Jingle Spells Read Online Free PDF Page B

life. Are you dying?”
    â€œNo. Well, technically we’re all dying, but—”
    â€œDon’t give me some existential bull. Are you terminally ill?”
    â€œNo. Taryn, don’t quiz me, okay? It’s getting us nowhere.”
    â€œIt could get me somewhere, because if I guess the right thing, you won’t be able to lie about it. I know that about you.”
    â€œYou won’t guess it.”
    â€œThat’s what you think.” The light of battle gleamed in her eyes. “I’ve solved tougher puzzles than this, buster.”
    â€œThen I’m asking you, for both our sakes, to stop trying. Please let it go.”
    â€œBut that means I have to let
you
go.”
    â€œAnd vice versa.”
    â€œAnd that’s what you want?”
    â€œNo.” His brain continued to fizz with sexual frustration. “Well, yes, for your sake.”
    â€œDamn, you’re stubborn.”
    â€œSays the pot to the kettle.”
    She looked into his eyes for a moment longer. Then she sighed. “Okay, then, let’s head to Colorado and get this over with.” She loosened her grip on his head and backed out of his arms.
    â€œRight.” He leaned down and picked up the handle of her suitcase. He couldn’t remember feeling more lost and alone.
    They walked in silence to the elevator. As the doors opened and she stepped inside, she glanced at him. “Nice kiss, by the way.”
    â€œThanks.” He was afraid his longing was being reflected in his eyes, but he couldn’t summon a poker face right now. “You, too.”
    She leaned against the brass railing as the elevator started its descent. “So let me get this straight. You want me, and I want you, but we can never be together for reasons you can’t tell me, and it’s all for my own good. Is that what you’re saying?”
    â€œYes.” He stayed on the opposite side of the elevator.
    â€œBut, because I hacked into your database, you need me to correct the weaknesses in your system, which means we’ll be in the same general area for a few days.”
    â€œTrue. In fact, I’ll be the one driving you back and forth from the inn to the office.”
    â€œHmm.” Speculation shone in her hazel eyes.
    He’d always enjoyed watching her think about technical issues, but now she was thinking about
him,
and he wasn’t entirely comfortable with that. “I’m the logical one to do it.”
    â€œMakes sense. You hired me, and we already know each other. I also assume you want to know about what I find, so we’ll have to work together during the day.”
    â€œSome.”
    â€œWon’t that be...frustrating?”
    He couldn’t pretend to misunderstand. “Probably.”
    â€œWon’t you want to kiss me again?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œAnd take me to bed?”
    He swallowed. “Yes, but—”
    â€œThen why not enjoy each other before we go our separate ways?”
    His heart hammered. Earlier today he’d been very clear in his mind about why that was a bad idea. But he wasn’t the one who’d suggested it, which made all the difference. “You’d be okay with that?”
    She smiled. “I’ll take you any way I can get you.”

Chapter 4
    T aryn loved having the last word, and handing Cole’s earlier comment back to him had been a triumphant moment. The elevator opened immediately after she delivered that line, which worked out well, because they were no longer alone, and wouldn’t be for some time. He’d have hours to contemplate her suggestion with absolutely no way of acting on it.
    At the end of that time, he should be a testosterone-driven, heat-seeking missile. That was the Cole Evergreen she wanted in her feather bed at the Nutcracker Inn tonight. And tonight would be only the beginning of her two-pronged attack.
    Now that she knew he wanted her, she wasn’t about to let him get