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Chapter 1

Holding on to her hat, Mia ran along the streets on her killer four-inch red heels, herin the breeze Late She was late

It was the story of her life

“Hey, Mrs Claus!” a construction worker yelled “I need so it over here!”

This was accouy’s coworkers

Mia flipped thehter She ht not be New York born or bred, but she’d learned to fit in just fine

“Wow, are you real?” a little kid asked inin her costume “Is Santa real?”

“Yes!” she told hi

Except if there’d really been a Santa Claus, she’d have happily crawled onto his lap and whispered her greatest wish—to be picked For her softball team, for her internship, for a relationship, it didn’tto her, but so

Finally, she skidded into the restaurant and stopped to catch her breath, se of clothes in her bag; she just needed to get to the ladies’ rooht into a warm, hard body

Nick

Her first reaction was embarrassment at her costu drinks at a corporate Christet into her cute little black dress before Nick caught sight of her

And then there was her second reaction, which , because he looked heart-stoppingly great tonight

“You’re thinking so hard your hair’s s

Mia reached out to touch her hair, but Nick caught her hand in his and smiled “Like the look,” he said “Is it for me?”

“No!” But she smiled back at him because it was iht LBD inThat’s for you”

He took her hands and spread the the skimpy Mrs Claus costume “Mmm, I’m happy to settle for this” His sun-kissed hair was the saed whiskey in the bottle on the bar behind hiht from work His tie was loosened, his shirt sleeves shoved up past his deliciously corded forear su as a manual laborer for tuition money

But it wasn’t his looks that stopped Mia’s heart

“Love that smile,” he murmured

That It was that way he had ofher feel like the prettiest woman in the world She had it bad for him, and knew it

The hostess seated the candle and a sprig of mistletoe Nick picked the mistletoe up, held it over Mia’s head, and then leaned in for a kiss He squeezed her hand, his callused thu over her palm She’d never considered her palm a particularly sensual spot before, but his touch altered her breathing and made her shiver

Or maybe that was just him

His eyes darkened as he pulled back “Hmm,” he said, his voice like sex on a stick “I definitely want to knohat you’re thinking now”

“It’s you,” she blurted out “You have theeyes”

He brought her hand up to his mouth and nipped the pad of her thumb “And just think, my eyes aren’t even my best part”

She laughed “And as I’ve seen all your parts, I’m in a position of authority to verify this as fact”

“Maybe you should re-verify later Just to rin

Mia knew she could get lost in hiet distracted by his sexiness, not tonight She’d co hiht to her aunt Chloe’s Christ across the country on a whi the people who meant the most to her

Nick was good hi the holiday with hi, because this was a beautiful, expensive restaurant that they’d talked about but had never been to It was intimate, and exquisitely decorated for the holidays, and she hoped that maybe Nick had a surprise of his own up his sleeve

They’d been dating for six y and Nick working his very fine butt off studying and passing the bar exaraduate school and was currently halfway through her first year, and Nick orking around the clock to e debt—which was currently rivaling the size of the national deficit So his restaurant choice had to

Was tonight the night he’d finally use the L-word?