A Cowboy in Disguise by Victoria Ashe Read Free Book Online Page A

the face.
    Alexandra put her hand over her mouth and hobbled quickly over to him. “Are you all right?”
    As she examined him, he swung around with a hidden handful of the white stuff and smeared it solidly in Alexandra’s face.
    “Rat,” she started to say and pushed him playfully in the chest with one hand as she wiped the snow away with the other. But her push didn’t move Scott—it only served to propel her own body backward on the slick surface, and with her already injured ankle, she began to lose balance.
    As if in slow motion, her feet started to go out from under her. Scott reached out to steady her, but his own feet slid away from him as she grabbed onto his arm and pulled him down with her into the snow.
    Alexandra’s hood had fallen back from her face and her skin was rosy from the cold. Her auburn hair flowed freely, framing her face in damp waves. Her pants were miserably soaked through with melting snow, and when Scott sat up in the snow beside her, she noticed his were, too.
    “I win,” Alexandra said.
    “What do you mean? I got the last point.”
    “Point?” she countered. “If we’re talking points here, I got more of them. You missed most of the time.”
    “You’re a smaller target,” he argued.
    “You used sneak attacks.”
    Alexandra’s voice trailed off as she suddenly realized how closely they were sitting together and how intensely Scott was watching her.
    His gaze met hers and held it as he removed his gloves and gently brushed a lump of snow out of her damp hair. Slowly he leaned toward her, his lips perilously close to hers. Anticipation glittered in his eyes and Alex knew she must look the same as him.
    Her lips, red from the cold, parted as her breath caught. He pressed his lips tentatively against hers in a sweet, soft kiss full of restraint as he waited for some sign of how she might react. Would she slap him? Yell at him? Sue him? She didn’t even know.
    This was truly forbidden. If anyone suspected two executives were fooling around, the rumors would tear their careers apart. She hadn’t been able to concentrate on the presentation as it was—her thoughts had been saturated with Scott. If only she could push him away, tell him no, talk to him in that excessively polite way of hers.
    Alexandra’s breath caught as Scott’s lips found hers. She felt a current pass between them, erasing all other sensations. She immediately missed the taste of his breath, sweet and warm, as his lips left hers.
    Scott rested his forehead against hers. “This is a bad idea.” He breathed. His lips brushed against hers as he spoke. “We shouldn’t even start this.”
    Somewhere, his words reached her. This was no game. This was her career, her reputation, her livelihood on the line. Inspired by self-preservation, a fleeting memory of Duncan and her last bit of self-restraint, Alexandra quickly pulled away.
    “You’re right. I can’t get involved with you. And you can’t get involved with me.” She stood and limped as fast as she could back inside the cabin.
    They each retreated awkwardly to their rooms without another word. It had only been a kiss, Alexandra rationalized. That was all it was. Nothing for two adults to panic over. No damage done. Alexandra’s senses slowly began to come back to her as the memory of his kiss faded from her lips.
    She closed her eyes and relived his lips caressing hers so very briefly. She imagined each of strong features from his straight nose to his heavy eyebrows and back down to his square chin. She couldn’t think of a single thing she would change about his handsome face.
    Still wrapped in a bubble of emotion, Alexandra slowly began to change clothes. Her legs were frozen and she’d worn wet clothes for too long in the snow. Her legs looked mottled and pink as she tried to warm herself by jogging in place. She thought she could see her breath in the air inside her bedroom. The blue skies only meant clearer weather, and without a warming cloud