It Must Have Been the Mistletoe... Read Free Page B

face Alison, certain she’d heard everything Ettie had said. “Sit,” he said, pointing to a chair near the hearth. “And don’t mind her. She likes to play matchmaker whenever she can.”
    â€œYeah, I can tell you probably have all kinds of problems finding women to date,” Alison teased.
    Drew chuckled. “I spend most of my free time with an eighty-five-year-old woman,” he said. “That should tell you all you need to know.”
    â€œI wasn’t asking,” Alison said, tipping her chin up. “I’m not interested in you. Only Ettie.”
    â€œWe’re a package deal. I watch over her. If you take advantage of her, you’ll have to answer to me.”
    Their gazes met again and Drew fought the impulse to lean forward and kiss her. He might have given in and done it if he could guess her response. But she watched him with a wary expression and he decided to wait.
    â€œI—I need to get my recorder from my car. I don’t want to miss anything she says.”
    â€œI can run out and get it,” he offered. Maybe it would be best to leave her alone. After all, she’d come here to see Ettie, not to be the subject of his own personal sexual fantasies.
    â€œJust bring the messenger bag from the front seat,” Alison instructed. “That has all my things inside.”
    He grabbed his jacket from the chair near the door and glanced back at her, only to find her staring at his butt. She blinked in surprise and then blushed. Her pink cheeks said it all. She was having a few little fantasies of her own.
    When he returned with her things, Alison rose from her spot near the fire and crossed the room. Their hands brushed as she took the bag from him. “Thank you,” she said.
    â€œNo problem.”
    They stood so close their bodies were nearly touching. He could feel the warmth radiating from her and he found himself drawn to it, tempted to pull her into his embrace and enjoy the feel of her.
    Alison wandered back to the fire and sat down, then began to rummage through her bag. “Have you ever heard Miss Ettie’s recording? I have it on my iPod.” She reached inside for the MP3 player and scrolled through the songs until she found what she was looking for, then handed it to him.
    Drew held up the earbud and listened, adjusting the volume until he could hear clearly. He grinned as the older womanwalked over to them. “Miss Ettie, you sound like an angel. So young.”
    â€œI was young,” she said as she crossed to the fireplace, a tray in her arms. “And everyone wanted to hear me sing.”
    Alison stood and gently took the tea tray from her hands. “May I pour?” she asked.
    Ettie sat down in her rocker across from them both and nodded. “Please do.”
    â€œHere, Miss Ettie,” Drew said, handing her the iPod and earphones. “Put this next to your ear and you can hear yourself.”
    Â 
    A LISON WATCHED AS D REW knelt beside Ettie’s chair and held the earphones for her. He was so sweet and gentle with her, yet somewhere beneath that calm facade was a man who probably knew exactly how to please a woman in the bedroom. Alison saw it in the way he moved, in the way he looked at her.
    She rubbed her arms, her thoughts going back to the wild sensations that had rushed through her when he’d touched her. She was glad for the digital recorder taping Ettie’s words, because her own mind kept wandering back to Drew. He was, by all accounts, one of the most handsome men she’d ever set eyes on. And that she’d found him here, in the backwoods of Tennessee, was quite a surprise.
    She hadn’t really thought much about men lately. Her last boyfriend had walked away six months ago, a victim of her work schedule and an uninspiring sex life, and she hadn’t been anxious to replace him. He’d been needy and bossy and intent on turning her into someone she wasn’t—a