Read Online Winter's Wonder: Pine Point, Book 2 by Allie Boniface - Free Book Online Page B

the night, and everyone in the room knew it.
    “You ready?” he asked instead.
    Becca teetered a little in her heels, and that broke the tension circling the room. He offered her his arm, and she took it with a grateful smile. She grabbed her coat and a bright red scarf and wrapped herself up as they descended the stairs. “You still haven’t told me where we’re going.”
    No, he hadn’t, because part of him was afraid she’d back out. “I thought I’d cook for you. If that’s okay.” Outside, their breath turned to cool white streams in the air.
    She stopped on the sidewalk, brows lifted in surprise. “At your place?”
    “I do my best cooking there,” he said with a grin. Wasn’t the most upscale place in the world, but he hoped Becca wouldn’t mind. He’d seen her surrounded by cat puke and dog shit, after all. Even his tiny trailer would be a step up from the shelter.
    Down the block, a cluster of teens stood outside the fire station singing Christmas carols. Thin and clear, the words floated down Main Street. “Deck the halls with boughs of holly…”
    Becca took his hand as she hoisted herself up into the cab of his truck. “Kind of magical, isn’t it?”
    He jogged around the truck to his own side. He didn’t put much stock in the traditions of the season, but it was hard to be a Scrooge in a town like Pine Point, where mistletoe and holly decorated every last storefront and the neighborhood kids sang Christmas songs on Main Street. “A regular Norman Rockwell scene,” he said as he turned the key and the V-10 engine roared to life.
    “Exactly what I was thinking.” She smiled, and he couldn’t help but lean over and steal another kiss, not on her cheek this time. When they broke apart, her eyes went wide.
    He pulled away and kept his own eyes on the road. Damn, but she tempted him—and it was more than the way she’d dressed tonight or the way she kissed him. It was the whole package.
    They passed Mountain Glen a few minutes later, all lit up against the night sky. He slowed out of habit and scanned both sides of the road, but he hadn’t seen the dog in almost three days. The food in the dish continued to disappear in back of the maintenance shed though, so unless they had another homeless animal hanging around, the dog was still there.
    He turned at the private road, and the truck bumped along to his driveway. He’d spent the better part of the afternoon cleaning up inside and out. Still, when he led Becca up to the door, a funny feeling squeezed tight in his chest. Hope she likes it all right.
    She stepped inside and took a long look around. He’d bought some cinnamon candles for the bathroom, and though he hadn’t lit them, their scent filled the small space. She slipped off her coat and laid it over the back of the couch. “Cozy,” she finally said.
    It wasn’t much to look at, with the worn furniture and the plain blue curtains hanging over the windows. But it was home. It was his.
    “Drink?” he asked to busy himself. “I have beer and wine.” He paused. “Although I’m not sure I have a corkscrew, come to think of it.” Damn. He’d picked up a bottle of red and a bottle of white at the local liquor store, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually opened anything with a cork.
    “Beer’s fine,” she said. She leaned on the kitchen counter. “And dinner smells delicious.”
    He popped the tops off two light beers and then slid teriyaki pork chops and rolls into the oven and checked in the refrigerator on the salads he’d already made.
    “I have to say, I didn’t think this was where we’d be eating,” she said. “Didn’t peg you as a cook.”
    “Learned to make a few things when I was living down south.” He leaned against the counter beside her, close enough that the heat from her hip seeped into his.
    “Yeah?” She turned. “Tell me about that.”
    He took a long drink, letting the cool beer slide down his throat. “Want to sit