The Wrong Bed—But the Right Guy!

Ignited by Kimberly Van Meter

What do you do when a sexy, naked fireman gets into your bed? If you’re Alexis Matheson, you freak out. But now she’s snowed in with Layton Davis, and suddenly Alexis’s best intentions to behave seem to have disappeared up the chimney. Because a hot ’n’ naughty firefighter in her bed might be the best Christmas surprise ever...

Where There’s Smoke by Liz Talley

Emma Rose Brent is sure she’s dreaming when Erik Matheson, her bestie’s überhot older brother—who she’s been crushing on for years—mistakenly slips into her bed, all gloriously naked. But Emma must have been a very good girl this year, because she’s been given the best gift of all: the chance to be really, really bad...

Praise for Kimberly Van Meter

“[Kimberly] Van Meter, a new Mills & Boon Blaze author, comes out swinging with a rekindled love story.”

—RT Book Reviews on The Hottest Ticket in Town

“Talk about heat! Ms. Van Meter should give out fire extinguishers with the story.”

—Harlequin Junkie on The Hottest Ticket in Town

Praise for Liz Talley

“[Liz] Talley uses her skill to create authentic characters whose emotions and activities ring true.”

—RT Book Reviews on The Sweetest September

“Sexy characters and an interesting plotline make Talley’s tale a must read.”

—RT Book Reviews on His Uptown Girl

KIMBERLY VAN METER wrote her first book at sixteen and finally achieved publication in December 2006. She writes for the Mills & Boon Superromance, Blaze and Romantic Suspense lines. She and her husband of seventeen years have three children, three cats and always a houseful of friends, family and fun.

LIZ TALLEY, a 2009 Golden Heart Award finalist in Regency romance, has since found a home writing sassy Southern stories. Her book Vegas Two-Step debuted in June 2010 and was quickly followed by four more books in her Oak Stand, Texas, series. In her current books, she’s visiting her home state of Louisiana. Liz lives in north Louisiana with her hero, two beautiful boys and a passel of animals. She enjoys laundry, paying bills and creating masterful dinners for her family. She also lies in her biography to make herself look like the perfect housewife. What she really likes is new shoes, lemon-drop martinis and fishing off the pier at her camp. You can visit her at liztalleybooks.com to learn more about the lies she tells herself and about her upcoming books.

To get the inside scoop on Mills & Boon Blaze and its talented writers, be sure to check out BlazeAuthors.com.

All backlist available in ebook format.

Visit the Author Profile page at www.millsandboon.co.uk for more titles.

A Wrong Bed Christmas

Ignited

Kimberly Van Meter

Where There’s Smoke

Liz Talley

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Table of Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Praise

About the Authors

Title Page

Ignited

Dear Reader

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Where There’s Smoke

Dear Reader

Dedication

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Extract

Copyright

Ignited

Kimberly Van Meter

Dear Reader,

When I was asked if I would like to participate in a sexy Christmastime anthology with one of my favorite former Superromance authors, Liz Talley, my answer was an immediate and enthusiastic yes! And I’m so happy I did.

New characters, new settings and the chance to work side by side with an author I truly respect and admire isn’t work—it’s pure joy. If only everyone were this lucky, right?

And there’s just something to be said for the holidays. Everyone is happier, the lights are twinkly and sometimes clothes are just a bother.

Here’s hoping this sexy anthology warms up those frosty nights when you’re waiting for Santa to bring you something nice...or naughty!

Warmly,

Kimberly Van Meter

1

ALEXIS MATHESON WAS dreaming of Christmas cookies and homemade candies and stressing over how her candy thermometer was not working properly—when the scenario changed abruptly.

Suddenly, she was wrapped in a shadow lover’s arms, enjoying a sizzling kiss that was hotter than baking peanut brittle and she hazily wondered who her dream lover was and why she was torturing herself with a sex dream when she’d sternly declared a moratorium on sex until she got her head on straight.

Ugh. Plainly her brain thought that might take forever.

Ah, dream lover was pretty good with his tongue and hands! Now, why had she determined sex was a bad idea for the time being?

She moaned, wrapping her arms around her lover, sighing with pleasure as his mouth blazed a trail down the column of her neck, nipping and nibbling and sending goose bumps tripping down her skin.

Everything felt so real and yet dreamy at the same time. Hell, if dream lovers were this entertaining, maybe she could give up wide-awake sex for good.

Ha! Very funny.

She groaned again as a strong hand found her breast and squeezed and suddenly her eyes fluttered open at the realization that something didn’t feel right—no, it felt fabulous, but that’s not what she meant—she no longer knew if what was happening was only in her mind.

Before her sleep-fuzzed brain could fully react, she was being kissed again and, damn, it was good.

But wait a minute...she’d gone to bed alone!

An instant shot of adrenaline chased away her sleepy enjoyment of Mr. Talented Stranger and replaced it with a holy-shit-I’m-about-to-become-a-statistic jolt of awareness and she shoved at the big body covering her, landing a strategic hit to his groin area as she kicked.

He grunted in pain and rolled to his side, doubled over.

Every serial-killer book and movie she’d ever happened to read or see jumped to mind as she used her feet to shove the stranger’s massive body right off the edge of her bed and onto the floor.

“This bed is already occupado!”

Once she heard the thump of his body landing on her carpet, she sprang from the bed and flicked on the light, snatching the first thing she could grab, and hurled it at the stranger when he stumbled to his feet. Oh, good Lord, he was naked.

He dodged the shoe, yelling, “What are you doing? Stop throwing shit! You’ve already mashed my nuts, lady!” as he shielded his frank and beans and blinked against the light like a mole squinting at the sun. “Watch it!”

“No, you watch it, this is my room and, more important, my bed. You have ten seconds to tell me who you are before you get a Martha Stewart smackdown.” She hefted the book in her hands with the smiling domestic goddess gracing the hardcover to show she meant business, but the sturdy, dark-haired guy looked strong enough to take a hit without breaking a sweat. Even under the circumstances, Alexis would’ve had to have been blind to miss the fact that her intruder had a body that was worth taking a second look at. Go figure. A sexy intruder. Why did she have the worst luck with men?

“Calm down,” he grumbled. “Put the damn book down, you crazy lunatic.”

“Wrong answer,” Alexis retorted and heaved the book straight at his head.

He tried to evade the projectile, but it caught him on the shoulder. “Holy hell! That hurt!” he yelled and then snatched up his jeans and jerked them on even as he stumbled/ran from her room, but not before she caught a quick glimpse of a near-perfect ass. What a tragedy, she thought before leaping after him, determined to find out who’d had the gall to climb into her bed, but her foot caught on her suitcase and she went hard to the floor, twisting her ankle in the process.

She’d once been accused of having an obsessive type of laser focus when it suited her, which was why instead of babying her foot, she continued to run after the stranger with the hot ass as he skidded into her brother, Erik’s, room.

“Your sister’s crazy, man,” the guy said, glowering in Alexis’s direction just as Alexis realized that Erik was home and she’d offered her best friend, Emma, her brother’s bed. Oh crud. Stopping short, Alexis registered confusion all around, which under different circumstances might’ve been funny as hell, but there was nothing funny about the way her ankle was beginning to throb.

“What the hell, Erik? Who is this?” she asked, wincing as her abused ankle started to really protest. What the hell had she done to her foot?

Alexis shot a brief, apologetic look to Emma who was watching the situation unfold with wide eyes, the blankets tucked tightly beneath her arms as if trying to superglue the cloth to her body. Egad. Poor Emma. Alexis was going to have to bake an extra batch of lemon bars for this little snafu.

Erik, ever the peacemaker, stepped between Alexis and the man scowling hard enough to freeze his face that way, trying to be the voice of reason in this awkward situation. “Hey, hey,” he said when Alexis didn’t immediately back down.

“Jesus, woman,” the man beside Erik said to Alexis, still miffed that she’d tried to neuter him with a donkey kick to the jewels. “I didn’t know you were in there. Give me a freakin’ break.”

“What are you still doing here?” Erik said, gently pushing Alexis back to protect his friend.

Alexis stepped back and winced as a jolt of fresh pain took her breath away. “Ow,” she gasped, immediately lifting her foot to relieve the pressure. “I think I hurt my ankle,” she admitted with an irritated glower when Erik frowned with concern. “And we’re here because my memory sucks. I drove to pick up Em, but we decided to take her SUV from her place. Then just as we headed down I-25, I realized I left my laptop charger and we swung back because there wasn’t going to be time to get a new one once we got to Emma’s parents’ place. By the time we could leave again, they had closed parts of the interstate. We figured we’d wait until midmorning to leave. Roads should be clear then.”

“So that’s why your car wasn’t in the driveway,” Erik surmised.

“Yeah. I thought you were working,” Alexis huffed, moving past Erik to sit on the bed next to Emma so she could get a better look at her ankle.

It was then that Emma whispered, “Lex, you don’t have any pants on.”

Oh yeah, there was that. She hadn’t exactly been planning to entertain and most times she slept naked, so the fact that she had a shirt and underwear on was a bonus. She shrugged, more interested in the state of her ankle than anything else at the moment. “How different is this from my bathing suit? Crap, my ankle is really swelling,” she muttered, momentarily forgetting about the guy, her brother and the whole shebang because holy hell, that smarts!

But apparently someone else was still holding a grudge because Stranger with the Sexy Ass piped in with, “She punched me and then threw a shoe at me.”

“You scared the crap out of me,” Alexis said with a glare. As if he had any room to bitch—if he hadn’t been in her bed, she wouldn’t have had to defend herself. And she wasn’t even going to mention how Grabby McGrabbyhands had been all over her—she wasn’t in the mood to clean up a massacre. As even-headed as Erik was, he might take exception to the fact that his friend had been touchy-feely in his supposed sleep.

“Okay, okay.” Erik held his hands up, obviously bone tired and not in the mood to deal with this nonsense all night. “Let’s all just calm down. This was a big misunderstanding. No harm, no foul.”

But Alexis was feeling more petulant by the moment as her ankle ramped up in pain. “Speak for yourself,” Alexis muttered, rubbing her ankle. “I tripped over my suitcase when I was chasing that pervert out of my room.”

“Pervert?” the guy said. “I’m not a—”

Erik looked aggrieved and shook his head. “He’s not a pervert. Well, not usually. This is Layton Davis,” Erik said by way of introduction. “He drove me home after we worked a blaze. I told him to take the spare room. I thought you were gone. You were supposed to be gone.”

Oh sure, blame it on Alexis’s inability to keep details straight. She shot a withering look Layton’s way. Was she being irrational? Possibly. Sure, they could chalk it all up to a weird, unfortunate coincidence that would make really funny sitcom fodder, but pain made Alexis ill-tempered and she’d never been much of a good sport when it came to being on the losing end of an argument.

“Well, we weren’t gone,” Alexis said, unable to keep the grumpiness from her tone. “And who doesn’t check where he’s going to sleep before plopping down on top of someone?”

“Someone who’s tired as shit and unaware someone’s friend’s sister is occupying the bed he was given,” Layton said, clearly just as annoyed and as ready to put the argument to bed as she was.

Erik shrugged, rubbing his eyes. “Like I knew. Let’s shelve the accusations and take a page from Emma’s book and not freak out.”

Everyone looked at Emma. Oops. Alexis had forgotten about Emma again. Emma managed an awkward smile and Alexis wanted to say, I feel ya, sister—this bites, but didn’t because she didn’t want to embarrass Emma any more than she already had. And Alexis held no illusions that Emma wasn’t mortified to her dainty toes over this mishap. Of the two, Emma was the more reserved, more conservative and least likely to be voted Most Outrageous in a peer poll.

Awkward silence followed as they each came to the conclusion that no further beating could be done on this particular horse and it was time to lay it to rest.

“Okay, good. Now, since it’s cold as frick outside and the roads are too dangerous, let’s bunk up and get through the night,” Erik said.

“Your sister probably needs an ice pack or something,” Layton said with a reluctant sigh as if he hated to be helpful in this regard because he was still holding a grudge, and gestured to Alexis’s swollen ankle. “How about I grab some ice while you figure out the sleeping arrangements.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him not to worry about it, that she could tend to her own injuries, but Layton had already split. Maybe he needed ice for his nuts, too.

It was then that she realized her brother was swaddled in a blanket like a Scottish laird.

“Why are you wearing a quilt?” Alexis asked.

“ʼCause I’m naked under here,” he said, tugging the quilt up higher.

Ah. Yeah, good idea. Therapy for getting an eyeful of her brother’s junk was not in her budget. But wait a minute...if he was naked under there...her gaze swung to her friend.

“Wait, did you climb into bed with Emma while you were naked?” Alexis asked, grossed out for Emma. Not that Erik wasn’t good-looking, but, eww, Erik was like a big brother to Emma, too. He used to torment Emma just as enthusiastically as he’d tormented Alexis. He’d been an equal-opportunity torturer.

“Yeah,” Erik admitted, and color climbed Emma’s cheeks. Was Emma embarrassed because she’d seen Erik in his birthday suit or, worse, because she’d liked what she’d seen? Ugh. The very idea... Alexis couldn’t handle it.

“Well, how come you didn’t scream?”

“I rarely scream,” Emma said, as if that made perfect sense.

“Well, if a big bozo sat on you, you would,” Alexis countered, not quite buying Emma’s explanation.

But there wasn’t time to push the argument because Layton reappeared with a bag of frozen broccoli wrapped in a dish towel. “Here. I’m happy to take the couch,” he said.

“And I’ll give you your bed back and sleep with Alexis,” Emma said to Erik. “I feel so bad about being here when you—”

“I told you to,’ Alexis interrupted, still thinking about Emma’s reaction. “He was at work.”

A beat of awkward silence made ten times weirder because of the questions popping around in Alexis’s head followed, until finally, Emma said, “I’m not exactly dressed. And neither is Erik. So...”

“Right,” Alexis said, grabbing the frozen-broccoli bag and sliding from the bed, only to gasp at the sudden and unforgiving pain. Erik started as if he wanted to help her but couldn’t without dropping the quilt and risking a full-frontal show.

“Well, hell,” Layton said with a low grumble before sweeping Alexis into his arms.

“Hey! Put me down,” Alexis said, mortified that a) he’d picked her up as if she weighed nothing and b) there was no mistaking the delightfully solid muscle lifting up her backside.

“I will. In your room.” Layton strode to the door, ignoring her protests. Alexis shot Emma a pleading glance—as if her friend was going to jump to her rescue when all Layton was doing was being mildly chivalrous—and suffered the knowledge that she was just going to have to suck it up and deal with the fact that this situation couldn’t get any more uncomfortable.

But then Alexis knew full well that tempting fate with a thought like that never ended well.

2

LAYTON WAS TIRED, grumpy and his balls ached, but he had to admit that in spite of the fact that Alexis was a firecracker with a short fuse, she felt pretty good in his arms.

And that thought right there was why it was apparent that he wasn’t right in the head.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about...uh, you know.”

Eloquent. He nearly bit his tongue in half with embarrassment at his bumbling apology, but was there a more suave way to apologize for sleep-sexin’ someone up?

“All I’m saying is that I’m not that kind of guy,” he added gruffly.

Alexis seemed to accept that he was being truthful and nodded, though her cheeks brightened a bit. “Sure. Honest mistake, I guess.”

“Yeah.”

Layton set her gently on the bed and started to leave, but Alexis stopped him, saying, “Um, so, yeah, sorry about your balls. Self-defense 101, take out the jewels.”

“Effective. It’ll be a miracle if I can have kids.”

She bit her lip around a smile when she realized he was kidding.

Layton exited the bedroom just as Emma was entering. Emma shot Layton a quick look and then joined Alexis on the bed.

“Well, that was eventful,” Alexis said with an embarrassed laugh to break the ice. “I bet that was hecka awkward with Erik. Sorry about that. Are you traumatized for life?”

“It’s okay,” Emma murmured, but there was a subtle flush to her cheeks that made Alexis wonder if Emma had enjoyed the view. Okay, so if Alexis were being objective, her brother was pretty decent to look at, so she supposed it wouldn’t be far-fetched to imagine Emma liking what she saw. But Alexis couldn’t go there. Emma was her best friend since grade school. Erik had pulled Emma’s pigtails and made fun of her braces. Alexis shuddered. “Let’s chalk this night up to one unfortunate incident and try to forget about it. Tomorrow, we’ll hit the road as soon as the roads are clear. Sound good?”

“Mmm-hmm.” Emma climbed into the bed and was already snuggling up to the pillow, all too ready to return to dreamland.

But it wasn’t that easy for Alexis. Her adrenaline was still pumping and, worse, the memory of those heated dream kisses that turned out to be real, after all, was making her restless.

She should’ve known that something was off when she’d been so incredibly aroused in her dream. No dream was that good.

Not even if chocolate was involved.

She liked to think of herself as relatively smart—she was, after all, in the master’s program for her business degree—but if one looked at her track record with relationships, she might not appear to be so intelligent.

Which was why she’d made a vow to herself that until she finished school she was not going to even think about guys. Boys, as her dad used to warn her, were bad news.

Except her brother, of course; Erik was a doll.

But all other boys...were persona non grata.

A small sigh escaped her lips. Goodbye fun times, hello celibacy.

It wasn’t for forever—just until she got her act together and on track.

So why did it feel like a death sentence?

* * *

LAYTON RUBBED THE sore spot on his dome and tried to ignore the dull, throbbing ache from where the book had connected with his shoulder, not to mention the residual sore spot from where Alexis had abused his groin.

Erik had mentioned his younger sister was living with him for the time being while she finished her master’s degree, but he hadn’t mentioned anything about the woman being a live wire.

Erik also hadn’t mentioned anything about how gorgeous his sister was.

That part shouldn’t matter, he reminded his randy self as he closed his eyes against the pain. Sexy and crazy were a bad combination—like pickles and eggs on a peanut butter sandwich or Tabasco sauce on chocolate. All sorts of bad and bound to give you indigestion.

But even as he knew it was better to just go to sleep and forget all about Alexis Matheson...how was he supposed to forget the memory of that hot woman writhing in his arms, her mouth on his? Guilt nudged at him. If Erik knew where Layton’s mouth had been, Layton would have more than an aching dome to contend with. But damn, if she’d been that hot asleep, what was she like when she was awake?

Those kinds of thoughts were not helpful, he told himself.

Neither was the fact that when she’d leaped from the bed wearing next to nothing, he’d gotten an eyeful of rounded, feminine hips and a rack that wouldn’t quit. A nice, generous handful for sure. And that thin silky chemise hadn’t given much coverage. He was pretty sure he’d caught a tantalizing view of her breasts—and what his eyes had only caught a glimpse of, his hands had touched, albeit without his conscious knowledge, and he couldn’t stop replaying the memory.

Aaaannnnd cue the boner.

Goddamn.

Erik would set him on fire if he knew what kind of thoughts he was having about his little sister.

Hey, it’s not as if she’s a kid, a voice protested in his head. Likely the same part of his brain in charge of his downstairs region. Layton pushed at his growing erection with irritation and an increasing sense of frustration. He wasn’t going to jerk off on his buddy’s couch. Just go to sleep. Tomorrow would come soon enough and he could bail. Right about now he wished he’d just ignored Erik’s offer to stay and taken his chances on the road.

Erik was his buddy, a good man and a better firefighter. They shared the same shift and looked out for one another and that meant he couldn’t start looking cross-eyed at the guy’s sister.

Layton tossed back the blankets and climbed from the couch, needing aspirin for his head. Padding quietly into the kitchen, he began opening cabinets in search of a painkiller when a voice at his back made him turn.

“Okay, I’m willing to overlook the fact that you climbed into my bed without asking, but now you’re rummaging through my cabinets? Should I be worried? If I find you going through my underwear drawer next, we’re not going to be friends.”

Alexis stood there, wrapped in a filmy robe that wasn’t much more coverage than the shirt and panties she’d been sporting earlier, and he wondered what he’d done in a past life to deserve such a test. He also noticed she was still favoring her right foot.

“Just looking for aspirin. Someone hit me in the head with a shoe,” he responded, trying to keep his eyes from straying. “You really did a number on that ankle. You ought to have it checked out.”

“It’s nothing. I twisted it a little when I was chasing after you. It’ll be fine by morning.”

“Are you sure? Sprains can do some damage.”

“I’ll take that under consideration.” Alexis limped in his direction and went to the last cabinet to retrieve some aspirin. She tossed the bottle his way and he caught it with a small smile.

“Thanks,” he said.

“Sure.” She waited as he shook out two. “So...sorry about the shoe. It was the first thing I could grab and I thought you might be a murderer.”

“How many murderers stop to take a snooze before they do their murdering?” he asked, tossing back the aspirin with a swig of water straight from the tap. He wiped his mouth. “I mean, if you really think about it, highly unlikely that I was a murderer.”

“Logic and reason don’t play when you’re jolted out of a dead sleep.”

“Okay, I’ll give you that,” he conceded, wondering if she was going to mention the other thing that happened. What was the protocol on something like this? Should they pretend they hadn’t been wrapped in each other’s arms, about to do the deed if they hadn’t woken up? Sobering thought, even if she was sexy as hell. “So why are you up?”

“Funny thing about getting an adrenaline shot laced with pure survival instinct...hard to sleep after that.”

“Sorry,” he said. “I should feel guilty, right?”

“A little.”

“I do feel bad,” he admitted. “I mean... I didn’t know you were in the bed. I’m not that kind of guy.”

She nodded, accepting his apology, and they both knew he wasn’t only talking about the mishap with her ankle.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve done worse and been just fine. Thanks for caring.” A small smile played on those luscious, pouty lips and he had to remind himself that she was off limits. But he couldn’t seem to stop himself from thinking about things that were better kicked to the curb. Alexis limped to the fridge. “However, when I can’t sleep, I drink warm milk. Want some?”

Yuck. “Not since I was a toddler,” he quipped. “But by all means, help yourself. Don’t let me get in the way.”

“I won’t.” Alexis grinned more broadly. Yeah, firecracker was right. This gal was all sass and vinegar wrapped in a sizzling package of hips and luscious breasts. Thank God he was leaving in the morning or he might be sorely tempted to see if she tasted just as good when he was awake as when he was dreaming. Alexis poured a mugful and stuck it in the microwave. “So, how long have you and Erik been friends?”

“Awhile. Same shift. Makes for tight friendships under the right circumstances. He’s a cool dude.”

“He is a very cool dude, but then I’m biased.”

The microwave dinged and she retrieved her mug of milk. “You’re really going to drink that?” he asked, grimacing.

“Every drop.”

“All right then.” He watched her leave and damn if his eyes didn’t go straight to her ass. Yeah...it was definitely a good thing he was leaving as soon as the roads were clear. He was only human and he really didn’t want to lose Erik as a friend.

But Alexis Matheson was going to haunt his dreams.

3

ALEXIS WOKE EARLY in spite of the night’s events, but mostly because Emma was already up and showered, anxious to hit the road.

“Aren’t you a bowl of sunshine?” Alexis said, yawning. “Did you sleep okay? I mean, after everything?”

“Slept fine. But I’m sad to report that you still steal the covers. If I hadn’t wrapped myself up like a burrito, you’d have left me with nothing.”

Alexis laughed softly. “Bad habits are hard to break. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, I still love you, but I feel bad for whoever you marry. It’s always going to be a battle for the bedding.”

“True story.” Alexis climbed from the bed, stiff, and still not quite awake. She needed coffee and quick. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, but as soon as she put pressure on her right foot, she nearly yelped from the shock of pain. Well, if that isn’t a fine way to wake up. She lifted her ankle and grimaced at the black-and-blue bruising and swelling. Crap, this doesn’t bode well. Alexis tried to put some pressure on her ankle, but it was a no go. She bit her lip. “Em? We have a problem.”

Emma plainly hadn’t heard Alexis. “Can you be ready to hit the road in about an hour? I think the roads should be open by then,” Emma called out from the bathroom where she was doing her hair.

“Em? Come here a minute,” Alexis said, sinking back down on the bed. When Emma appeared with a concerned frown, Alexis said flatly, “Houston, we have a problem.”

“What’s wrong?” But just as the question left her mouth, her gaze fastened on the nasty bruising on Alexis’s ankle and she gasped. “Oh my God! Oh no! That looks terrible, Lex. We need to take you to the doctor. It definitely looks worse.”

Alexis had to agree, but she wasn’t about to ruin Emma’s weekend by spending it in the ER. “It’s the weekend, which means an ER visit, and I cannot afford a bill like that right now. I just paid for all my books for the semester. I’m practically living on ramen noodles at this point. I’ll just have to wait until my regular doctor’s office opens. Besides, what can they do for my foot that I can’t?”

“What if it’s broken?” Emma fretted.

“It’s not broken,” Alexis insisted, feeling fairly confident that she was right, but there was a shadow of a doubt that was dogging her. It hurt pretty bad. And the swelling wasn’t helping, either. “I probably just need to ice it.”

“And elevate it,” Emma added with a fatalistic shake of her head. “There’s no way you can sit in the car for the next two hours.”

“No. This is not going to ruin our girls’ weekend. I’ve been looking forward to this party for weeks. You know Arnold is going to be crushed if I don’t share a cookie with him. I’ve already promised.”

Emma’s parents ran a school in Colorado Springs for mentally challenged adults, and Alexis and Emma were planning on surprising Emma’s parents at the annual Christmas bash. They were going to serve dinner on Saturday with a full-fledged girls’ weekend thrown in the mix.

Alexis enjoyed volunteering at the school. The residents never pretended to be something they weren’t—unlike the guys she seemed to attract like bees to pollen.

“Arnold will have to take a rain check,” Emma said, then decided, “If you’re not going to go to the hospital, then I’m canceling my trip, too. I can’t leave you alone like this.”

That was exactly what Alexis didn’t want Emma to do. “No,” Alexis said emphatically. “You are not canceling your trip over this. It’s no big deal. It’s not as if my foot is going to fall off or something. I just need to baby it a little.”

Emma pointed. “Your foot looks like it was beaten with a bat. If it’s not broken, I’m willing to guess it’s badly sprained.”

There was no denying her foot looked terrible. So much for her idea of getting a pedicure. “Please don’t cancel on my behalf.”

“I can’t leave you like this,” Emma said, appalled that Alexis would even suggest it.

“Seriously, I’ll just putter around the house and watch a movie marathon all day. There’s no need for you to cancel your plans because of this, and I would feel ten times worse if you did.”

But Emma knew her too well and called her out. “No you won’t. You’ll try to hang lights and bake and decorate the Christmas tree because you can’t stand to sit still. You have the attention span of a gnat and an inability to sit still for any length of time. I’d have to tie you to a chair if I wanted you to stay off that foot.”

“That’s a little extreme.” Alexis pretended to appear offended. “For your information, I recently took up crocheting and that takes a lot of patience.”

“You tried it once and then got frustrated and haven’t touched it since.”

“Okay, fine. Crocheting isn’t my thing. But neither is yoga and you’re the one who told me to find something to help me relax.”

“Yes, and you’re still looking because you have a hard time being still. So, forgive me if I don’t believe you when you say that you’ll take it easy.”

Alexis knew Emma was right, but it killed her to think that Emma would cancel over something so dumb. Miserable for ruining her friend’s weekend, she rose on unsteady legs with the intent of hobbling her pathetic self to the kitchen for some coffee, but Emma was already slipping her arm beneath her to help. “I’m sorry,” Alexis said, feeling like doggie poo. “I didn’t mean to ruin our weekend.”

“It’s okay.”

But it wasn’t okay. Alexis could hear the sharp disappointment in Emma’s voice even as she tried to hide it with a cheerful smile. That was Emma in a nutshell, always thinking of others before herself and it broke Alexis’s heart that she was the cause of Emma’s disappointment.

Erik and Layton were in the kitchen getting coffee when Emma and Alexis made their way in.

Erik frowned. “Lex? Is that ankle still bothering you?” he asked.

“It hasn’t gotten any better,” she answered glumly as her butt found a dining room chair. Her mood was rapidly plummeting as quickly as the temperature outside. Another storm was coming. “It actually seems to have gotten worse during the night.”

Layton came forward. “Let me take a look.”

“It’s fine.”

But Erik chimed in, saying, “Let Layton take a look, Lex. He’s got paramedic training.”

Hard to argue with that, seeing as she didn’t want to rush to the hospital. “Fine,” she grumbled, allowing Layton to gently examine her foot. He slowly manipulated her ankle, carefully gauging her reaction. She winced a few times and then yelped when he pressed her foot. Layton nodded and released her foot with care. “Well, I don’t think it’s broken, but you’ve probably got one helluva sprain. If you go to the ER they’ll order an X-ray, which won’t show soft-tissue damage, but it’ll definitively show whether or not you have a fracture.”

“But you don’t think it’s broken, right?” Alexis said.

“I don’t, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t have a hairline fracture. Best to check it out.”

“See?” Emma said, lightly tapping Alexis’s head for being difficult. “I’ll drive you to the hospital.”

“No, I’m not going to the hospital,” she said stubbornly. “And you’re not missing out on your parents’ bash. Erik, please tell Emma that I’m a big girl and I can handle myself, even slightly injured.”

“Lex, it’s fine, really. I don’t really want to drive alone anyway, so we’ll just do that movie marathon you mentioned. It’ll be fun.”

“Erik can go with you,” Alexis volunteered, shocking Emma. She didn’t know why she’d offered her brother’s services, but it seemed to make sense. Erik was a total gentleman.

“Oh! That’s not necessary. I’m sure he has plans,” Emma said, darting a look at Erik. “It’s fine, really. I don’t mind canceling. Lex really shouldn’t be alone with her foot the way it is.”

Alexis sent an imploring look Erik’s way, C’mon, bro, don’t let me down!

But it was Layton who spoke up first. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but... I could stay behind and help you out so your friend doesn’t feel like you’re being left behind all alone. It’s kind of my fault you’re all banged up anyway.”

All eyes turned to Layton. Did Layton just volunteer to babysit her?

Erik said, “That’s okay, man. You don’t have to do that. It’s not your fault. It was a misunderstanding all the way around.”

“I know, but hell, I’ve got nothing to do today that didn’t include drinking a few beers and being a slug. Besides, I’ve got the training. If her ankle gets worse, I’ll bundle her up and force her to go to the ER.”

“He has a point,” Erik slowly agreed, nodding. Then he looked to Emma. “How do you feel about that?”

Alexis hesitated then looked to Erik and Emma, saying, “Well, if Erik agreed to go with Emma... I guess that would solve both problems. Are you okay with that, Em?” As soon as the words left her mouth, Emma started shaking her head, but Alexis wasn’t going to budge on this one. “Em, it’s dangerous on the roads. You know it’s stupid to drive alone and I refuse to let you cancel your plans. Erik will be the perfect gentleman, I can promise. He’s one of the good guys.”

Emma’s cheeks flared as her gaze darted. “I know Erik is a good guy. I just don’t want him to have to do something he doesn’t want to do.”

Erik chimed in. “I don’t mind,” he said. “And I agree with Lex. You shouldn’t drive alone in these conditions.”

“The storm doesn’t seem to be letting up as I’d hoped,” Emma said, biting her lip with indecision. “Are you sure you don’t mind the drive?”

“Not at all. We can catch up. Tell me what’s new in your life since you were just my bratty little sister’s friend.”

“Bratty?” Alexis repeated with indignation. “Like you were the epitome of well behaved. Just because Mom and Dad were blind to your antics doesn’t mean everyone was. For your information, I told them that it was you who broke Mom’s ceramic elephant from Africa during that party you held your senior year.”

“You little snitch. You promised you wouldn’t tell. I paid good hush money for that,” Erik said, grinning. “I should’ve threatened some kind of punishment for reneging on the deal.”

“Good times,” Alexis said, laughing. “Okay, so is it settled? Erik will go with Emma, and Layton will stay with me?”

They all shared looks and then nodded, agreeing. Emma heaved a breath and then said, “All right, if that’s the case, we need to get moving. If that storm is determined to dump another load of snow, I want to put some miles on the road before it happens.”

“I can be ready to roll in fifteen minutes. That work for you?”

Emma nodded and they both split off to finish getting ready.

“And just like that, it was you and me,” Layton said.

“Yeah...you know you don’t actually need to stay,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper. “I appreciate what you did. Emma wouldn’t have agreed without Erik and you volunteering. As soon as they take off, wait about a half hour and then you can take off, too.”

He shook his head, grinning. “Sorry, no can do. My offer was legit. What kind of guy would I be if I left you to fend for yourself when you’re plainly injured?”

That surprised her. He really wanted to stay? To be truthful, she’d thought he was just giving her backup. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, I mean, I know it’s not actually my fault, but I do feel a bit responsible for your laid-up foot. The least I can do to assuage my guilt is to help you out.”

Alexis didn’t know what to say to that. She paused for the tiniest of moments only because a hot guy was her personal weakness, and the last person she needed to mess around with was her brother’s best friend, but what were the odds that anything would happen between them over a weekend? She could be around a hot guy and keep her hands to herself. She smiled with determination—mostly to prove something to herself—and said, “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. I wasn’t lying when I said I had a movie marathon in mind.”

“I like movies.”

“Chick flicks.”

“Movies with hot chicks? Sounds good to me.”

She laughed at his devilish charm. Yeah, he was just the sort of guy who’d turn her head. But not this time.

Nope.

Layton Davis...it ain’t gonna happen.

* * *

TRUE TO HIS WORD, Erik was ready to go within twenty minutes. With Emma in her SUV waiting, Erik paused to give the obligatory big-brother speech, which Layton didn’t fault him for, but he was tempted to remind Erik that Alexis wasn’t a kid.

“I know you’re a good guy or else I wouldn’t even think of leaving Alexis with you, but I feel I have to warn you about my sister. She’s...spirited.”

Layton’s brow rose. “Spirited? Erik...horses are spirited. Be more specific.”

“Hell, this is the most awkward conversation ever. Look, she has a thing for falling for the wrong guy and I don’t want to see her hurt. She’s been through enough. Her last boyfriend... Let’s just say I wasn’t a fan. So, yeah, what I’m trying to say is...don’t mess with her and for God’s sake, don’t let her mess with you. Keep things friendly, but not too friendly.”

“C’mon, man, like you would have to ask. I’m not here to hook up with your sister. I’m just helping out.”

The look of relief pinged Layton’s conscience. The fact was, Alexis was hot. She was a grade-A hot piece of ass if he were being honest, but he meant what he’d said. He wasn’t here to mess around with the woman.

Erik clapped him on the shoulder and climbed into the car. “Help yourself to whatever’s in the fridge. I’ll call you when we get there.”

“Drive safe,” Layton said, waving.

The snow started to drift lazily from the sky, dissolving into tiny wet spots on his face almost instantly. He glanced at the sky. Hopefully, they made good time before the storm really started up again. Layton turned on his heel and returned to the house, where Alexis was already up and hopping around the kitchen.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing. What are you doing?”

“Preventing you from overdoing it. What happened to the movie marathon?”

“There’s plenty of time for that. I want to make some kettle corn. Want some?”

Kettle corn. How did she know it was his weakness? “You know how to make it?”

“I sure hope so, otherwise I’m about to make a huge mess for nothing.”

He chuckled. “Okay, wiseass, as much as I would love to scarf down some kettle corn, you are getting off that foot. I told you I didn’t think it was broken, but it’s certainly sprained and you need to elevate it with some ice.”

Alexis scowled, but he didn’t give her a chance to argue and simply scooped her into his arms, shocking her into stunned silence as he carried her to the living room. He deposited her on the sofa and then put a pillow under her foot. “You sit here while I get the ice.”

“Is now the appropriate time to admit that Emma was right and that I don’t sit still well?”

“I already had that figured out.”

“Story of my life. I’ve never been able to just sit around. Once I had the chicken pox and I drove my mother crazy because I couldn’t stop itching and squirming, which then made it worse. My mom says it was the longest two weeks of her life.”

Alexis’s story was telling. He held no illusions that Alexis would be an easy patient, but there was something about her that drew him, in spite of all the reasons he ought to keep his distance. Maybe it was the memory of those dream kisses or maybe it was the memory of that near-perfect ass. Ha! Neither memory was safe enough to entertain for longer than a heartbeat.

He returned with an icepack wrapped in a towel and gently draped it on Alexis’s ankle. “That ought to help, but you really have to keep off your foot if you want it to heal.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbled. “Are you sure you want to hang around? There’s nothing exciting about watching paint dry.”

“Depends on the company.”

Alexis met his gaze and cocked her head to the side with a sweet, beguiling grin that he didn’t trust in the least but found extremely compelling. “Is that so? And are you saying that you would enjoy my company? The woman who nearly turned you from a rooster to a hen with one kick?”

“In spite of that...yeah.”

Were they flirting? It felt like flirting. And he liked it.

Hell, he’d always been a sucker for the girl who was just out of reach; she didn’t need to make it ten times more difficult by being sexy, too.

Erik’s advice rang in his head like a gong and he pulled back even though there was something captivating about Alexis—and he wasn’t just talking about the sweet rack she was sporting.

“You’re going to get me into trouble,” he said with a chuckle as he rose from his haunches. “You know your brother has it in his head that you’re this fragile thing who might break if handled too roughly.” He waited a heartbeat, then asked with a sly grin, “What do you think about that?”

She met his grin with a saucy one of her own. “I think I’m a big girl and I don’t need my brother to run interference for me.”

“That may be true, but I’m not the kind of guy who would go behind a buddy’s back to get at his sister. You know what I mean?”

“That’s admirable,” she admitted with grudging respect.

“And why does it feel the opposite when you say it like that?”

She laughed and the sound tickled his bones like fingertips dancing down his vertebrae. “I told you, you don’t have to stay. I’ll be fine.”

“I gave your brother my word. I’m not going anywhere.”

There was the slightest, most minute, almost indiscernible hitch in her breath, and that sexy little sound almost caused an immediate erection to tent his jeans. Ah hell, this was going to be the hardest test of his life. For crying out loud, they’d only just met, but there was electricity bouncing between them that was hard to ignore, and if she didn’t stop looking at him as if he were the choicest cut of beef, he was going to have a helluva time keeping to his word.

“Tell me about this guy who did you wrong,” he said, moving to sit beside her on the sofa. Act like a friend. Not a hungry wolf ready to pounce. “According to Erik, he was a douche.”

“He said that?”

“Well, not in so many words, but I got the impression he hadn’t thought much of him.”

She shrugged as if it was no big deal, but beneath that negligent shrug was the faint show of heartache that surprised him. Alexis gave off the vibe that if anyone was doing the heartbreaking, it was her and not the other way around.

“What can I say? I’m a terrible judge of character,” she said.

“I don’t believe that.”

“No? Well, I can’t deny that I’ve been drawn to the worst sort of guy. My track record isn’t the best.”

“We all have unfortunate hookups in our past,” he said. “It’s called live and learn.”

Alexis laughed and adjusted the ice pack. “Yeah, well, until I get through with my master’s degree there will only be one kind of learning going on.”

“Sounds like a solid plan.”

And it was. So why did he want to make her break it?

4

CIRCUMSTANCE WAS A funny thing. Alexis stared at her ankle, amazed at how much could change in the blink of an eye. Last night she was lobbing objects at Layton’s head and today, she was noticing how nicely his cropped, dark hair set off the masculine cut of his jaw. Maybe she wouldn’t mind if Layton played nursemaid after all. Even if she had the very best intentions to keep her hands to herself, she could certainly enjoy the view.

And the view was quite spectacular. Muscled chest and arms, solid abs narrowing to a trim waist and hips... Yes, indeed, Layton had the goods.

“Okay, so tell me the real reason you volunteered to stay behind,” Alexis said, putting Layton on the spot, trying to make things interesting.

“What makes you think I wasn’t being completely altruistic in my offer?”

“Were you?”

Layton paused, then that little glint in his wondrously dark eyes gave him away. “Okay, full disclosure...you’re a beautiful woman and I happen to have a weakness for women like you, but even with that said... I promised your brother that I wouldn’t do or say anything inappropriate.”

“Such a gentleman,” she murmured as her heart rate did a little jump at his admission. Was it terrible that she was already imagining him naked beneath her? Good grief, her hormones were out of control.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he said ruefully. “I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit that keeping my thoughts on the straight and narrow has already proven to be a challenge.”

She smiled, enjoying that she wasn’t the only one thinking about inappropriate things. “Seems we have more than my brother in common,” she returned.

“Careful, those kinds of comments are dangerous.”

“To whom? Because I’m an adult and don’t need a chaperone.”

He laughed. “I promised your brother.”

“That was your mistake.”

“Hot damn, Erik warned me about you and it seems he was right on the money.”

“Did he? And what exactly did he warn you about?”

“Just that you have a taste for trouble and that I ought to steer clear.”

She pouted. “That’s not flattering at all. Makes me sound like a kid.”

“You are definitely no kid,” he said, his gaze feasting on her ample breasts. If there was one asset she knew she owned, it was her impressive cup size. He cleared his throat as if he realized that he was staring and actually made a concentrated effort to look elsewhere. “But I’ve gotta hold on to a shred of integrity, you know?”

“So noble.”

He smirked. “Well, I respect the hell out of your brother. He’s a good man. I’m not about to start looking at his sister like a piece of meat.”

“Is that one of the lesser-known ‘Bro Code’ rules?” she teased.

“Call it what you want, it’s just how I operate.”

“You’re playing into that firefighter-hero stereotype pretty hard,” she said with a mischievous smile, enjoying their banter. “I wonder if there’s a bad boy lurking underneath that polished exterior.”

He chuckled, the sound tickling her senses. “You have no idea.”

Was she completely wicked that she suddenly had a desperate hunger to find out just how bad Layton could be? Probably. Particularly when she’d made a pact with herself to keep on the straight and narrow until she had her master’s. It was a good plan at the time. Now? Seemed stupid as hell.

“What would you say if I told you I was attracted to you?”

He held his easy smile, but something in his gaze changed and her body tingled with awareness. “Then I’d say that you’d better keep that on lockdown because things could get awkward.”

She could call his bluff. Alexis knew when a guy was into her. Layton was throwing off signals that a person would have to be blind not to see, but she felt a bit like a predator chasing after a poor doomed gazelle. He was plainly telling her it wasn’t going to happen and she respected that—to a point—but his gaze was also throwing sparks that were bound to catch fire at some point.

Alexis sighed dramatically, leaning casually against the sofa, idly gazing at her injured foot. “Well, the truth of the matter is the fact that I want to give you a tongue bath must mean that somewhere, deep down, you’re defective.”

He startled with a laugh. “I think you just insulted me, but for the life of me all I can think of is that tongue bath.”

“See? It’s hopeless. Let’s be honest, we’re both adults and we’re both attracted to one another. We also both know that we shouldn’t act upon the dirty thoughts in our heads. So...it’s probably best that you go home before something terribly unfortunate happens between us.”

“Unfortunate?”

“Yeah, like all our clothes flying off and landing on the floor.”

He swallowed and she privately delighted in the way the thought made him stutter a little. “Are you always this blunt?”

“Pretty much. My mom says I’ve always suffered from a lack of tact, but my dad says I don’t seem to suffer from it at all.”

Layton laughed with a slight twinkle in his eye that she found highly alluring. “Okay, well, not leaving. I made a promise to Erik that I’d stick around and make sure you stayed off that foot, so you’re just going to have to deal with my company.”

Alexis held his gaze for a moment then shrugged. “Okay, but I can’t be held responsible for what may happen between us.”

“Nothing is going to happen,” he said with amused laughter. “You don’t quit, do you? You’re like a dog with a bone.”

Alexis shrugged. “We’ll see.”

“How about this? You pick the movie and I’ll scramble up some eggs and bacon for breakfast.”

She perked up. The only thing capable of jarring her one-track mind was the introduction of her second favorite distraction: food. “You can cook?”

“A necessary skill when you live with a bunch of other guys several days out of the week. Yes, I can cook. Any requests?”

Oh, how could she not take him up on that offer? She hated to cook but she loved to eat. “A Denver omelet would be fab,” she admitted. “I think we have everything you need in the fridge.”

“Denver omelet coming up,” Layton said, going to the kitchen. “And while I’m making breakfast you can throw out movie ideas.”

On the surface, that sounded well and good, but Alexis didn’t want to sit around the house all day. She spent so much of her time studying that she needed a physical outlet. Her gaze drifted to the window where soft snowflakes fell lazily from the sky. The storm hadn’t hit yet. There was probably just enough time to get the lights up before the snow really started coming down.

Maybe she could convince Layton to help her string the lights? But how to do it was the question.

She wasn’t above using her charm to get what she wanted and she had a feeling Layton wouldn’t mind fresh air...once he realized that spending too much time cuddled up on the sofa wasn’t a good idea, particularly if he was determined to keep things Disney-rated.

Before too long, Layton returned with two plates of omelets and toast, and Alexis’s opinion of her brother’s friend went up a notch.

“Did you pick out a movie?”

“No, I did something better,” she said around a bite of omelet. “Oh, that’s good. You’re a handy guy to have around. Cute, built like a Roman god and can cook? Okay, just level with me, what’s your hidden defect?”

“I have a weakness for pretty, sass-mouthed women,” he admitted wryly as he shoveled in his food.

“How much of a weakness?” she asked, curious.

Layton leveled a wry look her way. “Enough of one. Eat your breakfast.”

“So bossy.”

“Has anyone ever successfully told you what to do?”

She affected a serious expression. “My dad.” But she couldn’t keep a straight face for long, laughing as she said, “But you’re not my dad so don’t even try to boss me around.”

“Duly noted.” He gestured to her plate. “Good?”

“Fan-freaking-tastic,” Alexis openly admitted with glee. “You’re quite a catch. So tell me, Layton, do you chase the ladies or do the ladies chase you?”

Layton gave her a sideways grin that showcased a nice row of white, even teeth. The man could audition for a toothpaste commercial without an ounce of reservation. “I’ve chased my share, but I’ve been chased, too.”

“It’s all about the chase though, isn’t it? Once you’ve gotten what you want...where’s the mystery? Where’s the thrill?” She couldn’t help a twist of hidden bitterness to shape her words. Maybe she was still smarting from her last boyfriend. He’d been all about the chase, too.

But Layton frowned, shaking his head. “Some guys are like that. I’m not.”

Alexis barked a laugh, not believing him for a second. “You don’t have to put on an act for me. I know guys are all about getting laid.”

“When I’m with a girl, I only have eyes for her,” he said with such seriousness that she paused for a moment, thrown off track. How could a man who looked like Layton be a one-woman kind of guy? She didn’t buy it. “Seriously?”

He shrugged as if he didn’t care if she believed him or not. “The chase is fun, don’t get me wrong, but the real good stuff? That happens after you get to know each other. Never underestimate the value of being able to be yourself with your partner.”

“Whoa there, Dr. Phil,” Alexis joked, a little uncomfortable with how quickly things had gotten serious. “I was just kidding.”

But she wasn’t entirely. Riker had screwed up her internal sensor so badly she wasn’t sure it worked any longer and she didn’t trust her own judgment. Sure, Layton seemed like a good guy, but didn’t they all in the beginning? It was better to keep things superficial than risk getting hurt later. She’d happily step over the line and break her own rule for the opportunity for some hot blow-your-mind sex, but that’s where it stopped.

“For what it’s worth, you don’t have to try to convince me that you’re not a player. I don’t really care one way or the other.”

“Why is it so hard to believe that I’m a good guy?”

“Because I’ve known too many guys like you to know better,” she quipped.

But Layton set her straight with a quiet “Something tells me you’ve never met a guy like me.”

He said it with such confidence that for a split second Alexis stopped to wonder if he was telling the truth. But wasn’t that the problem? She always thought they were being truthful until that terrible moment when she discovered otherwise. She was done with being played. “You can drop the act, buddy. I’m not interested in the game. I mean, I’m down for a little fun, but I don’t need the white lies to smooth the way.”

Layton frowned, shaking his head with faint irritation. “Boy, Erik wasn’t wrong. You must’ve been screwed over big-time to be so jaded at such a young age. So, for the sake of every other man that happens to cross your path, why don’t you tell me what happened with this other dude so I can assure you that not every guy is like that.”

He wanted to listen? Alexis covered her surprise with an airy laugh. His comment hit too close to home for comfort. Riker’s betrayal still stung. But she didn’t feel like opening up her chest and revealing her broken heart to a complete stranger. Sex was one thing—being vulnerable was another.

“Okay, Mr. Wonderful...why don’t you have a girlfriend?”

Layton leaned forward to put his plate on the coffee table. “Guess I’m taking a break from it all.”

“What do you mean?”

“The dating thing. I’m over it.”

She handed him her plate and he set it on top of his. “Explain.”

Layton shook his head with a small smile and then went to gently lift the ice pack from her foot. “I’m tired of the game. First dates, the obligatory small talk, the uncertainty of the outcome...it’s all one colossal drag on my time. I’d rather spend it hiking or riding my bike than sitting across the table from someone I just met to try to make some kind of connection. I don’t know...just not into it right now.”

Alexis laughed. “Okay, so it seems I’m not the only one who’s been burned in the past.”

“Touché.”

“What was her name?”

“What was his?”

“Riker.”

Layton did a double take. “Riker?” he repeated with a fair amount of incredulity. “Well, there’s your problem right there. Anyone name Riker is bound to be trouble.”

She couldn’t argue that point. “He was hot.”

“So was she.”

Alexis laughed, strangely enjoying the way they both flirted around the edges of something personally painful without poking too hard for the other’s comfort. If she were being truthful, she was terribly curious about the woman who’d been stupid enough to break this man’s heart.

If she were smart, she’d keep everything surface level.

But then if she were smart, she wouldn’t be in this position anyway, so why start now?

5

THAT SASS WAS ADDICTIVE.

Alexis was a ball of contradictions. Hot and spirited and yet, beneath all that burning sex appeal was a girl who’d obviously been hurt enough to withdraw from anything or anyone who might be able to hurt her again.

He could understand Erik wanting to punch the last boyfriend’s lights out, because he was feeling a little punchy himself and he had no reason to.

But turnabout was fair play so he let loose with a little intel. “All right...you shared, so I’ll give you something in return. Her name was Julianne. Jules for short.”

Alexis snapped her fingers with a definitive shake of her head. “Yep. Gotta steer clear of anyone named Jules—immediate problem.”

“Is that so?”

“Absolutely. You should also avoid anyone named Tiffany or Brittany and if they spell their names with an i run like hell.”

“Good advice.” He nodded, adding for her benefit, “Conversely, any guy named after a Star Trek Next Gen character you should avoid like the plague. Born players. They’re all concerned with going ‘where no man has gone before.’”

Alexis broke into peals of laughter, prompting a grin of his own. She had a way about her that was unabashed and free, definitely different from most girls he met, and it was getting harder to remember why he was supposed to keep his distance.

“Any other advice you might want to impart from the other side of the curtain?” she asked playfully.

He made a show of thinking, but all he was really thinking was that he wanted to kiss her. Strands of dark hair escaped her low ponytail to curl around her jaw, but she made no move to fix it and he was glad. There was something about her devil-may-care attitude about her hair that he found refreshing. Jules had always been picture-perfect, or at least worked hard to appear so and it got old. Don’t touch my hair or don’t smudge my lipstick were familiar admonishments before the end had come crashing down around them. “How’s your ankle feeling?” he asked, redirecting his own thoughts to safer ground.

Alexis’s gaze dropped to her ankle and she nodded. “Better. The ice helped.”

“You should still stay off it,” he said, trying to stay focused. “Now...are we going to watch movies or what?”

“Is there a third option?”

“Such as?”

“Such as...hanging lights.”

“Come again?”

“Here’s the deal, I can’t sit here for hours on end and just zone out. I need to be doing something, and since I’m stuck home when I thought I’d be elsewhere, and since you’ve already shared that you don’t think it’s a good idea if we knock boots, that leads me to suggest that you help me hang lights...seeing as I’m laid up and all.” She paused for effect then added, “Or, I suppose we could stay indoors, cuddled up on the sofa...just you and me and no one else in the house...with total privacy to do whatever we wanted and no one would ever know...”

“You don’t play fair,” he groaned, his groin immediately jumping into the conversation, happy to join the fun, which was a terrible, bad thing in the way of trying to keep his hands where they belonged—off Alexis!

“I never said I played fair,” she said with a beguiling smile. “I play to win.”

Damn straight, she did. He had to respect that. His choices were: ignore his better judgment and allow Alexis to hop around outside hanging lights or keep her indoors and try to be a good guy and keep his hands to himself. Yeah, not much of a choice. He wasn’t a damn saint. He gave in with a sigh. “All right, you win this round. I suppose being outside doing something is better than staring temptation straight in the face with you cuddled up beside me. But on one condition...”

“Which is?” she asked warily.

“You sit your ass in a chair and let me do the work. The last thing I need is your brother asking why I let you hop around on an injured foot and you end up hurting yourself worse.”

She made a face. “You make me sound like an invalid. I’m fine. However, I concede to your demands. I will direct the labor and you will do the heavy lifting.”

He chuckled and grabbed the dishes. “So when is this decorating frenzy scheduled to begin?”

“Well, in the interest of not being outside when that storm hits, I’d say about five minutes after you put away the dishes and we get dressed. Sound good?”

Layton agreed, and she was actually ready to go a minute earlier than he was. He gave her a once-over ostensibly to gauge whether or not she was dressed warmly enough, but actually, his gaze was far from simply friendly. Hot damn. That girl could melt snow. White fuzzy boots, white fur-lined jacket and white snow pants, she looked like a snow bunny from an upscale ski resort who didn’t plan to actually do any skiing but would look plenty cute just sitting in the lodge sipping hot chocolate. “Trying to blend in with the snow?” he teased, needing desperately to treat her like a little sister so he stopped seeing her as a full-fledged woman with hips and curves. “I’m not sure you have enough white.”

She fake scowled. “Pardon me if I don’t take fashion tips from a man who thinks pajama pants are acceptable for going out in public.”

“Correction—lounge pants. Not pajamas,” he said, adding with a wink because he couldn’t help himself. “As you’ve already discovered, I sleep in the nude. No need for pajamas.”

Her cheeks flared adorably and he had to admit it did nice things to his ego. Knock it off, Romeo. Erik’s little sister, remember? Layton reined in his giddy libido with effort. “Okay, show me where the lights are and let’s get this started.” If Alexis sensed the fact that he was struggling with the need to be the good guy, she didn’t let on and he was thankful. He was quickly becoming a powder keg and she was the match. Just how would Erik react if he found out that the guy he’d left his injured little sister with had ended up boning her like some jerk-off who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants for one damn day. Yeah, Layton knew exactly how he’d react—badly.

And with good reason.

Layton hefted the box of lights from the garage and followed Alexis’s instructions, bringing three big boxes from their storage spot to the front porch.

“I’ll test the strands, you hang,” she said cheerfully, her breath pluming in front of her as her eyes sparkled. “I’m so glad I’m getting a chance to hang these a bit earlier than expected. Typically, I like the lights to go up right after Thanksgiving, but with midterms and a brutal professor who seems to hate me, I’ve been knee-deep in school stuff.”

“So master’s degree...that’s pretty impressive.”

She grinned broadly. “My dad calls me the perpetual student. He swears my decision to get my master’s was to get out of finding a real job.”

“Was it?”

Alexis gasped with mock outrage. “Of course not. I just want to land at the top of the food chain, and the only way to do that is with a master’s degree.”

“You want to be the boss?”

She looked wistful and aggressive at the same time as she nodded. “Hell yes. I don’t know if you could tell, but I’m not the type of person who takes orders very well. I’m much better at giving than following them.”

Why did he just think of her giving orders in bed? And why the hell did he find that idea hot as hell? Get your head in the game and focus, Layton! Thoughts like that are gonna land your ass in a pan of boiling water.

“The world takes all sorts,” he said with a forced grin, watching as she tested the first strand. Satisfied when all the lights twinkled and blinked, she handed the strand off to him and moved onto the next. He took the light hooks and began lining them along the porch rafters so he could hook the strand into each one. “Okay, so don’t take this the wrong way but you don’t seem the Suzy Homemaker type. What’s with the driving need to decorate for Christmas?”

“Christmas is my favorite holiday and always has been,” she answered with a small shrug. “There’s just something about the holiday that recharges my battery and restores my faith in humanity.”

“Christmas does that for you?” he asked incredulously. “That’s funny, all I see are a bunch of people trying to screw each other over for material stuff.”

“Sure, that happens, but what about the stories of people who go out of their way to help a stranger?”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s nice.”

“You suppose?”

“No, that didn’t come out right...it is nice. I guess I just don’t see enough of that. Christmas always seemed the greediest time of year. Really turned me off the holiday.”

“That’s a tragedy.”

He shrugged. “Nah, it’s just life. I like St. Patrick’s Day, if it means anything.”

“And why is that?” she asked.

“Because it’s a day sanctioned for drinking beer.” She rolled her eyes and he grinned, adding, “Can’t imagine a better holiday than that.” Layton held the strand, inspecting it for loose wires of any sort as a force of habit. “Actually, I’d be lying if I said that I don’t enjoy Christmas a little bit. I like the lights and the displays but I’ve seen too many house fires caused by Christmas trees that it’s hard to forget what’s left behind.”

Alexis sobered, pausing in her strand detail. “That must suck.”

“It does. I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer, but Christmastime...can be kind of scary for public service. Do you realize that suicides and domestic violence go up during the holidays?”

“You’re a bowl of sunshine,” she said, handing him the strand. “You should really think of going into inspirational speaking.”

“Sorry. Occupational hazard, I guess.”

“You’re forgiven, but I don’t care what you say, nothing can dim my holiday spirit. I love the holiday and I’m determined to enjoy every last moment.”

Layton had to respect her determination to get her Christmas on, no matter the obstacles.

“One question though.”

“Yeah?”

“Why are you decorating your brother’s place? Is he as nutty about the holidays as you are?”

“Gracious no. Erik is about as observant as a lawn gnome. He’s not much into the whole decorating thing, which is why he lets me do what I want. Someday I’ll have my own place and I’ll be able to stop commandeering my brother’s place.”

“Heaven help the man you settle down with. I can only imagine what your house is going to look like.”

“It’s going to be fabulous and whoever I end up with will be the luckiest guy in the world because I make the world’s most insanely delicious gingerbread-men cookies and I give a pretty hot blow job.”

Layton stumbled back, missing the step and going down hard on his ass in the snow.

“Are you all right?” she asked, barely holding back her laughter.

“I’m fine,” he grumbled, climbing to his feet and wiping the loose snow from his pants. “You shouldn’t say things like that to a man you barely know.”

Alexis smiled with the innocence of an angel, but that impish twist at the corners of her lips ruined it in the most tantalizing way.

“Just stating facts.” She held out the next strand as if she hadn’t just rung his bell hard. “Better hurry, that storm is moving quick.”

“Are you the devil?” he muttered, mostly to himself, but she heard him loud and clear.

“Not the devil but quite possibly a fallen angel.”

A fallen angel with an agenda.

And he was running out of willpower to stay the course.

Heaven help him, what had he gotten himself into?

6

ALEXIS KNEW THE minute the words came out of her mouth that she shouldn’t have said them. What was wrong with her? It was as if she were bound and determined to make the worst mistake of her life in record time.

“I’m sorry,” she said, quickly making amends. “I shouldn’t have said that. It was totally inappropriate. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. My brain is certainly not acting responsibly—not that that’s a big surprise given my track record, but I really am trying to change bad habits.”

His chuckle seemed forced, but what could she expect after she’d just let her potty mouth get the best of her. “Hey, it’s okay,” he reassured her. “Don’t beat yourself up over it. We’ve all made mistakes that we’re not proud of. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with being proud of a skill.”

She couldn’t help herself. “When you say things like that it makes me not sorry at all.”

A beat of charged silence flowed between them, filling the crisp air with heat. Layton shook his head. “We’re a pair to draw to, aren’t we?”

“As in, we both have the same problem recognizing what boundaries to pay attention to?”

“Exactly,” he agreed ruefully. “I know it’s wrong to look at my buddy’s little sister the way I’m looking at you now, but it’s getting harder and harder to remember why I was supposed to keep my distance.”

A delighted flush tickled her cheeks. “And if I wasn’t your buddy’s little sister?” she prompted.

He didn’t hesitate. “Then we sure as hell wouldn’t be hanging lights right now.”

What he didn’t say was plainly in his gaze. Her breath caught. “Maybe we could pretend that I’m not your buddy’s little sister. Just for today.”

“I’m not sure that would work. Eventually Erik would find out and I really don’t want to lose a friend because, you know, I couldn’t keep my hands to myself.”

It was solid reasoning, and that he was holding back to protect the feelings of a friend meant something, but it really didn’t change the fact that she wanted him and she wasn’t sure she wanted to deny herself. “I understand and I think it’s awesome that you’re the kind of guy who cares, but there’s something about you that I can’t quite get out of my head and maybe it’s because I’m in a reckless frame of mind or maybe it’s because you’re the hottest guy I’ve seen in a along time, but right about now, I’d much rather spend my weekend making all sorts of mistakes with you than anything else. So what are we going to do about that?”

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