Mistletoe Magic Read Online Free Page A

he ought to start visiting singles bars to find a woman his own age. Rafe tried not to cringe in distaste. He’d tried that scene a few times after he’d gotten over the betrayal of his divorce, but while he’d come away from the short-lived encounters physically gratified, he’d been left emotionally empty.
    When friends had fixed him up on blind dates, he hadn’t been any happier. Besides, not many women seemed to be in the market for a ready-made family—at least not the women he’d met.
    Why couldn’t he meet a mature, charming, affectionate woman who had a good sense of humor and liked children? Rafe wondered. Was that so much to ask? Although they weren’t part of his requirements, it wouldn’t hurt if she had golden hair and blue eyes and was small enough to look up at him…
    A bang at the door brought him out of his reverie. “What’s up?” he shouted, thinking it was Louise.
    “It’s me. Hux. You developing?”
    Guiltily, Rafe gathered the photos into a neat pile and turned them upside down on the counter. “I’m finished. Come on in.”
    “Hey, you old son-of-a-gun,” Hux greeted him with enthusiasm, clapping him on the back. “Long time, no see!”
    “Don’t worry, you’ll see me plenty at Haldan-Northrop tomorrow,” Rafe said, referring to the photo layout of Santa’s Workshop he’d been contracted to do.
    “Yeah, but what’s life coming to when you can’t find time to make arrangements with me personally? Now you send Louise to do your dirty work.”
    “I thought you liked Louise.”
    “Hey, pal, I love your mother. I have since you brought me home for Christmas vacation the year my parents were in Switzerland,” Hux said, referring to their college days.
    “With the holidays coming up, I’ve got too many bookings to attend to all the preliminary work.”
    “Ah, success.” Hux perched his lean, well-tanned body on a stool next to Rafe’s work counter and stretched out his long legs. “Does anything smell sweeter?”
    “You tell me.”
    “How about a woman’s perfume? That’s why I stopped by. I want you to come to Limelight with me tonight. The ladies who frequent the place are nothing short of spectacular.”
    “Hux, don’t you think a nightclub in a former church seems a little…tacky?”
    “Nah, not when it’s done in good taste, which it is. All the beautiful people agree.”
    And he was one of them. With a decent amount of money, a classy style, and fair good looks, Huxley Benton was considered quite a catch. A perennial bachelor, he planned to stay that way, and Rafe had no doubts that he would. His friend enjoyed the single life to the fullest, and he couldn’t imagine Hux tied down to one woman or to kids, whom the pseudocynic professed to hate.
    “I’m going to pass on this one,” Rafe told him firmly. “I need my beauty rest so I can do a great job for you tomorrow.”
    “Okay, if that’s the way you want— Hey, what’s this?” Hux had elbowed the short stack of photos, then had lifted one to look at it. His eyes lit with recognition and he whistled. “Wow. That sugarplum fairy is some doll, huh? Do I know how to pick them or what?”
    Rafe bristled at his friend’s wolfish tone and grabbed the photo out of Hux’s hand. It was the one with the expression.
    Hux merely picked up another of the prints and inspected it more closely. “You know, the kid’s got something.”
    “Forget it. She’s too young for you.”
    Hux looked puzzled, then shrugged. “Hey, you know I don’t mix business with pleasure. I’m interested professionally. I want you to do some test shots for me. Maybe I could use her at the store in some future promotions.”
    Rafe had been prepared to deal with Melissa Ryan at Santa’s Workshop for the photo layout, but working with her alone? That’s all he needed.
    “Listen, Hux, you’d better get someone else. I’ve already got so many appointments booked—”
    “Rafe, you owe me one. Remember the Baby Bountiful ads I