Read Online The Bite Before Christmas by Lynsay Sands, Jeaniene Frost - Free Book Online

He swallowed heavily and then added, his voice husky from the whiskey, “Grab one of the sleeping bags I brought out earlier. You can have the couch. I’ll take the floor.”
    Katricia stared at him silently for a moment and then simply turned and left the living room to slip into the bathroom. While the fire and several candles had lit up the main room, she hadn’t thought to bring a candle with her, and darkness closed around Katricia as soon as she closed the door. But between her night vision and the small bit of moonlight streaming through the window, she could see fine and peered at herself in the mirror, surprised to find her eyes hadn’t turned green, after all.
    Closing her eyes briefly, she forced herself to take several deep breaths, and reminded herself that Teddy was her life mate. That being the case, whatever he’d felt for Elvi in the past wouldn’t matter. It would be nothing next to what he would experience with and feel for her in the future. The nanos were never wrong, and they had put him with her, not Elvi. Feeling herself relax, Katricia opened her eyes and peered at herself in the mirror. A plan began to form in her mind then, on how to begin to turn his attention from Elvi to her, one that brought a slow smile to her lips.
    Teddy stared at the closed bathroom door and downed the rest of his whiskey. He usually enjoyed Elvi’s gift, but tonight it tasted like ash in his mouth and he hadn’t a clue why. Except that, for some reason, he felt incredibly guilty, as if his feelings for Elvi, feelings he’d had since he was a callow youth, were somehow betraying this new and very tentative friendship with Katricia . . . which was just stupid. He’d only met her today. And aside from her first flirting, there had been nothing untoward since, not even a hint of flirting from her—or him, for that matter. Instead, they’d seemed to bond, friendship growing between them as they’d played, talked, and worked together as a team.
    It was something Teddy had never really experienced before. Oh, he’d had many female friends over the years and had worked toward a common goal with just as many. He’d worked with Mabel to try to find Elvi a mate, had planned and arranged local fairs with Elvi. But he’d never experienced the same level of ease and rightness with either of them as he had with Katricia. They’d seemed to communicate at times without needing to speak, and their working together in the kitchen had been almost like a dance. He felt closer to her after one day than he’d felt with women he’d been lovers with for months. Which was just strange, he decided and shook his head before turning to put the cap back on his whiskey and return it to the gift bag.
    The bathroom door opened and Teddy watched silently as Katricia reappeared and grabbed one of the two sleeping bags he’d set on the chair beside the couch earlier. She then moved to the couch, unrolled and laid out the sleeping bag, unzipped it, and crawled inside. She didn’t bother to zip it back up, he noted as he took the candle that he’d set on the kitchen counter earlier and headed for the bathroom himself.
    The room was damned cold compared to the main room, and Teddy was quick about his ablutions. Within ten minutes he was back, blowing out candles and unrolling his sleeping bag in front of the fireplace. His gaze slid reluctantly to Katricia then, as he wondered if he should have offered her the spot in front of the fire. The couch would be more comfortable, but the floor in front of the fire would be warmer.
    Finding her eyes closed, Teddy decided she would probably be warm enough in the sleeping bag and quickly unzipped his and started to get into it. Then, recalling he still wore his flannels under his clothes, and deciding he’d be more comfortable out of his jeans, he quickly shed them and his sweater, folded them neatly, set them aside, then