Free Kissing Under The Mistletoe: The Sullivans (Contemporary Romance) by Bella Andre

while her housemates finished introducing themselves. By the
time she returned to the large, open-plan living and kitchen area,
they had Jack in a captive circle of their youth and beauty.
    In her experience, even the nicest man
couldn’t resist three pretty girls fawning over him, so it wouldn’t
have been fair for Mary to expect Jack to not look at them with
some appreciation, at the very least. But when she said, “Why don’t
I trade you this towel for your coat?” and Yvette boldly stepped
forward to help him peel it off, Mary couldn’t see even one trace
of lust on his face for the stunning redhead. Only laughter when
the wet fabric caught on his watch clasp.
    At least until he turned his gaze back to
Mary and took the towel she was offering. She’d also taken off her
jacket and was standing in front of him in her wet wrap dress. Just
that quickly, the desire in his eyes was back.
    But only for her.
    “Jack is the engineer and inventor I was
telling you girls about last night,” Mary explained.
    “Mary is so lucky to
get to work with you,” Susan said with a seductive toss of her
curly black hair.
    “My partners and I are the lucky ones.” He
wiped his hair and face with the towel. In unison, the three young
models all sighed over his gorgeously rumpled good looks.
    Well, Mary thought as she barely held back
her own sigh of appreciation, could she blame them? Jack really was
that gorgeous, especially with his button-down shirt and slacks
damp and clinging to his well-developed muscles. Clearly, he must
not spend all of his time working.
    People always asked Mary about her life
because she was a celebrity, but she was just as interested in
theirs. Journalist, waitress, mother, photographer, bus driver—they
all had interesting stories to tell. What, she wondered, was the
rest of Jack’s story? She guessed he was close to his family from
what he’d told her at the diner, and she knew he was devoted to his
work. But neither of those things explained the slight air of
danger—and risk—that he wore so easily. He hadn’t been at all
intimidated by the bigwigs in the boardroom.
    “If you need any other models for your
campaign,” Yvette offered with her most alluring smile, “you know
where to find us.”
    Feeling as if she’d accidentally dropped Jack
straight into a shark tank, Mary stepped into the fray by gesturing
to the three sets of sparkly heels on the wood-planked floor.
“Looks like you have a big Friday night out planned?”
    Janeen nodded, then looked back at Jack with
a hopeful expression. “It’s a new club Yvette heard about from the
photographer on her shoot today. You two should come with us.”
    “I’m all danced out,” Jack said with a grin
for Mary that brought back every wonderful moment of their
impromptu dance in the rain. “But thank you.”
    Mary watched Susan shoot the other girls a
pointed glance. When Janeen and Yvette didn’t immediately
understand, Susan did the world’s most obvious pantomime of Jack
and Mary being a couple that included a heart drawn in the air and
kissy motions with her lips.
    “Oh,” Yvette said as she looked between them.
“Of course, you two don’t want to go dancing with us.”
    Janeen chimed in with, “We should probably
let you two be alone now, shouldn’t we?”
    What could Mary do but laugh as she turned on
the kitchen tap? “I’m making coffee if you want some before you
head out on the town.”
    But the girls were now a blur as they
strapped on their shoes, grabbed their coats and sparkly purses and
headed for the door. “Thanks, Mary, but our dates have already been
waiting for us for a while.”
    Dates?
    Mary followed them to the front door and
caught them as they flitted down the front steps. “Be careful, and
call me if you need anything. It doesn’t matter how late, I’ll come
and bring you home.” Reminding herself that they were young, but
that each of them had a good head on her shoulders, she added, “And
have