The Charmer Read Free Page B

gave him anodd look and he decided be more direct. “So, you’re not married?”
    “Are you?”
    “No,” he said, chuckling. Crossing the room, he held out his hand. “I’m Alex Stamos.” He waited, growing impatient with the long silence between them. “Now, you’re supposed to tell me your name.”
    “Tenley,” she said, refusing his gesture.
    “Is that your first or last name? Or both. Like Ten Lee?”
    She shook her head. “I haven’t had dinner yet. Are you hungry?”
    “I could eat, Tenley,” Alex said. Odd girl with an odd name. Yet, he found her fascinating. She didn’t seem to be interested in impressing him. In truth, she didn’t seem the least bit fazed by his charm.
    Strange, Alex thought to himself. Women usually found him utterly mesmerizing from the get-go. He slipped out of his jacket and draped it over a nearby chair. His pants were damp and his socks soaked through.
    “You should probably call for a tow. Or your car is going to get covered by the drifts. The phone is over there.”
    “I’ll call the auto club.” He paused. “I don’t have the phone number. It’s on my BlackBerry, which is in the snowbank.”
    “I’ll call Jesse. He has the garage in town.” She walked over to the phone and dialed. Alex watched her from across the room, studying her features. She reallywas quite pretty in an unconventional way. Alex drew a slow breath. She had a really nice mouth, her lips full and lush.
    When she turned to face him, he blinked, startled out of a brief fantasy about the body beneath the layers of winter clothes. “He won’t be able to get to you for a while,” she said. “Maybe not until the morning.”
    “Did you tell him that wasn’t acceptable?”
    This caused a tiny smile to twitch at the corners of her mouth—the first he’d managed. “No. He’s busy. There are more important people than you stuck in the snow. You’re safe and out of the storm. Your car can wait. Now, if it’s acceptable to you, I’ll make us something to eat.”
    Alex cursed beneath his breath. He hadn’t gotten off to a very good start with Tenley. And hell, spending the evening in her company, sharing an intimate dinner, was far more intriguing that sitting alone in his room at the local bed-and-breakfast. “Can I give you a hand?” he asked, following her to the kitchen.
    H E SAT ON A STOOL at the kitchen island, his elbows resting on the granite counter top, his gaze following her every move. The tension between them was palpable, the attraction crackling like an electric current.
    What had ever possessed her to bring this man in from the storm? She thought she was doing a good deed. He probably would have survived just fine on his own. She could have come home, called the sheriff and let law enforcement ride to the rescue. But now itlooked like she’d be stuck with him for the rest of the night.
    Tenley was accustomed to a solitary existence, just her, the dogs, the cats, the horses and those occasional demons that haunted her dreams. Having a stranger in the house upset the delicate balance—especially a stranger she found so disturbingly attractive.
    In truth, she wasn’t sure how to handle company. Since the accident almost ten years before, she’d made a habit of isolating herself, always maintaining a safe distance from anything that resembled a relationship. It was just easier. Losing her brother had sapped every last bit of emotion out of her soul that she didn’t have the energy or the willpower to engage in polite conversation. And that was what people expected in social situations.
    “Stop staring at me.” Tenley carefully chopped the carrot, focusing on the task and trying to ignore Alex’s intent gaze. She felt her face grow warm and she fought the urge to run outside into the storm to cool off.
    There was work to do in the barn; the horses had to be fed. She didn’t have to stay. But for the first time in a very long time, Tenley found herself…interested. She