Page 70 of Puppy Christmas

“Well, what?”

“Do I whisk you to safety now, or do you want to go get lost in the snow maze with me again? I’m game either way. I’ve always wanted to be trapped in the cold with a beautiful woman. I know all about how we survive. The trick is to get naked.”

It was ridiculous that the wordnakedshould have such a profound effect on her, but her whole body flushed at the sound. She wasn’t even all that against the idea of stripping down right here and now, which should have made her ashamed of herself. They were next to a church, for crying out loud, surrounded by children and families. And yet she was the horny teenager she’d never had a chance to be, the giddy girl she’d never allowed to come out of her shell.

“I think there’s a little bit more to it than that,” she said, striving to match her tone to his. “A sleeping bag, for starters. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure you’re just hastening death.”

His hold around her waist tightened, one hand creeping inexorably toward her ass. “There’s one of those tinfoil blankets in the back of my minivan,” he murmured. “Will that do?”

“A tinfoil blanket?”

“Yeah. And a first aid kit and jumper cables and enough protein bars to last at least three days. You’re not the only one who’s good at preparation, you know. I’m known on my block as Mr. Safety.”

“Mr. Safety?” she echoed again. She wished she could come up with something more articulate, but it was difficult when he was squeezing the breath out of her like an anaconda.

“That was my nickname in college, too, now that I think about it.” His head dipped low, his lips brushing against the side of her neck in a soft whisper of a kiss. “Except it wasn’t protein bars I carried around in bulk back then.”

She laughed, a sound that quickly turned to a gasp when the hand that had been moving downward finally found something it wanted to hold on to. He’d somehow bypassed her roundest parts, his fingers clenching instead against the spot where her upper thigh met the bottom of her ass. It was a sensitive spot rendered all the more so because he seemed to have no qualms about what he was doing or why he was doing it. In fact, if she hitched her leg just a little, his hand was actually between her legs, his fingers pressing against—

“Excuse us.” A stern, elderly voice sounded behind them, causing Lila to jump. “Honestly, Paul. If I’d have known this maze was just going to be a place for teenagers to make out, I never would have let you talk me into it. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves, both of you.”

Lila buried her face in Ford’s neck, torn between mortification and laughter—not to mention a thrill of delight at being mistaken for someone half her age.

“We’re sorry, ma’am,” Ford said, doing a decent job of sounding contrite. “We got carried away and forgot where we were.”

“Do your parents have any idea where you are?”

“Well, no,” he admitted. “Mine don’t. Hers do, though, and they gave us their blessing.”

“They did no such thing!” the woman protested.

At this, Lila couldn’t help but pull her face from out of her comfortable, oak-scented hiding spot. “Actually, they did. Well, not my dad, but my mom. She told me that if I had a lick of common sense, I’d get myself in a compromising position and force this man to make an honest woman out of me.”

Ford swiveled to stare at her, laughter and interest lighting his eyes. “Did she really?”

Unfortunately, yes, she had. She’d taken one look at Ford in the flesh and ranged herself on the side of Lila’s sisters. “Stay out as late as you want, love,” she’d whispered in between the introductions to Ford, Emily, and Jeeves. “Stay all weekend, if you have to. He’s wonderful.”

Wonderful, ha. He was a menace, plain and simple. He wouldn’t be looking at her like that if he was anything else.

“We’re sorry to have upset you,” Lila said, doing her best to ignore Ford and that intense gaze. “We were just leaving anyway.”

She grabbed Ford’s hand and started dragging him away before he could demand a detailed explanation of what her mother had said. Two right turns, one left turn, and a scramble over the low wall later, they were freed from the icy pathways. It seemed the little boy in the fox hat knew what he was doing.

Partially to stave off the inevitable and partially because she was still feeling a little giddy, Lila said, “I can’t tell you the last time someone took me for a teenager—not even when Iwasone. They used to let me into the wine bar next to my college campus when I was only nineteen, and they were notorious for checking IDs. They took one look at me and assumed I was a member of the faculty.”

Ford lifted a hand to her cheek. He gave a gentle tug on a tendril of hair that had come loose from her cap, winding the lock around one gloved finger. “How scandalous. Did you take advantage and sneak bottles out to your friends?”

“No, of course not. I wouldn’t even drink any when it was offered. I didn’t like breaking the rules.”

His lips parted in a silent laugh, but his mood was serious. At least, shethoughtit was serious. Although the maze had been fairly well lit, the church parking lot wasn’t. Most of the illumination was provided from the moon overhead, its glow highlighting the chiseled angles of Ford’s face and casting him in a heroic light.

“And now?” he asked.

“Oh, I always drink wine when it’s offered now,” she said lightly.

His fingers were still wound up in her hair, his hand cupping her cheek in a gesture of tenderness. Brushing his thumb over her lips, he lowered his voice and said, “Yes, but how do you feel about breaking the rules?”

Given her actions over the past few weeks, it seemed silly to answer that question. He had to know. He had to realize. She was doing all the things she’d never thought possible: dating a client, putting her emotional and physical desires before her work, risking everything—even her heart—for the sake of this man’s touch.