Read Kiss Me on This Cold December Night for Free Online

Songs you hear for the first time on the radio and just have to track down. Tiramisu always tastes better on the second day. Boxing day turkey with pickles easily rivals the full-on Christmas roast.’ His molten steel eyes took on a wicked glint. ‘And sex.’
    She stared at him.
    â€˜Are you going to invite me in?’
    She stood aside, shaking her head lightly as if to clear it. He strode into the room and turned to face her. A hot flash of what had gone on between them last time they’d been in the same room as a bed made her cheeks burn and she folded her arms automatically as if to do so might ward the memory off. The last thing she needed was to think about how it had felt to be intimate with him, that road was paved with squashed resolve.
    â€˜What the hell are you talking about?’ she said.
    â€˜Your principle is flawed,’ he said, with a hint of triumph as if he’d invented the wheel. ‘Just because something is fabulous the first time around doesn’t mean it can’t improve or be fabulous again. All those things I listed improve with time. Even better or at least as good the second time around.’ He paused, holding her gaze mesmerizingly with his own. ‘
We
could be that.’
    â€˜How do you know?’
    â€˜How do you know we wouldn’t be?’ he countered. ‘All rules have exceptions. Or loopholes.’
    He was utterly gorgeous. And her stomach was melting.
    â€˜And the loophole in this case is…?’ She somehow managed to keep her voice neutral.
    â€˜That what happened between us five years ago was cut short. By you, to be specific. It was unfinished. It didn’t end for some bad reason. Therefore, technically, it isn’t over. It’s just been in limbo these past five years. It actually counts as one encounter.’
    There was a delicious hint of flattery about his determination to persuade her which was
so
seductive. Being pursued relentlessly wasn’t a sensation she’d experienced much. Her past was more about people running off out of her life rather than clamouring to stay in it, even for a short time. She kept her guard in place yet she couldn’t stop the smile creeping onto her lips. He really was
impossible
. And funny.
    â€˜OK, you’re really pushing the argument to its limit now,’ she said. ‘The last time I saw you before today I was in your bed. Are you actually suggesting we just pick up where we left off?’
    She tried not to think about the steam room, because it undermined her argument with herself and with him. She couldn’t believe she’d let it get that far.
    It had been a long time since she’d come across a guy who needed more than a firm ‘no’ to discourage him, mainly because she didn’t let things progress far enough to need more than that to get out of it.
    He spread his hands.
    â€˜There’s no need to get so literal. I’m not suggesting you jump straight back into bed with me.’
    The way he paused after that sentence made her stomach turn softly over, clearly because she hadn’t eaten since this morning and absolutely NOT with disappointment. Because she most certainly did NOT want to jump straight into bed with Tom Henley.
    â€˜I’m here until the snow melts. Or the fog lifts. Or whatever bloody weather it is that’s got the airport on lockdown. You’re on your own because your mate hasn’t made it through the snow. We’re both at a loose end and how the hell does having dinner with an old friend contradict your bonkers life rule?’
    The way he said that made her suddenly feel like she was overreacting here, that she was reading far more into this than there was. It occurred to her suddenly that her heel-digging refusal might smack of caring a bit too much. Which she absolutely didn’t.
    Her mind spiralled back down the years to the icy walk to the station that she’d made herself take,