Rescued by his Christmas Angel Read Online Free PDF Page B

crowed. Even she seemed to notice that nothing was penetrating the hard armor around her father. “Daddy,” she demanded, “didn’t you think that was fun?”
    â€œFun as pounding nails with my forehead,” he muttered.
    â€œThat doesn’t sound fun,” Ace pointed out.
    â€œYou’re right,” he said, and then sternly warned, “don’t try it at home.”
    Morgan sighed as Ace skipped ahead to where they had parked. “How did you allow yourself to get talked into coming? I’m beginning to see you did not volunteer for this excursion.”
    He hesitated, and then he nodded at Cecilia. “We always spend Saturday together. It’s our tradition. Since her mom passed. I was willing to forgo it, just this once. She wasn’t.”
    â€œSomewhere under that hard exterior is there a heart of pure gold, Nate Hathoway?”
    She finally got the smile, only it wasn’t the one she’d been trying for. Cynical. Something tight around the edges of it. His eyes shielded.
    â€œDon’t kid yourself.”
    Instead of scaling his wall, she’d managed to get him to put it up higher! And for some reason it made her mad. If she couldn’t make him laugh, then she might as well torment him.
    â€œIf you thought Cheesie Charlie’s was fun, you’re going to love The Snow Cave,” Morgan promised him.
    He gave her a dark, lingering look that sent shivers from her ears to her toes.
    The Snow Cave proudly proclaimed itself as haute tot.
    If he had looked out of place at Cheesie’s, Nate Hathoway now looked acutely out of place in the exclusive girls’ store. He was big and rugged amongst the racks and displays of pint-size frilly clothing in more shades of pink than Morgan was certain the male mind could imagine.
    Ignoring his discomfort, at the same time as enjoying it immensely, Morgan sorted through the racks until she had both her and Cecilia’s arms heaped up with selections: blouses and T-shirts, socks, slacks, dresses, skirts.
    â€œGreat,” he said when it was obvious they could not carry one more thing. “Are you done? Can we go?”
    â€œShe has to try everything on.”
    â€œWhat?” He looked like a wolf caught in a trap. “What for? Just buy it all so we can leave.”
    Not even a little ashamed for enjoying his misery so thoroughly, Morgan leaned close to him and whispered,“This store is very expensive. You should allow her to pick one or two items from here and we’ll get the rest elsewhere.”
    â€œElsewhere?” He closed his eyes and bit back a groan.
    â€œJust buy the damn stuff. I don’t care what it costs. I don’t want to go elsewhere. ”
    She waited to feel guilty, but given how easily he had resisted her efforts to charm, she didn’t.
    Not in the least. This was a show of spunky liberation from needing his approval that even Amelia would have approved of!
    â€œThat’s not how it works,” Morgan said firmly. “We’ve been shopping for all of ten minutes. Don’t be such a baby.”
    His mouth dropped open in shock, closed again. Morgan was sure she could hear him grinding his teeth before he finally said, “A baby? Me?”
    â€œAnd could you try not to curse? Cecilia tends to bring some of your words to school.”
    â€œYou consider damn a curse?” he said, clearly as astonished by that as by the fact that she’d had the audacity to call him a baby.
    â€œI do,” she said bravely.
    He stared at her as if she was freshly minted from a far-off planet. He scowled. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He looked longingly at the door. And then Ace danced up, with one more find.
    â€œLook! Sparkle skinny jeans that will fit me!”
    He sighed with long suffering, shot Morgan a dark look that she answered with a bland, uncaring smile, and then allowed Ace to take his hand and tug him toward the change