Roxanne Snopek

What are you wearing?" "Coveralls. Shit-kickers. Long, latex gloves." He blinked. "can't wait to see you take them off.

You're pretty low maintenance, as women go.""I am, am I?" She sounded amused."Yeah. Like a cactus.

I'm named after my father, Rudolph," he said, then shot her a stern look. "But if you connect that with my red nose --

She pulled her arm free from his grasp and stood back, her arms crossed. "So, what then? You're holding me hostage? Are you even really a sheriff?""I am," he said, highly amused at her attempt at bravado. "You wanna see my badge?

It's nothing fancy, I opened a jar of sauce and cooked the linguine. But there's fresh Parmesan and I even found a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.""You found wine." Earlier he'd been thinking about microwaved Who Hash, solitude and if he was very lucky, beer.But a hot, fresh-cooked meal? Candles? Wine? And a chatty yoga-elf chef? With a body like a Las Vegas showgirl?

Consider me your rescuer, not your jailer," he said to Frankie, without looking at her. His gut told him that, on the criminal mastermind scale, this one landed closer to Tinker Bell than Lizzie Borden.

He could hear her ramping up and rather than letting it happen, he silenced her the best way he knew hos.He lowered his head to hers, slowly, so she could see him coming. Her lips parted, in anticipation, in fear, out of breathlessness or a need to speak, he didn't care. He pressed his against them and heard her quick intake of breath.Her hands went up to his neck and she pulled herself closer, her mouth softening against his, opening, until they were necking like the pair of teenagers they had been, urgently, desperately, the rest of the world falling away until it was only them, no one else mattering, nothing necessary to their survival but that they hold on, hold on, hold on to each other and never let go.

Rory's big labradoodle made a snap judgement that Frankie was everything her life had been missing up until now. She flung herself into the girl's arms, wiggling and whining, a shaggy mass of chocolate-colored enthusiasm."Mistral likes you, I see." While he, the one who filled the dog's food dish, had gotten nothing but suspicious glances since he arrived two days earlier."of course you like me" she said, baby-talking into the dog's fur, "I'm extremely likeable."If the dog's expression was any indication, Frankie was about to get nominated for sainthood....She glanced at him. "Maybe she'd like you more if you weren't so... testosterone-y.""But then you might like me less

I hope you brought your handcuffs," she added. "I won't go quietly.""I might use them anyway, for fun," he answered, remembering the sensation of her warm lips against his.

Bending the law is different from breaking, my lovely, strategically-challenged Francesca.

I'm resourceful," she called after him.Resourceful, he thought, rinsing his hands with the ladle she'd left in the bucket. "A euphemism commonly used by successful criminals," he called out to her."If I were so successful," she called back, "I wouldn't be talking to you.

Great. He had a ranch with no power, a burgeoning blizzard, animals depending on him and now, a frightened, felonious elf to look after.

Once in rur-al Flathead coun-tyStood a cru-wel Christmas sceneDumped for slaugh-ter were the rein-deerWhen an elf did intervene.

Consider yourself warned, Frankie. Something about these mountains convinces previously sane women to give up Starbucks for saddle sores.

She tossed a handful of snow at his face, then shrieked as the wind whipped it back into her own.Red hooted. "Karma's a boomerang, sweetheart. Don't forget it.

I wonder if you could do me a favor," he said, angling his body away from Jade. From the corner of his eye, he saw her tip her head watchfully."What's that?" said Samara with a frown."There's a park across town that perfect for walking dogs. I love to go there on Sunday afternoons but, well, as it happens, I don't have a dog."A slow smile spread across Samara's face."You want to borrow Bob.""I understand it's a lot to ask. Dogs being as precious as they are and all. I know Jade could never part with Bob, even for a little while." then, he put his finger to his chin, as if the idea had just occurred to him. "You could join me if you wanted to. I guess.

She was licking something off the end of a wooden spoon. Red froze. His body reacted as if he'd walked in on her twirling half-naked on a pole....Frankie was intriguing. Unsettling. Challenging He wanted to figure her out. He wanted to play strip poker with her. He wanted to throw her on the couch and ---"A touch more oregano, I think." Frankie pointed the spoon at him.

Remember that old Disney movie, the cartoon with the dogs, Lady and the Tramp?" she said with a jerky laugh. "it's Jade's favorite of course. We've watched it a million times. This reminds me of that scene where they're eating spaghetti."He raised his eyebrows. He knew exactly the scene. Both dogs both slurped the same piece and ended up kissing.