at least twelve hours before the situation turned to shit.
The fact that Kendall was trying to bluff him into believing she wasnât aloneânow, when he was already insideâmade Joeâs blood boil. Not only wasnât she supposed to be alone. She should be far, far away.
Curling an arm about her waist in an unconsciously protective gesture, she took a sip of her coffee, holding her mug to her mouth as she watched him over the rim. Alone, yet she had on all her warpaint. It was subtle, but ⦠there. She didnât need it, Joe thought, almost mesmerized by large sparkling hazel eyes staring at him unblinkingly. Her lips were a pale pink. He wondered if her nipples were the same rosy color. Jesus. He brought his erotic thoughts back in line.
She took another sip of coffee. âI canât tell you how great it is that you agreed to do this on such short notice, Don. Really. Thank you. My guy backed out at the lastâWhat?â
The timer went off in a strangely karmic way as he corrected mildly, âJoe.â
Her brow wrinkled briefly. âYeah, I know,â she shouted over the noise. âSnow was one of Prestonâs reasons for not coming. But still, youâd think a guy from New York would know how to drive in a little snow, wouldnât you?â She slid off the stool, slapped a hand on the buzzer, and grabbed a pair of oven gloves. Every vestige of saliva in Joeâs mouth turned to dust as she bent over. Hellâs frigging bells.
âNot that we get much snow in Seattleâbut still, Prestonâs originally from New York, so youâd thinkâYou donât care, right?â She grinned. âAnyhooâhis rental car went into a ditch on the way in from the airport. Silly guy ended up with a sprained wrist. And while I feel his pain, I really do, it doesnât help me with all the stuff I have to do around here. Not to mention Iâll be too busy bossing around the catering people tomorrow night and wonât have time to do that and be Santa, now will I?â
He couldnâtânot even in his wildest imagination, which he didnât haveâenvision this woman dressed in a Santa suit. âYouâd dress up as Santa?â Now a Santa suit rented from Playboy he could imagine without any problem at all.
She scrunched up her face comically. âWell, yes. If you hadnât saved my bacon. I would have,â she said quite cheerfully, as she pulled out two sheets of steaming cookies. The fragrance of hot cookies, vanilla, and sweet scented steam filled the kitchen. âI really appreciate that youâre willing to come to my rescue like this at a momentâs notice so I donât have to. Help yourself to those oven gloves near you. These will be a bit too hotââ
Hot. Definitely hot.
Kendall felt the prickle of sweat beading under her bangs. âI didnât see a car out there.â Now that she came to think about it, she hadnât seen a blasted thing. It had been snowing, and the world beyond the lights of the house had been dark. She frowned. âDid Donna drop you off?â Donna was his wifeâand Kendall was babbling.
The guy made her incredibly self-conscious as he watched her from steady blue eyes as she moved from oven to counter. He was huge. Tall. Broad. Strong. All of which made her nervous as hell. He was intimidating. His massive shoulders, covered by the bulky, honey-colored shearling coat he still wore, looked a mile wide. She doubted heâd fit into the rented Santa suit sheâd brought with her, but she appreciated that heâd come over to at least try it on. Especially in this awful weather.
Which probably wouldnât matter at this point, she acknowledged. She doubted sheâd need a Santa, since according to the latest weather forecast, this storm would be with them for several days. Poor Denise. Sheâd been so psyched for this party, but Kendall doubted anyone