'Tis the Season to Be Tempted Read Online Free Page B

celebration had ended late. If he hadn’t felt the need to stand guard over her, he would be sleeping in his own bed about now.
    Guilt hit hard. He wouldn’t let her risk braving the storm to get home, and the longer she resisted the longer he had to wait to catch some sleep. With a sigh, she stood and tossed her cup in the trash, glad the coffee and rest had cured most of her hangover.
    “Okay, let’s go,” she said. “If I attempted the commute, you’d feel obligated to follow, just to make sure I arrived safely.”
    And the thought briefly warmed her heart.
    “True,” he said slowly. He tipped his head. “But that wouldn’t have stopped you before.”
    Those gorgeous hazel eyes studied her for moment, as if seeing her in a new light. She was certainly seeing him differently, with his ruffled hair and fine, powerful physique. But, after all these years, it appeared their first encounter hadn’t left him with the best of impressions. Normally her fear of flying would have been easier to handle. Unfortunately, after her recent run of bad luck, a plane crash had seemed a very real possibility.
    “Don’t be too impressed,” she said, biting back a cynical smile. “After my recent string of catastrophes, I figured we both would have wound up dead in a snow-filled ditch somewhere.”
    “Then I guess we’ll have to be extra careful on our walk to the hotel.” The answering crinkle of humor bracketing his mouth added to his appeal, leaving her longing for the possibility their destination brought.
    Great .
    A cold walk outside was definitely in order.
    …
    Carrying both suitcases was difficult as Wes trudged through the bitter wind and blowing snow, the lamp-lit sidewalk leading to the hotel almost knee-deep in the cold white stuff. His dress shoes were hardly appropriate, his feet freezing, but the knee-high black boots Evie was wearing were worse. Her leather jacket was ridiculously inadequate, as were the knit gloves with the cut-out fingers. And her knit hat was more for show than warmth. Twice she’d slipped and fallen in the snow. Twice Wes had helped her to her feet and offered her his coat, only to be refused.
    Her stubborn insistence was no surprise, but the fact that she hadn’t fought him about heading out onto the road was . Time and experience had changed her. The old Evie would have stormed off, fueled by his declaration that he wasn’t about to let her go. Because the surest method to get her to do something had been to tell her she couldn’t.
    But the new Evie had simply studied him, a newfound wisdom in her gaze that was both unexpected and disturbing. And, like the hint of vulnerability, added to the complexity of her allure.
    A gust of icy wind stung his face, but Wes wasn’t cold enough. Because the fire that the sexy little vixen had started on the plane had persisted—her sloppy yet seductive come-ons totally adorable.
    And incredibly erotic.
    Wes tamped down the memories, glad his frigid feet were available to cool the heated blood in his veins. Any hotter and he could melt a path between here and the hotel.
    “What did you say to Dan when you talked to him?” she said.
    “That I’d run into you on the plane,” he said. The worried look on her face was entertaining, and he couldn’t resist letting a slight smile slip. “I didn’t share your attempt to seduce me.”
    She stopped on the sidewalk and narrowed her gaze at him. “Did I really mention kitchen utensils?”
    Wes halted beside her. The skeptical look on her face bunched her brow in a way that was too charming for comfort. No, the culinary tools had been the result of his own overly imaginative libido. But since she’d subjected him to the torture of offering him something he couldn’t have, it had only seemed fair to pay her back.
    And he wasn’t ready to let her off the hook so easily, not when he was still revved up from her intoxicated seduction attempts.
    He continued up the sidewalk. “Are you really wearing