Kiss and Makeup Read Online Free

flight attendant she’d just alluded to. Chloe was sharp and smart-mouthed and real. She gave as good as she got, and he liked that about her. He also liked that, sprawled across his bed sheets in something as innocuous as a black T-shirt and jeans, she somehow managed to look provocative as hell. His body hummed with testosterone-fueled appreciation.
    Jesus, Masterson. Get a grip!
    You’d think he hadn’t been laid in years, when it had actually only been—a depressing calculation revealed that it had been almost a year since his rebound fling after he and Melanie had imploded. He’d been so focused on work that he hadn’t noticed how long it had been. Which was pathetic on many levels.
    â€œWhat the hell am I going to do?” Chloe fumed. “They don’t have any other rooms.”
    â€œYou can stay here.” The words were out before his brain had registered the consequences, but he didn’t regret them. It wasn’t even the testosterone talking. By all accounts, Chloe had had a rough day. She deserved a win. For once, work could wait.
    Those amazing green eyes widened in surprise as she bolted upright on the bed. “What?”
    â€œI mean, you’re already here. I’m sure all of the airport hotels are in the same boat, so there’s no sense heading back out into the snow. Besides, we’re married, right?”
    Her death glare was adorable. And just a front. She was considering it. She had a horrible poker face.
    Chloe managed to hold out for seventeen seconds before she exhaled contemptuously. “If you snore, I
will
smother you in your sleep. Just so you’re warned.”
    Ben did his best to tamp down the wattage of his smile. It was cute that she still thought she was keeping up her tough-girl facade.
    â€œExcellent choice, Masterson.” He grabbed his wallet from inside his suitcase. “You settle in here, and I’ll go see if I can get us a cot and some food.” Ben headed for the door. “If I’m not back by midnight, check the ice machine for my corpse.”
    Chloe might be having a really bad day, but his was turning out pretty well.

2
    B EN MAY HAVE neutralized the no-shelter problem for her, but he couldn’t help her with the Dragon Queen—her mother. She was going to have to slay that beast herself.
    Chloe cast a covert glance at her purse, which was sitting on the floor where she’d abandoned it, about four feet away.
Just do it
, she lectured herself.
Woman up and stop putting off the inevitable
.
    She heaved herself off the bed to retrieve her purse, grabbing her coat off the floor, as well. After she’d wasted a couple more seconds arranging her coat on the back of the desk chair and applying some ChapStick, there were no more stalling tactics left in her arsenal. With a resigned breath, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number she’d been dreading calling since the moment she’d realized she’d be spending the night in Chicago.
    â€œHello.” The frigidity of the word let Chloe know that caller ID had already announced her identity.
    She exhaled. “Hey, Mom.”
    â€œâ€˜Hey, Mom’? You’re calling me during the rehearsal dinner where everyone is staring at the gaping hole where the bride’s sister is supposed to sit and all you have to say is ‘Hey, Mom’?” Fiona Masterson’s voice was eerily calm. Which meant her mother was furious. “Everyone is wondering where you are.”
    She had no doubt that was true. Her sister’s big day might be the main event, but more than a few of the attendees were waiting with gossipy glee to see the sideshow—Chloe’s return.
    â€œMy flight got canceled. There’s a really bad storm here in Chicago. I’m really sorry.” Chloe paced the short length of the hotel room.
    â€œThis is why we wanted to buy you the first class ticket that would have gotten you here days ago,