Naughty or Nice? Page 21

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. Yes he did. He knew exactly why she’d bolted. Fear, pure and simple. Because Max Corbin, ace detective, had made a major miscalculation when dealing with a vulnerable, skittish woman. Despite her calculated seduction, he didn’t kid himself that Toni was anything less than vulnerable. That innocence was what held him in thrall. Her beauty would never fade but her looks weren’t what had caused him to fall so damn hard. It was the whole package.

  And Max had blown it. He’d tread lightly when he should have hit harder. He’d kept his feelings to himself, afraid of frightening her after one night. Maybe if he’d let her know he was certain they had long-term written all over them, she’d still be in his bed and not on her way back to New York City.

  “Damn.” Curses and regrets were the only things he could manage about now. He walked to the bed they’d shared and lowered himself onto the mattress. The sheets had cooled but his body hadn’t. Not even a cold shower could dull the aching need she inspired.

  He glanced at the clock but a folded note blocked his view of the numbers and his stomach plummeted as he read her hastily scrawled words. “Dear Max, Please remember I don’t normally sleep with men I don’t know. And don’t hold last night against me. Toni.”

  Confusion mingled with a deep pain in his gut as he realized what she must have felt on waking up alone. Another reason to kick himself in the ass, Max thought. He should have let his family wait, and would have if not for his father’s frail health.

  Another choice curse rose to his throat but he stifled it, knowing it would do no good. He just needed to find Toni. He crumpled the note and tossed it to the nightstand, noticing his blinking answering machine for the first time. He wondered who’d called so early and hit play.

  Listening to his brother’s message provided not only insight into Toni’s run but another reason to kick himself hard. Only Max would understand the sarcasm in the message and the fact that his brother was giving him a headsup before his meeting with the old man. Only Max and Stephan realized he had no intention of returning to Corbin and Sons. But Toni, to whom he’d admitted his biggest failing and disappointment, might well believe he’d want to make his sick father happy.

  She obviously thought she’d slept with her boss. For a woman who needed security as much as other people needed air to breathe, that had to have been one hell of a slap in the face.

  Max pulled on his jeans and made his way down to the empty bar. The pool table was just as they’d left it last night, but Toni had retrieved her clothing. Not a trace of her remained except in Max’s heart.

  Max entered his brother’s luxury condo, an apartment opposite in furnishing and feel from Max’s own casual over-the-bar rental.

  “So what brings you to my neck of the woods?” Stephan asked, gesturing to a chair in the kitchen.

  Max shook his head. He didn’t have time to sit. Still, his brother had asked a fair question since Max couldn’t remember the last time he’d shown up here unannounced. But today was different, just as his relationship with his twin had undergone a subtle shift since last night. Many things had changed since last night, he thought wryly.

  Including his priorities. Max had driven into the city, postponing his meeting with his father in favor of finding Toni. Unfortunately, he had no idea where to begin, so he’d landed on his brother’s doorstep first. Swallowing both his pride and his rule against talking about the women he slept with, Max unloaded on his brother. It was the first time in too damn long he’d had a heart-to-heart with his twin. Realizing how much he missed it and seeing the same in Stephan’s face, Max knew the distance had closed.

  Distance Max had placed there for no good reason. Just as Toni’s insecurities drove her to succeed and to bolt this morning, Max now knew his own insecurities had driven him from his family. He planned to rectify both his and Toni’s misperceptions—immediately.

  Max finished relating last night’s history to his brother.

  Stephan nodded, while shaking his head at the same time. “I’m glad to see you screw up every once in a while. Makes the rest of us feel like you’re human, too.”

  “Come again?” Max raised an eyebrow. “I screw up more than once in a while. Isn’t that what Dad always says?”

  “Dad says it to instill guilt and you buy into it every time. But you always hold your ground and live your life. To me that’s not screwing up, that’s playing it smart. A part of me has always envied that.”

  Shock rendered Max mute. For twins, he and his brother had been operating on opposite wavelengths for too long. “You don’t want to be a lawyer?” Max asked.

  “I never gave it a thought. It was expected and I followed through. Now it’s all I know and I can’t imagine doing anything else. But sometimes I wonder ‘what if.’ ” He shrugged. “Then I take a look at how following a different road has kept you far from the family and I figure I’ll accept my life as it is. But in case you’re wondering, distancing yourself is the only screwup I think you’ve made.” His brother let out a wry laugh. “Until now.”

  “Now meaning Toni.” Just saying her name caused the twisting in Max’s gut to return. He had the rest of his life to process his brother’s admission and make things right. He had too little time to catch Toni and explain before she withdrew for good. “I need her address.”

  “There’s no point.” Stephan pushed off the wall and headed for the mugs in the cabinet. “Coffee?”

  “No, thanks, and why the hell not?”

  “She’s not at home. I stopped by the office to pick up a file and she was there sorting through boxes.” Stephan laughed. “Damn but you need to calm down.”

  “After I talk to her.”

  His brother eyed him in surprise. “This is a hell of a lot more than a one-night stand, isn’t it?”

  Max clenched and unclenched his fists. “It’d better be or I’m looking at a lousy Christmas and a miserable New Year.”

  “Well, I’ll be damned. I wonder what I missed in her.”

  “Too late for you to find out now,” Max said in warning, turned and started for the door before spinning back to face his brother. “Hey, Stephan, I owe you one for the headsup on what the old man wanted.”

  His twin shrugged. “I figured since you showed up last night, it was the least I could do.”

  Max laughed. Showing up had brought Toni into his life. “Then it looks like I owe you double. See ya later.” Max opened the door and stepped into the hall.

  “Don’t think for one minute that I won’t cash in,” Stephan called as Max slammed the door shut behind him.

  Toni needed to keep busy or else she’d think and she could not afford to think. Not about last night and how much she’d enjoyed herself, not about Max and how much she’d grown to like and care for him, and certainly not about the fact that she’d slept with her new boss. What irony. After years of avoiding the situation with Stephan, she’d stepped right into it with his twin.

  She let out a slow breath of air. Okay, apparently she couldn’t avoid thinking but maybe she could drown out the sound of her own thoughts. She flipped on the radio in her near empty office. As expected, Christmas music filled the air. She tried humming and when that didn’t work she sealed the last box, while singing out loud, but no way could she escape the fact that she’d fallen in love with Max Corbin.

  Fallen in love. She shook her head, unable to believe the truth. She was a woman who hadn’t grown up watching a loving relationship and who’d never once deluded herself that happily ever after was in her future. Yet in one meeting, over the course of one night—one glorious night—she’d fallen in love. And all the security she’d worked for, all the independence she’d strived for, now hung in the balance.

  Her heart beat out a rapid cadence, panic and other undefinable emotions parading inside her while the music mocked her thoughts. No merry Christmas, no happy new year for her this year. She closed her eyes, singing the final verse along with the song. “We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish
you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas . . . and you’re out on your ear.” Toni added her own ending to the well-known tune.

  “Is that really what you think of me?”

  Startled, Toni whirled around to find herself face-to-face with Max. Leaning against her doorframe, he was the epitome of her fantasy come to life. And to think, she hadn’t known she had any. “Hello, Max.”

  He inclined his head. “Toni.”

  She attempted to swallow but her mouth was too dry. “What are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to get a few things straight.” He walked into her office, making the small area even smaller by virtue of his overwhelming presence.

  She grasped the cardboard edges of the box. “I can tender my resignation if it would make things easier.” She spoke without meeting his gaze.

  She heard him exhale hard. “Again, is that what you think of me? Do you really believe I’d have taken you home and made love to you, knowing I was your boss, and then demanded your job the next day?”

  Toni wondered if she imagined the hurt in his voice. She shook her head. “Truthfully, I haven’t thought things through.”

  “No, you’re just feeling, aren’t you?” His voice softened. “Acting on instinct and fear.”

  “What do you expect, Max? I woke up to find out I had slept with my soon-to-be-boss. Whose job is on the line now? Yours or mine?”

  “No one’s, I hope.” He eased himself onto the edge of her desk, too close for her peace of mind.

  So close she could inhale his masculine scent and arousal hit her all over again, but he wasn’t asking permission and she wasn’t in a position to argue. “So you’re suggesting we put last night behind us and work together?” She tried to laugh but the sound was harsh and she didn’t mean it anyway.

  If he could work side by side with her, after what they’d shared, she’d misjudged him. Yet even before she met his serious and compelling gaze, she knew better. How could she not? She’d accepted him into her body, felt him hard and hot inside her, giving as much as he got in return.

  Then there were the emotional revelations, Toni thought. Men didn’t open up and share unless they cared. But she was still at a loss.

  “I’m not suggesting we work together, either. I told you last night I do my own thing. And yes, my father’s disappointed, and no, he’s not finished trying to convince me to return. But he’s been unsuccessful in the past and he’ll continue to be unsuccessful in the future. Law isn’t what I want. I am not going to be your boss.”

  She glanced down and saw her hands were shaking. “But Stephan said . . .”

  “Stephan was giving me advance warning about what to expect at my meeting with Dad. You heard what Dad wants, not what will be.” He touched her cheek, his hand strong and gentle. “But that’s not the real issue, is it?”

  She forced herself to meet his gaze. “If you know so much, then tell me what is.”

  “I’m not your boss. I’m just a man who’s desperately in love with you. So the issue is, are you going to run from your feelings because of your past? Or are you going to stay and face them . . . and give us a chance?”

  In that instant, Toni’s past and present flashed in front of her eyes, a kaleidoscope of memories, some good, some bad, some satisfying, but way too many lonely ones. Lonely by choice not necessity, she thought. Last night she’d chosen Max and last night she hadn’t felt alone or isolated.

  She was a woman who’d always prided herself on her ability to stand on her own two feet, yet she wanted nothing more than to throw herself into his arms.

  “So what are you waiting for?” he asked.

  She blinked, refocusing on her surroundings. On Max. “Did I speak out loud?”

  He watched her intently. “No, I’m just a mind reader.”

  Her mind was jumbled, her heart racing, and his earlier words came back to her. “What did you say?”

  “I’m just a mind reader.”

  “Before that.”

  “I’m not your boss,” he said.

  “In between those two things.”

  “I’m a man desperately in love with you?” He grinned.

  His devastating smile nearly knocked her off her feet and a sparkle twinkled in his blue eyes. A weight she hadn’t been aware of carrying her whole life eased and lifted inside her.

  She could run and hide or give the future a chance. No contest, Toni thought, a smile pulling at her lips.

  “I asked what you’re waiting for?” His voice was gruff with emotion, his once-certain smile faltered as his insecurity became obvious.

  More than anything else, his ability to own up to his feelings and emotions touched her heart. She could free hers and learn from him. Be independent and still be in love.

  If she dared.

  His gaze locked with hers. He lifted his hand, revealing a green sprig of mistletoe and holding it up high. “I thought we could try it again.” He extended his free hand, holding it out to her. “Get it right this time.”

  Toni rushed into his arms and Max lowered his head for a kiss that felt too long in coming. He’d never admit it out loud but she’d had him sweating there for a minute. But now she was his.

  Her lips were soft and willing, welcoming him. His hands slipped around her waist, beneath the band of her sweatshirt until he encountered soft skin. She let out a faint sigh and leaned back against the desk, letting his body mesh with hers. Her thighs spread and his groin settled hard against her stomach.

  But warning bells went off in his head. “Not again, sweetheart. Not until we’ve got a few things settled.”

  “Mmm.” She purred in his ear and her hand slipped to the bulge in his jeans.

  Max nearly caved right then, but knowing his future was on the line, he forced himself to pull back. He’d messed up once and she’d run at the first opportunity. He wasn’t about to screw up again. “I love you” was saying a hell of a lot for a man who’d always lived alone—but it wasn’t a declaration of future intent. And a woman like Toni both deserved and needed one.

  And for the first time, Max realized, so did he. “Toni.”

  She met his gaze.

  “I don’t usually sleep with women I just met.”

  She grinned. “That’s good because I feel as if I’ve known you all my life.”

  “Then prove it. I’m a slob. I don’t put my clean clothes away, I wear them straight from a pile on the chair. I squeeze the toothpaste from the middle, I drink milk out of the carton, and those are the positives.” He paused, deadly serious. “But I still think we have a chance.”

  Her eyes were misty and damp but her smile never dimmed. “I’ve been known to hang stockings from doorknobs and eat Chinese food out of the carton. For breakfast.” She smoothed one hand down his thigh, the other hand never leaving its strategic position on his groin.

  His body protested his prolonged wait in making her his but his mind and heart knew he was doing it right this time. “I go to sleep too late and wake up too early. But I promise to give you the best that I’ve got to make us work. You can trust me and you never have to fear me—” Max never got to finish.

  She covered his mouth with hers in the sweetest, hottest, most honest kiss he’d ever known. He paused only to slam her door closed and undress her, dropping his jeans as quickly as possible. He entered her quickly, this time on the desk she’d be leaving behind. When the aftershocks subsided, his body was still deep inside hers.

  “This was naughty,” she murmured.

  “I thought that was your plan.”

  She laughed. “Only with you, Max. You bring out my decadent side.”

  “My pleasure, sweetheart. It’s something I plan on doing again.” His groin began to harden once more, and Max proceeded to seal their bodies, just as they’d sealed their future. Being naughty under the mistletoe.

  A Christmas

  Charade

  KATHRYN SMITH

  For Laura.

  CHAPTER ONE

 
; My first is a most singular word. Alone it defines the

  whole of myself.

  Without it, there is no “us” or “we.”

  And though it is nothing without you,

  Its very existence depends on “me.”

  FRANCE, APRIL 1815

  Garrett Maxwell, Viscount Praed, was not a man who dwelled on the negative.

  “We’re going to die in here,” he announced with a resigned sigh, staring through the barred window at the night beyond. Even if he had been more familiar with the French landscape he wouldn’t have been able to ascertain their surroundings, although from the smell, he’d guess they were somewhere near a harbor.

  “I’m sorry, sir.” The announcement preceded a series of bone-jarring coughs.

  Garrett’s gaze followed a shaft of silvered moonlight across the small cell. Sitting on the cot against the wall was Willis, one of his officers, his sickly features ghastly in the blue-white light.

  “For the last time, Willis, it’s not your fault we were captured. It was just bad luck.” He kept his voice steady, hiding his frustration. If anyone were to blame, it was him. He should have been more careful. It should be him slowly dying, not this young pup who’d followed him out of blind devotion.

  Willis closed his eyes. Garrett had seen many men die, but never as slowly as Willis was doing. “Do you think anyone will ever come for us?”

  Turning back to the window, Garrett stared up at the stars. “Yes.” He knew they would send someone for him. He was valuable. Willis wasn’t. He wouldn’t tell the boy that.

  There was no reply and Garrett knew his friend had slipped into an unnatural and fevered sleep.

  How long had they been in the prison? A month? Perhaps longer. They’d been on a simple “reconnaissance” mission, as Wellington called it. Posing as a French peasant, Garrett had gone to meet Willis at their meeting place to hand over what information he’d managed to uncover. That’s when they’d been caught. Garrett had been smashed in the head by their captors and had remained in a stupor for several days after. He had no idea how long he’d been unconscious, neither did Willis. Thankfully the headaches that had plagued him had ceased.