The Bite Before Christmas Read Online Free PDF

against it. It really wasn’t very likely. While Marguerite had said the county cleared the road, Teddy suspected this just wasn’t likely to be a high-priority street. In fact, it was probably one of the last ones tended to. Which meant it would probably be late today or maybe even tomorrow morning before the road crew would make it out here to clear the road and see the downed power lines. And that meant it would probably be tomorrow or even the day after before someone came to take care of the power problem. But since the day after tomorrow was Christmas Day, it wasn’t likely to get taken care of then, either. They could be stuck here until Boxing Day without power. That meant chicken soup, or even tomato soup for Christmas dinner, he thought with a grimace.
    â€œMerry Christmas,” he muttered to himself, turning to walk back toward the deck. He was mounting the stairs before it occurred to him that the water might be boiling by now. He could make an attempt at coffee, Teddy realized. The possibility cheered him and made him move more swiftly.
    The cottage was noticeably warmer when he finished removing his boots in the mudroom and stepped inside. It was even warm enough that Teddy thought he could remove his coat this time along with his hat and scarf. He started to do so but paused when he saw that Katricia had already removed her own . . . as well as the bottoms to her ski suit, he noted as his gaze landed on her where she stood bent over in front of the fireplace, stirring the soup. She was now wearing a baby-blue sweater and a pair of what almost looked like leotards the pants were so thin and molded to her skin. She may as well have been nude, but as tightly as the cloth hugged her, there wasn’t a panty line to be seen. She couldn’t be wearing anything under them, he realized, his eyes moving over the curves with fascination. Honest to God, he wouldn’t have been surprised to hear that she wasn’t wearing anything at all and that her skin was just airbrushed the dark blue of the leotards. Damn, she had the shapeliest little ass and legs he’d seen in a long time.
    â€œThe water’s boiling, but I wasn’t sure if I should pour it in that thing you set up or wait for you to come back in first. Should I do it now?”
    Teddy blinked at the question and forced his gaze away from Katricia’s tight bottom as she glanced over her shoulder toward him.
    â€œEr . . . no, that’s okay, I’ll do it,” he muttered, forcing himself to finish removing his jacket. He stuffed his hat and scarf in the pockets and then hung it on the back of one of the chairs at the dining-room table, noting she’d done the same with her ski jacket and pants. It was better than hanging them back up in the mudroom where they’d be unpleasantly cold to don. Speaking of which, he decided he should find a towel, set it on the kitchen floor by the door, and bring their boots in to thaw. It would be nice not to put his feet in stiff, snow-encrusted boots the next time he went out.
    Deciding he’d better do it while he was thinking of it, Teddy nipped quickly into his room to dig out the large bath towel he’d packed. He folded it twice as he carried it back out, then set it on the floor and retrieved both his boots and Katricia’s from the mudroom to set them on it.
    Aware that the soup was probably boiling, too, Teddy then grabbed both oven mitts off the top of the microwave and moved over to the fire. Katricia straightened and moved aside as he approached, giving him space, and he felt relief slide through him. It seemed he’d been right and now that she saw how old he was, she was going to cut out that silly flirtatious nonsense.
    â€œHow long has the soup been boiling?” he asked as he slid the gloves on.
    â€œSeveral minutes now,” Katricia answered and then, sounding a little awed, murmured, “It smells lovely.”
    Teddy glanced