Free Captivated by You by Diane Alberts Page A

and tore his gaze off of her barely-covered breasts. She was obviously cold, but Mark forced himself to not focus on that small detail. Or, uh, two small details. “Um. Hi.”
    Hi? Was that all he had? Pathetic.
    “Well, if it isn’t Mark Delaney. Town star.”
    Sometimes he wasn’t so sure he was that Mark anymore. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at her from the protection of his lashes. “Yeah, last time I checked.”
    As he studied her face, he wondered if she could see his secret written all over his face. Did she know that her blue eyes haunted his dreams after all this time? Lacey had been his math tutor … and yet so much more. It was just his luck that she would be the one he’d need to get through this ordeal.
    He hadn’t seen her since he graduated high school and headed to California. She looked different, mature, womanly. Sexy. Her soft curves made his mouth water. Somehow when he pictured her in his head, she’d remained seventeen and innocently sweet. Now, instead of conjuring images of equations in his head, she brought on thoughts of cold winter nights spent gloriously naked, rolling around in bed all night, as the snow fell outside.
    She cocked her head. “What are you still doing here? Eve said you were going back to LA tonight.”
    “Ah, yeah. Eve—informing everyone of everyone else’s life since she came out of my mother’s womb in nineteen eighty-seven.”
    Her lips twitched. “She likes to talk about you. Can you blame her? Her brother’s a star!”
    “Lotta good my star status is doing me now,” he mumbled, shifting on his feet. If he didn’t get inside the house soon, he’d be in danger of a few vital parts freezing and then what kind of star would he be?
    Lacey studied him, her eyes soft, inviting. Everything about her, from the tips of her green and red toenails to the soft blond hair was real and touchable. Not like the girls in Hollywood he normally hung around. And yet … he couldn’t think of a damn thing to say to her.
    Mark Delaney lost for words? Doubly pathetic. Shoulders hunched, he shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. “I didn’t expect you to be here, Lacey. I thought you’d moved.”
    “Well, lucky for you, I am here.” She smiled at him, her pouty red lips parting to reveal the dimples he’d always loved. He eyed her ring finger. It was blessedly bare.
    “Well then, I guess I am lucky.”
    Rubbing the bare skin on her arms, she looked past him. “You walked here? In this weather?”
    “No, I just left Eve at home with Drake, celebrating Christmas with his parents.” He pointed at the road behind him. “I was on my way to California, but didn’t make it very far. Sports cars and snow don’t mix. I’m in a ditch, and need a place to stay until I can get a tow truck to pull me out in the morning. I was hoping your mom would let me spend the night until someone came to get me.”
    “Oh, well, come on in.” She opened the door all the way. “You must be freezing.”
    “A little bit, yeah.” He stepped inside and blew on his closed fists, hoping to return some feeling to them before next year rolled around. “Are your parents asleep already?”
    She closed the door and leaned against it. “They’re not here, actually. They decided to spend their holiday in the Caribbean. I’m house sitting for them.”
    His mouth dried out when she reached up to tuck her bangs behind her ear. His fingers twitched with the need to touch her hair. To see if it felt as silky as he remembered. There was no one home to stop him from acting out on the urge to pull her into his arms. No one to stop him but himself. He was screwed. “So you’re … alone?”
    “Yeah.” Her cheeks turned pink, and her hand tightened on the doorknob. “All alone on Christmas. Pretty pathetic, huh?”
    “You?” He shook his head. “I’m alone on Christmas, too. So I’m right there with you.”
    She looked up at him in surprise, but lowered her chin. “I don’t think