Praise for New York Times bestselling author Vicki Lewis Thompson

“Count on Vicki Lewis Thompson for a sharp, sassy, sexy read.”

—New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz

“Devour … Vicki Lewis Thompson’s books immediately.”

—Fresh Fiction

Praise for New York Times bestselling author Rhonda Nelson

“Well plotted and wickedly sexy, this one’s got it all—including a completely scrumptious hero. A keeper.”

—RT Book Reviews on The Ranger

“I loved The Keeper. Jack and Mariette strike sparks off one another from their very first meeting and there is an emotional intensity to the mystery that will bring a few tears to your eyes.” —Fresh Fiction

Praise for Kira Sinclair

“A satisfying balance of light kink, heart and conflict.”

—RT Book Reviews on Captivate Me

“With a dense plot and ample tension on all fronts, this book lives up to the imprint’s moniker.”

—RT Book Reviews on Testing the Limits

Praise for Andrea Laurence

“Laurence’s latest is a well-written hit from start to finish!”

—RT Book Reviews

“A sweet, sexy story …”

—Romance Reviews Today

Jingle Spells

Naughty or Nice?

Vicki Lewis Thompson

She’s a Mean One

Rhonda Nelson

His First Noelle

Kira Sinclair

Silver Belle

Andrea Laurence

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Table of Contents

Cover

Praise

Title Page

Naughty or Nice?

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

She’s a Mean One

About the Author

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

His First Noelle

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Silver Belle

About the Author

Dedication

Seven Days until Christmas Eve

Six Days until Christmas Eve

Sixty-Three Hours until Takeoff

Fifty-Four Hours until Takeoff

Seventeen Hours until Takeoff

One Hour until Takeoff

Christmas Eve, One Year Later

Extract

Copyright

Naughty or Nice?

Vicki Lewis Thompson

Because NYT bestselling author VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON lives in the Arizona desert, she hardly ever has a white Christmas, but she always celebrates an enchanted one. Elves and flying reindeer make perfect sense to someone who’s lucky enough to write love stories all day. Vicki’s writing career has gifted her with several awards and a magickal connection to readers around the world. With the life she has, how can she doubt the existence of Santa Claus? Connect with her at www.vickilewisthompson.com, www.facebook.com/vickilewisthompson and www.twitter.com/vickilthompson.161

To the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pens—Andrea Laurence, Rhonda Nelson and Kira Sinclair. We’ve been to Dublin, London and Paris together, but I’m still partial to Gingerbread, Colorado!

Chapter 1

INTERNAL MEMO: Christmas countdown, minus 20 days

FROM: Cole Evergreen, CEO, Evergreen Industries

TO: All staff

Thanks to centuries of intel monitoring, the North Pole is widely accepted as the home of Santa Claus. That misinformation has allowed the Winter Clan, under the guise of Evergreen Industries, to operate undetected in Gingerbread, Colorado, as we employ our magick in the service of Christmas.

But magick has its limits, and computer technology is more efficient for information storage and retrieval. Because of the sensitive nature of our database, specifically the “Naughty or Nice” list, our security system is constantly being updated.

However, I regret to inform you that despite our best efforts, we’ve been hacked. While I investigate the source of this breach, be advised that your current usernames and passwords are invalid. When you create new ones, use the strongest possible codes. Failure to maintain secrecy is not an option.

The memo, as Cole had expected it would, brought his three siblings to his office on the fifteenth floor of the Evergreen Industries building within minutes. It was the tallest structure in Gingerbread, and also the deepest. Besides having fifteen floors aboveground to house Evergreen’s Christmas ornament business, it had five subterranean floors dedicated to the secret task of Christmas toy production.

Ethan, Cole’s next oldest brother, arrived first with a typically optimistic attitude. There was a reason Ethan had been put in charge of Christmas cheer. Ethan was the sort of wizard who, if he found a box of horse manure under the Christmas tree, would look around for the pony.

“It was a fluke.” Ethan commandeered one of the two leather swivel chairs in front of Cole’s desk. “I’ll bet it was a total accident and they won’t be back.”

“They knew exactly what they were doing. They left me a message.” A message that had made his pulse leap when he realized who had been prowling through his database.

“What message?” Belle, the youngest Evergreen, walked in carrying a mug of coffee, because she had to be different. Everyone else in the company drank cocoa.

It must have been an emergency ration she’d brewed herself, because it clearly hadn’t come from Cup of Cheer, her favorite coffee shop in Gingerbread. She claimed that the stress of her job as head of human (and elf) resources, especially her work with Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves, required large quantities of caffeine, specifically double-shot peppermint lattes.

Belle grabbed the other swivel chair and glanced at her brothers, eyebrows raised. “What’s the deal?”

“Whoever hacked into the database left a message,” Ethan said. “Can you trace where it came from, Cole?”

“Don’t have to. I know who it is.” A memory of Taryn from ten years before, her slender body naked and willing beneath his, scorched a path through his brain. He ignored it.

“That’s great!” Ethan looked even more encouraged. “So you can nip this in the bud, right?”

Oh, yeah. Even after ten years, Cole remembered nipping, and tasting, and... He banished that memory, too, and propped his hips on the edge of the desk. “Sort of. I’m planning to—”

“I see we’re all here.” Dash, two years younger than Ethan, sauntered into the office, followed closely by Noelle Frost, who’d recently come back to Gingerbread to head up company security while her father recovered from a health scare.

Dash and Noelle were exes, which made her return problematic and their working relationship tricky. Dash was in charge of elf transportation and Christmas magick, including Santa’s sleigh and flying reindeer. Noelle had to make sure the sleigh was properly cloaked to avoid detection by military radar and civilian air traffic controllers. Dash and Noelle had no choice but to cooperate on sleigh duty, whether they wanted to or not.

Cole couldn’t worry about their issues today. But he noted with some amusement that a love seat positioned against the wall was the only place left to sit. Noelle eventually took it and Dash chose to stand, leaning against the opposite wall, arms crossed.

Ethan turned his chair to face them. “Cole just said he knows who hacked into the database. That means we’re halfway to solving the problem.”

“Not exactly.” Cole looked at each of his siblings in turn. Their generation was in charge now. Their parents, following a time-honored Winter Clan tradition, had turned over the operation to their adult children. The senior Evergreens were currently in Ethiopia helping create clean water sources for impoverished villages.

No one would doubt those four were Evergreens. They’d all inherited the fabled green eyes from their wizard father, and the brothers had their mother’s dark, slightly wavy hair and their father’s height. Belle was blonde, like their father, and petite, like their mother.

Anyone entering the room would identify Noelle, with the straight, dark hair and the clear blue eyes of the Summer Clan, as the unrelated participant. But despite not being an Evergreen, Noelle was an important component of any strategy meeting. Her experience as a CIA operative would be very helpful.

She sat forward, her gaze intent, her tablet at the ready. “So, who’s the hacker, Cole?”

“An old girlfriend from college.”

Dash grinned. “Ah. So it’s Taryn.”

“How do you know that?” Noelle was in full interrogation mode.

“Because Cole only has one old girlfriend from college who counts,” Dash said. “That makes this easy, bro. Pay her a visit and find a way to offer her some of Noelle’s memory-erasing cocoa. Problem solved.”

“Negative on that, Dash.” Noelle’s tone was brisk, even a little defensive. “Our current formula isn’t sophisticated enough to create selective memory loss, which is what’s needed here.”

Cole turned his attention to her. He hated to put her on the spot, but he needed to know his options, just in case. “How fast can you beef up the formula?”

“It shouldn’t take long.” She said it quickly, as if forestalling any discussion. “I’ll have a more versatile batch soon.”

“How soon?”

A hint of panic flashed in her expression, and was quickly replaced by a confident smile. “Not today, but very soon. I’m just saying that if you give Taryn the cocoa we have on hand, she’d forget hacking into Evergreen, but if she’s trying to get a rise out of you, she’ll hack in again.”

“Get a rise out of him?” Dash chuckled. “Under the circumstances, you might want to rephrase that.”

Noelle rolled her eyes. “Oh, grow up, Dash.”

“Not planning on it, Noelle.”

Their banter hit too close to home. Cole ducked his head and studied the wreath pattern in the thick green carpeting as he fought the heat climbing his cheeks. This was hell. His brothers and sister knew too much about Taryn, which was his own damned fault.

He’d left MIT in the middle of his senior year, right before Christmas break. All his fanciful dreams about Taryn had died that Christmas when he’d realized he wasn’t ever going back to college. He’d abandoned her without an explanation. But what could he have said? That he was a wizard going home to help his family straighten out the “Naughty or Nice” list and make sure Christmas went off without a hitch?

Lying hadn’t been an option. He’d learned early in life that his brain didn’t work that way, and everything that came out of his mouth was true, no matter how embarrassing or unwise the statement. Over the years, he’d trained himself to hold his tongue in delicate situations.

But leaving Taryn so abruptly when she’d done nothing to deserve that treatment had gnawed at him. On New Year’s Eve at the clan’s ancestral lodge on Mistletoe Mountain, he’d mainlined champagne and spilled his guts to his brothers. Belle had found out the whole story eventually, as sisters usually do. He could feel them all waiting with bated breath for his next move.

He prayed it wasn’t a stupid one. “I need to find out how she got in.” He lifted his head and glanced around the room. Everyone seemed to be with him so far. “It’s not surprising that she could do it. I’ve done some digging, and discovered she freelances as a computer security tester. Multinational corporations hire her to see if she can hack into their systems. If she can hack in, she takes care of whatever weakness she finds.”

“And she’s a certified genius like Cole,” Ethan added helpfully. “I remember you telling us she’s very smart.”

Cole let out a breath. “Actually, she’s smarter than I am.”

“Whoa!” Dash pushed away from the wall. “They must be ice-skating in hell. Did you just admit someone was smarter than you, big brother?”

“Yep.” He’d fallen in love with her brain first and her body second. He still remembered that first glance into her eyes, framed with enormous tortoiseshell glasses. The intelligence shining in those hazel depths had stolen his breath. “That’s why she was able to hack in. But if I hire her to strengthen the system, then we shouldn’t have to—”

“Wait a minute.” Noelle glanced up from her tablet, where she’d been typing notes. “Hire her? How can you do that without creating an even bigger security risk?”

“My question, exactly.” Belle polished off her coffee and set the mug on Cole’s desk.

“I’ve given it a lot of thought,” Cole said. That was the understatement of the year. He’d discovered Taryn’s handiwork at midnight and hadn’t slept since. “The good people of Gingerbread are convinced we operate a Christmas ornament factory in this building, and that’s all Taryn has to know. I’ll code her access card so she’s restricted to the IT floor.”

“What about the categories in the database?” Ethan asked. “Won’t she wonder about those?”

Cole shrugged. “I’ll say it’s appropriate to our Christmas-themed business, which it is. It’s not her job to worry about what’s in the database, anyway. I’m hiring her to correct a flaw in our system. I’m sure she’s worked with other corporations that maintain a high level of secrecy about their products.”

“Yes, if you’re talking about military applications and technical innovation.” Noelle frowned. “But why be secretive about Christmas ornaments? It makes no sense.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Ethan glanced up at Cole. “I see where you’re going with this. The fact is we do make Christmas ornaments that are prized the world over. If Taryn suspects that’s a cover for something else, so what? It’s not her job to speculate. If she made a habit of prying into things that don’t concern her, she’d be out of business in no time.”

Belle swiveled her chair back and forth. “Even so, I don’t like it. I can keep the elves off the IT floor while she’s here, but what if she runs into Santa? He could show up anywhere, including the lobby, and he’s something of a loose cannon these days.”

Noelle groaned. “Tell me about it. Did you know he’s started jogging?”

“Jogging? Well, sugarplums!” Belle let her head fall back against the chair. “No, I didn’t know that.” Raising her head, she looked at Noelle. “Merry told me he’s acting weird and is on some crazy diet, but I hadn’t heard about the jogging. I don’t know how that’s supposed to help matters.”

“What in St. Nicholas’s name are you talking about?” Cole stared at them. “And why don’t I know about it?”

“I hated to bother you unless it was urgent,” Belle said. “We all hoped it would blow over.”

“It still could.” Ethan sounded determinedly cheerful. “Okay, so Kris forgot their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary and Merry’s pissed, but I’m sure after all these years together she’ll come around.”

“Don’t count on it,” Dash said. “Women are complicated creatures.”

“We have to be,” Noelle said, “in order to compensate for men being so—”

“That’s enough of that.” Cole scrubbed a hand over his face. “We need to focus. So Kris and Merry are having marital problems. What’s that got to do with the diet and jogging?”

“My best guess?” Noelle glanced up from her tablet. “He’s intimidated because Merry’s signed up for skiing lessons with Guido, who is, admittedly, a fine specimen of Italian manhood. I think Kris is trying to recapture his inner stud so he can compete with Guido.”

“His inner stud.” Cole sighed. “But he’s still on track to drive the sleigh, right?”

“As far as I know,” Belle said. “If he trims down, the suit will automatically adjust, but I doubt he’ll lose much weight in three weeks.”

“Thanks for that hopeful thought, Belle. I want you to send a memo to Kris and Merry about Taryn’s visit, though. They should avoid her if possible, but if she happens to meet Kris and notices his resemblance to Santa Claus, he can say he was hired as a mascot.”

“A mascot?” Dash laughed. “Oh, he’ll just love that description. Not.”

“Then he needs to stay out of sight.” Lack of sleep was sapping Cole’s patience. “I’m leaving in a couple of hours for Seattle. I’m taking the corporate jet. I’ll be back tonight with Taryn.”

“Too bad you can’t apparate and bring her back the magickal way,” Dash said. “Speaking as your transportation coordinator, it would be faster and cheaper.”

“I realize that, but I’m hoping to engineer this operation without the use of anything magickal, cocoa included. But Noelle, please get that more complex batch up and running, in case I need it for Taryn.”

“I’ll make it a top priority. But when you say you’re bringing her back, I hope you don’t intend to take her to the lodge. There’s no way I can keep security tight if you do that.”

“No, not the lodge. Too much magick going on there, too many witches and wizards randomly casting spells. Even meals are...well, anyway. The lodge is out. I’ll get her a reservation at the Nutcracker Inn. Dash, I’ll need a car and driver for her. The less she wanders around on her own, the better.”

“I suggest you be that driver,” Noelle said.

“I’d rather not.”

“Then who?” Noelle met his gaze. “This is our busiest time of year. Everyone’s schedule is packed.”

“That’s for sure,” Ethan said. “I’m booking talk show appearances as fast as I can to counteract the effect of Lark DeWynter’s new bestseller. The Christmas Lie was just reviewed in the New York Times and it’s playing havoc with Christmas cheer. I can fix that. I always do. But I have no spare time.”

“Elf personnel issues tend to peak about now,” Belle said. “It’s the stress of the season, and with Kris potentially going off the rails, I—”

“I know.” Cole hadn’t considered how this part of his plan would work, but he could see the trap closing on him.

“I have to agree with Noelle,” Dash said. “The driver should be someone with maximum clearance, which means it has to be one of us in this room, and we’re all working on last-minute Christmas preparations. You, not so much. You’re the logical candidate, big brother.”

“Okay.” Cole rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll take the driving duties.”

“In fact, you probably should shadow her while she’s here,” Dash continued. “You know, keep close track of her and make sure she sticks to the program, literally.”

Cole met his brother’s gaze. Mischief danced in those green eyes. “She’s a professional, Dash.”

“If she’s so professional, why did she hack into your database?”

That was an excellent question, one he’d been struggling with. “Maybe for old times’ sake, to prove she could. I don’t know, but I’ll find that out, too. I can assure you, excessive monitoring of her activities won’t be necessary.”

“Maybe not.” Dash winked at him. “But I’ll bet it would be fun.”

Cole glanced away before Dash could read his reaction. Oh, yeah. Monitoring Taryn would be more fun than he’d had in ten years. But indulging in that kind of fun would land both of them in an untenable position. He wouldn’t do that to himself, and he certainly wouldn’t do that to her.

Chapter 2

Taryn Harper powered down her computer, picked up her glass of red wine, and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows to admire the view. Her high-rise luxury apartment faced the Seattle harbor, and this time of year it sparkled with festive lights. Christmas was a big deal for a girl born on December 25, and she always made sure to party hearty.

This year she had more elaborate plans than usual, because she was about to hit the big three-oh. She was the highest wage earner among her family and friends, so she’d decided to foot the bill for a Christmas Day cruise through the San Juan Islands. Yes, it might be a tad chilly on deck, but the music and dancing and food inside would keep people warm and happy.

And she would be happy, too, damn it. So what if she didn’t have a yummy guy to invite as her date on the cruise? So what if all her friends had either a serious boyfriend or a husband, and a few had kids, too? She wasn’t in some relationship competition with them, and besides, being unattached allowed her to concentrate on a job that she loved, a job that allowed her to live very well.

But a girl about to turn thirty might logically take stock of her situation and look for loose ends to tie up before launching into her third decade. In Taryn’s case, that meant settling the Cole Evergreen question.

She’d never found out why he had dumped her ten years before, and a lack of resolution made forgetting him near impossible. Well, that, and the memory or how perfect they’d been for each other, mentally and sexually. She needed to talk to the guy, and she knew exactly how to get his attention.

Last night she’d hacked into the Evergreen Industries database and left a clear message—You’re vulnerable. Call me. I can fix it. If he was still the Cole she’d known and loved, she figured he would respond to that. But he hadn’t called, and waiting was no fun.

Maybe he hadn’t found it yet. Maybe he’d found it and was discussing it with his staff. Maybe he was discussing it with whatever woman was currently in his life. He wasn’t married. She’d researched that.

But she was prepared to discover that he was involved with someone. At twenty-two he’d been so beautiful—brilliant green eyes, luxurious dark hair and an amazingly taut body for someone who didn’t put much effort into keeping in shape. And he could make love like no one she’d found since. Add to that his intelligence and his adorable tendency to blurt out the truth, no matter what, and he’d been all she’d ever wanted in a man.

There was the rub. She’d compared every guy who’d come along after to Cole. No one else had stood a chance. And that was why she lived alone in this elegant apartment overlooking the harbor, and why she would be dateless for her birthday party.

Draining her glass, she turned away from the view.

Her intercom buzzed before she’d made it to the kitchen to start dinner. Setting down her wineglass, she walked to the front door and pressed the button connected to the lobby’s video camera. She wasn’t expecting anyone. And then she spotted the man standing in the lobby talking to Tom, the security guard, and nearly had a heart attack. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought Cole would appear in person, and unannounced, at that. She pushed the intercom button. “Hi, Tom.”

“Hello, Miss Harper. You have a visitor. Shall I send him up?”

She gulped. “Yes.” The elevator was fast. He’d be here in no time. Running into the bathroom, she finger-combed her short curls, but she couldn’t change clothes or put on makeup, or—damn it! Her doorbell was already chiming.

Heart pounding, she made herself walk back to the front door, but she was shaking. She fumbled with the lock and finally managed to open it, but her head buzzed from a massive adrenaline rush. “Cole?”

Those emerald green eyes hadn’t lost a fraction of their intensity. His gaze swept over her in typical Cole fashion, as if he were taking inventory. “Hello, Taryn. May I come in?”

“Sure.” Doing her best to breathe normally, she stepped back from the door.

He strode through it confidently. His long wool coat, black as his hair, carried with it the cool tang of December in Seattle. There was another scent, too. Apparently he still wore his distinctive peppermint aftershave.

In college he’d shaved twice a day, especially if they were spending the night together. Judging from the smoothness of his square jaw, he’d used a razor sometime in the past hour. One whiff of his freshly applied aftershave rocketed her back to long winter nights spent in his bed.

Dear God, her physical reaction to him hadn’t changed. He showed up and instantly her body became welcoming, yielding and decidedly moist. How inconvenient, especially because he didn’t look particularly happy to see her. No smile, no warmth, only a strong sense of purpose, which she recognized from the old days.

He’d identified a problem and he’d come up with a solution. Once Cole Evergreen saw his way through an issue, he proceeded with single-minded intent. But she couldn’t figure out why he had come here instead of contacting her by phone or even by email. That didn’t seem particularly efficient.

He pulled off his black leather gloves and turned to her. “It’s about the database.”

“I figured.” She noticed he wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, confirming her intel about him not being married. The coat underscored the drama that had always lurked beneath the surface of this complicated, beautiful man. As he unbuttoned it, her quick survey confirmed that he hadn’t let himself get soft in the middle. “Can I take your coat?” she asked.

“I’m not here to chat, Taryn. Obviously I need your services. Knowing your talent, the job shouldn’t take long. Two or three days, at most. Can you leave tonight?”

She stared at him. “I beg your pardon?”

“I want to hire you, exactly as you suggested. You’re the only person who’s ever hacked into my database, so I want you to fix whatever weaknesses are there. The situation is critical. I’d like you to start tomorrow. Can you do that?”

“No, I can’t do that!” She’d expected a response, a conversation, maybe even a request that she correct the problem, but not with this kind of urgency. “Look, Cole, I—” She’d thought bringing up the past would be relatively easy, and maybe it would have been on the phone. But face-to-face, her courage failed her. “Just because I did it, don’t get paranoid and think you have a huge security problem. You don’t. I was able to get in because I know your design habits, which made it easier for me.”

“What prevents you from coming with me tonight?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“You hacked into my database. That makes it my business.”

She wished that his forceful pursuit of a goal didn’t turn her on so much. But she remembered he’d been that way in bed, too. Her pleasure had been his goal at all times, and wow, had he delivered on that promise.

He sighed and glanced away. “I’m sorry. I’m going about this all wrong.”

Oh. Her heart gave a familiar lurch, as it used to do anytime he revealed the vulnerability beneath his determined exterior. With a flash of insight, she understood the motivation behind his steamrolling behavior. She’d embarrassed him by hacking into a system he’d designed.

Chances were he hadn’t kept the situation to himself, either. “Who knows I hacked in?” she asked gently. “Besides you, I mean.”

His attention returned to her, his expression resigned. “Everyone at the administration level of the business, which includes both my brothers, my sister and our new head of security. I had to tell them.”

No, he didn’t have to tell them, but she should have guessed that he would. His unflinching honesty and sense of responsibility would have forced him to admit that his database wasn’t a hundred percent secure, no matter how painful that admission had been for him to make.

She hadn’t thought of that possibility. She’d somehow imagined this would be a little game between the two of them, but instead his whole family was now involved. That was unfortunate.

“I regret pulling such a stupid stunt, then,” she said. “I have no defense, really. I was curious about what you were up to, so I poked around until I found your company, and then I couldn’t resist trying to crack your code.”

For the first time, a spark of humor lit his eyes. “Well, that’s typical.”

“I know. And I have to say, it was fun figuring out how to unlock the database.”

The corner of his mouth curved in something that resembled a smile. “You always did relish the idea of outsmarting me.”

“I did. It gave me a challenge.” She’d missed their intellectual sparring more than their sex, and that was saying something. “But I’m sorry you’re on the hook because of my prank.”

“Then get me off the hook, Taryn. Come to Colorado and strengthen my security so even you can’t get in.”

It was a gold-plated opportunity to have her personal question answered. But if she was still attracted to him, and he was over her, spending a few days working together could be hard on her ego.

He cleared his throat. “You do realize I’ll compensate you for your time, right?”

“Well, yeah. You said in the beginning you wanted to hire me, so that usually involves money.” She wished she could figure out what was going on in that excellent brain of his. “Unless you had some other type of compensation in mind?”

Heat flared in his eyes for just a moment. “No.”

Interesting. That bit of heat had indicated he wasn’t totally immune to her. But he might not be available. “Forgive me if that was inappropriate. You probably have a steady girlfriend. Maybe even a fiancée.” She could at least satisfy her curiosity on that score.

“I don’t.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

She waited to see if he’d ask about her love life. He did not. So if she’d cherished a tiny hope that he had something besides business on his mind, she should kill that hope right now. Once she’d thought he was in love with her, but then he’d abandoned her without a word. She’d been hurt and confused, but she hadn’t been able to convince herself that his feelings had been bogus.

Perhaps she should finally face the possibility that he’d grown tired of her and hadn’t wanted to say so. Honest as he was, he would have blurted the truth if she’d asked him. She wanted to ask now, but she hesitated. Sad to say, he still had the power to hurt her.

He focused his green eyes with laser precision. “Are you in the middle of a project you can’t leave for a few days? Is that the stumbling block?”

“As it happens, no. I only take small local jobs in December, so I have time to celebrate Christmas and my birthday.” It was the truth, but she didn’t mind that it also served as a little dig. Ten years ago she’d invited him home for Christmas and her birthday, and he’d accepted. Then he’d bailed without an explanation.

“Right. Your birthday.” His expression once again became difficult to decipher. “I promise you’ll be back here long before then. I remember how much you looked forward to Christmas.”

“I do.”

He glanced at her tree. “But if it’s Christmas cheer you’re after, you’ll find plenty of it in Gingerbread. It’s Christmas year-round there, but winter snow adds a lot to the ambiance.”

“I saw the pictures online when I was looking up Evergreen Industries. Cute little town.” The landscape had reminded her of the long walks in the snow at MIT when she and Cole had been lovers. They’d often debated the merits of some new computer technology, and whenever they’d disagreed on some obscure point, the argument usually had turned into a snowball fight, which led to kissing, which led to racing back to his apartment to have sex.

“I’ve booked you a room at the Nutcracker Inn.”

His comment detoured her trip down memory lane. “You’ve already booked me a room?”

“It seemed like a good idea. They’re extra busy in December. The place is loaded with Old World charm. All the rooms have feather beds, and yours is one of the few with a woodburning fireplace.”

“I admit that’s tempting.”

“There’s more. The proprietor, Mrs. Gustafson, bakes apple strudel every morning. She brings a tray to your door with warm strudel, fresh-squeezed orange juice and hot coffee.”

“Sounds pretty cozy.” Too bad when she pictured staying at the Nutcracker Inn, she automatically put Cole in the picture, too. He wouldn’t be there, and she needed to remember that.

“It is cozy. Or so I’m told by anyone who’s stayed there.”

“You mentioned hot coffee as if that’s a selling point. Don’t tell me you’re a coffee drinker at last.”

“Nope.”

“Wuss.” She used to tease him about that all the time.

He smiled. “Addict.” His gaze held hers, and his voice softened. “Whatever happened to those big glasses you used to wear?”

“Got contacts.” As she looked into his eyes, she remembered another very important thing. Before they’d been lovers, they’d been good friends. Sex had been an enhancement of that friendship, at least in her mind. But sex had raised the stakes, too. At the time he’d left, they’d been so deeply enmeshed that they couldn’t have dialed back the relationship to a friendship level.

After ten years, though, they ought to be able to do that. She’d like to stay in touch. Not many people communicated on the intellectual level that she and Cole had.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll take the job.”

His shoulders sagged with relief. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

“I’m doing it as a friend, though. I’ll be insulted if you try to pay me.”

“That’s not right. You should be paid your going rate. In fact, because I’m hauling you away during the holidays, you should get more than your going rate.”

She folded her arms. “Then you’re willing to insult me?”

“No! But let me pay you. Please.”

“Nope. Either I do it because I’m your friend or I don’t do it at all.”

He opened his mouth as if to offer another objection. Then he closed it again. “All right. I’ll take you any way I can get you.”

Her traitorous pulse leaped at that comment, damn it. She’d have to ride herd on her emotions and not allow them to get the best of her. Agreeing to this might have been a mistake, after all.

Chapter 3

Cole had what he’d come for, and now he wondered how in hell he’d survive the next few days in close contact with Taryn without doing something stupid. Like kissing her. She’d been dynamite at twenty. At almost thirty, her sexuality had gone nuclear. The men in Seattle must have been blind. They should have been lined up outside her door.

She was still tall, still slender, but her curves had a lushness that hadn’t been there before. How he longed to pull her into his arms and explore those curves. She moved with more grace and assurance than she had when they’d been in college. He knew, just knew that she’d be an even better lover now, and she’d been terrific back then.

They had to get out of her apartment and on that plane, where they’d be properly chaperoned. He glanced around her living space. Her computer was turned off and he didn’t smell dinner cooking. “How soon can you be ready to leave?”

“What time is the flight?”

“Whenever I tell them.”

She blinked. “Oh. You came in your own plane. I didn’t realize that. Is it tiny?”

“It’s the Evergreen corporate jet, which is a decent size.”

“Evergreen has a corporate jet? The Christmas ornament business must be booming.”

“We do okay. Can you be packed in about fifteen minutes?”

“Uh, I guess so. But aren’t you hungry? It’s dinnertime, and I could make us something.”

That wasn’t going to happen. Even if he didn’t have the jet waiting at SeaTac, he wouldn’t dare sit through an intimate dinner in this apartment. He’d noticed the wineglass she’d left on an end table. Wine, a little candlelight, the glow from the Christmas tree, and he’d be done for. They’d be stretched out on her pricey rug in no time.

The thought of that scene had a predictable effect. He walked toward the window and pretended to take in the view so she wouldn’t notice the state of his crotch. He had a spell for controlling an inconvenient arousal, but it involved muttering an incantation, which would make him sound crazy as a loon.

He was feeling sort of crazy, but he didn’t want her to know that. “The galley’s stocked and we can eat on the way,” he said. “It’s getting late. By the time we fly into Denver and make the drive to Gingerbread, it’ll be after midnight. We should get going.”

“I suppose you’re right.” She turned and started down a hallway. “Give me ten minutes to throw some things into a suitcase,” she said over her shoulder.

He watched her walk away and swallowed a moan of frustration. A pair of old jeans and a faded sweatshirt shouldn’t be the sexiest outfit in the world, but on Taryn, it was. Her cap of milk-chocolate curls made her look sassy and down-to-earth.

You could mess around with a woman like Taryn, because she wasn’t coifed and tailored. He’d always loved that about her. She could roll in the snow, run home to have sex, and never give a thought to how she looked. In those days, all he’d had to worry about had been her precious glasses.

Once she’d left the room, he called the car service he’d employed and told them to be waiting in front of the apartment building in fifteen minutes. Then he prowled around the living room and recorded impressions of who Taryn was, now. The fireplace mantle was crowded with framed pictures. These would be the family and friends he’d been destined to meet during that Christmas vacation when he’d abandoned her.

Knowing she was surrounded by loving people cheered him. Knowing she hadn’t found the right guy gave him an unholy amount of satisfaction. That was wrong of him, and he knew it. He should want her to find Mr. Wonderful, settle down with him and be blissfully happy.

For years he’d assumed that had happened, but after finding her cheeky message on his database, he’d investigated to the full extent of the internet’s capabilities. The evidence had been conclusive. Taryn didn’t have a man in her life.

Although she didn’t realize it, she currently had a wizard in her life. And if that wizard really cared for her, he’d keep his hands to himself and deliver her back to this apartment without ever once giving in to the urges that plagued him whenever they were together. Even if she wanted him to. And he could tell that she did.

After replacing each picture frame exactly as he’d found it, he wandered over to her Christmas tree. And there, nestled in the branches, was an Evergreen Industries ornament. He’d forgotten that he’d given her one right after Thanksgiving ten years ago, when they’d reunited after the long weekend.

He’d chosen it with care out of the hundreds manufactured that year. The round ball was green, but through a trick of the light and a sprinkling of wizard magick, it seemed to glow from within, as if it held sunlight inside. That theme was echoed in a gold filigree border circling the sphere with repeating sun symbols.

Cole loved the green ornaments most of all, because they symbolized the Evergreen family name, which in turn harkened back to the trees that stayed green all winter. The sun represented light, both physical and intellectual. He thought of Taryn as the embodiment of light, and he’d told her so when he’d presented her with the ornament.

“Yes, I still have it.”

He turned to find her standing in the living room wearing a tan parka with the hood thrown back, a khaki messenger bag over her shoulder. A small black suitcase sat upright beside her.

“I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d gotten rid of it,” he said. He didn’t want to talk about their breakup, but he wasn’t sure how to avoid talking about it.

“I considered giving the ornament away, but quite honestly, it’s the prettiest one I have, and I couldn’t part with it. I don’t know how your company manages to make something glow like that when there’s no solar chip involved. Is the entire covering solar? Is that how it works?”

“Can’t tell you. Company secret.”

She cocked her head. “Do other ornament companies try to steal those secrets? I wouldn’t expect that, because it’s so contrary to the spirit of Christmas, but I suppose anything’s possible.”

“I doubt they could steal that particular secret.” The incantation involved was known only to the Winter Clan, and no other wizard would be able to make it work right. In the wizard world, this incantation had the equivalent of a fail-safe component attached to it.

“But maybe they’d try, and that’s why you’re so intent on shoring up your security system.”

“Something like that. Ready?”

She nodded. “Just need to put out the cat.”

“The cat?”

“Gotcha! There’s no cat, and even if there were, I couldn’t very well put out a cat on the eighteenth floor, now could I?”

“Guess not.” He’d forgotten how much she enjoyed teasing him. It was easy to do, because he didn’t expect anyone to say things that weren’t true.

“I’d love to have a cat, preferably a black one, but that wouldn’t be fair. I travel too much.”

“I didn’t know you liked cats.” Cole thought of the lodge on Mistletoe Mountain, which was chockablock with cats, especially black ones.

“In our life at MIT, it didn’t come up. Both of us lived in places that didn’t allow pets.”

“Guess so.” He was impressed with how she referred to that time so casually, as if the memories didn’t affect her at all. Maybe they didn’t. He might be the only one who had vivid color images of those days rolling through his brain. And right now that video was playing in a continuous loop.

He gestured to the tree. “What about the lights?”

“They’re on a timer. The apartment is as maintenance-free as I can make it. I’m gone so much.” She reached for the handle of her rolling bag.

He started toward her. “Let me get that.”

“Why? It’s my suitcase.” She released the handle, though, as if sensing he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“But you’re my guest.” He came up beside her and grasped the handle.

“Your guest?” Her eyebrows lifted. “I thought I was your independent contractor.”

“You would have been if you’d allowed me to pay you.” Instead of kissing her, which was what he wanted to do, he rolled the suitcase across the thick carpeting to the door. “But now that you’ve insisted on doing the job for free, that makes you my guest.”

She followed him to the door. “I think you’re bossier than you used to be, Cole.”

“No, I’m not. I’ve always been this bossy.” Or so he’d been told by his siblings.

“Maybe you’re right.” Once they were out the door, she locked up and dropped the keys in her messenger bag. “I might not have noticed it because we spent so much time in bed, and I kind of like a man to be bossy in bed.”

His sharp intake of breath was pure reflex. He couldn’t have stopped himself from doing it if someone had put a gun to his head.

“Whoops. Did I say that out loud?”

He turned to her, his heart racing. “Yes, ma’am, you did.” He couldn’t tell from her expression if she’d truly slipped up or if the comment had been deliberate, like her line about the cat. She seemed unapologetic as she met his gaze, so he suspected the latter.

She quickly confirmed his suspicions. “I’m trying to figure you out, Cole, and I’m having a very tough time doing it. Sometimes, when you look at me, it’s like the old days, as if you’re ready to gobble me up. But then you turn all logical and businesslike, and claim that the only thing you care about is shoring up the database. Which is the real you?”

He gave the only answer he could come up with. “Both.”

“What the heck does that mean?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Apparently. And you seem really stressed about it.”

“That’s because I am.” How he hated to admit that.

She took a deep breath. “Okay. Can you explain what the issues are? Because I didn’t get that explanation ten years ago, and I’d appreciate hearing it now, before we hop on that plane.”

He wondered how he’d ever expected to get involved with her on a business level and keep it from morphing into something more personal. Of course it would. They’d been together less than an hour and it already had.

Facing her, he realized he’d missed a blindingly obvious fact. “That’s why you hacked in, isn’t it? To get that explanation.”

“Yes, it is. So if you’ll tell me, then I’ll go fix your computer system. All will be well.”

If only it were that easy. “Do you trust me?”

“In some things, yes. In other things, no.”

“Fair enough. I deserve that. Let me put it this way. Do you trust me to want the best for you?”

Her answer was a long time coming, but at last she nodded. “Of course you want the best for me. You’re a nice guy. But the problem with that is you can’t always know what’s best for me. I’m a far better judge of that than you are.”

“I’m sure that’s true in general. But in this particular situation I’m confident I know what’s best. You and I aren’t meant to be together.” Even though he knew that with a white-hot certainty, saying it cut like a knife.

She didn’t seem to like hearing it, either. “Why not?”

“I can’t tell you that. You have to trust me to know what I’m talking about.”

“Okay, look, before we walk down the hallway and get on the elevator, I need to know at least this much. Are you involved in criminal activity?”

That made him smile.

“It’s not funny! I care about you, but I’m not willing to be an accomplice!”

“You care about me?” The words warmed him more than he could say.

“Of course I do.” Her voice softened. “I’ll never forget our time together. Which is why, now that I’m about to turn thirty, I wanted closure on that relationship. I hacked in to get your attention and an explanation. You probably wish I hadn’t.”

“I’m not sorry you hacked in.” That popped out before he’d known he was going to say it, but once he had, he knew it to be true. This episode promised to be a challenge, but having a chance to see her again and talk with her was worth any inconvenience. He never tired of looking into her hazel eyes and imagining the wheels turning in that amazing brain.

“I’m glad you’re not sorry. Neither am I.” Without warning, she stepped forward and pressed her lips to his.

He’d been hanging tough until that moment, but as her velvet mouth made that achingly familiar connection, he came unglued. Her suitcase toppled to the floor when he let go of the handle, but the resulting clatter barely registered because he had Taryn in his arms again. A herd of reindeer could have stampeded through the hallway and he wouldn’t have noticed.

With a groan, he pulled her close, enveloping the whole package, including her bulky parka and her messenger bag. She could have been wearing a space suit for all he cared, as long as he had access to her sweet lips. This kiss, this Taryn kiss, had been ten years in the making, and he was desperate for it.

As he reveled in the remembered pleasures of her mouth, his world clicked into focus for the first time in ages. He hadn’t realized how blurred his view had been, but holding her made one thing crystal clear. She was the only woman he’d ever loved.

He was still cruising in the land of infinite joy when she grasped the back of his head in both hands.

Holding on tight, she drew back, depriving him of that amazing connection. “Open your eyes.”

He obeyed. In his current state of mind, he would have jumped from the eighteenth floor if she’d commanded him to.

“Tell me the truth, Cole. Are you a crook?”

He had to clear his throat before he could talk. “No.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

With his arms around her and his mouth inches from hers, he couldn’t think straight. She was the only person he’d ever known who could short-circuit his brain. “I can’t tell you.”

She tightened her grip on his scalp. “Yes, you can. You just won’t. I’ve thought of every possibility. I know you’re not gay, not by the way you kiss me. And you said there’s no other woman in your life. Are you dying?”

“No. Well, technically we’re all dying, but—”

“Don’t give me some existential bull. Are you terminally ill?”

“No. Taryn, don’t quiz me, okay? It’s getting us nowhere.”

“It could get me somewhere, because if I guess the right thing, you won’t be able to lie about it. I know that about you.”

“You won’t guess it.”

“That’s what you think.” The light of battle gleamed in her eyes. “I’ve solved tougher puzzles than this, buster.”

“Then I’m asking you, for both our sakes, to stop trying. Please let it go.”

“But that means I have to let you go.”

“And vice versa.”

“And that’s what you want?”

“No.” His brain continued to fizz with sexual frustration. “Well, yes, for your sake.”

“Damn, you’re stubborn.”

“Says the pot to the kettle.”

She looked into his eyes for a moment longer. Then she sighed. “Okay, then, let’s head to Colorado and get this over with.” She loosened her grip on his head and backed out of his arms.

“Right.” He leaned down and picked up the handle of her suitcase. He couldn’t remember feeling more lost and alone.

They walked in silence to the elevator. As the doors opened and she stepped inside, she glanced at him. “Nice kiss, by the way.”

“Thanks.” He was afraid his longing was being reflected in his eyes, but he couldn’t summon a poker face right now. “You, too.”

She leaned against the brass railing as the elevator started its descent. “So let me get this straight. You want me, and I want you, but we can never be together for reasons you can’t tell me, and it’s all for my own good. Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes.” He stayed on the opposite side of the elevator.

“But, because I hacked into your database, you need me to correct the weaknesses in your system, which means we’ll be in the same general area for a few days.”

“True. In fact, I’ll be the one driving you back and forth from the inn to the office.”

“Hmm.” Speculation shone in her hazel eyes.

He’d always enjoyed watching her think about technical issues, but now she was thinking about him, and he wasn’t entirely comfortable with that. “I’m the logical one to do it.”

“Makes sense. You hired me, and we already know each other. I also assume you want to know about what I find, so we’ll have to work together during the day.”

“Some.”

“Won’t that be...frustrating?”

He couldn’t pretend to misunderstand. “Probably.”

“Won’t you want to kiss me again?”

“Yes.”

“And take me to bed?”

He swallowed. “Yes, but—”

“Then why not enjoy each other before we go our separate ways?”

His heart hammered. Earlier today he’d been very clear in his mind about why that was a bad idea. But he wasn’t the one who’d suggested it, which made all the difference. “You’d be okay with that?”

She smiled. “I’ll take you any way I can get you.”

Chapter 4

Taryn loved having the last word, and handing Cole’s earlier comment back to him had been a triumphant moment. The elevator opened immediately after she delivered that line, which worked out well, because they were no longer alone, and wouldn’t be for some time. He’d have hours to contemplate her suggestion with absolutely no way of acting on it.

At the end of that time, he should be a testosterone-driven, heat-seeking missile. That was the Cole Evergreen she wanted in her feather bed at the Nutcracker Inn tonight. And tonight would be only the beginning of her two-pronged attack.

Now that she knew he wanted her, she wasn’t about to let him get away, at least not easily. He might refuse to tell her what the barriers were between them, but she was heading into his territory, and the answer was there. She just knew it.

By day, she’d take every opportunity to snoop around. By night, she’d drive Cole insane in bed. If she hadn’t made him hers by the time she left Colorado, then maybe it was an impossible task. But she wasn’t giving up without a fight.

The Evergreen corporate jet proved to be a luxurious way to travel. Increasingly, she had trouble believing that Christmas ornaments, beautiful though they might be, were financing this kind of perk. If nothing illegal was going on, and she trusted Cole’s answer on that, then what explained the company’s success?

If she found the answer to that, she might discover the big secret that Cole wouldn’t reveal—the one that kept them from living happily ever after. She hoped it wasn’t a dangerous secret, the kind that a person had to be killed for once they knew it. That was highly unlikely. Cole would never put her in danger. She knew that as surely as she knew he loved her.

She’d figured that out two seconds into their kiss. As a college student she might have confused love with lust. She wouldn’t make that mistake now. He lusted after her, all right, but the passion of his kiss included a large measure of tenderness. Then she’d made him look at her, just to be absolutely sure.

He was in love and always had been. Ditto for her. If she’d ever doubted it, that doubt was gone. For some reason, he hadn’t been able to figure out a way around the issue that divided them, whatever it was. She brought a fresh perspective, and—if she allowed herself to be honest—a tiny bit more analytical ability than Cole had.

Once she understood what she was dealing with, she’d find a way to make everything work out. They deserved each other, and they’d already missed out on ten years of happiness because she hadn’t been proactive. She didn’t intend to let them miss out on any more.

Throughout the first half of the flight, Cole kept glancing at her, as if still wrestling with the ethics of her suggestion. They couldn’t talk about it, of course, because the flight attendant never strayed far. She served the meal and refilled their wine glasses. Then she cleared the main course and brought out dessert.

Taryn made small talk about changes in the tech industry since they’d been in school together. Cole participated in the discussion, but his mind wasn’t on it. She could always tell those things. He was thinking about whether he was capable of a fling.

Poor man. He wasn’t the kind who had sex with a woman for the hell of it. Even in college, they hadn’t taken that step until they’d established a solid friendship. The thought of a short-lived affair would stick in his craw.

She didn’t intend for it to be the least bit short. If all went according to plan, this affair would last for the rest of their lives. But she couldn’t tell him that and tip her hand. She had to mislead him, which was heartbreakingly easy to do.

After she’d accomplished her goal, she would never lie to him again. She’d been touched by his willingness tonight to believe what she told him, even when it had been something as illogical as putting out the cat eighteen stories up. His trusting nature would serve her well in the days ahead, but in the long run, a man like Cole should never be lied to. That was taking unfair advantage of an endearing trait.

Toward the end of the meal, he smothered a yawn.

She glanced over at him. “You’re tired, aren’t you?”

“A little.”

“Then take a nap.”

His dark eyebrows rose. “Now who’s the bossy one?”

“Just don’t think you have to entertain me. If you’re sleepy, recline your seat and rest up.” She fought the urge not to smile. Little did he know she had ulterior motives for wanting him well-rested when they arrived in Gingerbread.

“Nah, I’m fine.”

“If you say so. But I’m going to read for a while.” She dug in her messenger bag and pulled out her tablet. Moments later, she glanced up from the screen. He was out. For all she knew, he’d been up all night worrying about her invasion of his database.

She couldn’t help feeling remorseful about what she’d put him through, but apparently it had been for a worthy cause. He’d been pining for her as much as she’d been pining for him. She returned to the screen, but it wasn’t nearly as interesting as the man beside her. Turning off the tablet, she leaned her head against her seatback and watched him sleep.

She used to do that all the time in college. Maybe his habits had changed, but at that time he’d required eight to ten hours a night, while she could get by on five. When she’d wake up in his bed and he’d still be dead to the world, she’d lie there and study his features—the high cheekbones, the elegant nose, the square jaw.

Sometimes she’d sketch that face. Tucking her tablet back in her bag, she took out the small sketchbook she carried with her, along with her favorite pencil. Although she’d never taken an art class and had no desire to study the subject, she sketched because it relaxed her.

After Cole had left MIT so abruptly, she’d ripped up every sketch she’d made of him. Then she’d regretted destroying them, because they’d captured him in a way photographs never had. Now she could create some more.

She became so lost in her work that she was surprised when the pilot announced they were landing. The flight attendant sat down and buckled up, which put her out of earshot.

Cole blinked and lifted his head. Then he glanced at the sketchbook in her lap. His gaze met hers. “You’re still drawing?”

“Yep.”

“You used to have a whole bunch like that. Well, I looked younger in them. In this version I notice a few extra lines here and there.”

“Gives you character.”

“Sure, it does.” He chuckled. “Whatever happened to the other ones?”

“I tore them up.”

He flinched. “Don’t blame you.” He lowered his voice. “That was a bonehead way to leave, but I had no choice.”

“So I gather.”

Regret darkened his green eyes. “That idea you had? It won’t work.”

She wasn’t about to let him wiggle out of her trap. “I was twenty when I ripped up those sketches. I’m not that same girl. I’ve toughened up.”

He smiled. “Maybe I haven’t.”

“Well, I can’t speak for you. But personally, I think it would be a crime to waste the opportunity.” She tapped the eraser end of her pencil against her lower lip, hoping to draw his attention there.

It worked. He watched as she caressed her lip with the eraser. “I’m worried...” He stopped to clear his throat. “I’m worried about fallout.”

“Are you?” She nibbled on the eraser. “We never had that problem before. Everything stayed where it was supposed to.”

He launched into such a violent coughing fit that the flight attendant called back to ask if he needed water. “I’m fine,” he said in a strangled voice. “No worries.”

“Here.” Taryn took out the complimentary bottle of water she’d been offered during the limo ride to the airport and thrust it into his hand. “Drink.”

He nodded and gulped some water. Then he sank back against his seat. “You need to warn me before you say something like that.”

“That would take all the fun out of it.”

He handed her the bottle with a grin. “Honest to God, Taryn. There’s no one quite like you.”

“I am somewhat of a special snowflake.”

His eyes probed hers. “Can you promise me you won’t melt?”

“Absolutely.”

His voice dropped even lower. “Because you tempt me more than I can say.”

“Back atcha. Oh, and I’ve been told that someone booked me into a room with a feather bed and a woodburning fireplace.”

“Is that right?” His tone was casual but his expression was not. “How thoughtful.”

“So what happens after we land?”

“I left my car at the airport, so I’ll drive us to Gingerbread and...drop you off at the inn.”

She didn’t think it would go that way. “Will I need to check in?”

“Not tonight. I didn’t want to disturb Mrs. Gustafson at this late hour, so I asked her for the front door key and your room key. You’ll sign the register in the morning. You’re on the second floor. You can go straight to bed.”

She lowered her lashes. “That sounds lovely.”

“Doesn’t it, though?”

“I’ll need some help with my bag.”

“I bet you will. I suppose you’d like me to bring it up for you?”

She lifted her lashes. “Oh, yes, please. All the way up.”

“Good Lord.” He sucked in a breath. “What have I gotten myself into?”

“Nothing, yet. But I’m hoping before too long, you’ll remedy that.”

“Taryn.”

“If you keep feeding me these great lines, how can I resist?”

“The bigger question is, how can I resist?”

“You can’t, and you know it.” She smiled at him. “Surrender to the inevitable, Cole Evergreen.”

* * *

Cole was going to do exactly that. He’d been a sucker for her smart mouth back at MIT, and nothing had changed. She still delighted in taunting him, and he wanted her more with every saucy word that passed her sweet lips. Luckily he found a twenty-four-hour drugstore on the way back to Gingerbread.

Because he had to concentrate on his driving instead of thinking about sex, especially on snowy roads, he resorted to a trick he and Taryn had come up with at MIT. Switching on the car radio, he found a station that played eighties tunes—the same music they’d memorized as kids. Then the two of them belted out the lyrics along with Duran Duran, a-ha and The Police all the way to Gingerbread.

Somewhere on that journey, as they laughed and sang together, he became twenty-two again, complete with reckless thoughts and powerful sex drive. When he’d first heedlessly plunged into a relationship with Taryn, she was the hottest, smartest female he’d ever met.

She was everything he’d wanted, with one tiny exception. She wasn’t a witch, let alone a witch from the Winter Clan. He’d glossed over that detail, certain that he’d find a way around her inconvenient status as a non-magickal being. But then, he’d been called away on a family emergency and he’d never gotten the chance to return to college and figure out a way to address the problem.

Someday he might bitterly regret falling in with her plan. But that was someday, and this was now. A now filled with the kind of heart-pounding excitement he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

After parking the sleek black sedan in a lot adjacent to the inn, he hauled her suitcase out of the trunk and they hurried, still laughing from their sing-along, to the inn’s front porch.

She stood next to him, shivering a little, as he located the keys in his coat pocket. “I feel like a kid out after curfew.”

“It’s the music. We stepped in a time warp.” He opened the front door and gestured for her to go inside.

“Exactly.” She spoke in hushed tones. “It’s just like that first time we spent the night together. Remember that?”

“I’ll never forget it.” He breathed in the scent of lemon oil and apple strudel. The main floor was dark except for a small light on the antique desk by the front door. Wall sconces glowed at intervals along the stairway leading to the second floor.

“I was so nervous.” Taryn walked on tiptoe to the bottom of the steps. “I was afraid you’d think I was too skinny.”

He followed her up the stairs, careful not to let the suitcase bump against the railing. “I was afraid I’d come too fast.”

“Which you did.” She giggled softly.

“Yeah, but I made up for it later.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“Saved my rep.” That first time, he’d been so incredibly turned on by her he’d lasted about thirty seconds. But at twenty-two, his recovery time had been phenomenal. During the next go-round, he’d given her two orgasms.

“That was my first orgasm with a guy.”

“It was? Wish you’d told me. We could have celebrated.”

“I was too shy to admit it. I figured you’d think I was a dork. I wanted you to think of me as cool and sophisticated.”

“I did.”

“Really?”

“You were the coolest girl I’d ever met. You understood string theory.” He paused. “Your room’s at the end of the hall, on the right.”

She headed down the hallway, her footsteps muffled on the patterned carpet runner. “I didn’t want to be cool because I was smart. I wanted to be cool because I was sexy.”

“You were sexy, too.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“Nope.” He followed her down the narrow hallway. Soon. Very soon. “Smart is sexy, at least to me, it is. Besides, you had a killer body.”

“Had?”

“Have.” He thought it was cute she was worried about that, especially when she had nothing to worry about. “Still. Even more so.”

“Yeah, right. You’re supposed to say stuff like that when you’re about to see me naked for the first time in years. I’m nervous just thinking about it.”

“You think you’re nervous? I figure I’m destined to repeat that first night.”

She reached the end of the hallway and turned back to face him. “That’s fine with me.” She smiled as she looked him up and down. “As long as you repeat every bit of that first night.”

His cock jerked in response to that seductive smile, and his heart hammered at the prospect of being inside that room alone with Taryn and a big feather bed. “I will, but I’m not twenty-two anymore. The second time might not happen as fast.”

“I’m in no rush.” She held his gaze. “We have all night.”

Lust slammed into him with such force he stood there trembling.

“Do you have the key?”

“Yeah.” He dug into his coat pocket and handed it to her. “You’d better open it.”

Her eyes widened. “Are you shaking?”

“Yes.” He clenched his jaw against the primitive urges rolling through him. “And if you don’t open the door and go inside immediately, I’m going to take you right here in the hallway. Better move it, Harper, before we give Mrs. Gustafson the scare of her life.”

Chapter 5

And that, Taryn thought as she quickly opened the door and walked into the dimly lit room, was why she’d never forgotten Cole Evergreen. No other man had ever wanted her so intensely, as if he might spontaneously combust if he couldn’t have her in the next ten seconds.

Ten seconds was about all she had to drop her messenger bag to the floor, shrug out of her parka, and glance at the unlit fireplace and the giant four-poster bed that dominated the room. Then the door clicked shut, the lock shot into place, and Cole was there, spinning her around to face him. He made a sound low in his throat, something between a growl and a groan, and then he claimed her mouth.

If he’d kissed her this way in the hall outside her apartment, she might not have been so certain that he loved her. This kiss didn’t have a lot to do with love, but it had everything to do with lust. That worked for her, because she was just as desperate for him.

They wrenched at each other’s clothing, and didn’t succeed in getting much of it off before he shoved her down on the feather bed. She still wore one leg of her jeans, and although his coat was on the floor and his shirt was unbuttoned, that was all he’d accomplished. With a soft oath he unzipped his fly and tore open a condom packet.

He no longer trembled. Instead he moved rapidly and deliberately to sheath himself. She sprawled across the bed, and he grabbed the damp crotch of her panties. With one swift tug, the seams gave way.

The thrilling sound of him ripping her panties from her body nearly made her climax. He’d never been like this. She moaned, needing him, aching for him...and then he was there, surging into her with a powerful thrust that made her gasp.

His mouth hovered inches from hers. “I have you, now, my precious.”

She would have laughed, because Lord of the Rings quotes had been inside jokes of theirs during college. But his wild assault had left her breathless, and hot. She’d never been so turned on.

He seemed to have achieved total immersion, but somehow he rocked his hips forward and settled himself deeper yet. “There. Right there.”

The jolt of his penis set off her first tremor. “Cole.”

His laugh was low and rich with satisfaction. “Ready for me, you are.”

Hysterics and passion bubbled equally inside of her. “Not Yoda, too!” She gasped. “You’re killing me here!”

“I’m distracting myself. Turns out I don’t want a repeat of that first night, after all.” He eased back slowly, setting off little explosions across her skin. Then he drove in again, filling her as only Cole could.

Her blood pounded through her veins as another spasm hit, and another.

“Ah, Taryn, you’re going to come first.” And he stroked her again, and again, and again.

Cupping his face, she pulled him down, needing his mouth on hers, because she was about to come, and if she yelled, she’d wake Mrs. Gustafson. He made love to her mouth with his tongue, mimicking the same steady rhythm of his hips. He required an embarrassingly short time to achieve his goal. As he swallowed her soft cries, she arched upward in a powerful climax. If he hadn’t had her pinned to the bed, she believed she might have flown.

As her world spun and she quivered in his arms, his rhythm changed. Now his hips rocked with more speed and less care. Lifting his mouth from hers, he began to pant. “Yes...yes...now...Taryn...now.” With one final thrust, he drove home, his body shuddering with the aftershocks of his orgasm.

Sliding both hands under his shirt, she caressed his sweaty back. Her hands remembered the texture of his skin and the ripple of his muscles. He liked to be caressed after sex. She’d forgotten that. Each memory that surfaced was a treasure she’d kept locked away, but now she could uncover them all. Cole was back in her arms at last.

* * *

Cole’s technique had lacked eloquence, but he was pleased with the end result. Brushing a kiss over her full lips, he eased away from her and gave her a Schwarzenegger “I’ll be back.”

“You’d better be,” she murmured. “And next time I want it long and slow.”

“Me, too.” He headed for the little bathroom with its white antique fixtures. He’d never stayed here, but he’d toured the place. Whenever they had non-magickal folks visit Evergreen Industries, he put them up at the Nutcracker Inn. Everyone raved about it.

Good thing he wouldn’t ever stay here, because now the place would be loaded with memories of Taryn. A sharp pain in the vicinity of his heart reminded him of the risk he was taking by falling in with her plan. These few days could turn him into an emotional cripple, but he was willing to pay that price.

Now that he realized no one else would do but Taryn, and Taryn was forbidden to him, he’d stay single forever. That might have sounded harsh to someone else, but to Cole, it made perfect sense. Marrying someone he loved less than Taryn would be unkind to them, and to himself.

Taking off his shirt, he walked back into the room and paused. She’d always been speedy at undressing, but she must have set a world record this time. Gloriously naked, she crouched beside the fireplace with a lit match in her hand.

The small flame illuminated her delicate features, and another pain sliced through his heart. So beautiful. She tossed the match into the fireplace and swore when it fell uselessly through the grate. Opening the box of matches, she struck another one.

Silly as it was, he wanted her to succeed, but he didn’t give her method much chance. Focusing on the logs arranged in the fireplace, he timed his muttered incantation to her match-tossing. The logs caught.

“Yes!” She turned to him, her smile bright. “You were standing there thinking I wouldn’t get it started, weren’t you?”

“Actually, I thought you would.” He’d simply increased her odds.

“Let’s make love here in front of the fire.”

“Why not?” He was touched that she’d ask, and that she’d used the phrase make love instead of have sex. They used to make love in front of the fire. His duplex had been a real find—a rental with a woodburning fireplace. He’d used magick to keep the blaze going while they were otherwise occupied.

An unmagickal fire required constant tending, which meant having sex by the fire was romantic in theory but inconvenient in practice. She’d never questioned the consistency of their fires. He hoped that was because she’d been too busy enjoying herself.

He wondered if she’d ever tried having hearthside sex with anyone else. If so, she would have discovered it didn’t work quite the way it had with him. Selfishly, he liked knowing that their experience would stand out in her mind.

She rose from the hearth with an unselfconsciousness that showed she hadn’t really been worried about revealing her body. He couldn’t stop looking at her. She was the same, yet different.

The tiny mole positioned over her heart was still there, waiting for his kiss. But her breasts were more voluptuous now, and her hips flared a bit more, emphasizing her narrow waist. His gaze traveled the length of her slender legs. He had fond memories of those legs wrapped around his hips. She knew how to lock him in tight while giving him room to move. He didn’t need much, just enough to create the right kind of friction....

She said something, but he was so lost in memories he missed it.

“Earth to Cole.”

“Hmm?”

“Your clothes, Evergreen. Lose ’em. I’ll fix us a bed by the fire.”

He grinned at her and snapped a quick salute. “Aye, aye, cap’n.”

“Smart-ass.”

“Sweet-ass.” How quickly they’d become comfortable with each other again. Ten years had vanished, replaced with the easy relationship he remembered so well. Taryn got him. Well, not completely, because she didn’t know about the magick. That should have been a huge omission, but somehow, when they were together, it didn’t seem to matter. They made their own magick.

By the time he’d shucked the rest of his clothes and located another condom, she’d spread a quilt on the floor and tossed a couple of pillows there, too. He walked toward her, his cock already standing at attention. “You made your bed. Now lie in it.”

“I thought I would.” Dropping to her knees, she stretched out on the fluffy quilt with the lithe movements of a cat. Then she glanced up at him. “Come on down.”

“I will, but I just realized what’s different. You’re not squinting.”

“No, I’m not. Want to see my bedroom eyes?”

“Absolutely.”

“Watch this.” She lowered her lids to half mast and her eyes took on a smoky quality.

His balls tightened. “That’s good.” He swallowed. “Very good.” He started to kneel.

“Wait. I’m not done.” Her gaze dropped to his feet. Then it traveled slowly up his calves to his knees, and beyond his knees to his thighs, until finally coming to rest on his pride and joy. At that point, she ran her tongue over her lips.

“Now you’re done.” He sank to his knees before she figured out he was shaking again.

“No, I’m not.” She beckoned to him with a crook of her forefinger. “C’mere.”

A stronger wizard would have refused the temptation she offered. He’d intended this session to be all about her. Apparently he wasn’t as strong as he’d like to think he was. He stretched out on the quilt and allowed her to have her way with him, and it was so good the fire roared in the hearth.

She drew back, startled. “Why did that happen?”

His breathing wasn’t very steady, but he gulped in air and managed a quick explanation. “Pine knots. They flare up.”

“Oh.” She wrapped her fingers around his bad boy and leaned toward him. “Sorry for the interruption.”

“No, it’s a good thing.” He cupped her cheek, stopping her descent. “I was about to get carried away.”

She glanced up at him with a seductive smile. “That’s the idea.”

“Not this time. I have a few plans of my own. Be fair. Take turns.”

She hesitated.

“You used to really like some of the things I did.”

Her eyes darkened and her breath hitched. “Yeah.”

“Let me do those things again.” He stroked his thumb over her cheek. “You know you want me to.”

“Okay.” She flopped back onto the quilt like a ragdoll. “You convinced me, Evergreen. Do me.”

“You bet.” And he proceeded to. Revisiting all his favorite Taryn places felt like coming home, and she rolled out the welcome mat for him. In seconds she’d abandoned herself to the process of being seduced.

By the time he put on a condom and slid into her, she was on the brink of climax. One firm stroke on his part, and she came. He muffled her cries with the flat of his hand and kept pumping into her.

“Again,” he murmured.

She pulled his hand away, gasping. “I can’t breathe.”

“Then, here.” Bracing himself on one arm, he cupped the back of her head and lifted her so she could press her mouth to his shoulder. When she came the second time, she bit him.

He didn’t care. In fact, it made him happy to know she’d marked him. Eventually the mark would fade, but until it did, he’d have a physical reminder of loving Taryn.

Slowly she relaxed in his arms and he eased her head back onto the pillow.

She looked up at him, firelight dancing in her eyes as she massaged his back. “Amazing. Stupendous.”

“Mmm.” His own climax hovered, but he’d managed to keep the urge from overwhelming him. Holding her gaze, he eased in and out. “We’ve still got it.”

She nodded.

“There’s no one like you, Taryn.”

“I’m a special snowflake,” she murmured.

“Uh-huh. Very special.”

“So are you, Cole.”

And there was that pain, burrowing into his heart. He might carry that ache forever, but that was okay, too. The pain would remind him that, for a little while, he’d had Taryn to love again.

She grasped his hips. “Your turn.”

“Not yet.” He hated for this moment to end.

“We can do this again tomorrow night.”

“I hope so.” But he had no guarantee of that. His intuition was excellent, and it told him he’d better treasure this moment and not count on any more.

Her grip tightened. “I think I can come again. Let’s do it together.”

“All right.” He’d mastered that little trick before. The secret was watching her eyes and timing his response to what he saw there.

He bore down and increased the pace. Yes, she was right with him. Her pupils widened. He slowly slipped the leash on his own response and his heart began to pound.

The glow in her eyes was impossible to misunderstand. She loved him. His eyes surely reflected the same emotion, because he loved her, too. And because he did, he had to let her go.

But in this moment, as they surged toward a shared climax, he was hers and she was his. He held nothing back as he drove in one more time. She arched against him and he pulsed within her, each of them silencing their cries and their words of love. Yet their eyes said all their voices could not. And the fire roared.

Chapter 6

Cole left long before anyone in the inn was awake, and Taryn understood why he’d done that. Whatever mysterious element was keeping them in limbo would naturally figure into his reluctance to let anyone here know they were lovers. She wouldn’t give him away, either. She’d act strictly professional today at Evergreen Industries.

She hated that he couldn’t stay to share the breakfast tray that had arrived outside her door, though. Cole had a sweet tooth—he preferred cocoa to coffee. She’d bet Mrs. Gustafson would have made him cocoa to go with the apple strudel and fresh orange juice.

Placing the tray on a small desk by the side window, she drew back the lacy curtains and peeked outside for the first time. Cole hadn’t been kidding about the charm of Gingerbread. Judging from the slice of town she could see, it was a full-size version of the Christmas villages in Seattle shop windows this time of year. The architecture reminded her of Europe, with a fairy-tale element thrown in.

Old-fashioned lampposts each sported a wreath and a red bow. Every shop featured garlands in the window, and larger garlands hung at intervals across the snowy street. The late-model cars that drove by seemed out of place. Horse-drawn carriages would have fit in better. Then she saw one of those, with laughing people bundled up in blankets in the back, enjoying an open-air ride.

One lone high-rise building was visible above the peaked rooftops covered with snow. Evergreen Industries, no doubt. Beyond that, where the land sloped upward and the pine forest closed in, a snow-capped mountain pierced the blue sky. Although other mountains were visible in the distance, this one was quite distinctive. She decided it must be Mistletoe Mountain, which had been mentioned during her internet search.

Until now, she hadn’t thought about what would happen if and when her plan worked and she eliminated whatever problem was keeping her from a happily ever after with Cole. Her business didn’t require her to live in a certain place, which meant logically she’d be the one to move.

She let that idea percolate to see how she felt about it. Turned out she was perfectly okay with leaving Seattle if it meant being with Cole. The decision wouldn’t even be that difficult. As much as she traveled, she could see her friends and family when she was between jobs.

But her home would be here in Gingerbread with Cole, wherever he lived. Come to think of it, she had no idea what his place was like, which seemed odd to her, considering they’d been naked together so recently. She’d ask him about it when he came to pick her up later that morning.

Remembering that she had to be ready soon, she tucked into her protein-free but delicious breakfast, took a quick shower in the claw-foot tub with its old-fashioned circular shower rod, and dressed in a clean pair of jeans and one of her nicer sweaters. Until she understood the corporate culture at Evergreen, she’d go with something a bit less casual than her usual techie outfit of old jeans, a faded T-shirt and a hoodie.

She was in the lobby chatting with Mrs. Gustafson about things to do in town when Cole walked in. Taryn might have been prejudiced, but the guy knew how to make an entrance. He swept in wearing that long black coat, a green wool scarf, and no hat. His tousled dark hair gave him a rakish look she’d never been able to resist.

“Ah, Cole!” Mrs. Gustafson, plump and graying, clasped her hands together. “Your guest is a delight. She’s already in love with our little town. I hope you’re planning to give her a tour.”

Cole’s bemused smile indicated he hadn’t planned anything of the sort. “Uh, sure. Why not? But first we have some business to take care of at Evergreen.”

Mrs. Gustafson waved a hand at him. “Well, I know that. The guests you bring here always have business at Evergreen. But Taryn has taken a real interest in Gingerbread, haven’t you, dear?”

“I have.” Taryn had to work hard not to laugh at Cole’s uneasiness. “And I’d love a tour if we have the time.”

Cole’s green eyes flashed with amusement. “I’ll see to it. Shall we go?”

“I’m ready when you are.”

“Have fun, you two!” Mrs. Gustafson called after them as they left the cozy lobby.

“We will!” Taryn called back.

“Chatting up the landlady?” Cole said once they were on the front porch.

“Is that a problem?”

“No, I just...do you really want a tour of Gingerbread?”

“I wouldn’t mind.” She took a deep breath of the crisp air as they started down the sidewalk toward the parking area. “I like it here.”

“Well, good...that’s good.”

She glanced at him, and his cheeks were ruddy. It could have been from the cold, but she suspected he was agitated. “You’d prefer I never come back here, right?”

“I can’t stop you from doing that if you want to.”

“But it makes you nervous.”

“Yes.”

“You’re the one who raved about the Christmas cheer in Gingerbread. And sure enough, the place is charming. I have friends who would love to vacation here.”

He sighed. “Then they should.”

“I think so, too.” She longed to assure him everything would be okay, because she was going to figure this out, but saying anything like that would alert him to her covert plans. For now, he couldn’t know what was in her mind and her heart. Soon enough, he would.

Getting into his sleek black sedan reminded her of their songfest the night before, but she doubted he wanted to repeat that. He was tense this morning, and she had a hunch as to why. He was second-guessing his course of action. Pulling out of the inn’s parking lot, he drove slowly down the street. As they rolled along, Taryn checked out the shops.

Cup of Cheer bustled with morning activity. “Cute coffee shop,” she said. “I suppose you never go there.”

“No, but my sister Belle does.”

“She still lives in Gingerbread?” Back in college, he’d mentioned two brothers and a sister, but she hadn’t thought to ask where they lived now.

“We all work for Evergreen.”

“Oh. That’s nice.” Or it could have been, except that if everyone had to keep the same damned secret, what kind of life did they have here? “Will I be meeting them?”

“We’ll see. Depends on everybody’s schedule.”

“You don’t want me getting chummy with your siblings, do you?”

He glanced over at her. “The thing is, they know you were my college girlfriend.”

“Aha!” That pleased her immensely. “Then I’d be surprised if they didn’t want to get a look at me. I would, if I were in their shoes.”

“They probably do want to.” He sounded resigned.

“Great. Then I will meet them.” She settled back in her seat with a smile.

Cole, however, was not smiling. In fact, his profile resembled an ice sculpture.

She’d have loved to thaw him out. “You know, I realized this morning I have no idea where you live.”

His throat moved as he swallowed. “It, um, doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“It does to me. I’m not in the habit of taking my clothes off for a man when I have no idea where he lives or what his place looks like. Until this morning, I hadn’t thought about that discrepancy. You do live in Gingerbread, I assume?”

“Outside of it, but yes, in a sense. It’s the closest town.”

“Will you let me see your place?”

“That’s not a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Taryn, don’t push.”

“I hardly think it’s pushing to want to see your home. Back at MIT we went back and forth between my apartment and your duplex all the time. I knew what was in your refrigerator and you knew what was in mine. Having no idea about your living space feels weird, Cole.”

He sighed. “We’re not at MIT. And I can’t show you where I live.”

She heard the note of finality in his voice and tucked that information away. Wherever he lived, the secret lived, too. If that weren’t so, he’d have agreed to take her there.

Although she had a million more questions, she didn’t ask them. He was already on edge. But she was about to enter a place filled with other sources of information.

As they approached the tall building she’d identified from her bedroom window, a portly man in a red jogging suit lumbered past on the snowy sidewalk. He had on a knit cap instead of a fur-trimmed one, but his white beard was very Santa Claus-like.

She’d decided not to make any more comments, but seeing the jogging Santa look-alike was a safe enough topic. “That guy we just passed looks exactly like Santa Claus.”

A muscle in Cole’s jaw twitched. “I know.”

“Is he some local character?”

“Something like that.”

“It’s kind of cute, don’t you think? A middle-aged guy lives in Gingerbread and decides to take on the persona of Santa Claus. It’s like the role players in old Western towns like Tombstone.”

“Guess so.”

“You don’t seem to appreciate the charm of it, my friend.”

Cole took a deep breath and looked over at her. “I’d forgotten that your brain is always analyzing, always evaluating, sifting and cataloging.”

“Of course. So’s yours.”

He flicked on a turn signal and pulled up to a wrought iron gate with scrollwork incorporating an elaborate E. “I’m going to ask you to focus all that brainpower on the Evergreen database. Pretend you have blinders on and ignore everything else.”

“Sounds like censorship, Cole.”

He touched a button on the dash and the gates swung open. “That’s because it is.”

“For the love of God, what’s going on in this building?”

Pulling into a parking space labeled with his name, he shut off the engine and turned to her. “I promise you that what goes on in this building is benign. There are no criminals here, no terrorists and no drug dealers. Nothing bad happens here, Taryn. Can you accept that and just do your job?”

“If it’s nothing bad, why can’t you tell me?”

“I can’t tell you because...” He looked into her eyes and his throat moved. When he spoke, his voice was husky with emotion. “I can’t tell you, not ever, and I really wish I could, because...”

“Because why?”

“Because I love you.”

She gasped, shocked that he’d said it, but thrilled, too. “But I love you, too! And people who love each other share things they wouldn’t tell anyone else.”

“Not in this case.” His gaze searched hers. “I need you to analyze the database. You’re the person for the job—maybe the only person who can do what I need done. Will you do that for me?”

“Yes, I will.” He hadn’t asked her to promise she’d wear those blinders. Maybe he secretly wanted her to find out what was going on.

Whether he wanted her to find out or not, she intended to. This was ridiculous. They belonged together, and she wouldn’t let him throw their future away, at least not until she knew why he was so intent on doing it.

The lobby was decorated for Christmas, which she would have expected. A blue spruce that had to be thirty feet tall stood in the center of the two-story vaulted ceiling. Evergreen ornaments hung from every branch. Many of them gave off that mysterious glow she’d noticed in hers.

Display cases filled with ornaments lined the walls, and each ornament was labeled with the year in which it was manufactured. Taryn didn’t have much time to look, but she’d swear at least one of them dated back to the 1600s. “Cole, some of those ornaments are really old.”

“The company’s been around a long time.”

“Did it originate in Europe?”

“Yes, it did, in fact. Let’s get you signed in.” He guided her toward an ornate desk that looked as if it might have been imported from Versailles. Behind it sat a sweet-faced woman who could have been anywhere from fifty to seventy. She wore a red velvet dress, and the nameplate on her desk identified her as Jolie S. Garland.

Taryn wanted to ask her, with a wink, if that was her real name. But something about the woman’s calm gaze kept her from doing that. Taryn suspected it was her real name, and she’d be insulted if anyone suggested otherwise. Whether she’d found her perfect job or the job had found her, she’d discovered the right spot for a person with that particular name.

Smiling, she handed Taryn a gold pen. “Sign here, Miss Harper, and I’ll give you an access card.”

Jolie reached into a drawer and came up with a sparkling gold card with Taryn’s name embossed on the front and a magnetic strip on the back. “This will allow you to board the elevator, which will take you to the IT center on the twelfth floor. If you need anything, please come back to the lobby and I’ll assist you.”

“Thank you, Jolie.” Taryn returned the woman’s genial smile, but she had the distinct impression she’d been given a ticket to the IT floor and nothing else. Once she and Cole were inside the shiny gold elevator, she confirmed it with him.

“That’s all you were hired to do.” He unbuttoned his coat and loosened his scarf, but he stood on the opposite side of the elevator.

She found that significant—depressingly so. “I thought you might give me a tour of the building while I’m here.” She hadn’t really thought that, but it was worth a shot.

A ghost of a smile touched his lips. “Would you settle for a tour of the IT department? It’s my favorite floor.”

“I’m sure it is. But your parking space said you were the CEO. Who’s in charge of IT?”

“I am, for now. I haven’t found anybody I’d turn it over to, so I’m doing double-duty.”

“That can’t be easy. This looks like a huge operation. How can you handle the IT department when you’re supposed to be the head honcho of Evergreen?”

“Obviously I’m not doing a very good job of it. You hacked in.”

“You shouldn’t let that bother you. As I said before, I know your MO. The average hacker wouldn’t have nearly such an easy time of it.”

“Nevertheless, you exposed my vulnerabilities. I want those protected.”

That, too, was a telling statement. She was the woman who knew too much. He’d hired her to barricade him against future invasions, both business-related and emotional, and then leave.

The elevator came to a smooth stop on the twelfth floor. It hadn’t stopped once since they’d left the lobby. Other people had to be working in this large building, and yet she’d never know it. Jolie S. Garland was the only employee she’d met. That was spooky.

“I gave the rest of the IT staff the day off to go Christmas shopping,” he said. “I wanted you to be able to work undisturbed.”

That meant he didn’t want her talking to anyone. He’d done his best to isolate her from the rest of the workers at Evergreen. After they’d gotten so close at MIT, he should have realized the more he tried to deny her access to information, the more determined she’d become. If she hadn’t believed her investigative plan was for his own good, she’d feel disloyal. But he’d refused to give her all the facts, and without those facts, she couldn’t make an informed decision. Maybe, once she knew what the issues were, she’d agree with him that they had no future.

She seriously doubted that, though. Every problem had a solution. He’d been conditioned to believe this particular problem couldn’t be solved. That wasn’t a failing. Everyone had blind spots. Because she loved him, she would help him to overcome his.

After they left the elevator, he led her past several offices, but the hallway was ghost-town silent.

At the end of the hall, Cole opened a door into a larger office. An L-shaped dark walnut desk held multiple monitors, a top-of-the-line keyboard and a mouse pad in the shape of a round Christmas ornament. A Santa mug sat to the right of the keyboard, but that was it. No framed pictures, no flowering plant, no cluttered in-basket.

She glanced around. “Is this your office?”

“Used to be. I still work down here when I need to.”

“Where’s your regular office?”

“Fifteenth floor.” He seemed reluctant to share that information. “Let me take your coat so you can have a seat and get started.”

“Fine.” She put her messenger bag on his desk and instantly the work space looked more welcoming. As she started to shrug out of her parka, her hands bumped his. He was helping her take off her coat. She froze. “I can do it.”

“Right.” He backed away. “Sorry. Habit.”

Slipping off her coat, she turned to him. He looked positively miserable. “You can leave,” she said. “I know how to turn on a computer.” She smiled. “And I already know your password.”

He laughed at that, although it wasn’t a happy laugh. “So you do. Then maybe I will leave you to work for a while and I’ll check on you later. I...uh...didn’t realize that giving the IT staff the day off would have an unintended consequence.”

“That we’re all alone up here?”

His green gaze burned with frustration. “Exactly.”

“Then go, before one of your siblings shows up and catches us in a compromising position.”

Heat flared in his eyes. “I’ll come back and check on you. Is there anything you need?”

“Besides the obvious?”

“Stop.”

“Okay. I would love a good cup of coffee sometime in the middle of the morning. Is that possible?”

“I’ll make it happen.”

“Thanks. See ya.” She made a shooing motion with both hands. She hoped his siblings did pop in to see her. She’d figure out a way to make that work to her advantage.

Chapter 7

Cole barreled down the hall and waited impatiently for the elevator. When it came, he was glad it was empty. He used his card and punched the number for the fifteenth floor. How could this have become so complicated? He hadn’t factored in the possibility that she’d be as hot for him now—hotter, in fact—as she’d been before. And still in love with him, as he was with her. What a disaster!

Ethan got on the elevator as Cole got off. “Is Taryn in the building?” Ethan asked.

“Yes, and I hope you’ll leave her alone to work.”

Ethan laughed. “I will, for now. I have to deliver some ornaments to the Denver Chamber of Commerce. Their president read Lark’s damned book, and the cheer level of their Christmas display is way down. But if Taryn’s here when I get back, I’ll stop in and introduce myself.”

“Don’t hurry home.”

“I love you, too, big brother.” The elevator door closed, obscuring Ethan’s grin.

Cole blew out a breath and started down the hall. Then he remembered Taryn’s coffee request and stopped at Belle’s office.

She glanced up from her computer. “Is Taryn here?”

“Yes, and she’s a coffee drinker.”

“Cool! I like her already.”

“She asked for a good cup of coffee mid-morning, and I thought, since you always go to Cup of Cheer around ten, you could bring back something for her.”

“Uh, sure.” Belle’s gaze flickered. “I have some errands to run in town, though, and they could take a while.”

Something was going on with her and these errands, but this time of year, Cole knew better than to quiz his family when they acted mysterious. For all he knew, she had been planning to buy his present that morning.

“How about this?” Her expression brightened. “She can walk down there with me. I’ll buy her coffee, and then I’ll send her back here while I run my errands. That way she can see what they have and get the flavor she likes. Will that work?”

“Guess so.” Cole wasn’t crazy about the thought of Taryn on the loose in Gingerbread. But he also wasn’t ready to be alone with her again.

“Then we’ll do it that way. I look forward to meeting her.”

“You’ll watch what you say, though, right?”

Belle’s green eyes widened innocently. “You don’t want me to tell her how destroyed you were when you had to break up with her ten years ago?”

He scowled.

“Don’t worry, big brother. Your secrets are safe with me.”

“Thanks.” He remembered he wanted to mention seeing Kris. “Our wayward Santa was out jogging when we drove past. Taryn decided he’s some guy who’s into role-playing.”

“That’s good. Excellent. And I’ve been meaning to tell you that Louie, one of our elves, has designed Spit-Up Baby Susie. He thinks it’s more realistic and should go into production ASAP.”

“Have him send the prototype to me.”

“You’re not thinking of approving it, I hope!”

“No, but I’m curious to see how it works.” Any distraction, including a vomiting baby doll, would be a good thing.

* * *

Taryn needed caffeine. Mrs. Gustafson’s brew had worn off, and while Cole’s whimsical database with its dopey categories like “Lots of Toys for Girls and Boys” was entertaining, Taryn needed hot coffee, and she needed it now.

When a green-eyed blonde wearing a trench coat tapped on the open door, Taryn hoped her visitor was there on a mission of mercy for the caffeine-deprived.

“Taryn, I’m Belle.” Smiling, she hooked her purse more securely over her shoulder. “Cole said you drink coffee.”

“I do. Is there a pot brewing somewhere in the building?” She wondered if Belle might give her access to a different floor. That would be exciting.

“Not really. Get your coat and I’ll walk you down to Cup of Cheer. They make the best java in Gingerbread.”

“I’m all over that.” Taryn saved her work and powered down the computer. “I was about to send out an SOS.”

“Trust me, I understand. Don’t bother bringing your bag, though. This is my treat. Just make sure you have your access card.”

“It’s in my coat pocket.” Taryn took her parka from the coat-tree in the corner. “Sounds like the Evergreen coffee room isn’t up to your standards.”

“There is no coffee room. Just a cocoa room.”

“You’re joking.” Taryn followed her out the door. “Who doesn’t have a coffee room?”

“Evergreen Industries.” Belle headed briskly down the hall. She could walk fast for a short person.

Taryn had trouble believing the building had no coffee available. “Don’t the employees complain?”

“Just me. Everyone else is fine with the cocoa. So I make the trek to Cup of Cheer every morning.” She swiped her access card through the reader and the elevator opened.

“Thanks for inviting me along.” Taryn noticed Belle’s access card was the same as hers and Cole’s. The only difference was in the coding and the name embossed on the back. What Taryn wouldn’t give to have possession of that card for thirty minutes.

“I’m glad to do it. I’d walk back with you, but I have some things that require my attention in town. I’m sure you’ll find your way back okay.”

Taryn laughed. “I can’t imagine anyone getting lost in Gingerbread. Hiking around Mistletoe Mountain could be a different story, but I don’t plan on doing that.”

“That’s good.” They reached the lobby and Belle waved at Jolie S. Garland, who was still on duty. “That’s a treacherous mountain. I’d stay away from it if I were you.”

“I didn’t bring my hiking boots, anyway.” Taryn zipped up her parka as they started down the sidewalk that led to the heart of town. “What’s your job at Evergreen?”

“I’m in HR.”

“So you’re in charge of the elves.”

Belle’s head whipped around. “What?”

“I figured you knew, but maybe not.”

“Knew what?”

Taryn thought it was strange that Belle actually seemed upset. Maybe she was the sort of person who didn’t like being the last to find out what was going on in the company. “Cole’s put all sorts of goofy names in the database. It fits because you’re a Christmas ornament manufacturer, but I had to laugh. HR is titled ‘Elves,’ and customers are listed under ‘Naughty or Nice.’ Like I said, goofy.”

“Oh.” Belle let out a breath. “I guess I did hear something about that system. Leave it to my geeky brother.”

“He’s one of a kind, all right.”

“He is. Gotta love him.”

Taryn thought it wise not to respond to that comment.

Belle switched the topic, which was probably a good idea. “You’re from Seattle, right?”

“I am.” For the rest of the walk, Taryn answered questions about her native city, one Belle had never visited. Cole’s name didn’t come up again.

The coffee shop seemed even busier than it had when Taryn and Cole had driven by first thing that morning. She and Belle had to stand in line, and Taryn took that opportunity to scan the extensive coffee menu. Belle kept looking around the shop, almost as if she were expecting to see someone. She seemed agitated.

The line moved slowly, and Belle continued to glance over each time the door opened. “Do you know what you want?” she asked as she continued to survey the crowd.

“I’m getting an extra-large eggnog espresso. That should do the trick.”

“It should.” She looked away again. “Aha. I just saw someone I need to talk with.” She fished in her purse. “Here’s my wallet. Order me a large double-shot peppermint latte, and I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” Taryn’s heart began to pound as she realized the opportunity she had. What she was about to do was wrong. When she was caught, and she would be, she’d have no excuse other than the fact that she was doing it for love. But if she didn’t overcome her scruples immediately, she’d lose her chance.

Opening Belle’s wallet, she took out the golden access card and replaced it with her own. Then she tucked Belle’s card in her pocket. Her heart was racing so fast she felt light-headed. Belle hadn’t returned by the time she’d ordered and paid for both drinks. She walked over to the window where the orders were coming out, and she waited. The crowd was so dense and Belle was so short that Taryn couldn’t see her.

Taryn’s coffee came up first, and right after it did, Belle appeared, her cheeks bright red. “All set?”

“I have mine.” Taryn handed her the wallet, which by now felt like a ticking time bomb. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Listen, you don’t have to stay. I have to go in the opposite direction, anyway.”

“If you’re sure.” Taryn could hardly wait to get out of there.

“I’m sure. Nice meeting you, and I’ll see you later.”

“Same here, Belle.” With what she hoped was a smile and not a grimace, Taryn left the shop. Instantly she began drinking as fast as possible without scalding her tongue. The caffeine would give her the courage she’d need for what she was about to do.

Once she was out of sight of the coffee shop, she chugged the last of her coffee and tossed the cup in a nearby trash can. Then she picked up the pace, but she couldn’t run. That would attract attention.

She slowed down again twenty yards from the Evergreen building. She couldn’t pant when she called out a greeting to Jolie S. Garland. She would have trouble acting normal as it was.

Jolie smiled at her. “Did you get your coffee, dear?”

“Sure did. Drank it already. Back to work!” She kept moving. Her hand trembled and she had to swipe Belle’s card twice before the elevator doors opened. Luck was with her. It was empty. And lo and behold, all the numbers were lit.

Her finger hovered over the button for fifteen, but pressing it would have been stupid. No doubt she’d run smack into Cole the minute she stepped off the elevator.

Wait a minute. Besides the fifteen floors above ground, there were five below. She hadn’t been able to see those with her original access card. And everyone knew secrets were always hidden in the basement. She punched B5.

The car started its slow glide down, and her stomach began to churn. She reminded herself Cole had promised nothing bad was going on in this building, and Cole was incapable of telling a lie. Unlike her. She was both a thief and a liar. She prayed Cole loved her enough to forgive her.

The elevator slid to a stop and the doors rumbled open to reveal...a paint and body shop? She wasn’t tremendously familiar with them, but she recognized the giant paint sprayers. Positioned in the middle of the area, its new coat of red gleaming in the overhead lights, was a giant sleigh. The curved metal runners had been taped, as had all the metal fittings. A workbench along one wall was lined with various sized brushes and a large can of paint.

No one was in the shop, so she crept forward and looked at the white label on top of the can. Sleigh, Gold Pinstriping, Formula 896 had been typed on the adhesive label. Could this be a prop for an advertising campaign?

If so, she couldn’t imagine why she wouldn’t be allowed to see it. No wiser than before, she returned to the elevator and rode to the next floor. This time, as the doors began to open, she was greeted by quite a racket. Staccato tapping filled the space, as if dozens of tiny hammers were being wielded by...elves.

Stepping through the open doors, she stared at tiny people wearing pointy caps, green tunics and leggings, and shoes that curved up at the toe and were each decorated with a bell. They didn’t notice her. Of course they wouldn’t. Christmas Eve was drawing near and they were making toys for girls and boys.

She blinked, but the scene didn’t change. Conveyor belts snaked through the two-story work area carrying finished toys to a wrapping machine. The toys emerged covered with bright paper and festive bows. Then they disappeared into a tunnel.

Slowly she backed into the elevator. This couldn’t be real, and yet she was wide awake. She pinched herself to make sure. The secret, the one Cole had refused to tell her, was incredible, but she couldn’t deny it now. Evergreen Industries, through some process she didn’t understand but Cole obviously knew inside out, was responsible for making Christmas happen.

* * *

Cole glanced at the clock. Taryn would have her coffee by now, and he should probably contact her to see how she was getting along with the database. Texting her seemed like the best option. He’d begun composing one when his phone chimed. Noelle’s name popped up on the screen.

He abandoned his text message and answered the call. “What’s up?”

“You’d better get down here.”

He’d never heard Noelle use that tone, which was part command and part freak-out. “Be right there.”

Moments later he was in her office staring at the pictures coming from her surveillance cameras and swearing softly under his breath. “How did she get in there? Her access card was only coded for the IT floor!”

“Don’t ask me, but we officially have a major security threat.”

Cole’s chest tightened. Deep down, he’d known this would happen. He should never have brought her here. “Do you have the cocoa ready?”

Noelle hesitated. “Yes.”

“Will it work?” He was worried about Noelle’s slight hesitation.

“It should.”

“It will erase all memory of me and of this place, but nothing else, right?”

“Uh, yes.”

He didn’t like the faint tremor in her voice, which told him she wasn’t all that confident about the cocoa. But even if the effects only lasted for a while, it would buy him some time, and it was better than nothing. “Get me some and bring it to my office. I’ll go find her.”

“I’ll meet you there.”

At this point, he didn’t have to hide his powers anymore. Closing his eyes, he willed himself to B4, where Taryn was wandering through displays featuring the historical origin of the Christmas tree. He materialized next to her while she gazed up at a Scotch pine with candles attached to its branches.

“Having fun?”

She jumped and turned toward him, wide-eyed. “Where did you come from?”

He looked into her eyes. “I’m a wizard.” In some ways, it was a relief to finally say it. “I can travel simply by wishing it.”

“You’re a...” She stared at him, her face drained of all color.

“A wizard. From the Winter Clan. As you’ve just discovered, we’re in charge of Christmas.”

“But you can’t be. What about the North Pole? How does that figure in?”

“It’s a decoy. The North Pole would be way too much trouble—no decent facilities at all up there. Colorado is much more convenient for our purposes.”

“So this is what you couldn’t tell me.”

“That’s right. And because you’ve breached our security, I have to take care of that. How did you, by the way?”

“I stole Belle’s access card while we were in the coffee shop. Don’t blame her. It’s not her fault.”

“I don’t. If anybody’s to blame, it’s me for bringing you to Gingerbread in the first place. But I’ll fix that.” He held out his hand. “Hold on.”

“Why?”

“We need to go to my office, and this is the quickest way.” He gazed at her. “Trust me, please.”

“All right.” And she put her hand in his.

That simple act broke his heart. But he had a job to do, so he closed his eyes and willed them to his fifteenth-floor office. When the swirling stopped, he kept holding her hand. Anyone new to apparating needed some time to adjust.

She took a shaky breath. “Wow. How many Gs do you think we pulled?”

“Don’t know. I’ve never tried to measure that.”

“Next time you should. It would be fun to know.”

“Fun? This isn’t about fun, Taryn.”

“Of course it is! This is a blast. I just found out the man I love is a wizard. How cool is that?”

“I don’t think you quite understand.”

“No, but I want to. Where do you live? Can you tell me now?”

He shrugged. “I suppose it can’t hurt. The Winter Clan has a lodge up on Mistletoe Mountain.”

“I knew it! That’s why Belle warned me not to go hiking up there.”

“You wouldn’t have found it even if you had. We have it cloaked.”

“Cloaked! I love it! What about the elves? Where do they live?”

“Their village is just below the lodge. They travel to and from the workshop through underground passageways.” He looked into her shining eyes and frowned. “At this point any normal person should be hyperventilating and questioning her own sanity. Why aren’t you?”

“You’re kidding, right? This is me you’re talking to, the woman who has read Lord of the Rings at least four times and has watched the movie more times than that. Cole, you’re a wizard. Like Gandalf, only way sexier! I’m geeking out!”

“Knock, knock.” Noelle appeared in the doorway holding an ornate silver mug on a silver tray. “I have the cocoa.”

“Thanks, Noelle. You can set it on my desk.”

She did. Then she walked over to Taryn and held out her hand. “I’m Noelle Frost, temporary head of security. I don’t know how you breached our system, but I’m impressed. I wish I could get to know you better.”

“Maybe you can,” Taryn said.

“I don’t think so.” Noelle glanced at the cocoa and then at Cole. “It should be fine.”

“What?” Taryn whirled around to face him. “What’s with the cocoa?”

Cole stepped forward and grasped her shoulders. “It’s a special batch. I can’t allow you to remember all you’ve seen, so the cocoa will erase those memories. Then you can return to your life, your family and your job as if this never happened.”

“No, I can’t.”

Noelle cleared her throat. “I’ll just head on back to my office. Call if you need me.”

“I will,” Cole said. Then he returned his attention to Taryn. “Yes, you can. It’s the way things need to be.”

“I didn’t finish my work in IT.”

“That’s okay. I can do it.”

“What if I hack back in?”

He shook his head. “You won’t. I’ve asked Noelle to brew this batch so your memories of me will be selectively removed.” He hoped Noelle had managed that.

“First of all, you may be a wizard and all, but that doesn’t sound doable. I don’t think it’s possible to untangle my memories of you without screwing up all my memories from MIT.”

“I believe it can be done.”

“You mean you want to believe, but I can tell you’re not a hundred percent sure.”

“Taryn, listen to me. We have to try so you can live a normal life. I saw the pictures on your mantel. The burden of keeping a secret like this from those you love would be huge.”

She gazed at him for several seconds. “Now I get it. The burden would be huge for you, because being open with those you love is so important. It’s important to me, too, but if I have to keep a secret from my friends and family so I can be with you—it’s no contest.”

“Taryn, I—”

She cupped his face in both hands. “You are the best thing that ever happened to me. And now, on top of your brains, your sexy body and your intense love for me, you’re a wizard. Do you think for one minute I’m going to dutifully swallow some iffy potion that might make me forget you? I intend to remember you for the rest of my life.”

A tiny kernel of hope took root in him and began to grow. “You need to think this through very carefully. Snap decisions are never a good idea.”

“I’ve been thinking it through for ten years, buster. And when I hacked into your site, I promised myself if I ever got my hands on you again, I would never let go.”

He couldn’t stop the smile from spreading over his face. “Really?”

“Really.” She wiggled out of his grip and walked over to the desk. “Is this one of those fancy offices with a bathroom attached?”

“Yes. Do you need to use the facilities?”

“I do. Where are they?”

“Through that door.” He was a little perplexed, but when a woman had to go, she had to go.

“Good.” Taryn picked up the mug of cocoa and marched through the door he’d indicated.

“What are you doing?” He heard the toilet flush.

She came back bearing the mug and set it on the tray. “No more cocoa. You’re stuck with me, Cole Evergreen. And you really need me, too, because you can’t run this corporation and the IT department. I’ll take that on.”

Heart full, he gathered her in his arms. “I just plain need you. But I was so afraid I’d ruin your life.”

She gazed up at him. “Then you don’t know me as well as you think you do. Can we do that apparating thing again?”

“Why? Where do you want to go?”

“Your bedroom in the Winter Clan lodge. It’s time I saw where you live.”

He drew her closer. “It’s the middle of a business day.”

“Yes, but you’re the CEO. Besides, I want to see your magic wand. You do have one, don’t you?”

“Is that a loaded question?”

“What do you think?”

“I think it is. And that’s what I love about you, Taryn Harper.” Closing his eyes, he carried them both off to begin a life more magickal than he ever could have imagined. And he had one hell of an imagination.

* * * * *

She’s a Mean One

Rhonda Nelson

NYT bestselling author, two-time RITA® Award nominee, RT Reviewers’ Choice Award nominee and National Readers’ Choice Award winner RHONDA NELSON writes hot romantic comedy. You can find her at www.readrhondanelson.com, follow @RhondaRNelson on Twitter and like her on Facebook.

For my fellow novella-mates, Vicki, Andrea and Kira. I believe this book represents what makes us work as dear friends and plotting partners—sheer magic. Love y’all bunches!

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