Santa's Posse Read Online Free PDF

lost to
her thoughts and didn’t realize Miles was watching her curiously.  “Are you
sure you’re all right?” he asked. 
    To her surprise,
he reached a hand toward her and gently scrubbed his thumb across her
forehead.  The gesture, although anything but sexual, still caused her heart to
give an erratic thump.  She pulled back as if she’d been scorched.
    He gave her an
even more curious glance.  “You have a black mark on your forehead,” he
explained.  “Looks like some kind of grease.”
    “Oh,” was all she
could manage, and then she roused herself.  “You’re out of uniform,” she
announced.
    He grinned. 
“Yes.  I usually change out of my uniform when I’m not working.  Are … you …
sure you’re okay?”
    Kellie didn’t
immediately respond, but instead, studied him without realizing she was doing
it.  Curiously, she found him even more imposing dressed in civilian clothing than
she had when he was in uniform.  He wore jeans and a teal t-shirt and she could
more easily see the breadth of his muscular chest and the impressive size of
his biceps.  Although the t-shirt was loose fitting and didn’t hug his stomach,
there was no disguising the six pack beneath the fabric.
    He eyed her with
concern.  “Are you sure you’re all right?”
    “No.  Yes.  I
mean, I’m not used to seeing you out of uniform.” 
    Did she really
just say that?  She nearly groaned.  What a ridiculous thing to say.
    “You’re not used
to seeing me in my uniform,” he pointed out with a chuckle.  “We just
met today.”
    Her cheeks really
flamed then.  She raised a tentative hand to her head.  “Maybe I did sustain a
brain injury,” she remarked absently.  Her eyes widened when she found a goose
egg had erupted on her forehead.  “Ouch,” she murmured.
    “Does it hurt?” he
asked, startling her when he gently probed her forehead with his fingers.
    “It’s fine,” she
assured him, pulling back.  “What’s a little frontal lobe damage?”  He grimaced
and she laughed.  “I’m fine, really.”
    He still watched after
her with concern as he followed her inside the condo.  She gestured toward the
stacks of unpacked boxes.  So far, she had only unpacked the bare essentials.  “Excuse
the mess.” 
    “Moving is a big
job,” he said with understanding.  “I like your place.”  He flashed a quick
grin.  “But then, I should, since it’s exactly like mine.”
    “Really?”
    “Yep, but my
kitchen is…”  He surveyed the space and aimed a finger to the opposite wall. 
“My kitchen is over there.”
    Kellie paused
briefly to study the space.  “I love it,” she said with a smile.  “I can’t wait
to start painting and making it my own.”
    “Adding your
personal stamp.”
    She nodded. 
“Yes.”  She directed him toward her bedroom, but he made a beeline for her
freezer. 
    “Any ice up here?”
he asked.
    “There’s a
dispenser on the door,” she told him.
    “Do you have a zip
loc bag?”
    “I might.”  She
began ruffling through a box in the kitchen and found a small box of sandwich
bags.  She pulled one out.  “Will this work?”
    He nodded and took
it from her.  He filled it with ice, sealed it, and to her surprise, crossed
the distance between them and held the ice bag against her forehead. 
    “Oh, that’s what you
wanted it for,” she said.  “I didn’t see that coming.”
    He searched her
face then.  He held up two fingers.  “How many fingers?” he asked urgently.
    “Four,” she told
him, biting back a chuckle.
    His eyes widened in
alarm and he looked so stricken, Kellie quickly corrected herself.  “Kidding! 
Two.  You’re holding up two fingers.”
    He heaved a sigh
of relief.  “For a second there, I figured we’d be spending the next several
hours at the hospital having your brain scanned.”
    “I have a hard
head,” she assured him.  “I have brothers.”
    He gave her a
puzzled glance. 
    “My brothers were
forever