A Touch Of Frost Read Free

had just removed her Christmas Angel coat when someone knocked on her office door. With a sigh, she resigned herself to the workday not being over and called out, “Come in.”
    The door swung open and Jack Frost stepped into the room, instantly shrinking the space with his large presence. “Hey.”
    Her spine stiffened when she saw the frown on his face. “Is there a problem?”
    “No. I um…” He shuffled his feet a little, a very self-conscious move for a man who’d oozed confidence and control all day. “I just wanted to apologise for earlier.”
    “Earlier?”
    “First impressions can leave a bad taste in the mouth and I feel as though you have a bad one of me.” He cocked his head to the side slightly. “Or perhaps the correct one, but one I’m hoping to change.”
    “Oh, no. I think I have you pegged.” Elle let a smile tilt one corner of her mouth. “I’ve heard all about you, Jack Frost.”
    And she had. Kandy had spent the day reciting the life of Jack and Elle was certain the man in front of her wasn’t just the arrogant arsehole he’d first appeared.
    One thick eyebrow arched as he studied her. “Should I assume our mutual friends have been telling tales?”
    “Never assume. It’ll get you into trouble every time.” She turned and walked to her desk. “But I will accept your apology even though it’s not necessary.”
    “And what about dinner?”
    Elle stopped with her hand on the strap of her bag. “Dinner?”
    “Will you accept my dinner invitation, too?”
    She turned to face him, her mouth curved in a smile. “I don’t recall being invited to dinner, Jack.”
    He shook his head. “Again I find myself not at my articulate best around you.”
    Elle liked the sound of that. She liked that she threw him off his game. It meant their interactions would be equal. God knows the man rattled her equilibrium more than a 7.5 on the Richter scale.
    “So, dinner?”
    “What did you have in mind?” she asked.
    “Something simple, somewhere quiet.” He did that feet shuffling again. “I’d like to get to know you better.”
    Elle held her arms out wide. “What you see is what you get.”
    He smiled. “I highly doubt that, Angelle.”
    Ah, so she wasn’t the only one who’d been given a life story today. “Let me guess, Kandy.”
    “No. Actually, it was Santa.” Jack grinned and the ground beneath her feet rocked.
    That grin changed everything.
    Gone was the serious, tense Jack. In his place was a man who appeared years younger. Instead of the stay-out-of-my-way vibe he’d exuded all day, this Jack called her closer. Made her want to step into him, press herself against him, and feel the heat hinted at in the twinkle in his eyes.
    This new side of Jack scared her. Once this Jack put his mind to something, he’d get it. Not that the arrogant, commanding Jack couldn’t — or wouldn’t — but that one she could push aside, could convince herself he was an arsehole and not at all the type of guy she’d want to get tangled with.
    “Yes or no?” he asked.
    Her first instinct was to say no — to steer clear of any guy who stirred her emotions as much as Jack had with minimal contact. But what came out of her mouth was an unmitigated, “Yes.”
    “Great. I know the perfect place. Want to follow me in your car or come with me and I’ll bring you back here after we eat?”
    “I don’t have a car. I ride a bike.”
    Both his eyebrows hiked up on his forehead, his eyes widening beneath them. “You ride a bike to work?”
    Elle smiled. She knew exactly what he was imagining and she was about to school him on his misguided thoughts. “Yeah, a ZX-6R.”
    “A motorbike?” Jack eyebrows disappeared completely beneath his dark, shaggy fringe.
    She crossed her arms over her chest. “Something wrong with that?”
    “Ah, no. I just can’t picture you riding one.”
    Elle could tell Jack was referring to her size. He wouldn’t be the first to underestimate her because of her