Holiday Heat Read Online Free Page B

in the heart.
    Sex was sex. It
was physical. It was enjoyable. And it was so much easier than loving someone.
    She felt much
better when she finally stepped out of the shower—her body clean and at a much
more comfortable temperature, and her emotions settled into their normal
pattern.
    She pulled on
her bra and panties before wrapping her wet hair up in a towel. When she left
the bathroom, she looked over to see that Matt was still in bed. He was
stretched out on top of the sheet, watching her with leisurely interest. He
wasn’t posed or self-conscious—he looked lazy and natural—but his body was
completely naked, and she couldn’t help but admire his lean flanks and long
limbs.
    “It’s early,” he
said. “I thought your shift didn’t start until nine.”
    “They asked me
to open this morning.”
    Matt frowned.
“You already work there about fifty hours a week.”
    “I don’t mind.
The money doesn’t hurt.” She unwound the towel from her head and shook out her
wet, dark hair. Her hair wasn’t going to look good today, so she didn’t make
too much of an effort. Running her fingers through it, she figured she’d let it
do its own thing.
    “Do you want to
get together again tonight?” Matt asked. He’d been watching the proceedings
with her hair-styling.
    She made a
face. She did want to spend the night with him again tonight. “I’m supposed to
hang out with Jenn tonight.”
    Matt frowned.
“What are your plans for the weekend?”
    “On Saturday,
I’m doing some Christmas shopping with Jenn.” She shuddered at the thought,
still ridiculously nervous about the Christmas season, which was now somehow
upon them. So far, seeing all the decorations and festivities hadn’t been as
painful as she’d feared, but the worst of it was yet to come. “I was going to
just buy stuff online, but she really wanted me to go. She thinks it will be
good for me. I’m hoping it won’t be too bad. I haven’t bought a single present
yet.”
    “I haven’t
bought anything yet either. So that’s all you have going on this weekend?”
     “Well, on
Friday…” Ridiculously, she felt herself blushing, although she had nothing to
be embarrassed about.
    “What are you
doing on Friday?”
    She shrugged.
“I’ve got this double-date thing.”
    Matt sat up. “ What ?”
    “It’s nothing,”
she said in a rush, annoyed with herself for feeling guilty. “Jenn and her
boyfriend kept bugging me about this guy until I finally just said yes. They
want to set me up with him.”
    “And you didn’t
tell them that you were dating someone else?”
    She met his
eyes evenly. “I’m not dating anyone else. In order to do that, we would
have to—oh, I don’t know— date . You know, be seen together in public, go
out for romantic evenings, spend holidays together. The things people who date
do.”
    “I’d assumed,
once we stopped using condoms, that we were exclusive.”
    “Of course
we’re exclusive. I’m not sleeping with anyone else. But let’s not pretend this
is anything other than it is. We made it clear from the very beginning. We
screw. We don’t date.”
    To her
surprise, Matt’s face relaxed and a hint of a smile played at the corners of
his mouth. “Right.”
    She narrowed
his eyes at the skepticism in his tone. “I’m just telling you what you already
know. Those were the ground rules from the beginning. I have no desire to date
you.”
    “Right.”
    Her shoulders
stiffened, and she felt a blaze of heat flood her cheeks. “I don’t even really like you most of the time.”
    “Right.” This
time, he didn’t quite manage to hide the smile. “We’re together purely for
mindless sex. It’s just like a really good cup of coffee. I’ve got it.”
    She sat down on
the side of the bed beside him and said, “I’m a free agent, and I can choose to
go out with whomever I want.”
    “As can I.”
    She didn’t like
the idea of his going out with some other woman. In fact, it made her want to
break