The Charmer Read Free Page A

couldn’t see the road at all, but she seemed to know exactly where she was going, expertly navigating through the drifts. Before long, she slowed and turned off the highway onto what he assumed was a side road and then a few minutes later, into a narrow driveway, marked by two tall posts, studded with red reflectors. The woods were thick on either side, so it was easy to find the way through the trees.
    A yard light was visible as they approached and, before long, Alex could see the outline of a small cabin made of rough-hewn logs. She pulled up in front and turned to face him. “The front door’s unlocked,” she said. “I’m just going to put the Jeep in the shed.”
    Alex grabbed his things from the floor and hopped out, then walked through another knee-deep drift to get to the front steps. As he stamped the snow off his ruined loafers, the dogs joined him, racing through the darkness to the porch.
    He opened the door a crack and the animals pushed their way into the dimly lit interior. The cabin was onehuge room, with a timbered ceiling and tongue and groove paneling. A stone fireplace covered one wall and windows lined the other. The décor was like nothing he’d ever seen before, every available space taken with bits and pieces of nature—a bird’s nest, a basket of acorns, a single maple leaf in a frame on a bent-willow table.
    He kicked off his shoes and stepped off the rug, but then froze as the dogs growled softly. They’d seemed so friendly in the car, but now they watched him suspiciously as he ventured uninvited into their territory.
    “The phone is over there.”
    He turned to see her standing in the shadows on the other side of the kitchen. “Do they bite?” he asked.
    “Only if I tell them to,” she murmured. There was a subtle warning in her tone. It wasn’t surprising, considering she just allowed a stranger into her home. For all she knew, he could be some deranged psycho—driving an expensive European sedan and wearing ruined Italian loafers.
    “I won’t make any sudden moves,” he said.
    She shrugged and walked out of the room, her heavy boots leaving puddles of water on the floor. Alex slipped out of his coat and tossed it over a nearby chair, then kicked off his shoes. When the two dogs approached, he held his breath. They sniffed at his feet, then each picked up a shoe and retreated back to the sofa with their prizes.
    “Give those back,” he pleaded. “No, don’t do that. You can’t eat those.” Alex heard footsteps behind him and he spun around, coming face-to-face with a womanof peculiar beauty. He glanced around the room. “Hello,” he said.
    He slowly took in the details of her face. She wore dark makeup on her eyes and her shoulder-length hair was cut in a jagged way, with streaks of purple in the bangs. Was this the woman who had rescued him? He’d imagined the face that went with the voice, speculated about the body, but this wasn’t at all what he’d expected.
    “They eat shoes,” she said, grabbing the loafers and handing them back to him.
    Only when he heard her voice was Alex certain. This
was
the woman who had rescued him. But the instant attraction he felt was rather disconcerting. She was the exact opposite of women he usually pursued. He liked blondes, tall and willowy, surgically enhanced and trainer-toned. This girl was petite, with an almost boyish figure, and a quirky sense of fashion.
    “Put them in the closet,” she said, pointing to a spot near one door. “They don’t know how to operate a doorknob…yet. They’re still working on tearing strangers limb from limb.”
    Alex smiled, but she didn’t return the gesture. She continued to regard him with a cool yet slightly wary stare. After he’d dropped his shoes in the closet, he surveyed his surroundings. “Nice place. Do you live here alone?”
    “No,” she said. “There are the dogs. And two cats. And I have two horses down in the barn.”
    “A regular Noah’s Ark,” he teased. She