Free Winning the Right Brother by Abigail Strom Page A

smoke, and she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
    “Why are we so awful to each other? Because it’s not just me, you know,” she went on, with a little of her old spirit. “I mean, I definitely get the prize tonight, but you can usually hold your own. Why do we do it? Are we really so immature that we can’t let go of feelings we had when we were teenagers?”
    She started to brush away her tears with the back of her hand, but Alex stopped her. He used his sleeve instead, wiping her face gently, and when he was done Holly’s arms tightened around him and she rested her cheek against his chest.
    Alex was suddenly and uncomfortably aware that he wasn’t just a human being offering comfort to someone in pain, but also a man holding a woman he was wildly attracted to. His heart was hammering, and it would have been so easy to let his comforting caresses become something more. To crush her mouth to his and kiss her until she couldn’t think straight, until passion drowned out her pain, even if it was only for a moment.
    Except that Holly didn’t feel what he felt. And even if she did, he couldn’t imagine a more inappropriate moment to give in to his attraction.
    He pulled back from her a little under the guise of carrying on a conversation.
    “I don’t know why we do it,” he said, tipping her chin up so he could look into her eyes. “But it doesn’t matter. We can change all that starting now. We’d better, because you and Will are coming to my house tonight. And you’ll be staying with me for as long as you need.”
    His vocal cords were obviously leading their own life, because his brain was shouting noooooo even as he made the offer.
    Not because it would be any big inconvenience. Giving up his privacy would be a little tough, but he could handle it. And he really wouldn’t mind having Will around. Hell, he’d enjoy it.
    But invite Holly to live under the same roof with him? The woman who fired his blood and starred in his fantasies and who, right this moment, looked like an extra from a disaster movie and could still inspire lustful thoughts? Most importantly, the woman who wouldn’t feel the same way about him if he was the last man on earth?
    He had to be out of his mind.
     
    He had to be out of his mind. Holly blinked up at him, wondering if he was serious. Maybe the easiest way to find out was to ask.
    “Are you serious?”
    She thought she saw him gulp. “Of course I’m serious,” he said quickly. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
    “Well, for one thing, there’s a really good chance that if we live under the same roof we’ll end up killing each other.”
    Alex brushed that possibility aside. “Don’t be silly. Didn’t you notice the major breakthrough we just had? We got over the whole enemies thing. We’re friends now.”
    “Friends?” she repeated thoughtfully, liking the sound of it. “I don’t know, Alex. It seems like a pretty big leap to go from enemies to friends. You really think it’s possible?”
    “I think that in a world where a hundred-pound woman can throw a punch like Mike Tyson, anything is possible.”
    Holly took a deep breath. This was all so strange. Her home burning to ashes behind her, and Alex McKenna offering comfort. And the way they were talking to each other… It felt comfortable, like they’d known each other a long time. Which they had, of course. Just not as friends.
    “I weigh a lot more than a hundred pounds.”
    He stepped back and made a show of appraising her body, and Holly felt a sudden shiver pass through her that had nothing to do with the cold. Maybe staying with him wasn’t such a good—
    “Okay, maybe a hundred and ten. Now, I think it’s about time you and Will come home with me where there’s a shower and a bed. What do you think?”
    His blue eyes were asking her to accept his invitation, and against her better judgment, she nodded yes. He looked relieved, which probably meant he wasn’t regretting the offer. Not