Wicked Wonderland Read Online Free PDF Page A

of guy. The pineapple was a rare impulse purchase. Maybe I was lamenting the loss of my tropical vacation.” He placed ground beef, an onion, peppers, and a packet of chili spices on the counter. “See, the ingredients for chili. No more, no less.” He looked at Claire with male satisfaction. “What? Why are you grinning?”
    She lifted a carton out of the bag. “Eggnog?”
    “My one Christmas indulgence,” he explained.
    “Orange juice, butter, sub rolls, lunch meat.” She nodded. “Pretty normal,” she continued, but then grinned when she unveiled a pint of strawberries, one apple, two oranges. “You are such a girl,” she teased.
    “Hey, we were going to be snowed in. I didn’t want to get scurvy.”
    She peered back into the bag and giggled.
    “What now?”
    “Really?” She lifted up a container of chocolate fruit dip. She wiggled her fingers. “Hand over your man card.”
    Jesse shrugged and raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know—I guess I was wondering what I was going to do with all of that useless fruit, so I felt compelled to purchase that.” He raised his eyebrows. “Hey, let’s try it.” He opened the carton of strawberries and rinsed them off. After handing her a plump one, he took the lid off the dip.
    “Don’t mind if I do.” Claire dunked her strawberry in the dip and took a juicy bite. “Oh, mmm, yeah.” She nodded. “Good stuff.”
    Jesse grinned, then followed suit. “See, I knew what I was doing,” he told her and, after dipping his strawberry into the chocolate, he took a generous bite and groaned.
    Claire had a comeback on the tip of her tongue, but when Jesse licked a bit of chocolate from his bottom lip, she completely forgot what she was about to say. For someone so big and strong he had a sensual grace about him that made her want to sigh . . . and so she did.
    “You’re right—good stuff,” he said, mistaking her reason for sighing. “Want more?”
    “Oh, you better believe it,” Claire answered instantly, but then felt heat creep into her cheeks.“I mean, yes, please.”When Claire accepted another strawberry, the brush of his fingertips against hers sent a warm tingle up her arm. Her eyes widened in surprise and she wondered if he was feeling the same way. She took a nibble of the strawberry and toyed with the button on her suit while she tried to regain her composure.
    “You look uncomfortable,” he commented.
    “Well . . . this is a bit of a situation I’ve gotten myself into.”
    Jesse gave her a slight grin. “No, I meant you look uncomfortable in that suit.”
    She lifted her shoulders. “It’s all I have, remember?”
    He leaned forward and rested his hands on the granite island and then looked at her thoughtfully. “Well, I don’t have any female clothing on hand, but go on into my bedroom and rummage around.You can make do with rolling up some sweats, or long underwear might be a better fit since they’re tighter. Grab a flannel shirt or whatever you want. It’s all clean.”
    Claire’s eyes widened.“I can’t dig around in your drawers!” She shook her head. “Wait, that didn’t come out right.”
    Jesse’s low rumble of laughter did warm, fluttery things to her stomach. “You are one funny chick.”
    “I get that a lot, but I don’t really try.”
    “I’m bone tired and in a bad mood. And yet you’re able to make me laugh.What’s up with that?”
    “Maybe Santa sent me.”
    Jesse angled his head and gave her a hot look that almost made her slither to the floor. “I’m thinking he did.”
    “Well then, you must be at the top of the naughty list.”
    Jesse chuckled again, but the word “naughty” seemed to hang in the air between them. “Speaking of naughty . . .” He arched one dark eyebrow and then pulled out a six-pack of beer followed by a bottle of bourbon. “See? I have guy things, too.”
    “Oh, now you’re talkin’. Mmm, I’d love me some bourbon in the eggnog.”
    “Yep.” He nodded.