Mistletoe and Montana Read Online Free PDF Page B

any alcohol to it.
               
“I know you meant the sap.” Where had her voice gone? Her fingers stilled, and
she smoothed back the rumpled mess she’d made. He’d hardly had any sap on him
at all. She didn’t even care if she should be embarrassed for finding an excuse
to touch him.
               
“Sure, that’s what I meant.” His eyes sparkled under the fluorescent kitchen
lighting.
               
Since when had his hands dropped to her waist? He pulled her to the edge of the
counter, and her knees bent naturally around him. His nose brushed hers, but
she kept her eyes open, her breath hitching in her chest. The kiss in the woods
had been almost automatic. It was hard not to kiss someone as sexy as Ben and
later blame it on the moonlight and wind rustling through the pines. But in the
stark reality of the kitchen, it was another matter.
               
“What are we doing?” she managed to whisper, but never heard his answer,
because his lips were teasing hers. She tasted the flicker of his tongue and
opened her mouth to utter…something. She’d forgotten what her earlier stance on
physical limits with her ex-husband was. His chest pressed against hers, and he
lifted her off the counter, his hands tucked beneath her bottom as he carried
her out of the kitchen.
               
Stumbling and giggling in the dark house like two teenagers, they managed to
half-crawl, half-walk up the stairs, their hands fumbling with each other’s
clothing until she’d managed to pull one of his sleeves off and her shirt was
unbuttoned to the waist. When they reached the landing, he lifted her again,
and she trailed her hand over his cheek and jaw as he kissed her. He pushed
open his door with his foot, and carried her to the bed. The darkened room
called to them, in the familiar, primeval way the darkness called to lovers.
Her ears filled with the roaring of her blood pushing through her veins, and
every nerve was alit with flames of desire that only grew, unsated.
               
She fell back on the bed and Ben fell with her, pinning her in place while his
lips greedily sought hers. A soft murmur reached her, and she wondered how she
could have made the sound without knowing it. She broke off the kiss to listen.
               
“Mommy?”
               
Heart hammering in her chest, Joely sat up, pushing at Ben, who groaned into a
pillow. “Molly? What are you doing in here?”
               
“I had a nightmare. I went to your room, but you weren’t there. So I came to
Daddy’s room.” The bed stirred beside her. She scooted toward Molly and hugged
her.
               
“Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry you had a nightmare.”
               
“How come you’re in Daddy’s room?”
               
Ben chuckled in the darkness. The bed moved as he got up, then moved again when
he lay down on the other side of Molly.
               
“I was showing Mommy my room, just like you did.”
               
“But the lights are off.”
               
“Go to sleep,” Ben muttered. Joely stroked Molly’s hair, her hand finding Ben’s
in the dark. He clasped her hand while she comforted their daughter. “Good
night, little princess,” he said, his voice low in the night.
               
“Good night, Daddy,” Molly said with a yawn. Then, “Did you see my mistletoe
downstairs? Mrs. Gomez gave it to me.”
               
“No, I didn’t see it. I’ll look in the morning,” Joely replied.
               
“Oh,” Molly said sleepily. “I thought you were kissing Daddy because of my
mistletoe.”
               
There was no suitable reply to that. In the darkness, Ben’s fingers squeezed
hers.
               
“Good night, Jellybean.”
               
“Good night, Benny.”
               
She smiled, even though she knew he