Harlequin Romance March 2021 Box Set Cara Colter (the mitten read aloud TXT) 📖

Nodding his approval, he slowly veered back onto the road and concentrated fully on driving. Recalling everything Casson might have told him about Ronnie would have to wait until much later…

CHAPTER TWO

RONNIE STARED NUMBLY AHEAD, the wipers swooshing hypnotically left and right. So much for a relaxing evening at the cottage… She was heading to the “shack” of a virtual stranger. The fact that he and Casson were friends was somewhat reassuring, but she didn’t relish the thought of spending the night in what sounded like a ramshackle bachelor pad.

At least, she figured, he must be a bachelor. There had been no mention of a wife or girlfriend…

Ronnie stole a glance at Red. He had flipped back the hood of his parka, revealing a shock of hair the color of burnished copper, with curling ends. His jaw and chin had scruff that hadn’t seen a trimmer in at least a week. Yet she couldn’t deny that he was…kind of cute. Okay, maybe cute wasn’t the right word for this…this Viking.

He turned and caught her staring. She felt heat swooshing up into her cheeks and she blinked, trying to come up with something to say. He smiled, and the heat spiraled back down her body to her limbs. She resisted the temptation to roll the window down to cool her flaming face. “Um, how far is it to your place?” she blurted.

“Can’t wait to dig in to the pizza, eh?” he teased, his smile widening into a grin that showed his perfect teeth. He turned his gaze back to the road. “Just a few more minutes before we get to my humble abode—”

The truck suddenly veered to the left and Ronnie cried out, her head swerving against Red as he maneuvered the truck out of the skid. For a few seconds her cheek was pressed tightly against his upper arm, and she closed her eyes, afraid to look. When she felt Red’s arm ease up again, she ventured a peek. He was turning off onto a road with no houses in sight, just streetlamps. She righted herself and squinted through the constant swiping of the windshield wipers. Where on earth was he taking her?

Ronnie’s heartbeat matched the staccato rhythm of the ice pellets pinging against the truck. And then she caught sight of an ornate Victorian-style gate directly in their path, flanked by sturdy lampposts. Her gaze flew to Red, who had slowed down and was aiming a device toward the gate.

“Open sesame,” he ordered dramatically, and Ronnie’s eyes widened as the double gate swung open and then closed once they were inside. Moments later an immense three-story Victorian mansion with gables and arches came into view, its bay windows lit up like bright eyes in the dark. A string of lights hanging above a wraparound porch twinkled as they moved with the wind and freezing rain. Red came to a stop in the circular driveway adjacent to the front steps. “Welcome to my ‘shack,’” he said, grinning. “I’ll get your door.”

He put his hood back on and leaped out. He opened the door and put out his hand to help Ronnie down the step, which was already glazed over with ice. “Let’s get you in the house, Miss Veronica or Ronnie, and I’ll come back for the pizza.” He held out his left arm protectively as they went up the half-dozen stairs to the doorway. “I don’t want you to slip and get hurt. Your cousin would have my head!” He opened the stained-glass door and motioned for Ronnie to enter.

The foyer was breathtaking, with its carnelian-and-black-tiled floor, creamy white leather high-back chairs and gleaming antique armoires opposite each other that reminded Ronnie of one of her favorite books: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis…

“I’ll take your coat, Ronnie,” Red drawled.

She snapped out of her thoughts and took off her parka, and realized that while she was in Narnia, Red had already hung up his parka in the armoire behind her. She couldn’t help noticing the perfect fit of his cable-knit sweater and straight jeans. The forest-green of the former suited him and enhanced the color of his eyes. Now that her boots were off, he was even taller, with a broad chest and defined shoulders that made her wonder if he was a football player… And his hair, ruffled and the color of burnished oak leaves in the fall, had her guessing that his heritage was Irish.

“I’ll go and grab the pizza and you can make yourself comfortable in the salon in the meantime.” He chuckled. “I guess I shouldn’t have hung up my parka…”

She followed Red into a spacious salon with an ornate fireplace flanked by built-in bookshelves that were stocked with some classics as well as some recent titles. Two dark brown leather recliners were positioned side by side opposite the fireplace. An elegant mahogany desk and padded leather chair sat in an illuminated alcove with a large sash window. The curved wall boasted more bookshelves and hundreds of gilded volumes. A couch with a William Morris design and mahogany accents lounged nearby. Ronnie blinked, feeling as if she had entered another century.

Her gaze shifted to the sweeping staircase and upward to the immense vaulted ceiling embossed with roses. She could only imagine what the second floor was like… And that’s where you’re probably going to be sleeping tonight, her inner voice whispered.

“How do you like my new digs?”

Ronnie started. She hadn’t even heard him come back in. “Um… It looks like a ‘shack’ out of a fairy tale,” she said dryly. “I was almost expecting Beauty to float down the staircase in her lovely gown, with the Beast right behind her.”

Red chuckled. “Well, I can assure you there are no beasts in this place. Unless it’s a full moon, and then—” he rubbed his chin and looked at her with narrowed eyes “—my fur grows exponentially.”

Ronnie’s brows arched and she cleared her throat. How was she supposed to respond to