Temptation in Texas: A Christmas Special Read Free

denial, he felt his insides electrify with
aggression, but he attempted to keep a cool head, even as the
heated blood roaring through his veins reminded him he was on a
short leash. “Come here, baby.”
    She licked her lips. “Are you mad?”
    He took another slow, deep breath. Fuck, yeah, he
was mad . “Why would I be mad?” he asked a little too
sarcastically as he placed his hands on the rafter above his head,
feeling his biceps bulge against the short-sleeve t-shirt he’d
thrown on for the drive home.
    “Because . . . .” she stopped speaking and swallowed,
staring at him with wide eyes.
    He could see she was thinking frantically, he’d give
her that. She knew him too damn well not to be able to figure it
out. “That’s it, sweetheart, keep going, keep talking and it’ll
come to you in a minute.”
    At his fully condescending and smart-ass remark, her
eyes suddenly sharpened and any slight alarm she might have felt,
very obviously disappeared. “Don’t speak to me like I’m a
child.”
    “ Then don’t act like a child,” he barked back,
more pissed than he cared to think about.
    “Are we about to have a fight?” she snapped.
    His muscles tensed. “That’s a goddamn given, don’t
you think?”
    She crossed her arms over her chest, hostility and
challenge in every line of her body. “You think you’re always right
about everything!”
    “ That’s because I am always right about
everything!” he roared.
    “You are so not,” she bit back.
    Logan took a moment to try to calm down, but it was
next to impossible. “What possible fucking explanation can you have
for a strange man being up here, with you, in the goddamn
attic, while I’m out of town?”
    “You’re not out of town!” she shouted in
accusation.
    He pulled his hands from the beam and took a step
forward. “Don’t give me that shit. You know what I mean. You
thought I’d be out of town for another day. Is something broken? Is
the fucking roof leaking? What? What could be so goddamn bad that
you couldn’t wait to call a repairman when I’m at home and can keep
you fucking safe?”
    “Logan,” she began placatingly, which just set him
off again.
    “There’s no excuse and you know it. You know what the
goddamn rules are. You’ve known me long enough to know what I
expect from you. And I don’t expect you to purposely put
yourself in harm’s way, you understand me?”
    “It’s not always about your rules, Logan. I’ve got a
brain in my head.”
    Losing it, he reached out and snagged her wrist,
pulling her torso into his. “It’s always about my rules when
it comes to your goddamn safety, you understand me? It always has
been, since the day we met. You knew how it would be before
you signed on the dotted line, so don’t suddenly act like you
didn’t.”
     
    ****
     
    Lauren’s chest slammed up against Logan’s stomach and
she took a deep, fortifying breath at the contact. Yeah, he was
right, she’d known how he was before she married him . . . and this
particular episode was not going to be good. When he found
out that she’d had not just one contractor up in the attic, but had
gotten three estimates, he was going to lose it triple time. And
just for a Christmas gift. She blew out a disgruntled breath.
This was it, after this, she was going to quit obsessing over the
perfect present for him. She could not win on that
front.
    As her breasts pressed into his stomach and his hands
landed on her butt, she felt her nipples harden when she breathed
in his perfect scent and realized it had been four days since she’d
seen him. His anger only made the chemistry that was always between
them sizzle to an even higher degree.
    “ Shorts?” he hissed out, as she felt the
callused fingers of one hand slide up the back of her thigh, inside
the hem of the denim material and touch her butt cheek.
    She sucked in a breath at the contact with her naked
flesh. “What?”
    “You’re wearing fucking shorts,” he accused