Free Nerd Gone Wild by Vicki Lewis Thompson

saying. He needed to ignore the way her breasts thrust forward, pushing against the red sweater.
    “Being Madeline Jarrett’s granddaughter hasn’t always been a bed of roses.”
    “I’m sure it hasn’t.” He pictured her lying naked in a bed of roses, while he scooped up a handful of petals and let them drift over her skin…
    “I don’t know which was worse, the people who did mean things out of envy, or the ones who spent all their time sucking up.”
    “It must have been hard to know who your friends were.” And speaking of sucking, he had another image going in his fevered brain.
    “Very hard.”
    And if he didn’t get out of this kitchen soon, he would be, too. He faked a yawn. “You know what? I’m bushed. I think I’ll turn in.”
    Ally glanced at her watch. “It’s barely nine o’clock.”
    He knew that, but he figured the safest place for both of them was in their own bedrooms. Hanging around in this empty lodge with Ally wasn’t a good idea. And he couldn’t face the prospect of battling their way back through the wind and snow to the Top Hat.
    Besides, he needed some privacy to read his e-mail. He’d probably run up a hell of a long-distance bill, but that couldn’t be helped. “Yeah, I know I sound like a wimp, but it’s been a long day and I’m ready to hit the hay.” He started toward the lobby.
    “Then I guess I will, too. Maybe we should turn out some lights.” She nipped the switch on the wall and the kitchen went dark.
    In the lobby, Mitch walked over to the front door and turned off the overhead there. “We’ll leave that Tiffany lamp on by the registration desk, so it’s not completely dark in here if Betsy comes back.”
    “Okay.”
    The glow from the lamp gave the lobby just enough jeweled light to make it very romantic. Inviting. Ally looked way too appealing standing by the stairs. In another era, she could have been a lady of the night, waiting to go upstairs with a client.
    Mitch shook his head, as if that could derail his one-track mind. “I guess that’s it. The place is shut down for the night.”
    “Time for bed.” Ally stretched, arching her back like a cat.
    He swallowed a whimper of longing. “You can have the bathroom first.”
    She paused in mid-stretch. “Oh. That’s right.” She gave him a wary look. “I guess we need to give some thought to logistics.”
    “Just lock the door that opens into my room. When you’re finished, unlock it. I’ll do the same.”
    “That should work.” She smiled and started up the stairs. “It’s not like we haven’t been living in the same house for months. This isn’t all that different.”
    “I guess not.” It was enormously different, but he wouldn’t point that out. He followed her up the wooden stairs, their footsteps creaking in rhythm. He shouldn’t be watching how her cute little butt moved as she mounted the steps ahead of him, but he was a guy, and guys did that.
    He’d always thought that this supposedly polite behavior of allowing women to go upstairs ahead of men had nothing to do with manners. The whole “after you” game was designed to give men a better view as they contemplated whether or not they might get lucky when they reached the second floor.
    And no matter how much he tried, Mitch couldn’t throw off the impression that they were about to share a bed. Maybe that was because they’d just finished eating a meal in the kitchen, washed the dishes together and turned out the lights.
    “Listen to that wind,” Ally said.
    “I’m glad we’re not out in it.”
    “Me, too.”
    He thought the blizzard outside might be another factor. They were tucked away from the wind and snow, safe in a cozy retreat. Now it was time to roll around in the sheets before going to sleep.
    He’d never come close to having those thoughts back in Bel Air. For one thing, no blizzards. For another, he’d never followed Ally up the stairs at night. And they’d never been alone, not with the staff of