Savage Cinderella

Savage Cinderella-Chapter 9-Finding Brinn

Justin laughed, "It was only a sprain; and as you know, I have a very hard head. Fortunately, I found a shelter and ate fish and day lilies." 

Charlene's eyes widened with surprise. "I didn't know day lilies were edible. You never cease to amaze me, Sweetie-Pie." Justin flinched. Her deep southern drawl was as exaggerated as the rest of her charms and as annoying as nails on a chalkboard.

"If you get hungry enough, anything is edible.” Justin ignored the compliment and term of endearment and continued, “I just got lucky, I guess. Nothing I ate was poisonous. I figured as long as I stayed away from mushrooms and berries I couldn't identify, I'd be safe enough." He hated lying to Charlene, but he owed it to Brinn to keep her secret, at least until he figured out what her story was. 

He remembered looking through Brinn's books and talking with her about how she learned the hard way as a child what was good to eat and what had made her terribly ill. She’d told him about a bad incident involving some berries from a Virginia Creeper. She’d explained that her friend Abby, whom she spoke of only a few times in passing, had found some books on edible plants of the Southeast and taught her about planting and gardening, putting an end to Brinn's suffering for her ignorance. She also discovered that by watching what the animals ate, she could be relatively certain that any plants or roots that were safe for them would be okay for her to eat as well. It wasn’t foolproof, but nothing had killed her yet. 

Charlene broke through his reverie and threw her arms around his neck again, pressing the fullness of her revealing cleavage against his chest with intent. "Why are you smiling like that, Handsome?"

Justin tensed, but returned the embrace, hugging past her warm cheek and giving her a firm squeeze. "I'm just feeling lucky to be alive, I guess." He rested his hands on her hips and gently pushed her away. 

Charlene was complicated. He was fond of her, and at one time, thought maybe that he even loved her. He’d been drawn to the fact that she was a few years older and more experienced than he was. They had journalism school in common and the sex was good—not that he had anything else to compare it to. It was his first and only serious relationship. But their careers had collided when she took the job as managing editor of the magazine he was working for, and the relationship had taken a dive. He refused to sleep with the boss, and she couldn't give up the perfect career opportunity for the sake of a relationship. 

If it was up to her, they would still be sleeping together and she would still be bossing him around the next day. Justin decided his infatuation with her had worn off with the novelty of the experience. It seemed most of the women he’d tried to date were only looking for a fast car and a fat wallet. He didn’t want to be that for anybody.

Since taking the job, his career had been his only focus. Not that he had big plans for fortune or fame, but he wanted the freedom to photograph and write what he wanted. For that privilege, he had to be the best, and he had to make a name for himself. 

Financial independence had the added benefit of making it clear to his father that he wouldn’t be caving in to the pressure of following in his footsteps. There was nothing about a career in corporate law that appealed to Justin. Power and wealth meant very little to him considering the mess his father had made of their family in the name of material comforts and rising to the top. Luckily, Justin’s trust fund from his grandfather had allowed him to break away from his family problems when he went off to college. Even more fortunate was that Gramps had paved a way for Justin’s mom to leave the ruins of a violent and destructive marriage. 

His grandfather’s forethought had saved Justin a lot of grief and given him a good start. He’d paid for school, bought the Beemer, and settled into a nice condo in downtown Atlanta on Grandfather’s dime. Making his own way now was up to him. Thoughts of his grandfather reminded him of the Saint Christopher’s medal he had given to Brinn. The girl’s odd reaction and powerful emotional response had him frowning.