Ah, now it made sense. He’d been set up. “You were responsible for that?”

“You’re giving me far too much credit,” she said serenely, studying her manicure. “And besides, everyone knows, Matt was supposed to be Santa.”

“Yes,” he said patiently. “But Matt wasn’t Santa. I was.”

“Right. So if a mistake was made-” she lifted her shoulders and sent him a guileless smile “-then…oops.”

“You told her Matt was in the costume, didn’t you?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then what, exactly?”

“Are you telling me you didn’t enjoy that kiss?”

“Okay, let’s do this another way. Does she or does she not now know the truth?”

“Not.” Holly grinned. “Are you kidding? Prim-and-proper accounting Katie kissing the wild, reckless, rowdy, untamable Bryan Morgan? She’d have a coronary. She definitely doesn’t like guys like you.”

“She’s not all that prim and proper.”

Holly bent at the waist and burst out laughing. “Do tell.”

Bryan gave up and started walking toward the first of three hangars that made up Wells, knowing he had exactly one hour to take care of his paperwork before chartering a flight that would keep him out of the airport for the rest of the day.

Without a doubt, he was going to have to put that kiss right out of his head. Yes, the little accountant kissed nice, so what? She didn’t like guys like him, so what? He didn’t care, not when there were plenty of other women in the sea.

That he hadn’t been looking was another matter entirely, he told himself. Between work and his loving but demanding family, he’d been busy, and hadn’t needed the additional complication. And he knew all too well, women were definitely a complication, no matter how sweet yet sexy their light, expressive whiskey eyes were.

With that in mind, he made it to the hallway outside the postage-stamp-size office he rented from Wells, when he heard a very familiar voice.

“Matt? Matt, I know you’re in there.”

Katie.

Katie back in her dull business suit with the too long skirt and the too full blazer so he couldn’t so much as catch a glimpse of that lush body he now knew she had, knocking on the closed door of Matt Osborne’s office.

She should look unappealing, but she didn’t, not at all. Instead, she looked…huggable.

Damn, what was that about?

He attributed it to knowing that she kissed like heaven, and smelled like it, too.

Then Matt opened his office door and smiled absently at her. “Yes?”

She bit her lower lip, clearly expecting a different reaction. “I wanted…to talk about last night.”

“The party?” Matt seemed surprised.

The nitwit had no idea what he’d missed. Bryan supposed there should be some guilt associated with that, but there wasn’t.

“I thought it went really well,” Matt said, then stole a quick glance at his watch. “Oh, look at that. I’m sorry, I’ve gotta go. I have a report to finish.”

With an apologetic smile, he turned away to shut the door.

“But-” Katie’s smile seemed forced, even to Bryan who was still a good way down the hall from them. “It’s just that…the mistletoe…”

“Mistletoe?” Matt shrugged. “I noticed plenty of the stuff scattered all around. The decorations were superbly done. Nicely and strategically placed.”

“Yes,” Katie agreed. “Strategic.”

“It’s got to come down though, or we’ll have people taking advantage of it during office hours.” His brow wrinkled. “Hmm…maybe I’d better write a memo.”

“A memo,” Katie repeated. “Remove the mistletoe to avoid mass orgies during work hours.”

Matt nodded distractedly, and after a quick goodbye, closed the door in her face.

Clueless jerk, Bryan decided, even as he was oddly grateful for clueless jerks.

Katie just stood there. “Well wasn’t I ever so memorable,” she muttered.

More than memorable, babe. “Morning,” Bryan said.

Katie nearly leaped right out of her skin and whipped around to stare at him. “What?”

“I said, ‘Morning.”’

Her face was pale now. “Say it again.”

Bryan wondered if his voice was confusing her. After all, he had spoken last night. But people heard what they wanted to hear, and she’d definitely wanted to hear Matt’s voice.

She blinked.

“Morning,” he said again, obliging her.

She shook her head. “I should have had some coffee.”

And he should tell her the truth. Should being the key word here. “You were asking about the mistletoe,” he said. “Is there something I can help you with?” Like maybe kiss you again?

She didn’t answer, just narrowed her eyes.

“Is anything wrong?”

“Your voice…it sounds…”

“Familiar?” He grinned, he couldn’t help it. “Well, it should. We work together.”

“Right.”

Poor baby looked so confused. His conscience, never the most righteous of creatures, reared its head for a moment.

A very short moment.

Because he knew if he came clean right then, she would either deny that the kiss had knocked her socks off, or she’d run like hell.

Neither appealed.

Not when his goal for the day had suddenly become to get another. “About that mistletoe,” he said casually. “I bet it’s still in the hangar. We could just walk on over there and-”

“No,” she said quickly, backing away. “I’m…busy. Very busy.”

He obviously made her nervous. He tested this theory by taking a step toward her.

Sure enough, she retreated…right into a file cabinet, which she hit with a loud thunk. The two flowerpots above teetered wildly, then fell. She caught one, then the other, and quickly set them down on the ground, whirling back to him with her hands behind her back as if she didn’t trust herself.

She had a streak of dirt across one cheek. She looked unsettled. And adorable. He had no idea why that appealed, he’d certainly never been attracted to adorable before. Long-legged, full bottom-lipped sexpots, yes. Adorable, no.

“I’m fine,” she said quickly when he came toward her. “I’m just fi-” The word ended in a gasp when he took her arms in his hands to steady her.

They were now in exactly the same position they’d been in last night, nose to nose, thigh to thigh.

“You-you have blue eyes,” she said inanely. “When did that happen?”

“At birth, actually.” He grinned. “Let me guess, you hate blue eyes.”

“No, I-” Her gaze dropped to his mouth, and in a totally innocent gesture, she licked her dry lips.

Bryan nearly groaned, but managed to hold it together because he had a huge advantage-she might not know how good they’d be together, but he did. Dammit, what a dilemma, because despite himself, he never, ever took advantage of women.

Well, almost never.

“About that mistletoe…” he murmured.

“No! No, it was a bad idea! A stupid idea. A really idiotic-”

“I get the picture.” He tipped his head to one side because her hands had come up between them to grip his shirt, whether to push him away or to keep him close, he had no idea. “You don’t strike me as much of a risk taker.”

“Absolutely not,” she said quickly. Too quickly.

He smiled, because last night, for whatever reason, she’d done exactly that, she’d dropped her reserve and had made the first move on a man. On him.

“In fact, risk is a bad word in my book,” she continued. “A really bad word, as bad as-as-”

“As…?”

“As…oh never mind!”

Above them, the intercom buzzed, then Mrs. Giddeon paged Katie to the front desk.

With a cry of what could only be relief, Katie broke free, brushing against him as she ran off down the hall.

Good, Bryan decided. He shouldn’t have teased her. He had absolutely no idea what had come over him. He could really care less that she wanted Matt, that she wasn’t his type. It wasn’t his problem.

Five minutes later he walked into his office and faced his two other pilots, both of whom looked at him and laughed. He looked down.

And saw two perfect handprints-made from dirt-on his white shirt. “Very funny,” he said, but he wasn’t annoyed, just strangely unsettled.

Katie might be a novice where men were concerned, but she’d accomplished something no woman other than his sisters and mother ever had.

She’d left her mark on him.

3

“LORDIE, would you look at that?” Julie murmured beneath her breath to Katie.

At the voice of her friend and co-worker, Katie looked up from her notes for the upcoming staff meeting, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Cassandra and Eloise filed into the conference room, followed by Dale, Jack, Evan and Mrs. Giddeon. Everyone looked perfectly normal, even Holly, as she sauntered in.

Then she caught the newest arrival.

Bryan.

That her belly gave a little quiver really got to her. “Him?” she asked Julie, who was practically drooling.

“Him,” Julie answered breathlessly. “Wow.”

Granted he was tall, dark and…okay, gorgeous. So what? And yet for some reason that only upped her annoyance factor, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. Even worse, she was hit with a strange sense of…awareness?

She didn’t understand it, but she didn’t appear to suffer the enigmatic problem alone. Apparently every female in the room was afflicted. Even Holly, who managed to maneuver herself close to him.

Watch out, Katie wanted to warn him. Holly was looking as predatory as she had…oh, about one minute before she’d stolen Katie’s fiancé three years ago.

Beneath her own Christmas tree no less.

Old times, she reminded herself. Forget it.

And anyway, where was Matt?

She’d been hoping for a few minutes alone with him to discuss their kiss. It’d been three days!

But still, she couldn’t tear her gaze away from Bryan. She had to admit the man had a presence. The very air around him seemed to change, shimmer with an aura of excitement. Thrill.

Danger.

That presence wasn’t put on, like it was with so many daredevils. Nope, all that edgy restlessness came utterly naturally to him.

Which was exactly why Katie didn’t-couldn’t-like him.

“There’s something not quite tame about that man,” Julie announced in a conspirator’s whisper. She shivered with delight.

To Katie there was nothing even remotely exciting about it. Her father had flown stunts. He’d done things no one else would even consider and had still craved more, even putting aside the needs of his own family in order to get it. He’d been grown-up enough to have a family, but not mature enough to want to be with that family. Her father was always pushing the envelope, and always going full speed ahead. Always wanting, craving, yearning, burning for something just out of his reach.

He’d found it in testing experimental aircraft.

Oh, and it had also killed him.

Katie tried to swallow the nearly twenty-year-old resentment and only managed to swallow her last piece of gum, which left a heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She could never fall for a man like that, one who wasn’t mature enough to put fun on the back burner in the favor of a quiet, lasting, enduring relationship.

Julie looked at her. “Are you telling me you don’t think he’s spectacular?”

Well, she was human. Female human. She could admit Bryan’s broad shoulders, so perfectly covered in his white pilot’s shirt, were nice, very nice indeed. So were his long, long, powerfully built legs, which were in dark-blue trousers fitted in a way that might have made her sigh in feminine appreciation if she was weak enough to sigh over such things. He had his aviator sunglasses tucked in his front pocket, his sleeves shoved up instead of rolled, and scuffed work boots on his feet. His hair was tousled as if he’d been running his fingers through it.

Gorgeously rumpled, she supposed was the correct term.

But it was his face that held her; the rugged, tanned, lived-in face. The one that had laugh lines around his generous mouth and smile creases around his sharp eyes, eyes that told her what she needed to know-he actively recruited fun and trouble, and-

Darn it.

He caught her staring at him.

No surprise, no discomfort, not for this man, who was probably used to being stared at. He merely absorbed her gaze, gave her a quick wink and a slow grin.

And in spite of her embarrassment and irritation, something strange happened. Something…almost familiar.

What was it about him?

Why did she feel as if…they knew each other? As if she’d kissed him instead of Matt? She nearly laughed out loud at that, because really, she knew who she’d kissed.