Maureen Child - Under the Millionaire’s Mistletoe

He was off to a hell of a start.

“I can’t believe you kissed me!” she accused.

“You asked me to,” he reminded her. And there was nothing he’d like better at the moment than to kiss her again. As soon as that thought hit his brain, his blood started humming. He was ready and willing and all too damn eager to give in to his desires. So, he clung to the threads of his anger and used them to fight back the growing rush of want.

She pointed to the arched doorjamb above his head. “You’re standing under mistletoe. And I didn’t know it was you, now, did I?” the redhead with the beautiful eyes argued.

“Anna, you two shouldn’t bicker,” Clarissa lowered her voice and leaned in to make sure she was heard. “It’s a party.”

“This isn’t what you think it is,” Anna said, still glaring at him.

What he should do is leave. Distance himself from this whole mess. But he couldn’t quite make himself walk away from her. At least, not yet.

“Lovers’ quarrels,” the older woman said, “happens to everyone, dear.”

“Oh, God,” Anna whispered.

Then she licked her lips and Sam’s insides tightened. His focus was narrowed on her. This woman was nothing like what he’d expected. The kind of woman his brother usually went for was-less than this one. This woman had fire inside her and a mind of her own. She clearly wasn’t an empty-headed party girl looking for a good time. The question was, was she a mercenary woman looking for a fat wallet?

“I can’t believe this,” she muttered.

Damned if he’d stand there and be accused of being a lecher or something. “You know, I was just standing there minding my own business…”

“Have you met my husband?” Clarissa asked.

“You should have introduced yourself,” Anna told him.

“Before or after you propositioned me?” he countered.

She gasped, outraged. “I did not!”

“You said, ‘Kiss me and save my life,’” he reminded her with a grin. “What did you expect a man to do?”

“Okay, yes, I did. But I didn’t know it was you.”

“We covered that already,” he said.

“I’ll just find Dave,” Clarissa said, tipsily oblivious. “He’ll be so happy to know about the two of you!”

“Don’t!” Anna spoke up quickly, but it was too late, the older woman was already disappearing into the crowd. “Oh, for heaven’s sake.”

“Now that we’re alone, want to move back under the mistletoe?”

“No!” She flushed, though, and he knew she was lying. She stared helplessly after her stepmother for a long minute. Then whipping back around to glare at him again, she said, “You have to leave.”

He’d been thinking the same damn thing a second ago. But now that she was practically ordering him out, Sam wasn’t about to leave. “Hey, I was invited. Why should I leave just because you’re suddenly regretting trying to seduce me?”

She hissed in a breath and her cheeks flamed with hot color. Amazing. He hadn’t thought there were still women around who actually blushed. Sam was more intrigued by the minute-and even less inclined to leave than he had been.

“I did not try to seduce you,” she said through gritted teeth. “It was a blip. An emergency situation.”

He was starting to enjoy himself. “An emergency make out session?”

“We didn’t-” She stopped, took a deep breath and closed her eyes briefly. “You know what? I’m not doing this anymore. If you’re not going to leave, I will.”

She turned around so fast that her long, auburn hair swung out behind her like a flag. She was wearing a sleeveless silver top that clung to her breasts and a short, black silk skirt that hugged her behind and defined every curve. Her long, lean legs looked as smooth and pale as fresh cream and the three-inch black heels she wore had a cutout at the toes that spotlighted dark red nails.

His gaze dropped to her behind as she hurried away from him and he had to admire the indignant sway of her hips. But damned if he was going to let her walk off and leave him standing there still buzzed from that kiss.

Sam caught up to her in a few long strides. Grabbing her arm, he stopped her, then swung her around to face him.

She looked pointedly at his hand on her arm. “Excuse me?”

He laughed but let her go. “Does that snotty queen-to-peasant tone usually work on men?”

Her eyes widened. “I’m not the one who tells people how to live their lives,” she told him flatly. “That would be your specialty, remember?”

A couple of guests wandered through the hallway and before he could suggest it, Anna pointed down the hall and he followed her. She was clearly looking for some privacy to finish this conversation. She led him to a pair of French doors that opened into a garden with a stone pathway laid out between the flower beds. She started off down the path and Sam was right behind her.

A glance to his left showed him bright lights spilling from the ballroom to lay across a wide, brick patio. The music was muted at a distance and the rush of people talking sounded like the sea, rising and falling in rhythm.

Only twenty or so feet away, it was as if he and Anna were alone in the world. There were no lights decorating this tidy garden, just the moonlight covering everything in a pale glow. She kept walking and Sam stayed close, until she stopped beside a stone bench encircling a small fountain in the shape of a dolphin.

The white noise of the falling water drowned out most of the party, but truth to tell, Sam was so caught up in the woman in front of him that he wouldn’t have noticed a train blasting through the yard.

Satisfied that they were alone, Anna continued her rant as if she hadn’t been interrupted.

“How is it you get to decide what people do and who they date?”

Irritated, he snapped, “I don’t remember filling out your social calendar. As for my brother…”

“Did you or did you not tell him to stop dating me because I was-” She stopped and tapped her chin with the tip of one finger. “Let me see if I can get this just right. She’s using you to get to my money to save her father.” She narrowed her eyes on him. “That about cover it?”

Hearing his own words tossed back at him caused him to wince. Figured that his brother would be fool enough to actually tell her what Sam had said. He should have known.

Most of his life, Sam had been taking care of Garret. He’d seen him through school, bailed him out of trouble occasionally and waited for him to grow up. Hadn’t happened yet, though.

He moved in closer to her and had the satisfaction of seeing her eyes widen slightly at his nearness. Good to know he wasn’t the only one still affected by that kiss.

“He shouldn’t have repeated that to you.”

“You shouldn’t have said it in the first place.”

“I’m looking out for my family.”

“And what? I’m a threat?”

Looking at her now, Sam thought she was only a threat to a man’s sanity. But how could he be sure she wasn’t simply an excellent actress? If she was feigning insult, though, she was doing a damn good job of it.

“Babe, I don’t know what you are. All I know is I do what I have to for my family-why shouldn’t I expect you to do the same?”

“So you don’t even deny saying it-and don’t call me ‘babe.’”

He scraped one hand across the back of his neck. “No, I don’t. Can you deny that your father’s company’s in trouble?”

She took a deep breath and helplessly, Sam’s gaze briefly dropped to the deep V of her shirt. When his eyes met hers again, he noted fresh fury sparking in her grass-green eyes.

Lowering her voice, she said, “Are you in the Middle Ages or something? You really believe I would barter myself to save my dad’s company?”

“People have done a lot more for a lot less,” he mused.

“Well, I don’t,” she told him. “And I really think you’ve insulted me enough for one night, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” he said, edging closer, “I think we’ve both done enough talking.”

Staring down into her eyes, he reached for her and waited to see if she would pull away. She glared at him. He pulled her in closer, until her breasts were pillowed against his chest and he could feel the heat of her body sliding into his.

“This isn’t a good idea,” she said, tilting her head back to look up at him. “I should be kicking you.”

“Yeah,” he said, his gaze moving over her features as if trying to burn her image onto his brain. “But doesn’t seem to matter. I’ve got to taste you again.”

“Really not a good idea,” she whispered, going up on her toes to meet him as he lowered his head to hers.

His lips brushed hers and he felt that zip of something amazing scatter through him. Her mouth opened under his and he swept inside, losing himself in her heat, her acceptance. He felt her heartbeat pounding against his chest and knew that his own heart was matching that wild rhythm.

She leaned into him and he swept her up, nearly lifting her off her feet to get her closer to him. He wanted more. Wanted bare skin beneath his hands. Wanted to ease her down on that damn bench and-

Close by, a raucous burst of laughter shattered the night as people started wandering out into the garden. The intrusion was enough to tear them apart instantly.

Sam took a step back from her, just for good measure, and he didn’t think it was far enough. Her taste still filled his mouth and his blood was pumping through his veins as hot and thick as lava.

“This is crazy,” she whispered, shaking her head as if she couldn’t believe what was happening between them.

Sam knew exactly how she felt. “Doesn’t seem to matter,” he said, as he took a step closer to her.

An uneasy laugh shot from her throat. “We are not doing that again.”

“Why not?” Yeah, he knew this was trouble. But he didn’t really care.

“Because…” She mentally searched for a good reason and apparently came up empty. Still struggling for breath, she added, “We’re just not going to, trust me. And if you won’t leave, then I will.”

She swept past him, chin lifted, head held high.

“Good night, Anna Cameron,” he said softly.

She stopped, looked over her shoulder at him and said pointedly, “Goodbye, Sam Hale.”

Sam didn’t leave.

Instead, he wandered through the party, listening to snippets of conversation even as he tried to get her out of his mind. She wouldn’t go, though. Instead, he kept seeing her eyes, filled with fury and dazzled with passion. He heard her voice, standing up to him as no one had dared do in years. She hadn’t backed down. She’d stood her ground and challenged him. Argued with him.

And then kissed him senseless.

Why the hell had a woman like her ever dated Garret? he asked himself. She was way too much woman for his younger brother. Which led him back to his original thought, that she had only been dating Garret to try to help her father’s company.

But if that were true, why wouldn’t she have tried to snag Sam? Why not go for the head of the business?

He accepted a glass of wine from a passing waiter, had a sip, then set the flute down again on a nearby table. His gaze scanned the crowd, noting the decorations, the Christmas tree that had to stand ten feet tall and the mountain of small gifts beneath it, tokens for their guests, all wrapped in bright paper and festive ribbons.

Sam didn’t know whether to admire Dave Cameron for going ahead with a party when times were so bad for his company, or to pity him for being a fool. The snippets of conversations he’d heard throughout the place told him that everyone in the room knew about Dave’s troubles, so this party wasn’t fooling anyone. Why do it, then?

“Having a good time?”

The voice behind him caught Sam off guard and his shoulders stiffened. He should have known that Dave Cameron would come and find him. Especially considering the man’s wife had probably reported seeing Sam and Anna kissing like teenagers in the backseat of a car.

Turning, he held out his hand. “It’s a good party, Dave.”

“Glad you could come,” the other man said, shaking his hand. “Don’t recall seeing you here last year.”

Or any other year. Sam didn’t usually get involved in community activities. The only reason he was here this year was because he’d wanted a look at Anna. Now, he wanted another, longer look at her. “You know how it is,” he said, “never enough time to relax.”

“You should take the time,” Dave told him. “There’s more to life than business.”

“So I hear.”

The older man watched him thoughtfully. “Clarissa tells me you and Anna have…met.”

Uncomfortable, Sam hedged. No doubt, the story of that mistletoe kiss had already made the rounds, thanks to Clarissa. As it was, he felt the stares of at least a dozen people. Small towns were notorious for gossip, and Sam knew he and Anna were going to be the hot topic for at least a few days.