The Alpha's Choice Read Online Free PDF Page A

stepped past
her, placed the rescued eggs next to the stove, and gave her a
friendly wink. His next stop was the coffee maker where
he poured himself a mug and settled his backside against
the granite countertop, crossing his legs at the ankle.
    The painter's pants were loose along the leg
and left much to the imagination, but there was no disguising their
length and leanness. A tailor couldn't have fit them better across
the hips and Kat was looking forward to the rear view of him
walking away. She glanced up to find him watching her watching him
and reddened again when he grinned.
    "Like what you see?"
    What was the matter with her? She wasn't
fourteen! She knew better than to blatantly stare at a man as if he
was a box of Belgian chocolates, even if he was drool worthy. She
turned her back on him and grabbed a frying pan from the rack.
    "I was just about to make breakfast. I
imagine you've already had yours," she hinted, hoping he'd go back
to work at the front of the house and leave her alone. Out of
sight, out of mind and all that. "My name's Kat, by the way."
    "Cat?" he chuckled, "Meow. That's a bit
unusual or did someone have a sense of humor."
    Kat frowned. Her name wasn't common, but
unusual? Funny? "K, not C. It's short for Katarina, after my
grandmother."
    He must have heard the snap in her voice
because he seemed eager to make amends. "Ahhh, Katarina. Now I like
that. It's a lovely name for a lovely lady."
    Kat gave him a look that said she was on to
him and unimpressed. She began pulling off strips of bacon and
laying them in the pan.
    "Don't look at me like that. I was talking
about Grandma. She was a lovely lady, right? They wouldn't have
named you after her if she wasn't, right?" he asked, thus making
her look like the bad guy for misconstruing what he said.
    Kat shook her head in admiration. She had to
admit the guy was good.
    "I'm Charles and I would be delighted to
share breakfast with you, Katarina. How about you frying up that
package of bacon and I'll whip up the eggs?" He opened the
refrigerator and pulled out the carton with the remaining ten
eggs.
    "The whole package?" The package was a full
pound.
    "Not enough?" Charles turned back to the
refrigerator.
    "No, no! I just meant..." Kat blew out her
breath and laughed. "There's only the two of us."
    "That's what I thought," he agreed, "So one
should be enough." He began cracking eggs into a deep bowl.
    "Whoa, wait!" Kat held out her hand, palm
forward. "How many eggs do you eat?"
    "I don't know. Six, eight? Whatever's on the
plate. Why?" He looked at her curiously.
    "Because I can only handle two and a strip or
two of bacon," she said aloud and muttered to herself, "And because
I want to live past thirty-five," as she eased around him and into
the pantry.
    Had this guy ever heard of cholesterol? She
risked another glance at the man now working at the stove. That
high, tight rear end was every bit as enticing as she thought it
would be and that long, lithe body of his sure didn't look like a
heart attack waiting to happen. She grabbed the loaf of bread and
removed three slices for the toaster.
    "There's steak here if you'd rather," Charles
offered. "I'm partial to pork chops myself."
    Kat shook her head. "We'd better wait on
that." He was awfully free with his employer's supplies, but then
again, he'd worked here longer than she had and probably knew what
was okay and what wasn't. "Inside or outside?" she asked as she
took the dishes down from the second shelf.
    From the corner of her eye she saw him lean
back from the stove to answer her and do a little checking of his
own. When his eyebrows rose slightly in speculation and his back
arched a little more, Kat flushed, remembering what she wore
beneath the tiny cover-up, which was absolutely nothing at all.
    "Well?" She resisted the urge to tug at the
hem of her robe.
    "Hmmm?" Charles looked up at her and grinned
and it wasn't a guilty grin. He wasn't trying to disguise his
interest.
    "Do you want to eat