Free Meet Me Under The Mistletoe (O'Rourke Family 5) by Julianna Morris Page B

her and wondered what other secrets were hidden behind her green eyes and bright smiles.
    “Somebody said that to you, didn’t they?” he murmured.
    She shrugged noncommittally. “Isn’t it strange that people tell you not to be sad when you’ve lost someone? Why shouldn’t you be sad when that happens?”
    A long sigh came from Alex’s diaphragm.
    Shannon scared the hell out of him, but he was also starting to understand how seductive powerful emotions could be. Time after time, his parents had torn each other to pieces. They should have called it quits after their first knock-down-drag-out fight, but neither one of them had been able to leave, not for fourteen years.
    And he’d bet that a man, once hooked, wouldn’t be able to leave Shannon any longer than it took to turn off the lights and pull her close.
    “What are you thinking?” she whispered, and Alex fought the appeal of her sweet concern.
    He inhaled sharply…a mistake.
    His senses were filled with the subtle perfume of her skin, a scent that teased and tempted. He’d prided himself on his control, determined to be different from his parents, but now that control was vanishing.
    Alex closed his eyes and tried to summon Kim’s image, but all that came was a twinge of guilt and the warmth of a cherished memory.
    No . He clenched his fists in denial. He didn’t relish therole of grieving widower, but Kim had deserved better than a husband who spent most of his nights in a foreign clime. At the very least she deserved a man who grieved for her properly.
    “Shannon…we changed the subject, but nothing has actually changed,” he forced himself to say. “Seeing you isn’t good for me. Truly, it’s my problem. You’re terrific, but I don’t want to be involved with anyone. Jeremy has to come first.”
    Shannon looked down, her heart aching for a thousand different reasons. She’d been drawn to Alex from the beginning, and it hurt to have him push her away. But some things were more important than her feelings.
    “I agree that Jeremy comes first,” she said quietly. “But you said yourself that I’ve been able to reach him. Are you willing to throw that away? We can make it clear that we’re just friends. And we can make sure it stays that way when we’re alone,” she added.
    Alex was silent for so long she wondered if he’d heard, or was thinking some dark thoughts of his own. Then his eyebrows lifted. “Friends? After what just happened?”
    “Men and women can be friends without sex and romance coming into it,” she said, exasperated. She had good male friends. And while she’d never tried to be friends with a man she found as attractive as Alex, it had to be possible. Her brother, Dylan, had been buddies with Kate Douglas since they were kids before he’d finally woken up and married her.
    Swell.
    Shannon shook her head in disgust.
    Dylan and Kate were not a good example. But she was still certain it could be done.
    “We’ll just have to work at it,” she said.
    “All right,” Alex agreed slowly, though he didn’t seem a hundred-percent convinced.
    “Good. I’m still off work, so if you need someone to sit with Jeremy, I’m available.”
    “That would be great.”
    She stuck her hand out and they shook, a silly formality that should have made her laugh. But it was hard to laugh around the lump in her throat, or the tears trying to find their way to the surface once again.
    “How’s that, Jeremy?”
    Jeremy solemnly regarded the cup of flour Shannon held up. “It’s s’posed to be at the line.”
    “Oh. Right.” She scooped some flour from the measuring cup and shook it a little. “Is that better?”
    “Okay.”
    She dumped the flour into the bowl with the other dry ingredients and gave the mixture a dubious look. The cookbook she’d bought claimed this was a foolproof recipe for gingerbread cookies, but she had her doubts. Nobody had Shannon-O’Rourke-proofed a recipe yet.
    At least her agreement to be “just