Read Online Sex, Lies and Mistletoe by Tawny Weber - Free Book Online

the words out. “I think I was even in a few classes with your sister, Maya. But I left for college and haven’t been back much since.”
    “So why’d you get a job here? You’re interested in this New Age stuff?”
    She looked toward the dangling beaded doorway with shelves of crystal balls lining either side and rolled her eyes.
    “Interested? I don’t know about that. More like indoctrinated.” At his arched brow, she shrugged and admitted, “Cassiopeia is my mother.”
    He might only have a vague recollection of the store, but he definitely remembered Cassiopeia. Third-generation woo-woo queen, all the guys in high school had had crushes on her. Bodacious, outrageous and eccentric, the outgoing redhead had a scary handle on that psychic stuff she sold to her customers.
    “I remember your mom. She did readings at my senior carnival.”
    “Mine, too.” Pandora didn’t sound nearly as intrigued as he’d been. The son of a colorful character, Caleb could sympathize.
    Talk about the apple falling so far from the tree it could make orange juice. Now that he knew what to look for, he could see the resemblance in the curve of her cheeks, the rounded eyes more hazel than her mother’s emerald. And, of course, the red hair, again, more muted in Pandora’s case. It was as if she’d stepped into a shadow instead of embracing the full wattage her mother liked to wave around.
    Interesting.
    Even more interesting was that Caleb was finding muted about the sexiest thing he’d ever encountered. He just couldn’t figure out why since he’d always been a Technicolor kind of guy.
    “You know what I heard while we were still in the store, then again while you were in the back getting cake?”
    “You mean while you were hiding back here?” she corrected.
    Caleb grinned, glad to see she had claws. It was always more fun to tangle with a wildcat than a pussycat.
    “I heard people saying you serve up something besides food back here.”
    This time the color wasn’t subtle. Nope, she blushed a hot, brilliant red. Her eyes flew to the store, then to the cake before meeting his gaze. A stubborn line furrowed between her brows.
    “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she dismissed.
    “You’re a horrible liar.”
    “A gentleman would take the hint and change the subject.”
    “Sweetie, I’ve never worried about being a gentleman.”
    “Obviously.”
    Grinning, Caleb decided it was time to change gears. He stood, and with a glance at the still-milling crowd in the store, decided to take his cue from his father and head out the back way.
    “Walk me out?” he said, making the demand sound like a request.
    “The back? The door’s right there,” she pointed out. But she got to her feet anyway.
    Caleb didn’t know why he was pushing it. He’d already declared her off-limits, and while he was a guy who was all about pushing boundaries, he never crossed lines he, himself, drew.
    But right now, he didn’t care.
    “So is it true?” he asked, heading toward the door, counting on her being trapped by good manners into following.
    “Is what true?”
    “Do you really serve aphrodisiacs?”
    She ground to a halt so fast, she teetered in her flat-heeled boots. “Don’t believe everything you hear,” she said dismissively.
    “So, it’s a lie?”
    “It’s more of an…exaggeration,” she decided. “After all, who’s to say whether aphrodisiacs are real or whether they’re a figment of the imagination?”
    “I have a really good imagination.” He reached out and took her hand, lifting it to his mouth.
    “What are you doing?” she asked with a gasp, tugging. But he didn’t let go.
    “You have chocolate,” he told her, “just…here.”
    He swiped his tongue over her knuckle. Her eyes went heated, her breath shuddered and she leaned against the wall with the cutest little mewling noise.
    In an instant, Caleb went from amused to rock-hard. An overwhelming urge to touch her, to taste her, washed over