Read Online A Very Daring Christmas (The Tavonesi Series Book 8) by Pamela Aares - Free Book Online

it with a soft rose-petal pink.
    She grabbed a wide-brimmed straw hat, donned her sunglasses and headed for the back door that led to the garage. With any luck, photographers wouldn’t be camped out in the street. Since the release of new movies over the weekend, the photo mob had moved on to the stars of those films. New releases made better tabloid fodder. Thank God.
    She circled the block adjacent to the beach twice before she found a parking spot just south of the pier. Armed with a bottle of water and a pair of binoculars, she cut through the rollerbladers and tourists and headed to the picnic tables overlooking the beach.
    Jake sat at one of the picnic benches, wearing a plain black cap and sunglasses. But he was hardly incognito—she’d recognize the cut of his jaw and those biceps anywhere. The shadow of a beard intensified his rugged good looks.
    He waved and stood. Evidently she wasn’t as well-disguised as she’d thought.
    “I didn’t even know you could buy a cap without some sort of logo or brand on it these days,” she said as she reached him.
    Her weak attempt at a joke probably didn’t disguise the cells in her body screaming for her to kiss him. But hey, a girl had to try. Against her better judgment, she was letting him under her radar. If she was going to pay later, and she knew she would if her good sense abandoned her, she might as well make him work for every kiss.
    He laughed. “Hello to you too.”
    “I always find that the logos distract people. Very helpful in avoiding paparazzi.” Whoa, she was blathering. Not good. So much for making him work. If she didn’t get a grip and fast, all he’d have to do was crook a finger and she’d be in his lap.
    “I’m not one for wearing advertising on my body,” he said.
    The one thing he didn’t have to advertise was his outrageous sensuality. The hint of beard along his chiseled jaw and the muscles bulging under the knit polo shirt were like magnets for women. Even the usually self-focused Rollerblading queens slowed as they skated by him.
    But his comment reminded her of his refusal to help with the UNICAN project. That put a damper on her fire.
    “The contest starts in about half an hour.” Even dampened, she had to fight the fire to keep her voice level and smooth. Acting had taught her some useful skills.
    He grabbed a soft-sided cooler from the bench beside him. “I brought a few picnic items.”
    A guy who packed a picnic ? She was not going to swoon. Absolutely not. Hadn’t she been buffaloed by similar tactics? Okay, Elliott’s were champagne and roses, nights at the opera and tickets to see her favorite bands. But once he’d caught her, once he had lured her in and locked up her heart, he’d continued his philandering ways. Jake was a playboy in the same vein. A player. A player . She repeated the phrase in her mind even as she smiled and said, “That’s so thoughtful.”
    “Thoughtful?” He grinned. “Nope. Practical. I need protein every three hours right now. Got a big season coming up, and I’m in training.”
    She was not going to be duped by the delicious sight of his grin. And imagining him training shot images of muscles and sweat and—wow, just wow. She needed to get a grip. Maybe a year off from sex had damaged her brain.
    “Can I carry anything?” She dangled her hand in front of her.
    “Just this.”
    He handed her a rolled-up blanket.
    “Not one for sand in my food,” he said. “Especially not in fried chicken. Really gritty.”
    She’d never spent any time in the South, but Jake’s soft drawl crawled into her brain and then melted through her body like dew running down a flower petal.
    “How about here?” He gestured to a spot about four hundred yards from the judges station, up against a cliff that shaded them from the sun. “We can walk over and catch the contest after we eat.”
    “Perfect. I brought binoculars.”
    He paused from shaking out the blanket. “Must be nice to use those yourself