Baby It's Cold Outside by Addison Fox

Author:Addison Fox [Fox, Addison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, Women, Small Town & Rural
ISBN: 9781101545492
Google: jkb01bnowsAC
Amazon: 0451235215
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2011-11-01T12:50:59.621853+00:00

Sloan was surprised to find their dinner was turning out to be a far more pleasant experience than she’d have expected. In fact, the entire day was. Walker was an interesting companion. He wasn’t exactly funny—his lawyerly sensibilities threaded through his personality in dry observations—but he was fun and he’d kept things interesting and their conversation light.

She also couldn’t help but give him mental points for his words about Avery. There was a kindness there and a willingness to acknowledge his friend’s shortcomings that she had to admire.

You could love someone and still see where they’d fallen short. And he had the decency to admit Roman’s actions weren’t above reproach.

And, if she were equally fair to someone she’d never met, small towns weren’t the easiest places to deal with a breakup. Roman had spent an awful lot of money on gifts, not to mention giving significant thought to his selections. She’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt in thinking that he’d meant the gestures sincerely.

And why do you even care?

The sensible inner voice took her completely off guard, but so did the resounding answer.

These people had all gone about their lives very well without her and they’d do so again.

So why was she feeling so damned proprietary about the residents of Indigo, Alaska?

She’d come up here to help Grier. That was the whole point in making the trip. They still had a bit more work to do, but she’d spend a few more days helping Grier get things on track; then she’d finish out her stay and go home.

Back to her own life in Manhattan.

And if the thought depressed her, it was something to contemplate later in the privacy of her room. Right now, she had an attractive dinner companion and one of the best cuts of steak she’d ever eaten.

As she raised a bite of her steak to her mouth, she focused on their day. “So you and the mayor are poker buddies?”

Walker waved a hand in dismissal as he reached for his glass. “Actually, I’d like to know when you were the subject of gossip. Is there a skeleton or two in your closet, Ms. McKinley?”

The evident humor in his gaze eased the delivery of the question, but she couldn’t help kicking herself for saying anything at all.

Of course, seeing as how she’d dug this hole for herself, she had two choices. She could either pick up a shovel and dig deeper, likely igniting even more interest, or she could give a lighthearted version of the truth.

“My mother is obsessed with getting me married off.”

“Obsessed?”

“Like a paparazzi photographer on Angelina Jolie. It borders on manic.”

“While I can oddly relate—and seeing as how you’ve met my grandmother, you know what I mean—what does that have to do with gossip?”

“I’m the town disappointment.”

“Excuse me?” She had the momentary satisfaction of seeing his eyes widen at the statement, but even that wasn’t enough to stave off the inevitable pain.

Do it fast, like ripping off a Band-Aid.

“I was the ugly duckling who turned out okay but never met Prince Charming.

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