How Beauty Met the Beast

by Jax Garren

  Hauk downed the gin in two gulps and gave his mangled appearance a final inspection with the improved tie. At least the old-fashioned suit fell perfectly across his shoulders, highlighting the shape he’d worked his ass off to recover. It was as good as he got.

  “Top hat!” Catrina slapped the near-forgotten accessory on his head.

  Hauk picked up a little wrapped package, and the three of them proceeded to the main hall.

  Where it was snowing. “What the hell?” Hauk lifted a hand up in wonder at the white flakes swirling through the sky. They evaporated at his touch.

  “Tally and LaRoche. Isn’t it fabulous?” Catrina gushed. “The beauty of snow without the damp. What will those brilliant little urchins think up next?”

  Hauk smiled despite his nerves. “I’d heard they were working on something special for the party.” He wondered what Jolie thought of it and scanned the floor for her, hoping to see a smile. Her family had more money than Croesus. If she wanted snow, she probably hopped on a private jet and flew to Aspen. Or Switzerland. And while Hauk wouldn’t trade his life in the Underlight for all the riches of the world, he knew most people couldn’t see the beauty in a group that so thoroughly eschewed convention for conviction. The family he’d made down here were rare birds, and he loved them all the more for it.

  He found Jolie by the Yule tree, eyes closed and chin tilted up. Pure joy lit her face, making her glow. To her beautiful red hair she’d added strands of sepia and black. Half of it was piled abstractly on her head, held in place by a black orchid set at a jaunty angle. The rest spilled down to her waist in thick and glorious waves. She wore barely any makeup, but her flawless, pale skin didn’t need it.

  He had to admit, however, he had a difficult time staying focused on her face. He’d never been jealous of a dress before, but the silky, red Marilyn number caressed her figure like he’d dreamed about doing for two weeks. The neckline dipped just enough to grant a tantalizing hint of cleavage, and the modest hemline made his fingers itch to get beneath it. Even in sky-high red and black heels, she was more graceful and grounded than any woman he’d ever met, and seeing her again sent his heart stuttering.

  Nut up, soldier. Now or never. Hauk took a deep breath and headed across the room. “Holy hell, woman. How many heart attacks did you cause on your way here?”

  Jolie grinned at him with no hint of shock or fear at his appearance, and he breathed a small sigh of relief. “I dunno. Can I include you in my total?”

  He couldn’t help smiling back. “Abso-fuckin’-lutely.” He looked at his feet and back as k anl?a wave of jealousy passed through him. Every man she’d passed tonight had wanted her; he had no doubt about it. And stupid-ass Paul, the one man who could have her whenever he wanted, didn’t appreciate her. “So, the kinda-boyfriend let you out for the night?” Hauk knew he shouldn’t have said it but couldn’t help himself.

  She shrugged. “Paul has a show. Poor man’s stuck with a cadre of adoring groupies. Such is the sad life of a wannabe rock star.” She looked around again, her smile growing. “Besides, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to see this again.”

  The Underlight. He was glad she loved his home, but it hurt to hear the location was her real reason for coming. That it had nothing to do with—

  “And I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see you.”

  His eyes jerked back to hers, trying to discern if she’d realized her mistake and was taking pity on him or if she meant it.

  “Look at you, blue eyes deep as the cold ocean.” She put a delicate hand on his jacket front and looked up at him, her own eyes sparking intently. “We’ll continue to see each other, right? I’d really like to stay friends.”

  The light emphasis on “friends” wasn’t unexpected, and he couldn’t decide if he was more disheartened by the slight rejection—she had to know how he felt about her—or elated that she wanted to keep him around at all. But she was being honest with him, and that went a long way in his esteem. Friends they would be. He could control his hormones.

  He took her bare hand in his gloved one and bowed over it. “I would like that very much.” When he straightened up he presented her with the little package.

  “What’s this?”

  He shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. “Oh, just something I cobbled together.” Or spent two weeks meticulously crafting, to the howling delight of Brayden.

  “I didn’t bring anything for you. I didn’t know this was a present sort of occasion...” But she took the package and ran a gold-painted nail around the hemp bow.

  “It isn’t. I just... I mean, I didn’t think you would bring me something. I just had some spare time, and...”

  The box opened and she caught her breath; Hauk shut up to watch. With careful fingers she pulled out the palm-sized ornament. “It’s my car!” she practically squealed. “Oh my God! You made this?”

  He shrugged again, trying to stay casual, but her glee as she rotated the tires and admired his metalwork from every angle exceeded his hopes.

  When she smiled at him again, eyes shining with admiration, he knew he would take on any pain, any struggle, any ordeal to have her look at him like that again.

  Damn, he had it bad.

  “So when are you coming over so I can hang it up?” Her smile turned coy. “You may remember I don’t hang ornaments up by myself.”

  Oh, he’d remembered, with every pass of his torch and beat of his hammer. “Schedules around here are pretty free-form. I can come over whenever you’d like.”

  “Tuesday? Lunch? But no pizza, ’cause that’ll be a good day. New York strip and a salad? You strike me as a steak kinda guy.”

  “Absolutely perfect.”

  Music began, an old waltz on new instruments, and couples took to the floor, spinning through the sn khro

  He raised his hands in self-defense. “Oh...I’ve seen you dance. I barely know the steps.”

  “But you know them? At all?” She looked impressed.

  “Uh, yeah. Tally made me learn to waltz before she’d give me my teletext.” It had been the first time a female, other than a nurse or his mother, had touched him. He’d held out for four months before finally giving in and letting a girl hold his gloved hand and touch his leather-and cloth-covered shoulder. And she’d been so sweet the whole time, not mentioning a thing but steps and turning. Then she’d gone back to her boyfriend in the lab to work on their next project, and the next day a teletext had arrived in his room.

  He’d make Tally any metal pieces she needed for the rest of his life.

  Jolie hung his present on the tree and squeezed her hands in supplication. “It’ll be safe there until I leave. Now, please! Please dance with me. You know I love dancing.” Green eyes begged him from under those long lashes.

  There was no turning that down. “Jolie Benoit, may I have the honor of this waltz?” He would hold her in his arms and try not to step all over her feet.

  She looped her hand through the crook of his elbow. “Why, Wesley Haukon, I thought you’d never ask.”

  He stilled. She’d just used his first name. He’d only told her that when they first met across a sheet in a sexual encounter she hadn’t yet acknowledged.

  A light blush feathered her cheeks as the realization hit her, too. She brazened it out though, arching an eyebrow as she tugged him toward the dance floor. “One can only hope you waltz as divinely as you do other things.”

  His mouth went dry and his pulse hammered in his ears as he pulled her close to him and they took their first step. “I fear dancing is not my strength. I’m better in a clutch situation.”

  She laughed.

  “You know, like fighting for our lives. Or other things which might come to mind.”

  Her eyes sparkled. “Mm-hmm.”

  “But I’ll do my best to get through the steps.”

  She shook her head and placed it against his shoulder, her cheek at his chest. He held a breath at the unaccustomed contact, but as she relaxed, so did he.
The music swelled, and he held her tightly, loving the press of her perfect body, the sharpness of her mind and the bravery in her soul.

  The mythical snow of the Underlight fell around them, the candlelight from the Yule tree glowed against their skin, and on the year’s longest night, Hauk let the light of hope be reborn.

  * * * * *

  Craving more classic fairy tales with a sexy twist from author Jax Garren?

  Then don’t miss

  How Beauty Saved the Beast

  When danger draws a burlesque dancer and a scarred ex-Army Ranger together in the heat of battle, sparks ignite. But it will take more than an almost kiss to convince Jolie that her feelings for Hauk extend past friendship. It’s not until Hauk is kidnapped that Jolie re nhro an almoalizes her true feelings. Now she must break the curse of her fear to save him…

  Available from Carina Press February 2013.

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  About the Author

  Jax Garren is descended from Valkyries and Vikings (she’s part Swedish) but was raised a small-town girl in the Texas Hill Country. She graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in English and a minor in Latin and stayed in Austin to teach high school. During her eight years in public education she was in a riot, broke up fights, had cops storm her class with guns drawn...and met the most amazing young people who taught her more about life and hope than she taught them about any school subject.

  Jax believes in happily-ever-afters. She married her real-life hero, a handsome engineer who is saving the world through clean energy technology. Her heroine is Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark, the perfect blend of tough and feminine. Jax blames Marion for her dream of traveling to Nepal to experience Himalayan palaces and monasteries and to drink yak butter tea. Jax can be found at www.jaxgarren.com or on Facebook. She would love to raise a glass with her readers to toast courage, adventure and love.

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  ISBN: 978-14268-9466-4

  Copyright © 2012 by Jennifer Hinson

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

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