New Year's Bang by Kimberly Dean Page A

Still, snowflakes
clung to the tips of his hair. His blond hair was darker in the
winter, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to run her fingers
through it. They were tingling so badly, she curled them into her
palms to try to stop the sensation. “The light was yellow,” she
said, taking the offensive in this game they played way too
often.
    “I know.”
    The two simple words effectively tripped up her
battle plan and she struggled for something to say. He’d pulled her
over before, but there had always been a reason. And a resulting
ticket, of course. But if she hadn’t run the light… “Then what’s
the problem?”
    “You,” he muttered quietly.
    “Me?”
    He handed her back her things. She watched as he took
off his hat, ran his fingers through his dampening hair and put it
back on.
    His gaze settled on her then and it was as hot as the
night was cold. His attention started on the clenched fists in her
lap. Self-conscious again, Lita dried her palms on her jeans as
that observant gaze drifted upwards. Her body warmed under the
attention, even though she wore a winter jacket and a heavy
sweatshirt. Her heart thudded harder against her ribcage as that
observant gaze finally landed on her face – or more precisely, her
lips. They prickled with heat before he looked directly into her
eyes.
    “Could you step out of the car?”
    She blinked. “Out of the car? Why?”
    He pushed his hat back and, for a moment, she thought
she saw concern in his eyes. But then it disappeared and a muscle
in his jaw flexed. “I have concerns that you’ve been drinking.”
    For a moment, Lita couldn’t process the low words.
When she finally did, her head snapped back so hard it bumped
against the headrest. “Drinking?”
    Of all the things he could have said, that was the
last she’d expected. She actually found herself sputtering with
indignation. “Why would you even think that?”
    “Your cheeks are flushed and your eyes are
glazed.”
    Well, yes, but that wasn’t the reason.
Flustered, she tucked her hair behind her ear. Suddenly, she wasn’t
so concerned about looking sexy. “No, I haven’t been drinking. And
just so you know, I resent the accusation!”
    He didn’t budge as he stood over her. “Resent it all
you want. You’ve been weaving down the road and you drifted over
the center line going through that last intersection.”
    “I did what?” Leaning out the window, she looked back
at her tracks. They were clear in the newly fallen snow – and they
proved that she had taken a rather S-shaped path – but his
implication was ridiculous. She wasn’t drunk; she’d been watching
the snow coming down. “Give me a break, Pirelli. I can’t even see
the center line. If I crossed it, it was only by about six inches.
Tops.”
    “You’re having vision problems?” If anything, the set
of his shoulders only hardened. “Get out of the car.”
    Lita looked up at him, eyes narrowing. What was up
with him tonight? Was he taking a new tactic and trying to
piss her off?
    Because it was working.
    She yanked on the door handle and he stepped back as
she got out of the car. The way he watched her made her feel like
something in a lab experiment and she slammed the car door behind
her. The sound was abrupt in the midst of all the cold, winter
stillness.
    “You know I just got off work,” she said, folding her
arms defensively across her chest. “They’d fire me if I was drunk
on the air.”
    He didn’t even blink. “Then this should be easy for
you. Let me see you stand on one foot.”
    Unbelievable.
    Lita looked away. Well, this was just the capper to a
perfectly miserable holiday season. First her parents had decided
to take a Christmas cruise. Then her sister had up and taken her
nephews to their paternal grandparent’s place in Chicago. Of
course, once her coworkers had found out that she had no plans,
she’d been besieged with requests to cover the Christmas Eve and
Christmas night slots.
    She’d done