Read Online Jingle Spells by Vicki Lewis Thompson - Free Book Online

want to get a look at me. I would, if I were in their shoes.”
    â€œThey probably do want to.” He sounded resigned.
    â€œGreat. Then I will meet them.” She settled back in her seat with a smile.
    Cole, however, was not smiling. In fact, his profile resembled an ice sculpture.
    She’d have loved to thaw him out. “You know, I realized this morning I have no idea where you live.”
    His throat moved as he swallowed. “It, um, doesn’t really matter, does it?”
    â€œIt does to me. I’m not in the habit of taking my clothes off for a man when I have no idea where he lives or what his place looks like. Until this morning, I hadn’t thought about that discrepancy. You do live in Gingerbread, I assume?”
    â€œOutside of it, but yes, in a sense. It’s the closest town.”
    â€œWill you let me see your place?”
    â€œThat’s not a good idea.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œTaryn, don’t push.”
    â€œI hardly think it’s pushing to want to see your home. Back at MIT we went back and forth between my apartment and your duplex all the time. I knew what was in your refrigerator and you knew what was in mine. Having no idea about your living space feels weird, Cole.”
    He sighed. “We’re not at MIT. And I can’t show you where I live.”
    She heard the note of finality in his voice and tucked that information away. Wherever he lived, the secret lived, too. If that weren’t so, he’d have agreed to take her there.
    Although she had a million more questions, she didn’t ask them. He was already on edge. But she was about to enter a place filled with other sources of information.
    As they approached the tall building she’d identified from her bedroom window, a portly man in a red jogging suit lumbered past on the snowy sidewalk. He had on a knit cap instead of a fur-trimmed one, but his white beard was very Santa Claus-like.
    She’d decided not to make any more comments, but seeing the jogging Santa look-alike was a safe enough topic. “That guy we just passed looks exactly like Santa Claus.”
    A muscle in Cole’s jaw twitched. “I know.”
    â€œIs he some local character?”
    â€œSomething like that.”
    â€œIt’s kind of cute, don’t you think? A middle-aged guy lives in Gingerbread and decides to take on the persona of Santa Claus. It’s like the role players in old Western towns like Tombstone.”
    â€œGuess so.”
    â€œYou don’t seem to appreciate the charm of it, my friend.”
    Cole took a deep breath and looked over at her. “I’d forgotten that your brain is always analyzing, always evaluating, sifting and cataloging.”
    â€œOf course. So’s yours.”
    He flicked on a turn signal and pulled up to a wrought iron gate with scrollwork incorporating an elaborate E. “I’m going to ask you to focus all that brainpower on the Evergreen database. Pretend you have blinders on and ignore everything else.”
    â€œSounds like censorship, Cole.”
    He touched a button on the dash and the gates swung open. “That’s because it is.”
    â€œFor the love of God, what’s going on in this building?”
    Pulling into a parking space labeled with his name, he shut off the engine and turned to her. “I promise you that what goes on in this building is benign. There are no criminals here, no terrorists and no drug dealers. Nothing bad happens here, Taryn. Can you accept that and just do your job?”
    â€œIf it’s nothing bad, why can’t you tell me?”
    â€œI can’t tell you because...” He looked into her eyes and his throat moved. When he spoke, his voice was husky with emotion. “I can’t tell you, not ever, and I really wish I could, because...”
    â€œBecause why?”
    â€œBecause I love you.”
    She gasped, shocked that he’d said it, but thrilled, too.