Free The Charmer by Kate Hoffmann Page A

above his lip, wondering how it got there.
    “No, I’m fine,” he murmured.
    They’d returned from the sauna and snow bath, tumbled into bed for another round of lovemaking, then taken a quick shower together. After a long and leisurely breakfast at two in the afternoon, Alex had rebuilt the fire and they’d settled in, listening to the wind rattling the windows and the drifting snow hissing against the glass.
    “I should probably go check on the horses,” she said. “I was going to let them out for a while.”
    He glanced up at her. “Don’t you ever just sit still? Chill out. Just be with me.”
    “So, you liked the sauna?” she asked. Though it took every ounce of persuasion to get him out there, Tenley considered the activity a success. Alex, naked, in any environment, was fun.
    “It was just about the best thing I’ve ever experienced,” he said, his gaze still fixed on the book he was reading.
    “We could play a game,” she said. “Do you like Scrabble?”
    He snapped the book shut. “Do I have to have sex with you again, to calm you down? Because if that’s what it’s going to take, I will. Just say the word. I’m willing to make the sacrifice.”
    Tenley giggled. “I’m just not used to sitting around. I don’t read in the middle of the day. I read before bed because it puts me to sleep.”
    “If I weren’t here, what would you be doing?” Alex asked.
    “Clearing the driveway. I have a small tractor with a front-end loader. After that, I’d shovel the walk out to the barn. Then I’d probably get the dogs and take a hike out on the road, to see if it was plowed. Or maybe brave the storm and drive into town for some dinner.”
    “Is the road clear?” Alex asked.
    “No.”
    “Does it make sense to plow the driveway right now?”
    “No.”
    “Why don’t we just talk, then. Have a conversation. I’ll ask you a question and you answer it. And then you ask me a question and I’ll answer it.”
    Tenley really didn’t like the suggestion. After all, there were a few things she was hiding from him. She wasn’t quite ready to tell him she was T. J. Marshall. Though it would certainly make for some interesting conversation, it might change everything between them.
    She tried to imagine his reaction. He probably wouldn’t be thrilled at her deception. He might wonder what other lies she’d told. But he would have to be happy he’d found her and they’d developed a relationship of sorts. He liked her. How could he be angry for long?
    She could always test the waters, Tenley thought. Throw a tiny bit of truth out there and see how it went. “I suppose you’re anxious to get into town,” she ventured. “I mean, since you have business.”
    “That can wait,” Alex said. “There’s not much I can do about it in the middle of this storm.”
    “The snow should quit in a few hours,” she said. “The barometer is starting to rise. Then I can dig us out and you can be on your way.” She paused, waiting for his response.
    “There’s no hurry,” he said.
    “So you’d like to stay another night?”
    He squeezed her foot. “If you’ll have me. I’m not too much trouble, am I?”
    “No,” she said. She drew a long breath, steeling herself for what would come next. “You can meet my grandfather tomorrow morning.”
    His hand froze on her foot and his brow furrowed. “You want me to meet your family?”
    “You came here to see T. J. Marshall, didn’t you? That’s my grandfather.”
    Alex gasped, his eyes going wide. “Wait a second. Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”
    She shrugged. “I didn’t think it made a difference. Does it? Make a difference?”
    “You’re Tenley Marshall?”
    “Yes.”
    He leaned back into the sofa and raked his hand through his hair, shaking his head. “I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t have said something.”
    “Because I thought you might be one of those guys who doesn’t like to mix business with pleasure? Because I’m