Free Christmas in Whitehorn by Susan Mallery

trust her; he wasn't interested in falling in love.
    "What do you want?" he asked before he could stop himself.
    She turned slowly, until she was facing him. Something that might have been hope flared to life in her eyes.
    "I thought maybe we could be friends."
    Her voice was small as she spoke, as if she knew she was asking for the moon and she didn't doubt he was going to laugh at her.
    He reminded himself he wasn't looking for entanglements and that she was a woman with secrets. Not that he'd cared at five-twenty that morning.
    "Friends?" he repeated.
    She nodded. "Nothing romantic," she added hastily, making him perversely want to know why not. "Just friends."
    He didn't say anything. Darcy swallowed. "I know that sounds weird, but I've been really busy since I moved here and I don't really know that many people. You and I seem to get along, even outside the bedroom."
    She sounded sincere. He even almost be- lieved her. Friends. It wasn't anything he'd considered. There were complications. He didn't want to get involved, and ironically a sex-only relationship had seemed far less trouble. Friends implied more than he was willing to give.
    He knew he should tell her he wasn't interested, but for some reason he couldn't speak the words. Maybe it was because he'd been on his own since he'd returned to Whitehorn . He'd been meaning to look up old buddies, but somehow he never found the time. Besides, what was he supposed to say to them?
    "Why not romance?" he asked. "Not with me, but with someone?"
    She gave a rueful smile. "I don't have really good luck with men."
    Her statement made him want to ask a half -dozen questions, but he didn't. If they were just going to be friends, why did her past matter?
    "We can give it a try," he said at last.
    "Really?" She smiled, her full mouth curving up, her eyes brightening with pleasure. "Great."
    "I do have a question."
    "What?"
    "How do you plan to avoid temptation?"
    Her smile faded slightly. "Yes, well, that is a concern, isn't it? I suppose I won't think about it."
    "What if I start to seduce you?"
    Her steady gaze met his. "I don't think I'd be able to stop you. I guess I'm going to have to risk it. Do you plan to seduce me?"
    He shook his head and it was only half a lie. Strangely, it was enough for her to admit that he could easily tempt her into his bed.
    "I'm depending on you to be a gentleman," she murmured.
    He groaned. "That hardly seems fair."
    "Imagine how I feel. I've just admitted you have all that power."
    They faced each other – still standing in the living room. Mark didn't know about her, but he felt damned awkward.
    "Now what?" he asked.
    "It's up to you. I have all the fixings for a great turkey stir-fry. We could have dinner and talk about our first friendship project."
    "We're going to have projects?"
    "Sure. Don't guys like to get together to do things, while women like to sit around and talk? I thought we could start with something that would make you feel more comfortable."
    "Like what?"
    "There's a decorating party at the children's wing of the hospital. I thought we'd go there."
    Damn do-gooder, he grumbled to himself. Typical.
    "No way, no how," he announced.
    Darcy only smiled.

Chapter Six
     
    M ark still couldn't believe he was here, in the hospital, about to decorate a tree. It was humiliating.
    "Don't you know I'm a tough cop?" he muttered in Darcy's ear. "I'm supposed to be out subduing criminals, not participating in a decorating seminar."
    Darcy didn't look the least bit impressed by his protests. "You agreed to this last night. It's fun, it's for a good cause, so quit complaining."
    They were in the main waiting area of the children's wing. Several other people gathered around, listening to the director's instructions. Mark recognized Janie from the Hip Hop Café, along with one of the younger deputies.
    "You'll break into groups of two or three," the woman was saying. "The trees are on various floors. We've distributed the decorations as well,