Free All I Want for Christmas Is You by Lisa Mondello Page B

across the hollow of her cheek. But she didn't look at him, couldn't look at him. "Yes you do," he said in a whisper.
     
    "Am I still that predictable?"
     
    "Anything but." The rough timbre of his voice caused her to finally look up at him. He sucked in a deep breath of air, expanding his chest against the cotton shirt he wore.
     
    He was strong, no doubt about it. He had a strength she longed to wrap herself around, but feared like she'd never known fear before. She had the distinct feeling it wouldn't take much for her to tangle herself in his hold. He bent his head closer to hers and said, "I can't figure you out."
     
    "I'm...not all that complicated."
     
    He chuckled softly. "You look at me like you do, but you don't want to get involved," he said as he cupped both of her cheeks in his palms, forcing her to finally gaze up into his eyes. "That complicates things."
     
    She closed her eyes and swallowed. The startling reality shocked her to her senses. It wasn't fear that seized her, it was desire. And damn, he knew it. "Kyle, please..."
     
    "Look at me."
     
    She didn't move. She heard his shallow breathing echo in her ear louder and stronger than the sounds of laughter upstairs from the children and the clanging of dishes and pans from the kitchen.
     
    "Are you afraid of what you'll see? Of what I'll do?" he murmured when she didn't answer.
     
    No, she thought, I'm afraid of what you'll see written all over my face.
     
    This has to stop. She had to end it right here and now if she had any chance at all of getting away from Kyle Preston and the magnetic hold that was drawing her to him.
     
    She shook her head and his hands fell away from her, leaving her cold. Straightening her spine, she took a stand.
     
    "I'm sorry if I've been sending you mixed signals, but...you're right. I don't want to get involved. I don't intend to start something that I have no intention of finishing."
     
    "No one is defining anything yet. We can take things as fast or as slow as you want."
     
    "I don't want to take things at all."
     
    "I don't understand."
     
    "My daughter is very sensitive. She has hopes for a daddy for Christmas. I can't have men coming into Kristen’s life today, giving her false hopes that they'll be around tomorrow.”
     
    “What makes you think I won’t be around tomorrow?”
     
    She blinked hard. “It's not fair to her."
     
    He looked away as if she'd slapped him. "Are you sure that it's really your daughter you're trying to protect?"
     
    She cleared her throat. "Yes. I hope I've made my position clear."
     
    His jaw squared as his gaze bore into her soul. "Perfectly."
     
    # # #
     
    Chapter Five
     
    Monday morning turned out better than Kyle had anticipated. After getting too little sleep the night before, he downed a cup of black coffee and made a quick call to the newspaper. Three weeks of ads running in the paper and still no one had claimed ownership of Max. He swung around to the vet to give Max a checkup and make sure he had all the required shots before stopping by the house to do some work.
     
    Inhaling a breath of clean winter air, Kyle looked out to the mountain view in the back of the property. A snowshoe rabbit poked its head out from underneath a broken pine limb before hiding again. Max darted his ears up and wiggled his nose, but couldn't find the little creature before it disappear from sight.
     
    It had been at least a month since he'd been out to the construction site. He'd forgotten just how much he loved this place.
     
    The only thing he didn't like about it was the idea of living here alone. He'd spent too much time bucking family members and rejecting the love that was given him, that when he finally knew it, felt it, he didn't want to give it up.
     
    With thoughts of Lauren, he rubbed his chest where he felt an ache and gazed out at the thick blanket of smooth snow covering the ground. Except for the deer tracks he spotted out back, the whole yard was as smooth as a