Free Cup of Sugar by Karla Doyle

With the same gentle touch, he shook the snow from the ends of her hair, his hands lingering there as he looked into her eyes. All the way to her soul.
    She’d never wanted to be kissed so badly in her life.
    He toyed with her hair, letting the tips of his fingers graze her neck ever so slightly. But kiss her? No. Subtle touches and a smile that sent a wave of warmth through her, but no kiss. If flirting were a competitive sport, Conn would win the gold medal.
    “Why’d you close your eyes?”
    “Instinctual reaction,” she whispered.
    “I know about those. No point fighting instinct.” His thumb skimmed her bottom lip and his other hand drew her closer.
    “I agree.”
    “Like last night.” His mouth was so close, his breath so warm on her lips.
    “Which part?”
    “All of it.” This time, when he spoke, his lips touched hers ever so lightly.
    She hummed an mmm-hmm and waited for the rest of the kiss.
    “Especially the part where you seduced me.”
    “What?” She grabbed two handfuls of his navy-blue coat and took a step back. “ I seduced you ?”
    “Hey, I’m not complaining.” His grin was so freaking big, it practically reached the bottoms of his ears where they peeked out beneath his toque.
    “Oh my god. You were hitting on me from the moment you let yourself into my car.”
    “Hitting on you, sure. But it was you who invited me to bed, sweetheart.”
    “For a better view of New Year’s Rockin’ Eve !”
    “Tell yourself whatever you need to. For the record, I have no regrets about being seduced.”
    The man was horrible. And she totally loved it, but she’d still make him pay.
    She gave him her best sultry stare. “Know what my instincts are telling me to do now?”
    “Do tell.”
    “I think I’d rather show you.” She slid down his body, keeping her eyes locked on his handsome, smiling face. Now for the fun part. She swatted his gloves away while collecting a mitten full of top-quality packing snow. Quickly as possible, she stood, scooted back and cocked her arm.
    “Incoming,” she said, pulling the trigger. Direct hit. She threw her arms up in victory as the snowball exploded against his chest.
    Conn’s gaze dropped to the splatter of white on the front of his coat before returning to settle on her face. “Oh yeah?”
    Maybe it was something in the air around here. Maybe it was the guy sharing that air, but she felt suddenly giddy. Free.
    She braced her hands on her hips and stuck out her tongue. “That’s right, big boy.” Big boy? Okay, she knew exactly where that had come from—her mother’s insinuation that Conn’s big feet and hands meant he had a big penis. In this case, her mother couldn’t be more correct.
    And the owner of those generously sized body parts couldn’t look more appealing than he did this moment, his gray-blue eyes twinkling at her from a dozen feet away.
    “You’ve got a pretty good arm.”
    “Thanks, I played on the co-ed team all through school. I can hit too.”
    “Nice.” Conn bent at the knees and scooped snow with his bare hands. “So you can throw and you can hit. I guess the next question is—” A new, mischievous grin spread across his face. “How fast can you run?”
    She shrieked as he lunged at her. It was close, but she got away. She took off across the yard, as fast as possible decked out in winter boots and the formfitting peacoat that hugged her past her hips.
    Zeus zipped by her, barking an accompaniment to her squealing and Conn’s gut-deep laughter. If she could make it to the woods, she’d have the trees to use as barriers, if nothing else. Ten more feet and she’d be there.
    She snuck a look over her shoulder and shrieked again.
    “Gotcha.” He banded an arm around her waist and hauled her down, cushioning her fall with his body before promptly rolling her onto her back. Straddling her hips, he pinned her arms at her sides with his thighs. He held up the handful of snow. “Payback time.”
    He wouldn’t really give