Read Online Baby It's Cold Outside by Addison Fox - Free Book Online Page A

pulled her hand back, suddenly remembering it was clasped tightly in Walker’s very warm palm. “No.”
    “She’s awfully persuasive. Besides, how are you going to write about it if you don’t compete in it?”
    “I’ll be interviewing the competitors for the piece.”
    Walker shrugged, but she saw the light of battle in his eyes. “Seems like a cop-out to me.”
    “I hardly think so.”
    “Oh really. You come up here and claim the entire town’s out to get your friend. Then you decide to make a few bucks at our expense writing about us. Maybe you need to put a little skin in the game.”

Chapter Five
     
    “S kin in the game?”
    Walker watched the red already in her cheeks from the biting night air turn a deeper shade. It wasn’t until Sloan echoed his comments that he realized what his words might have implied. A distinct warmth settled in his core and his body tightened uncomfortably at the image of her exposed skin that lit up his mind’s eye. “Some commitment from you. Especially if you want to write a well-rounded article and all.”
    “I don’t need to be in the competition to do that. I’m going to interview town residents, the competitors, as well as the bachelors. It will be a very well-rounded piece.”
    “Sitting on the sidelines?”
    “It’s a reporter’s job to watch and listen.”
    Walker shrugged, enjoying the conversation—and baiting her—far more than he’d expected to. “I just think you could write a stronger piece if you put yourself in the game. If it’s too much for you, that’s another story.”
    The hands she’d been rubbing together to keep warm slammed on her hips as her eyebrows rose. “Reverse psychology, Counselor?”
    Damn it, but this was fun. It didn’t hurt that the light in her blue eyes offered an enticing challenge. “I’m simply making an observation.”
    “Sure you are.”
    “Come on. You heard the lineup of events during the town hall. It’s all done in a spirit of fun. None of the games are hard, per se. And the best part is that all the money raised goes into a town fund to help the community.”
    “From what I’ve also heard, you’ve never been a huge champion of the contest. Right this moment, you sound like the tourism board.”
    “What my grandmother and her friends have cooked up is sort of amazing.” As the words left his mouth, he had to admit they weren’t lip service. His grandmother had created something pretty amazing.
    Why hadn’t he ever noticed it before?
    And why did it take someone—even a someone as enticing as Sloan—to make him realize it?
    “For the record, the bachelors don’t actually compete. They’re just the recipients of the attention.”
    “But there is an auction, right? Do you participate in that? On a stage, in front of everyone.”
    He ignored the neatly tossed jab. Clearly, Avery must have already been sharing stories. “I leave that to the younger guys.”
    Sloan snorted, the uninhibited gesture pushing an extra puff of breath into the air. “Yeah, right.”
    “Just because I choose to humor my grandmother doesn’t mean I have to actually be in the contest.”
    “Play the tough guy all you want, Counselor. I don’t think you’re quite as immune to all this as you say.”
    “Oh, really?” Walker stepped closer, seized by the urge to reach out and touch her. He moved before he could question the impulse. “And what gave you that impression?”
    “I think you like being an object of such intense attention. All those women fawning over you. You and your buddies, the eligible bachelor brigade, on display.”
    Walker took the last few steps to close the gap between them. Despite the heavy layers of clothes—and the oversized coat she’d wrapped herself in—he could still smell her captivating scent. The rose notes that must be her shampoo filled his senses. “Why don’t you compete and find out?”
    “You may not like what I write about you.”
    “That’s a risk I’m prepared to