front of her and pointed toward another room. “Cassidy, please come to my study, we need to talk.”

She checked that her baseball cap was still on and followed behind him. He opened the library door and held it for her. As she passed him, she hugged her waist. “Remy, you look serious.”

He motioned for them to sit on the brown leather chairs with a small table between them near the window that overlooked the fountains. “Why are you wearing that hat? You don’t ever wear baseball caps.”

She tugged her ponytail as she sat. “As promised, I went to the stylist today.” She turned her head to show him the length. “It’s going to take until the wedding for me to look presentable. We cut it but it still needs a treatment with some sort of goop. The day after we can finally have a good style. I picked out a dress, and I have a fitting tomorrow at my parents’ house.”

“That’s a lot,” he said. “Though all I really wanted was for your hair to be pulled back from your face. I missed actually seeing you.” He brought his seat closer. “I also don’t believe you need those glasses. You always saw right through me.”

Her red glasses fogged slightly, and the heat in her cheeks causing this was from how to respond. She swallowed. “Umm, tomorrow. I’ll come home without glasses, AFTER my hair fixes.”

He sat back in his chair as if this was a business meeting. “Good. Fari said your car needs a lot of work.”

Another topic? So far nothing explained the red streak on his forehead that he got when upset. She crossed her legs and took a deep breath. “I was afraid of that.”

His brown eyes made her feel like he saw straight through her, so she stilled. “I want to demolish it for parts and you can either keep the Mercedes or tell me what car you want and we’ll get that.”

She and Reynoldo had history, but the old junker wouldn’t fit into Bei Giardini Manor. They both knew it and she didn’t need to fight with him over everything. She nodded. “Okay. I’ll keep the Mercedes.”

His eyes widened but he sat back again. “I thought you’d argue with me.”

She wanted to and her heart sped up as she controlled the urge. She looked up beneath the brim of her cap. “Lady Sky is very different than Lady Cassidy. I’m trying to be agreeable.”

He scooted closer to her and goosebumps grew on her arms. “Good, except you denied my request.”

Seriously? She held his gaze but couldn’t figure out what he meant. She shook her head. “What are you talking about? I’m doing everything you asked of me.”

He took out two folded pieces of paper and handed them to her. “This.”

She flipped open the paper and froze once she recognized her computer report. One of her bosses had to have given this to him today while she was getting her hair cut. Cassidy focused her thoughts and then handed him back the papers. “There is a glitch in the software. I started writing the code when we were twelve because I watched too many romantic comedies. There is no way this is right when it comes to you and me.”

He dropped the print-outs on the side table and scooted next to her. She felt the room get smaller. “Why would you assume that it is right for everyone else but wrong about us?”

She adjusted the hat and leaned closer, taking his hands. He needed to understand and not take this too seriously, but she’d never tell him how she wrote the code as a teenage girl with a slight crush on him, until the bear almost ate her alive. “I don’t think my computer can be used to strip bare data about me. It knows too much nonsense and besides you’re probably the last man who would be my true love.”

His gaze narrowed. She could feel warmth radiating off his skin. “Why?”

A small laugh wanted to rumble out of her throat, but she held back. His closeness made parts of her wake up and rumble they were alive. She swallowed and stared at his lips. “Because we don’t make logical sense. You’re way too into appearances! And your title and wealth.”

He lifted her chin, but otherwise stayed close. Her heart began to race, in a new way. “You’ve said that twice and it’s untrue.”

Right. “I-” This was her chance to speak, but her voice was lower and more breathy than normal. She cleared her throat and tried to sound like herself. “Yeah, okay. Even though appearances are all we’ve talked about since I moved in. Anyhow, you and I would be like fire and ice trying to live in the same biosphere without wanting to destroy each other.”

He brushed his fingers against her arm and left a trail of desire that she’d never thought possible, not with him. “Am I the fire or the ice?”

This was getting out of hand. The boy she knew would pull something on her now. She tried to count her heartbeats, but she couldn’t keep track of anything other than how her skin felt like it melted into him with his proximity. “The fire. You’re the one who cut my hair when we were nine and are demanding I cut my hair again now.”

He stared into her eyes as if he saw her soul and all her secrets. “Seeing your face is not a hardship. Are you afraid of me?”

The opposite. She probably should be wary, but as he held her elbow, she felt like she was his and vice versa. She shook her head. “No, you’re the last person I’d ever be afraid of.”

He massaged her arms and her stomach flip-flopped. “Tomorrow, we’re going to Blackwell and Donna’s wedding. I need you to seem happy we’re getting married too.”

Those words were why he couldn’t be her match. She swallowed and hoped whatever interest he’d sparked in her body left. “Exactly why the program is wrong.”

He stood and guided her to follow. “Come here. There is nothing wrong with looking nice and it doesn’t make me vain.”

“If you say so.” His arms wrapped around her waist and hips. Awareness shot through her. He smelled like the fresh clean air of the California beach where it met the forest.

No man made her feel this much, not that she’d tried to find a guy. Nobody bothered her after Alex which had been the purpose of her shaggy hair and glasses. He inched closer and leaned down. “Cassidy, I am going to kiss you unless you tell me no.”

She’d melt away if he brought his mouth to hers. She held his shoulders. “Why?”

He took off her glasses and tossed them on his chair. “Because we should. You’re about to be my wife.”

This had to be some kind of joke, or for him to get his way. He’d always gotten underneath her skin. “What are you trying to prove?”

His fingers traced her arms and back. “That we’re not children anymore.”

Her heart pounded, and her lips tingled with anticipation. She was about to discover what she’d always wondered about—Remy’s kiss. “Fine.”

He tugged her hat off and Cassidy didn’t dare move. “Close your eyes.”

She did and her face turned up, toward his. “Okay, now what?”

“Stop talking.” He pressed his mouth gently against hers. Questioning, sipping, tasting.

Every part of her was lost and she became someone completely new. She kissed him back and couldn’t tell where her lips or his were. He tasted like heaven itself. As she wrapped her arms around his neck to keep him close, she told herself that this was only for one minute. Tomorrow he’d be who he always was. But for now, she was truly his.