Page 58 of Snowbound in Her Boss's Bed

Instead of sarcasm or dry humor, he offered, “I hope he comes around to seeing the great value in interfaith celebrations in the future.”

Startled, her face shot to him, her eyes widening as she moved. A look entered them that was part hopeful and part vulnerable, and she swallowed. “Thanks,” she said, after licking her lips, and he could tell that as much as she might be afraid to, she hoped that vision would come true, too.

He could tell she missed being a part of moments that were simultaneously familial and sacred.

He was honored to understand that about her. He got the feeling she kept a lot of herself hidden from the world around her.

But she still wasn’t smiling.

So he said, egging her on through his tone and arch look, “Judo? I’m intrigued. Piano fits.”

Her expression lost a bit of its softness. “And how’s that?”

“It’s a proper activity for a good Christian girl,” he said with a sly grin and a shrug. “But judo? So violent.” He shuddered in mock horror and her eyes lit with humor.

“Those of us that went to public school needed to be able to defend ourselves,” she teased.

“So you’re a public school brat then,” he said, pleased to see her lift her chin with a glint coming to her eyes.

“And proud of it,” she said, the corners of her mouth finally lifting.

He smiled.

He hadn’t had a guess in either direction; he’d simply wanted to see her with her dander up again.

She was beautiful when she sparked.

She was always beautiful.

Blinking to break the spell, he cleared his throat and gestured toward her plate. “Do you want any more?”

She started, confused for a moment as to what he referred to, before looking down at her empty plate. She looked back at him with a smile and a shake of the head. “I couldn’t possibly, I’m stuffed. What I want most right now is a comfortable place to stretch out for a post-meal coma.”

He chuckled, amused by her way of being frank without crass, only mildly taken off guard by the satisfaction it gave him to feed her.

Why should providing for her fill him with such warmth? She was his guest, and it wasn’t like it was a challenge for him physically or financially. It should have been a basic, second-nature thing to see to his guest’s pleasure, and yet the evidence of hers made him pleased and smug—more akin to a caveman providing for his woman than a wealthy contemporary man seeing to his guest’s comfort.

The achievement of pleasing Miri felt more like a necessity than a nicety.

“That can easily be arranged. Shall I walk you back to your room and the large bed awaiting you?” he began, only for her to stop him with a quick shake of the head and blush.

“No, no, no. I mean, no thank you. I’m not quite ready for sleep yet,” she said, her voice taking on a breathy note it had lacked before. After a swallow, she moistened her lips. “Besides, why go so far when there is that gorgeous sofa and fire just right over there? Plus, the candles haven’t burned out...”

Her eyes were like candles themselves, burning bright, their fire searing through everything that covered him.

He swallowed.

They had gone to the couch once before and the results had been...heated.

They’d already been playing with fire—throughout the entire meal, in fact—and he was struggling to resist the effect she had on him.

“And what if we go too far?” he asked, unwilling to be anything but direct, even in the face of the currents running through his veins.

“No one ever need know if just this once...” she breathed, words thick.

His forearms tensed.

They shouldn’t, there were more reasons than one, but they wanted to, and she was right, for the moment, they were the only two people in the world.

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