Falling for the CEO

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2013 by Audra North. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

Entangled Publishing, LLC

2614 South Timberline Road

Suite 109

Fort Collins, CO 80525

Visit our website at www.entangledpublishing.com.

Select Contemporary is an imprint of Entangled Publishing, LLC.

Edited by Heather Howland and Tahra Seplowin

ISBN 978-1-62266-409-2

Manufactured in the United States of America

First Edition November 2013

For A.N.B.

Chapter One

“I don’t want to keep discussing this, Amanda.”

Meredith Klaus was just rounding the corner, laptop clutched to her chest, when she heard Andrew’s voice coming from his open office door. He sounded tense and tired. Oh, dear. She had no idea who Amanda was, but the conversation sounded like a personal one.

So instead of continuing forward and entering his office, as she had been en route to do, Meredith skidded to a stop. Should she hover nearby and wait for him to finish his call, or turn around and walk away?

“Frankly, I don’t think this relationship is working.”

Oh, goodness. Very personal. It was definitely time to walk away. But even though she turned to tiptoe back toward her own office, Meredith couldn’t block out his voice, deep and carrying.

“No, it’s not just because of the lack of sex.”

Dear God, had the corridor always been this long? It felt like it was taking years to get back to her office. She was even tempted to clap her hands over her ears and sing, just to fight the flame in her cheeks at the feeling that she was doing something wrong.

At least no one else was here at this time of night, and not just because it was only a week until Christmas. Andrew was usually the only other one who worked past six thirty on a regular basis. The other executives had spouses, lively children, and frolicking pets to get home to.

While she had the Travel Channel, a massaging showerhead, and dust bunnies.

“No one insults my family. Ever. Consider us over.”

At those words, Meredith stumbled, the toe of her low-heeled pumps catching on the carpet. Her arms instinctively flew wide, trying to brace herself against a fall. Except the only thing that managed to accomplish was for her laptop to drop directly onto her foot. “Oh, darndarndarn!” she gasped, trying to muffle her yelp as pain exploded in her toes, bright and wrenching. It would be beyond embarrassing if she screamed and her sexy, elegant boss were to rush out of his office, only to find that Klutzy Klaus had been her own downfall. Again.

She slid her glasses, which had fallen down to the end of her nose, back into place and hopped toward the nearest wall to slump against it. Despite the sturdy leather of her shoes and thick weave of her tights, it felt like someone had chopped her toes off with a dull blade and then sewn them back on crooked. She forced herself to take deep, calming breaths, some of the tension slowly leaving her body as the sharp, shocking pain faded to unpleasant throbbing.

No one insults my family. Andrew’s words seemed to ricochet around her, though his voice had gone silent now. He must have ended the call with Amanda, which meant that Meredith could probably turn around again and go back to his office to show him the reports that had just come in today and deliver news that would surely get her fired. Or possibly even blacklisted from any other financial position in Manhattan.

There was also the matter of her toes, which still ached quite a bit. And…she looked over at her laptop on the floor. There was a piece of something hanging off the back that she was certain hadn’t been dangling like that before she’d dropped it. Clumsy fool, she chided herself.

She slipped off her shoes and stared down at the toes of her right foot, flexing them to assess the damage. No doubt they were red and a bit swollen under the fabric of her tights, but at least she could move them without too much pain now. They were probably just badly bruised. Along with her pride.

She squeezed her eyes shut against the sudden clenching in her heart. She should be used to this feeling by now and not having a hard time resisting the urge to curl up right there on the industrial-grade Berber in a little ball of despair, lamenting that even at thirty-one years old, Meredith Klaus was still more than deserving of her high school epithet.

Klutzy Klaus! Klutzy Klaus! She could still hear it being shouted in the hallways of her high school. At least it was better than “Little Orphan Annie.” With her curly red hair and gangly limbs, the kids in the grade school where she’d been assigned after her parents died had wasted no time in renaming the shy new kid. At least she’d grown into her long legs and arms. But she’d never managed to find another family.

Let it go.

She had bigger things to think about right now. Like, how she was going to tell Andrew that thousands of charitable organizations chosen by Harbor employees were going to get proverbial coal in their stockings instead of fat, feel-good donations. Even though Harbor Technologies built superior products and delivered the best service in the industry, the company owed its success to the wild publicity around the Christmas Bonus Fund, from which each employee could draw five hundred dollars during the holiday season every year to donate to a charity of their choice. Without it, they were just another tech company.

She slipped off her glasses, held them in one hand, and applied the palm of the other to her head, trying to mash her growing headache into submission. Not working. She tried closing her eyes and shifting a bit, tipping up her chin and leaning her head back against the wall before moving her hand to her neck, but the awkward position of her arm only made her back arch and tense even more.

A frustrated whimper escaped her. Maybe it would help if she imagined that these were someone else’s hands. Big. Long-fingered. Skimming over her skin, rolled-up cuffs baring his arms to the elbow as sexy brown eyes watched her squirm—

“What are you still doing here?”

She started as the very voice from her fantasy sounded in the hallway, and before she could think to stop it, his name pushed past her lips on a breathy sigh.

“Andrew.”

Chapter Two

Who are you, and what have you done with my CFO? For a moment, all that Andrew Stanton could do was stare.

It was as though this evening was playing a horrible joke on him. First, having to break things off with Amanda the night before the big Myerberg gala. Then, coming out of his office to find the normally nervous, buttoned-up Meredith with her hair coming out of its usual tight bun, glasses off, barefoot, and arching sensually against a wall in the corridor.

Although that particular surprise hadn’t been horrible. At all. The way she’d said his name…it made him want to slide a hand between the buttons of her conservative gray oxford shirt and push that ugly skirt up around her waist before laying her down on the rough carpet and—

Damn it. He coughed and shifted his laptop bag to cover the evidence of his arousal. “Everything okay?” he asked. Thank God his voice hadn’t cracked like a preadolescent boy’s.

She snapped herself upright, grinning at him almost maniacally. “Oh! Yes. Of course.” But when she jammed her feet into her shoes, he didn’t miss her slight wince.

“You’re hurt.” He frowned, his momentary attraction to her forgotten. He walked to her and offered his arm. “Let me help you into your office so you can sit down.”

Her cheeks went pink and she gave a nervous laugh. “N-no, I’m okay. I just—” She broke off with a sigh. “I dropped my computer on my foot. It’s only a little sore now.”

He finally noticed the laptop lying on the floor. “Oh, hey. That had to hurt.” He stooped to pick up the computer and tucked it under one arm before he turned back to her, trying not to shake his head at what had happened. It was no surprise that she’d managed to do some kind of harm to herself.

When he’d interviewed Meredith for the Chief Financial Officer position, he’d noticed right away that she was a nice-looking woman behind her shapeless clothes and too-tight hairstyle, but they hadn’t spent more than five minutes together before she’d accidentally ripped her résumé in half by mistaking it for a page from her notepad, knocked over her coffee cup, and then stumbled when she’d jumped out of her chair to stop the spill from spreading. She was a walking disaster. Hardly like any of the women he was used to dating.

Not that he had any thoughts about dating her, of course. Above all else, she was his employee and a financial wizard. Far too valuable to the company.

Still, he couldn’t help but look at her from time to time and wonder if she was much more coordinated in the bedroom than she was in the boardroom. And if he might have imagined her naked, panting, and sliding up and down his hard cock, well…he always pushed those thoughts away immediately.

He offered his arm again. “I insist.”

She blushed again, but this time she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. His heart raced as though she were draping her body flush against his. That was unexpected. Apart from the handshake they’d shared in her interview, they’d never touched. Certainly not like this, with the heat of her body so close to his that he could smell the faint flowery scent of her shampoo.

She felt good.

He shook it off. Probably it was just the effect of the stress of breaking up with his girlfriend the night before a big event. Not that he minded the loss of Amanda all that much, especially after she’d called his family just another one of his charity cases. Since when was it charity to spend time with one’s family at Christmas? That had been enough to make him end it over the phone right then.

Too bad it also meant that he was now dateless for an event where he was supposed to be the keynote speaker, delivering a speech that would hopefully put his new idea in motion. In a situation like this, he wanted—needed, really—someone by his side to make his message more appealing.

They turned into Meredith’s office. “Have a seat,” he said, guiding her to one of the modern, cube-like upholstered chairs set around a small round table that she liked to use for smaller meetings. He stayed next to her, ready to catch her if she stumbled as she was sitting down. With her, anything was possible.

She settled on the cushion and looked down at her hands. “Thank you. You really didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes, I did,” he answered forcefully, not liking the way she’d said it, cringing and apologetic. He was startled when she looked up at him, green eyes wide with surprise. She had removed her usual big-framed glasses, and he could clearly see every feature of her heart-shaped face.

Damn. She wasn’t just nice-looking. She was quite pretty, actually. Not to mention brilliant. Though she’d only been working at the company for a couple of months, she knew almost as much about the company as he did.

She would make a great date for the gala tomorrow.

She nodded shakily, and for a moment he wondered if he’d spoken aloud. But then she took a deep breath and looked at him almost pleadingly. “You mean, so I wouldn’t sue you for workplace injury, of course. But I would never do something like that. It was my own fault. Really, I cannot begin to tell you how—”

“What?” Andrew couldn’t keep himself from interrupting. “Sue me? God, no.” He scowled down at her, wondering where in the world she would get the idea that he only helped her for mercenary reasons. “Hasn’t anyone ever done something for you just because you’re a human being? You know, simple kindness?”

He had meant it to be flippant, but the answering look in her eyes said everything.

No.

But she didn’t actually voice the word. Instead, she looked back down at her lap and laughed nervously, smoothing her hands over that ugly skirt. “Ha, oh, of course. Yes. I was just joking with you. Ha ha.”

Was that really the kind of life she lived?

He felt a tug of pity, but shook off the thought quickly and forced a small smile. Better to pretend he believed that she’d only been kidding around. Meredith’s personal life—past or present—was none of his business.

Except—maybe that’s what would make her the perfect date to the gala. They got along well enough and certainly respected each other professionally. There was nothing personal between them to distract him from his business goals for tomorrow night, and it would be an excellent time to introduce her to Jon Myerberg, the founder of the nation’s largest philanthropic foundation.

He nodded to himself. Taking Meredith was the perfect solution. Now he just needed to ask her. Which was easier said than done. But he cleared his throat and forged ahead, because this was much more important than a little temporary awkwardness. “Ah, Meredith?”

She jerked her head up and looked at him in alarm like he’d caught her doing something wrong. “Yes?”

Andrew frowned. Why did she sound so nervous? Did she know what he was about to ask her? He blew out a breath. May as well find out.

“I know this is somewhat short notice, but I’m unexpectedly on my own for the Myerberg Foundation Gala tomorrow night. I’m supposed to be giving a talk about the Christmas Bonus Fund. I’d usually go alone, but in this case, I’d have more influence on how organizations look at philanthropy if I had someone by my side to tacitly endorse that message.” He grimaced at his own clinical words and eyed her, looking for offense, but found none. Was she really so used to being spoken to that way? Or had she never been asked on a date before and didn’t realize what he was trying to get at?

Either option was remarkably depressing.

“Yes, well. One of my sisters is in Chicago right now for work, and the other is too young for me to take her to something like this. All of my female friends are married. Their husbands wouldn’t appreciate my asking them to accompany me to a black-tie dinner…” He trailed off, surprised, when she gave a single nod.

“Does that mean you’ll go with me?” he asked, venturing a smile.

She hesitated for a moment, her body tensing in a way that seemed to reverberate throughout the room. “Oh, my gosh!” she gasped. “Are you asking me to be your—your—” she wiggled her fingers at him, as though the word “date” was simply too scandalous to say aloud.

He raised an eyebrow. “I thought that’s why you were nodding.”

She blushed, this time bringing her hands up to her cheeks. “Goodness. I’m such an idiot,” she whispered, but then she squared her shoulders, dropped her hands, and cleared her throat. “I wasn’t nodding to say yes. I was merely agreeing that your friends’ husbands would have a problem with you taking their wives to a fancy event. As to whether or not I’ll attend with you…” She cut her eyes away from him then and stared at some point just beyond his elbow before continuing. “I learned a long time ago that it’s better to wait until someone actually asks before assuming enough to say yes.”

At that, Andrew laughed. Unless he’d mistaken her meaning, for the first time since she’d started working for him, she was reprimanding him for something.

He kind of liked it.

“I was kind of rambling, wasn’t I?”

She gave another single nod, and then did something unexpected. She laughed. She had never laughed like this in front of him, full and loud and without any inhibition, much less had the nerve to laugh at him.

Correction: he really liked it. He grinned back at her, pushing his hands into his pockets and rocking back on his heels with delight.

Employee, man. She’s your employee. Remember?

Right. And he didn’t miss how she was still avoiding his eyes. Damn it. Did she think he was coming on to her? Maybe she just felt awkward that they were the only two people left in the quiet office. She had been acting strangely ever since he came upon her in the hallway. Either way, something was making her nervous, and he didn’t like the thought that it might be him.

He yanked his hands from his pockets. “I want you to understand that this is all aboveboard. I’m happy to put something in writing about this having nothing to do with your position at the company. You wouldn’t have to pretend anything. I’ll introduce you as Harbor’s CFO, or as Ms. Klaus. Whichever way you’d prefer. Though with this year’s theme being ‘Magic at the North Pole,’ your last name, coupled with my ridiculous ‘Santa CEO’ nickname, might invite a few more jokes than you’re willing to hear all night.”

Back when he had founded Harbor Technologies ten years ago, Andrew had insisted from the start that his corporation give back to society. He’d been the one to start the trend of giving big gifts to organizations that did good works locally, and his employees got time off for community service days. He even allowed all new parents to take up to six months off from work. Paid.

But it was when he instituted the company’s Christmas Bonus Fund that the media dubbed him “the Santa CEO” and started featuring him in national news. Even Vogue had done a spread on him, touting his attractiveness inside and out. He’d hated every minute of the interviews, fawning reporters and fans, and especially the nickname, but all the attention had established him as one of the key leaders in the world of corporate philanthropy, so he’d accepted it as a necessary evil.

Meredith finally brought her wary gaze back to his, but nodded again. Was she agreeing that she would go with him? Or was she—oh, right.

He gave a little cough. “Right. What I’m trying to say is, would you be willing to attend with me? As my, uh, companion?”

Companion. That safe, bland word annoyed him, but it seemed to do the trick with her. “Of course I will. Anything to help Harbor.” She took a deep breath and put out her hand to shake on the deal.

He grasped her hand and gave it a firm shake, the curling warmth between their skin making him hold on a bit longer than necessary. When they let go, he had to resist the urge to flex the strange tingling sensation from his fingers. “Thanks. I owe you one. I’ll e-mail you over the details tonight. If you need a new”—he waved his hand in the general direction of her body—“dress or outfit or something, please send me the receipts and I’ll happily reimburse you.”

“That won’t be necessary,” she demurred.

“Great. Well, great.” Time to leave, before it really gets awkward. He gave her a brusque nod and turned to go, but apparently the night wasn’t finished throwing him curveballs. Her voice stopped him before he could walk out the door.

“Actually, um, there’s something else before you go. Speaking of the Christmas Bonus Fund…it’s in trouble.”

Chapter Three

Meredith forced herself to stand up and look Andrew in the eye. He had just turned back around with a look of shock on his face, and she was deathly afraid that he was going to fire her on the spot even as some insane part of her prayed that she’d still get to go to the gala with him. Not that the evening together meant anything. She knew better than to attach the dream of a future to anyone in life. That way lay only heartbreak.

And if she delivered the news about the fund and he did fire her, well—it still wouldn’t make for the worst Christmas she’d ever had.

“What kind of trouble, exactly?” Andrew looked distinctly upset. Jeez, dummy, of course he would be upset. Sure, she had only been here for two months and was taking over an absolute financial mess from the former CFO, but everyone knew how important the Christmas Bonus Fund was to Harbor. It was practically synonymous with Andrew’s good name. She shouldn’t have overlooked it.

Her nervousness had only grown since he’d appeared at her side in the hallway and so gallantly helped her. But it wouldn’t do to continue worrying in silence. He had to know. She gulped down the lump in her throat and forced the words out. “The Christmas Bonus Fund is short this year by over two hundred thousand dollars and there is less than one week left before we release the money to Harbor’s twelve hundred employees.”

There. That felt a bit better, to recite a few numbers. Her world stabilized slightly.

Andrew leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling, his bag sliding off his shoulder and onto the floor. Not good. She braced herself for the words, “Get out and don’t come back.”

But they didn’t come. Instead, after a moment, he leaned down to pick up his bag and straightened on a frustrated sigh. “A week isn’t much time. Many of the charities that our employees donate to have already been promised the money. It does state in every employee’s contract that we take no responsibility for pledges they might have made, but it doesn’t change the fact that people are in need and this money will help them.” His voice was strained and he was frowning. “Where is it? Did we invest it in tulips?”

That he was referring to what was a fool’s investment in the seventeenth century wasn’t exactly heartening. She winced at that, feeling like an idiot.

“I looked through the summary statements and, from what I can see, the money went missing four months ago—two months before I started working at Harbor. But from a cursory look through our portfolio, there’s no trace of it in our other accounts.” Andrew’s face had softened a bit, but Meredith still felt like she deserved every censure. “I’m sorry. I feel terrible that I allowed something like this to happen. I should have realized—”

Andrew held up a hand, stopping her mid-sentence. “Please, you don’t have to apologize. I realize that the money went missing before you came on board and you’re just the unfortunate messenger.” He took a deep breath, and he managed to give her a small, reassuring smile. “I have some cash available that would at least help to make up some of the difference. I can get the rest by liquidating some investments, but it will take a couple of days longer than we actually have, which will delay the dispensation.”

“Delay the dispensation? But—”

He waved his hand in the air. “There’s no other choice. I’ll take care of it. I’ll make some calls tomorrow and we’ll make an announcement that the fund will be late by a couple of days.”

Was he seriously offering to use his personal money to fill in the gap in the Christmas Bonus Fund? The two-hundred-thousand-dollar gap? Meredith’s heart skipped a beat. Not only that, but he also hadn’t gotten angry or told her to leave Harbor. And a frivolous, completely insane part of her almost cheered that he hadn’t uninvited her to the gala.

But she couldn’t allow Andrew to just throw his own money at the problem. Not just because it wasn’t fair to him, but also because her work was the only thing she had, and she took it seriously. If he simply stepped in and saved the day every time she couldn’t deliver, what would become of her?

“That is—incredibly generous. And I really appreciate it. But there are other options I’d like to explore, like borrowing from a lending institution, or—”

“No loans,” he cut in. “The whole point of the Christmas Bonus Fund is that it comes just from Harbor. That we’ve made a conscious effort to pay back our success from our own bottom line and not to rely on someone else’s money.”

She swallowed and nodded. “Very well. But the fund statement just came in today. Seeing as I should have been more proactive and requested the information earlier, I feel a responsibility to make this up. I’d like some time to review our financials again to see if we can solve this internally and deliver the Christmas Bonus Fund on time.”

She held her breath. Please give me a chance. Please say yes!

He studied her for what felt like an eternity, those warm brandy eyes of his bright with an intelligence that she had come to appreciate and admire over the time she had been working with him. When he didn’t reply immediately, she tipped her head forward, glancing down at the stack of papers in front of her on the table.

“I’ve managed to stabilize our losses thus far, and some of the investments are already starting to come up. Of course, it will still take approximately six months for Harbor to regain solid financial footing, but I think we’ve finally reached a turning point.”

Shut up now. Stop trying to fill the silence.

Small crinkles appeared at the corners of those dark eyes. “I knew you could do it. I hired you because you’re the best. But while delivering the money a little late is better than not delivering at all, I don’t know if I can take that chance. The Christmas Bonus Fund is a big part of the public image of Harbor Technologies, and it’s a very big part of my plans for the coming year. I’m working on a separate venture…” Andrew trailed off.

What plans? she wanted to ask. But she didn’t dare. It was one thing for her to inquire about finances that had to do with Harbor. She wasn’t going to ask him about a “separate venture” that he obviously hadn’t shared with her for a reason.

He ran a hand through his hair, then dropped his arm with a sigh. “I’ll offer you a deal. I’ll set the wheels in motion on my end, just in case. But meanwhile, you’ve got until the day before we have to disburse the fund to our employees—five days—to turn it around. If we don’t have all the money by then, we’ll announce the delay and I’ll take full responsibility for the remainder.”

“I’ll find out what happened and fix it, I promise.” She tried to continue, to thank him for giving her the chance to make things right, but he held up a hand to stop her.

“But only if you agree to my conditions.”

…

Andrew watched Meredith’s chin jerk up at that. Clearly, she didn’t like the idea of conditions. But he wasn’t going to back down. Tomorrow night, at the gala, he needed to be able to point to the success of the Christmas Bonus Fund as evidence for why other companies should support his new initiative. Besides, if Meredith could pull this off, he may well have found the perfect person to run it, too.

He raised his left hand and began ticking off on his fingers as he named his conditions. Thumb first. “I won’t accept any solution that involves lowering the amount that every employee gets, or excluding anyone from the bonus.” Index finger. “No loans,” he repeated. Middle finger. “If you make up the difference in these six days, I will add ten thousand dollars to your signing bonus.” He paused, studying her face for a reaction to the proposal that he had just laid out. She had been promised a signing bonus of thirty thousand dollars after completing her third month of employment and it was essentially a done deal, in his mind. He had meant it before, when he’d said that she was the best.

She let out a little yelp at that, and he had to suppress a smile. For some reason, he was starting to find her awkwardness endearing. Or maybe he always had. It certainly hadn’t bothered him before.

He pushed past the thought and touched his ring finger. “But if you do not manage to make up the difference, I’ll put that extra ten thousand dollars into the fund, instead.”

“I can’t allow—” she began, but he cut her off.

“My conditions, remember?” He said it with a wink and a smile, making her blush. It shouldn’t have thrilled him to see it, but he couldn’t stop an image from forming, of Meredith lying on his bed, naked, looking as pink and flushed all over her body as she did on just her cheeks right now.

He barely managed to suppress a groan. Focus, man. She was looking away from him again, probably beating herself up over this. She was the kind of person who’d be convinced that it was her personal responsibility to fix, even though the missing money wasn’t her fault.

Andrew didn’t like what that implied about the former CFO, both professionally and personally. Over the years they’d worked together, Bob had become more of a father figure to Andrew than a colleague. That Bob might have done something shady with the money wasn’t something he could think about right now. He’d deal with that later.

“Final condition. You’ll work alongside me, in my office, for the next six days. Any possibility you come up with, any number that can be tweaked even a little bit, I want you to share it right away. It’s not because I don’t think you can handle it. But this is just too big for me to take it less than one hundred percent seriously.”

Her throat worked in a delicate ripple. He’d never noticed before just how fine her skin was, pale and smooth and probably soft to the touch.

Get a grip. He stepped back toward her, offering his right hand. “What do you say? Do we have a deal?”

Those green eyes darkened, the pupils growing large in the irises. An irrepressible thrill shot through him, something primal that made him feel like a predator in the midst of hunting a particularly juicy prey.

Her gaze flickered from his outstretched hand to his face before her warm fingers slid into his grip.

“I accept.”

Chapter Four

What had she agreed to?

Meredith pulled the pillow over her head, muting the sounds of the city beyond her window. Even at five o’clock in the morning, things happened in New York.

It was something she had never quite been able to adjust to. Fostered in Memphis, all three homes where she had lived after her parents died had been single-family houses with a backyard, in neighborhoods with quiet streets.

However, New York offered something that she simply couldn’t get elsewhere: anonymity. Not the kind that allowed famous people to walk the streets in a pair of dark sunglasses and only be recognized by a handful of paparazzi. The kind that allowed people who were the exact opposite of famous—people who hadn’t been recognized by anyone in decades—to feel like they finally found a place where they fit in.

And until last night, she thought she’d been happy to live out her inconspicuous life the way she always had. But now…

Not only was she attending the Myerberg function with Andrew, who was arguably the most eligible bachelor in New York, but she had also agreed to basically live with him for the short-term future. Sure, it was sharing an office and not an apartment, but given that she spent significantly more time at work than at home, it was more like living together than if they were sharing a residence.

And so help her, she wanted to be beautiful for him. Even if it was just a one-sided fantasy, she didn’t want to be Klutzy Klaus tonight. She didn’t want to be Little Orphan Annie for the next six days as she worked alongside him. Until the clock struck midnight on their bargain, so to speak, she wanted to be Meredith, seductively graceful CFO by day, sex kitten extraordinaire by night.

Even thinking those words had her blushing, though. She groaned and yanked the pillow away from her face. “You’re off to a great start,” she said aloud, and the empty room seemed to laugh at her.

Maybe she should have claimed a prior engagement for tonight. After all, on such short notice, it wasn’t unrealistic that she would have already made other plans. But she wasn’t a liar. There were never any plans in her calendar on Friday nights. Or any other night, for that matter, unless work counted as a “plan.”

On a sigh, she turned and fumbled on the nightstand for her glasses. Her fingers landed a bit short, and instead of closing around the frame, her knuckles knocked against one of the lenses, sending the glasses sliding off the nightstand onto the floor with a clatter.

“So much for seductively graceful,” she grumbled, untangling her legs from the sheets and rolling out of bed to search for her glasses on the floor. But she’d barely taken two steps when her right foot landed on something hard. She immediately jumped back, but not before a loud crack reached her ears.

She’d stepped on her glasses. Of course. Please don’t let them be broken.

But when she picked them up and slid them on, she groaned in defeat.

Leave it to Klutzy Klaus to crack one of the lenses. Right in the middle, too, fracturing everything in her vision. There was no way she could wear them now.

For a moment, she simply slumped against the nightstand, dropping her head between her knees. Forget about being beautiful. If she could simply make it until Christmas without seriously injuring herself or Andrew, it would be an accomplishment in and of itself.

At least she had another pair of glasses in a drawer in the bathroom. She’d bought them on a whim last year, adoring the way the style had made her look young and chic, but when she’d put them on again back home, standing in front of the mirror in her quiet, conservative bedroom, they’d looked too brash. Too bold. Not like her. She’d fallen back on using her old pair of glasses.

She sucked in a breath. Was it possible that some higher power had caused this? She started to shake her head, but stopped. Maybe it was possible that something beyond her comprehension had manipulated her fingers and made her break these glasses on purpose, just so that she would have to wear her more stylish pair…

Goodness. Even the thought sounded absurd.

“What’s next, a fairy godmother with a Saks card?” she scoffed, rolling her eyes at her own foolishness. There were a few evening gowns in her closet, but they were all sedate, innocuous things that helped her blend into the background. There simply wasn’t time to find something new. Even if fate had played a hand in this little incident, it wasn’t deft enough to finagle a new formal dress in the next few hours. The deficit in the Christmas Bonus Fund would demand all of her attention today. No time to duck out and go shopping.

She pffed. “Enough with this foolish daydreaming! Get your head out of the clouds and your butt on the elliptical,” she commanded herself, picking herself up off the floor to dress in her gym clothes before heading to the fifth-floor fitness center in her building for a quick workout.

…

By a quarter to seven, she was on the sidewalk in front of her building, shivering in the cold December air. The temperature had dropped during the night, and even with a heavy tweed skirt suit and stockings on, plus a down-filled coat, knit cap, and gloves all covering her from head to knees, the cold was still nearly unbearable.

“You’ll warm up if you move fast enough,” she chattered to herself, and set off at a brisk pace. It was a ten-block walk to the office, one she did every day as it was faster than taking the subway. At this time of year, the city was aglow with the sparkling trappings of Christmas, the lights and shiny garlands everywhere creating such an enchanting atmosphere that Meredith almost forgot that she hated Christmas.

Almost.

The excitement of Christmas Eve and the celebration of Christmas morning had never been the same since that night two decades ago, when a semitruck had slid on black ice and slammed into her family’s car on their way home from a party. The impact had killed her parents instantly and put Meredith in the hospital with a concussion and a broken leg. Since then, the holiday had been forever marred in her mind by the image of twisted metal, the too-bright lights of a hospital corridor, and screaming at the nurse who told her on Christmas morning that her parents were gone.

But there would be plenty of time in the coming days to steel herself against the profound loneliness of Christmas. She forced herself to concentrate instead on Harbor’s current financial portfolio as she walked past the beautiful window decorations, and by the time she passed through the glass double doors of the high-rise headquarters of Harbor, she was feeling both warmer and more optimistic. She’d even managed to convince herself that there was a good chance that they could save the fund without having to resort to using Andrew’s money.

She waved to the security guard, then passed through the electronic turnstile and ran toward an elevator whose doors were starting to close, expecting it to be empty this early in the morning.

But just before she hit the threshold of the car, someone from inside the elevator put an arm out to stop the doors from shutting completely, surprising her in mid-stride. She gasped.

Andrew.

It was too late to slow down. Meredith caught a glimpse of his strong chin and wide brown eyes before she collided with him, the impact knocking her off-balance. She grabbed blindly at something to keep herself from falling—Andrew’s shoulders. Her fingers dug into hard muscles that she could feel through his clothes at the same time that his arms came up to brace her. They closed around her waist as their bodies slammed together, the momentum propelling them both toward the back of the elevator.

The doors rolled softly shut. Her embarrassment was so strong that it nearly became audible in the ensuing silence.

“Well. Good morning to you, too, Meredith.” Andrew sounded amused, but immediately followed up his greeting with, “Are you all right?”

She could feel a hot flush rising up her neck. Klutzy Klaus! Klutzy Klaus! She shouldn’t have felt so clumsy over something that could have happened to anyone, but the voice in her head still enjoyed taunting her. Her shoulders slumped and she twisted her lips in a wry smile. “No one could ever say I don’t know how to make an entrance, at least.”

His laugh sounded shockingly loud in the quiet elevator car. “Indeed,” he replied, his eyes twinkling as he looked down at her in his arms. “But I can’t let you take all the credit for it.” His voice gentled, and she felt his arms tighten around her, ever so subtly. “I apologize for stepping in your way. I was trying to hold the door for you, not trip you. Although…I certainly can’t complain about the result.” At that, he grinned, a playful, teasing expression, and her breath caught at the sight. Without thinking, she leaned into him a fraction of an inch further, his hard chest against her soft breasts creating an arousing contrast.

“You got new glasses.” His eyes roamed all of her face, as though that new detail made him wonder if there were any more things to discover on her.

An image of him, exploring her entire body as she lay naked before him, popped up in her mind. Her tongue felt thick and unwieldy as she spoke. “Not new, but new to you, anyway.” She had lowered her voice so as not to deafen him, as she was still clasped in his arms, their faces mere inches apart. The words came out as a near-whisper, like a secret shared by lovers in the dark.

His gaze shuttered immediately, and he pulled away from her. “Ready for a full day?” he asked, his tone still light, but different somehow. Professional.

She stepped back, too, reluctantly, ruthlessly tamping down the urge to linger in his arms. “I am. I got your message with all the information about tonight. Thank you for arranging a car to pick me up.”

He snorted. “Please don’t thank me. It’s the least I could do. I’m sorry I can’t pick you up myself, but I’ve got a last-minute meeting at five o’clock with a politician. He’s trying to introduce a bill in the Senate that would require New York companies to give to charities and needs some help reviewing the draft.”

Meredith couldn’t help feeling pleased that Andrew had considered coming to get her. Even if it was just a nod to gentlemanly courtesy, it made her feel like more than just a last-resort choice. A companion.

The elevator stopped and he gestured her forward. “Let’s head to my office right away and get started. I’ve got another meeting around ten, but otherwise my focus today is on the Christmas Bonus Fund.”

“Sure,” she replied, heading past her own door to his large corner office. He had a similar setup to hers, only his conference table and desk were both much bigger. She pulled out a chair at the table and set her bag on the seat. To her surprise, he strode over and set up his own computer right next to her place.

When he said they would be working side by side for the next six days, he meant it literally.

She straightened up and pulled her hat off, shaking out her deep-red tresses. She’d worn her hair down because she’d had to spend so much time searching for her replacement pair of glasses that she hadn’t had time to blow it completely dry as usual, then put it into a clean, tight bun. Instead, she’d just run the dryer haphazardly over it a few times so that her wet hair wouldn’t freeze, bundled it into her knit cap, and headed out the door.

The sight of it surprised him, that much was certain. He made some kind of sound that might be best described as “Oh,” but wasn’t really a word at all. She swallowed hard at the sudden throbbing between her legs. That moment in the elevator, and now this…

Nerves had her hands suddenly seizing up, knotting in the fabric near her collar.

She smiled. Couldn’t contain a blush. “Uh, yeah. My hair. It’s just—I didn’t have time—well, it’s down today.”

“Ah. Of course.” A simple enough reply, but her body practically went liquid at the way he said it. Her fingers felt clumsy as they worked the buttons of her coat, slowing her progress in slipping each one from its mooring. She was embarrassingly aware that the pace made it seem like she was performing a striptease, but that only made her fingers cooperate less.

Thankfully, he moved behind her to help her with the coat, and she finally managed to open the entire placket. But then she could feel his hands on her shoulders, making her blood heat and her vision cloud, and there was no choice left but to allow him to slide it off, revealing the sturdy brown tweed she wore underneath.

Would he laugh at her for that? Would it make him forget that her hair was down and her glasses were cuter and remind him instead that, oh yes, Meredith was clumsy and unattractive? It wouldn’t be the first time that she’d been put in her place. When she was thirteen, she’d knelt in front of her windowsill and wished upon a star for a new family for Christmas. Her foster father, Mr. Ferris, had been walking by at that moment, overheard her wistful plea, and informed her she was too old to be adopted. People wanted younger children they could make into their own, not frizzy-haired, nearsighted beanpoles whose clumsiness cost more than they were worth in broken china and chipped furniture. She’d never have the family she so desperately wanted.

It had been the last time she’d asked for anything for herself.

But Andrew didn’t say anything. Didn’t make a sound. He just pulled the coat away and stood in silence for a moment. She could feel the weight of his stare on her neck, moving lower, lower—

Her body drew tight. What was he looking at? Surely not her. It must just be her imagination, that sensation of his eyes on the curve of her bottom.

After a long moment, he finally cleared his throat and shifted behind her. “I’ll put this away” came the rumbling voice, close to her ear. She shivered. Before she could turn to thank him, he moved away, walking toward the wardrobe to hang her coat.

And in the next minute, any thoughts of how sexy she’d felt flew away when he flung the door to the wardrobe open and she saw what was inside, blurting out before she could think better of it, “Why do you have a gown in your closet?”

Chapter Five

Holy hell. Meredith was hot.

Andrew didn’t even register her words for a moment. He was so shocked by the intensity of arousal that had flooded through him as he watched her shake all that luscious red softness down her arched back. She’d ended up in the same pose he’d found her in last night in the hallway. The one that pushed her breasts out and highlighted the curve of her spine—things he’d felt even through her clothes when he’d caught her in his arms this morning. All that sweet, feminine warmth against him…

He shuddered.

Nothing was going to get done today if he didn’t get a handle on his libido. Hell, she had just asked him something from three feet away and he couldn’t figure out what she’d said.

“I—excuse me. I didn’t hear you. What did you ask?” He pulled out a hanger and slid her coat onto it, releasing a faint floral scent. Her scent.

“You—you have a dress in your wardrobe.”

The confusion in her voice made him chuckle. He’d forgotten about Lily’s dress. He pulled it out and draped it over the front of him, trying to twist the way he’d seen his sisters do when they modeled new clothes. “Do you think it suits me?”

Meredith’s eyes went wide for a moment, but then she realized he was joking and clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.

He paused, grinning back at her. With her eyes bright, her face lit up with a smile, she was so alluring. How had he never seen her this way?

Because it’s not your job to see her that way.

Right.

He lowered the dress and dropped his grin. “Actually, it belongs to my sister. She met me at the office for dinner after she’d been shopping and I let her leave this dress in my closet since it was too bulky to carry around.” He flashed a sheepish look. “But we had a lot of wine with our meal, so by the time we were finished, both of us had forgotten about it. When I called the next day to remind her, she said she’d changed her mind and was planning to return it.”

He held the dress out at arm’s length, actually looking at it for the first time. The black dress didn’t have any straps, and the satiny material on top looked pretty tight-fitting, at least until it got to somewhere around the thigh area, where a bunch of feathery things with sparkly stuff sprinkled on them spilled downward to the floor. It was one of the more frivolous things he’d ever seen.

He turned back to Meredith to say as much, only to realize that she was no longer laughing. Instead, she was staring at the gown with unabashed longing. The look on her face was so raw, so heartfelt, that he knew he’d be unable to resist her if she ever looked that way at him.

But then she caught him watching her, and her face shuttered immediately. “It’s a nice dress” was all she said, falsely nonchalant before turning to face her laptop screen and starting to type.

He frowned. It was almost as though she were punishing herself for liking the dress. Hardly a normal reaction.

The way she had looked at it had gone beyond simple appreciation for a pretty dress. What had she been thinking of when she looked at it so hungrily? Had she seen herself sliding it over her body, sweeping up that incredible hair so that everyone could see the delicate beauty of her bare shoulders? Had she imagined him running his hand over her neck, down the slippery fabric—

Hold up. No, she probably hadn’t been imagining those things.

But he certainly had.

Still, she must have envisioned something special for her face to go all starry-eyed like that. And this was the only opportunity to test the waters…

He gave a little cough, and she looked up. “Were you able to find something to wear for tonight? I know I didn’t give you much time to shop. My sisters start looking weeks in advance for things like this.” His kept his tone casual, almost indifferent, but he didn’t miss the way her eyes flickered back to the dress, her body swaying ever so slightly toward it for a moment.

She started to shake her head, caught herself, and changed it into a nod. “I do have a few things in my closet. I’m certain one of them will suffice.”

Not exactly reassuring. And the way she looked at the damned thing… For the first time in his adult life, Andrew did something he’d never had a reason to do before.

He lied.

“Too bad that this dress has been sitting here for over a month. When Lily said she was going to return it, I told her I’d have it sent back for her, but I kept forgetting. Now it’s too late. I already paid her back and was planning to just donate it, but I’m wondering…”

He purposely trailed off, watching her face. Her lips jumped as though she wanted to speak, to lay claim to it. In truth, the dress had only arrived here the other day, but he’d pay Lily back for it, no matter what it had cost, if it satisfied the hunger he saw in Meredith.

Was it the glasses? The hair? His attraction was strong, sure, but also unexpected and inappropriate. He should just drop it and—

“Wondering what?” Her voice cut into his thoughts. She’d stood up. “You were going to donate it, but you were wondering something?”

I was wondering what your bare shoulders look like.

He held out the hanger, the black fabric beckoning her to touch it. “You’re probably about Lily’s size. Why don’t you wear it tonight? It would make me feel better for inconveniencing you.”

At first he thought she would refuse, but then she took another step forward. Her hand reached out and he sucked in a breath, thinking that she was going to touch him, and then he would really lose his mind and do something like haul her against him and kiss her.

But instead, her fingers slid over the curving neckline of the dress before they dipped inside and lifted out the tag. Ralph Lauren Collection, 6, 100% silk, it read.

He heard her take a deep breath before she sighed out, “Yes. Yes, I’ll take it.”

…

Her fairy godmother’s name was Lily.

The second her fingers had closed around that dark-purple tag, Meredith had known. The fabric felt like heaven and the dress was in her size. She had to have it, or she’d die.

And that was the moment that she’d finally admitted that, yes, possibly, some kind of magic was at play, because in the past half hour she’d never felt more sexy and powerful in her life. Andrew was looking at her like he wanted to eat her up. She hadn’t fallen or spilled something or broken anything since she’d stumbled into his arms back in the elevator. Something was changing in her, and she simply couldn’t say no.

So she’d said yes, instead.

Andrew had grinned as though she’d given him the best Christmas present he could think of, and told her to take it home with her that evening, then. And then he’d hung it back in the closet and joined her at the table and pretended that everything was normal.

But it wasn’t. She wasn’t. She could feel it.

Her mind kept wandering away from the spreadsheets in front of her. She was wound up with excitement and nerves and…something else. Something hotter and more sensuous and—

“Want some coffee?” Andrew rose as he spoke, and she blinked. Had her thoughts been somehow transmitted to him, but gotten jumbled a bit along the way? She blushed. If so, thank God some mystical static had rendered the message all choppy. It was one thing to imagine a connection between them. It was another thing altogether to pursue it. To ask for it.

But he was doing the offering, even if it was just coffee, so it was okay for her to nod and say, “Yes, please. Three-quarters—”

He interrupted her. “Three-quarters full, one packet of sugar, then cream until the cup is seven-eighths full. Don’t stir. Which is weird, I will add.” He smiled at her in that way that popular high school boys smile at each other—mischievous, happy, and full of life, and Meredith couldn’t hold back a smile in return, her heart swelling with pride in him and, strangely enough, in herself. He’d noticed how she liked her coffee. And he was gorgeous.

But just in case she was completely misreading the situation, and he was just being nice while she was acting like a silly fool on some six-day trip to Crazytown, she wiped the goofy grin from her face and gave a perfunctory nod, instead. “Exactly. You’re so—” She fumbled for words for a moment. Handsome? Sexy? Lickable? “Observant,” she finished lamely.

“Thanks.” He said it slowly, drawing out the word into a couple of syllables while giving her a strange look, but he didn’t say anything else after that, just turned and walked out of his office. With him gone, the air seemed suddenly too thin, as though some vitally important element had just been sucked out of it.

Had he noticed that, too? The way she drank him in so deeply? He saw so much…

“It’s just coffee,” she whispered to herself, before sighing and turning back to focus on her work.

…

Several hours later, Meredith was shaking her head at her laptop screen. “I don’t understand how we could have lost this much money in just a few months. I can’t believe it didn’t show up in any of the overview reports, either.”

She sat back in the chair and looked at Andrew. It was just past one o’clock, and except for an hour while he’d had a conference call, they had been talking back and forth about the financial history of Harbor all day. Even when he had gotten on the call, he’d insisted that she stay, and they had communicated with a series of small touches. Her fingers ghosting over his as she pointed out an incorrect entry, his hand on her shoulder to get her attention, foreheads furrowing, mouths smiling…

She could draw him in her sleep now. Could trace the outline of the hard muscles in his forearms in her dreams. She was drowning in him. Working side by side had been a terrible, awful mistake. Because while she was nearly melting into a puddle under the table, he was completely unaffected. Business as usual, that’s what it was for him, while that black dress kept calling to her from inside the closet.

It had taken longer than usual for her to work through the statements from the fund. Not just because her mind was wandering all over thoughts of Andrew and how it would feel to wear that gorgeous gown tonight. What she was seeing in the numbers was getting more and more confusing, even without those distractions.

“What is it?” He rose from his chair and came to stand right next to her, leaning down to look at the computer.

Oh, my. The way he was standing, her shoulder was nearly brushing his thigh. If she leaned just slightly to the left, she would feel those hard flanks against her arm…

“Meredith?”

She shook off her thoughts and tore her eyes away from his legs, turning her attention back to the screen, scrolling down in the report. “See here? Until four months ago, there was actually more than the necessary amount in the fund. But between that period and the next, the balance drops by half a million dollars and the line item only says, ‘Fund transfer to account 6623-841.’ But at the same time, the Christmas Bonus Fund line item disappears from the Harbor Technologies monthly portfolio report, which is why it didn’t even occur to me that something was wrong until I received the fund statement yesterday. And I can’t find this account number in any of the financial tracking systems.”

“How is this possible? My approval is required for this kind of thing, but I didn’t sign off on any of these changes.”

She nodded. “Exactly. So if you don’t know about this, and there is no other record of this mystery account, then the next step is to call the bank and see who did open the account.”

She managed to keep her voice calm, but inside her gut was churning. This looked bad. Like embezzlement bad. Sloppy embezzlement, sure, but even if that was the case, it had still worked. The former CFO would be the likely culprit, and he could be anywhere by now.

“I’ll also call Bob,” she said, referring to her predecessor.

Andrew stiffened, but gave a tight nod. Meredith felt awful. When she had first interviewed for the position, Bob had just left the company. Andrew had spoken so highly of the elderly man. Any hint of wrongdoing must be difficult for Andrew to consider.

But they had to at least ask, even if the older man turned out to be completely innocent.

Andrew let out a ragged breath and straightened up next to her. “It’s late afternoon on a Friday. Go ahead and call the bank, but I have a feeling we’re not going to get any solid answers from them until at least Monday.” He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “In the meantime, let’s just do all we can to work with what we’ve got and assume we’ll never recover that half million. And hold off on calling Bob until we have answers from the bank, okay?”

He looked so weary all of a sudden that she didn’t even think. Her heart simply took over, and she reached out a hand to touch him in comfort. Except, because of their positions, instead of her hand landing on his shoulder in a gentle squeeze, her fingers ended up curling around the back of his thigh.

Ohhhh, that was a mistake. A horrible, hard, flexing mistake.

And yet her traitorous hand refused to move. She simply stared at it, pale skin on pin-striped trousers, and thought about how good it would feel if his clothes simply fell away, changing the sensation from slippery wool to coarse hair and firm skin. She would skim her fingers up, up, until she stroked the curve of his ass—

“Oh, my God!” She tore her hand away just as it started snaking its way upward. It felt like she’d had her hand on his body for an eternity, but it couldn’t have been more than a second that now had ended in awful, soul-gutting humiliation.

“I—I am so sorry. I cannot apologize enough. Clearly I wasn’t thinking. I thought it was your shoulder. I mean, obviously that wasn’t your shoulder. But that’s what I meant, to just give you a quick squeeze. On your shoulder, of course! Oh. Maybe I shouldn’t have come into the office today,” she finished, her voice weak with embarrassment.

Sometimes she wished Andrew’s nickname were something more sinister than the Santa CEO. At least then, it would be more reasonable to hope that he had built a trapdoor in the floor in front of his desk that would whisk her into a dungeon and instantly, completely out of his sight. Heck. She’d even settle for covering her face with a folder.

But almost everything at Harbor was digitized. The table was completely empty of folders, or brown paper bags, or—

“Meredith,” he said, his voice soothing. Placating.

He crouched next to her, his hands on the armrest of the chair as he looked up at her from where he was squatting on the floor. It should have been ridiculous, the CEO of a major corporation kneeling before her, but her heart started beating so fast, she thought she’d explode. Something in his eyes made her feel like she was a goddess that he was about to worship. Preferably with his tongue.

You couldn’t just let that thought go, could you?

She snapped her posture upright, arming herself against the feeling of being completely exposed to him. No one else had ever made her feel quite this naked, even though his expression was completely neutral. His voice came out low and quiet. “What do you think would happen if you had meant something inappropriate?” he murmured, not taking his eyes off hers for a moment.

At the responding images that rose up in her mind, she could almost feel her panties disintegrating beneath her skirt. This was so wrong. She forced herself to look away from him, to be professional. “I—you would have to report me, of course,” she whispered, directing her words to the wall, focusing on the blank whiteness while she composed herself, then turned back to him, clearing her throat. “Luckily, though, that’s not the case.”

His eyes flashed briefly with—was that disappointment? Then it was gone, and he merely nodded, rising, moving away from her and dropping back into his chair with a sigh. “Time to call the bank. And we should put in an order for lunch. You must be famished.”

That was it? She was tying herself up in knots and he dismissed the entire thing as though it had never happened and asked her about lunch?

Definitely not affected. Meredith forced herself to nod. She usually ate earlier than this, but she hadn’t wanted to interrupt for something as trivial as eating. Except that now, between the stress of dealing with the fund and the way her mind and body were playing tricks on her, “famished” didn’t even begin to describe how she felt. Turned inside out, about to self-combust, maybe.

“Lunch sounds great,” she managed.

“Any preference on restaurant?”

She shook her head. Truth be told, she wanted to eat alone, to get some time by herself to regroup. It wasn’t anything personal against Andrew. Being in such close quarters with someone else, especially when she had this many feelings to deal with, just wasn’t something she was used to. But she wasn’t about to say such a thing to him.

This was how her life had been when she’d been fostered, anyway. When there was nowhere she could go in those homes to have a few minutes of quiet. There were always too many kids, too many demands, and to ask for time alone would have resulted in being laughed at, at best. Being punished, even, sometimes. She’d learned to cope as best she could.

He stared at her for a moment. “I hope you know that you should always feel free to tell me what you want without feeling like you’re imposing,” he said.

For a moment, she thought he was talking about her need to have some time alone. But then she remembered that they had been talking about restaurants, and nodded politely. “Thank you. Truly, anywhere you choose will be fine.”

She wasn’t about to tell him what she really wanted. Him.

Chapter Six

By five o’clock, Andrew felt ready to break something. Or worse, lose his temper and shout out his frustration.

Who had made Meredith this way? Who had beaten down her own desires until she was afraid to voice something as simple as what kind of food she wanted for lunch? He could tell she didn’t really like the Italian place he’d chosen, but she’d simply accepted it as her due. But for what?

Before today, he’d never realized how terrible she was at asking for things for herself, because she didn’t seem to have a problem asking for things for others, or for Harbor. Until today, that had been the extent of their interaction, too. But working in such close quarters like this, he had finally seen that when it came to things that were just for herself, she retreated. Clammed up, disappeared, avoided, as though she were trying to make herself invisible.

Leanne, his executive assistant, appeared in the doorway. “Excuse me.” She nodded to both of them in turn. “The senator is here, Andrew.”

Damn it. He had forgotten about the meeting.

“Of course, Leanne. We’ll only be another minute. Do you mind showing him to the conference room?”

Leanne nodded and walked away, and Meredith jumped up immediately, gathering up her things and stuffing them into her laptop bag. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I should have remembered that you had a meeting. I—I’ll head to my office and try to keep going through the other account statements, since I haven’t gotten anything back from the bank yet. The manager said she’d try to send me information by Monday at the latest, but I was hoping to get something by now.”

What a mess. Poor Meredith looked frazzled, and he didn’t want her to carry the stress into this evening. She was doing him a favor by going as his date, and he wanted her to enjoy herself.

“Don’t bother with the other statements, at least for tonight. Even if you find something, we won’t be able to do anything about it until everything opens again on Monday morning. You may as well get going, anyway, to get ready for the gala.”

Meredith looped her bag over her shoulder and nodded. “Okay, great. I mean, it’s not great that we haven’t gotten any answers! I just meant that sounds like a good plan.” She was speaking too quickly and throwing nervous glances toward the closet as though a bogeyman were going to jump out of it.

Or maybe an evening gown. He wondered if she’d actually take the dress without him offering again. She may have felt daring enough to accept it this morning, but with a full day behind them, would she still be so bold?

Bold for Meredith, that is.

Perhaps it was cruel of him, but Andrew refused to let Meredith off the hook this time. He had watched her work all day long and knew how sharp and assertive she could be when it came to her work and the commitments of Harbor’s employees. There was no way he was going to allow her to shrink away from something she’d already laid claim to.

He told himself it was because he wanted her to be a part of the new company he was trying to launch. In order to make the venture a success, she would have to be capable of reaching out and taking hold of anything she needed. But there was another part of him that knew it was also because he wanted her to reach out and take hold of him.

She walked over to the closet and opened the door. He held his breath, but she merely pulled her coat out of it. Belatedly, he remembered his manners, and rushed over to help her put it on. He could see the dress just inside the dark wood cabinet. Light bounced off the sparkly things in the skirt, making it look like it was giving him a conspiratorial wink.

Take the dress, he willed her. Take the dress and let me see your bare shoulders tonight.

God, was he going crazy? There was no way anything could come of this attraction. He was her boss. They were professionals. He barely knew her.

Except that wasn’t really true. He knew how she took her coffee. He knew how hard she worked and how selfless she was. He knew he wanted to know more.

“Well. I’ll see you at seven thirty, then,” she clipped out, and before he could shout, “Just take the damned dress!” her arm reached up, grabbed the hanger as though she were floating in the ocean, clinging to a life preserver in the middle of a raging storm, and nearly yanked it from the wardrobe.

He wanted to cheer. Instead, he nodded. “See you then.”

…

This dress had cost six thousand dollars. Meredith stared at the price tag lying on the bed next to the black dress, and then looked to her left where she’d placed one of her old gowns. As soon as she’d gotten home from the office and seen that abundance of zeros on the heavy stock paper, she’d panicked, draped the dress gently on her bed, and backed away slowly, as though it were some terrible, volatile creature instead of just silk and feathers and beautiful crystals.

She’d hidden in the bathroom, showered, then done her makeup and put up her hair as well as she knew how, but when she emerged she still didn’t feel strong enough to fight the pull of that dress.

Instead, she’d brought out the most attractive dress she could find that was already in her closet and laid it next to the intimidatingly expensive one, trying to convince herself that the difference really wasn’t so great, and that she could look just as good wearing something she already owned, that she had paid a reasonable price for.

It didn’t work. The need to see herself completely transformed into the kind of woman who could ask for something she wanted overshadowed her reservations about the extravagance of spending that much money on a dress she’d likely wear only once. It had already taken every ounce of courage she had to yank that dress out of Andrew’s closet earlier, as though she were shoplifting. But she’d done it. And instead of completely depleting her of courage, the act had only made her feel even more daring. She’d walked home with that dress cradled to her body, and she’d felt her excitement and her pride in herself rising with every step.

Wear the six-thousand-dollar dress. Use that newfound courage and wear it.

Her finger reached out and traced over the too-large number on the price tag. It wasn’t that she couldn’t afford a dress like this. She’d done well at her previous company, and the package that Harbor had offered her had been even better. Even if she couldn’t have paid for it herself, Andrew had said he would. A thank-you gift, to offset the inconvenience he’d caused her.

As if wearing something that looked like dreams and magic to a sparkling, glittering ball was an inconvenience.

“Isn’t this what you wanted?” she asked herself, fingering the soft, feathery skirt. It didn’t feel like what she thought real feathers should feel like. But she had no doubt they were real, more luxurious and fine than she could ever have imagined. Is this how everything was? The things she’d wanted for so long—in reality, were they even better than she imagined? If so, then wasn’t it time to finally, finally take them for herself?

“Yes,” she sighed, exactly the same sound she’d made when Andrew had offered her the dress this morning and she’d accepted it. Except now she was offering it to herself.

“Yes, I’ll take it,” she whispered, and reached for dreams and magic.

Chapter Seven

Where was she? Andrew checked his watch again. Seven thirty-six. The limo service dispatcher had called just after seven o’clock to let him know that Meredith had been picked up and was on her way. She should have arrived by now. He was standing just inside the lobby, watching guests arrive and greeting a few on their way in, but mostly he was waiting for her.

The event planner was standing a few feet away, checking in with him every couple of minutes now, eager to get him backstage and miked up for the keynote. Meredith was supposed to have arrived over ten minutes ago. He didn’t want to abandon her to find her own way to their table with people she didn’t know, to have to explain who she was and why she was there. The planner raised her eyebrows again in question, and Andrew was about to shake his head when a car pulled up in front of the building and he knew. It was her.

The driver opened the door and started walking around the car to help Meredith out, but Andrew was there before him, popping the latch and thrusting his hand forward and—everything stood still for a moment.

It came to him in bits and pieces first. The flash of diamonds in her ears. The loose, curling tendrils of hair that framed her face, falling from a simple upsweep that showed off her pale, slender neck. Lips painted pink, outlining just how luscious and full they were. Big green eyes behind glasses.

He was used to women who wouldn’t be caught dead wearing glasses to a formal event. But Meredith was wearing hers.

He thought it was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.

Those eyes were shining as they stared up at him, as though he were some kind of prince coming to sweep her off her feet. Her look made him feel like a prince, anyway, and when she set her palm in his, he really couldn’t resist pulling her hard against him. Sweeping her up.

She was wearing her heavy coat over her dress, but he didn’t hesitate for a moment. Everything he needed to know, he could see in her face.

“You look beautiful.”

Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open into a little O. “Thank you,” she whispered, sounding breathless. Her eyes roamed his face and then his body, taking in his black-tie tuxedo. “So do you.” She blushed. “Handsome, I mean.”

He grinned. “Come on, let’s check your coat and I’ll take you to our table. I apologize, but I’ll have to leave you right away. The event planner is already about to kill me for delaying for so long.”

She smiled her consent, and he led her immediately to the coat check, impatient to see her in the gown she’d fought herself so hard for. And when he took the coat from her and she turned around to face him, it was obvious that she had emerged the winner.

Those shoulders. Those slender, strong, sexy shoulders. A small diamond pendant hung from a delicate strand of stones around her neck, setting her face aglow with the reflection of the warm lighting in the lobby. The black silk hugged her breasts, tightened around her waist, then flared again over her hips before disappearing into a tumbling mass of sparkling feathers.

But what made her truly irresistible was the way she was standing. He hadn’t even realized that she often hunched and cowered in meetings, and that she scurried instead of walked. Not tonight, though. Tonight, she was standing straight and tall, shoulders thrown back and chin up.

“Breathtaking,” he murmured, and she blushed.

God, had he really said that out loud?

He needed a moment to regroup. It wouldn’t be okay to ravish his CFO in the lobby before he gave a speech about the importance of social consciousness, and giving back to the community that fostered businesses like the ones these attendees represented.

Of course, he shouldn’t ravish his CFO, ever. But so help him, he really wanted to.

He passed her coat across the counter and took the chip that the clerk gave him. “May I escort you to the table?” Just as he had the night before, he offered his arm to her, but instead of helping her after she’d injured herself, he was the one who’d been knocked off his feet.

She slipped her hand through his arm and he nearly groaned. Damn it. How was he going to get through the keynote with an erection?

Thankfully, she brought up a topic that was decidedly unsexy, and his arousal abated somewhat. “How was your meeting with the senator?” She pitched her voice low so that the crowd couldn’t hear them as they walked toward the ballroom.

“It went very well.” He nodded at someone who waved at him from another set of doors, but kept walking. “He agreed to most of my suggestions for additions and edits, and I think this bill has a pretty good chance of passing.”

“Oh! I’m so happy for you!” She squeezed his arm, inadvertently pushing her breasts against his biceps. His eyes nearly rolled back in his head. When was the last time he’d been so turned on by the press of breasts against his arm? The answer was never. He’d never felt that way. The women he’d dated in the past had, for the most part, been smart and nice, but he’d simply never felt so right with any of them as he did with Meredith.

But before he could process the rest of that thought, that Meredith was the main attraction and he didn’t think he’d be able to tear his attention away when the end of the night rolled around, they entered the ballroom and she gasped in delighted surprised.

“Oh, my gosh! It’s beautiful,” she gushed. But all he could do was shake his head, because the only thing running through his mind as he turned and looked at her was Yes, you are. You really are.

…

As promised, the ballroom had been transformed into a winter wonderland—the whimsical North Pole, complete with white Christmas trees, wrapped “presents” arranged in centerpieces at every table, a lovely candy house on one side of the stage at the front of the ballroom, and snowflakes dangling from the ceiling. White lights everywhere gave the room a magical glow.

A thrill rolled through Meredith. It was the most incredible transformation she’d ever seen. It really did feel as if she were in a different world.

“Magic at the North Pole,” Andrew remarked, just as a waitress wearing an elf costume stopped to offer them hors d’oeuvres from a gleaming silver tray. His eyes were on her, but his face looked strange, as though he’d gotten lost and couldn’t figure out where this abundance of sparkle and magic had come from.

Her mind was whirling with a thousand thoughts a minute. Since she’d left her last foster home for college, she’d not bothered with putting up a tree, or any kind of decorations, not feeling much like celebrating on the same day that her parents had died. And now, standing here in a gorgeous gown, on the arm of an even more gorgeous man, she couldn’t help feeling that maybe she’d been wrong all these years to turn her back on Christmas.

She felt a sharp pain in her chest as the breath whooshed out of her. Definitely not the tribute to her parents that they would have been pleased to see.

Before they had died, Christmas at her house had been so magical, with a big tree and carols playing on the living room stereo. Her mother used to bake cakes and pies and cookies, and Meredith would perch next to her on a stool at the counter when it was time to ice the sugar cookies.

Warmth and celebration and joy. Hadn’t this been exactly what she’d dreamed of when she’d wished for a family for Christmas? Or was she feeling this just because Andrew was the one who had given it to her?

He escorted her to a table right in front of the stage, pulled out her chair, and introduced her to several couples before murmuring, “I have to go now. I’ll be back for the main course, though.” And then he was gone, following a swiftly moving little blond woman behind the stage.

“So, how long have you and Andrew been together?” the woman to her left—Genevieve, was it?—turned to Meredith.

“Oh, we’re not together,” Meredith said, but Genevieve’s eyebrows immediately rose at those words, clearly disbelieving.

“Could’ve fooled me,” came a laughing voice from Meredith’s right, and another woman, Caroline, leaned across Andrew’s vacant chair, joining the conversation. If one could call it a conversation. To Meredith, it felt more like an exercise in humiliation at the moment, even though these women were being perfectly nice.

“He looked about ready to gobble you up just now. Are you trying to keep it quiet? You know, for the press? Because we understand how that goes.” Caroline looked back for a moment at her husband, and Meredith tried not to gape.

Caroline’s husband was the mayor of New York City. Of course she would understand wanting to keep a relationship out of the public eye.

Except Meredith wasn’t being coy, but Genevieve spoke before Meredith could convince them otherwise. “Oh, that makes sense. The way he looked all hot and possessive about you, oh!” She fanned herself with her hand, teasingly.

“Nothing like scoring the hottest young bachelor in town,” Caroline added with a laugh and a wink.

I wish, Meredith wanted to say. I wish so desperately that were true, but it’s not. He’s just my boss! Though by the time she got finished processing what they had said…gobble you up…hot and possessive…someone had tapped the microphone on the stage, just behind her, and she turned with the rest of the suddenly hushed audience to look at the speaker.

It was Jon Myerberg himself, introducing Andrew, the golden boy of the tech industry, but better known across America as the Santa CEO…

Andrew walked out on stage and stole her breath at the sight of him, even though she’d seen him only minutes before. The ballroom clapped for him, then quieted.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming out tonight to show your support for the Myerberg Foundation and for all the good work it does for our nation’s underprivileged children. Ten years ago, when I started Harbor Technologies, I had the privilege of meeting Jon here, and it was a meeting that changed my life.” He nodded toward Jon Myerberg, who was standing to one side of the podium.

“Before that meeting, I had always thought of philanthropy, of good works, as things that simply happened. I didn’t bother to really think about how giving, like any other thing we do in business, is a conscious action that we have to make happen or it will fall by the wayside. Jon changed that for me by asking me one simple question. Within the first minute of our meeting, he asked me, ‘What do you want?’”

He paused, looking around the room, and Meredith couldn’t help but feel relieved that he wasn’t looking at her just then, because it felt like her cheeks were on fire. Hadn’t he asked her that today, in not so many words? Hadn’t she been asking herself ever since she’d woken up this morning and realized that she had wanted something more?

“I wasn’t sure why he’d asked me that until I answered. Now I can’t remember what I said. I think it was something about Harbor’s software, but it doesn’t really matter. What Jon pointed out to me was that, until I’d voiced my request, he would never have known what I was looking for. He showed me that silence is not action. Giving does not just happen. It might seem counterintuitive to so many of us, but the truth is that you have to go out and ask for the action of giving. It is not enough just to ask it of yourself. One person can only take things so far. You have to let other people know what you want in order to truly attain it. You have to take action, and silence is not action.”

Oh, God. Was that her heart in her throat, threatening to choke her dead?

“That’s why I am telling all of you tonight that Jon and I have partnered to create a new organization specifically focused on helping corporations to set aside and manage funds that give back. We want you all to consider putting a portion of your organization’s earnings into a fund that we can grow to benefit the most people possible. We are telling you what we want. We are taking action. We hope that you will do the same.”

What? He was starting another company? Did that mean that he would be leaving Harbor? Andrew paused, and she could hear a few murmurs of approval around the room, but Meredith had to fight back the urge to shake her head. If he left Harbor, would she even see him again in passing, much less have another opportunity to spend a night like this with him? With someone she respected, admired, and, yes, lusted after with an intensity she’d never felt for any other man?

But then Caroline leaned over again and whispered, “Andrew is so inspiring,” making Meredith snap to attention, force a smile to her lips and nod casually, as though she wasn’t afraid. But she was. So afraid that she was once again going to lose a connection that she hadn’t even realized she wanted so badly until tonight.

You’re here for Andrew. Put on a happy face and pretend this is the most wonderful thing you’ve ever heard.

“It is amazing to think back to that meeting, a decade ago, and realize that my life completely changed overnight.”

His voice had quieted, and she could practically feel the audience collectively lean in to hear his next words. But instead of staring out back at the crowd, Andrew shifted his gaze to the table where she sat. To Meredith herself. Their eyes locked, and she could feel herself practically being pulled into him, mesmerized.

“From one day to the next, I became someone different. It took a person who cared enough to take the time to really talk to me, to see me, to teach me how to ask for what I wanted. That’s what it took to shake up everything I knew and turn my life around. For the better, of course,” he added, and the crowd chuckled. “While that description might make what Jon did seem commonplace, or easy, I have met very few people since who had had such a profound impact on my life.”

His eyes were practically boring into hers now. “And somehow, each one of those people seems to have impacted me the same way that Jon did—effecting a transformation in such a short time that I often wonder if some kind of magic wasn’t at play.”

At that, he broke eye contact with her, but she couldn’t stop staring, watching his face as he smiled at the audience, almost everyone in it riveted on Andrew.

“Tonight, I hope you’ll enjoy some of that magic, here in this special North Pole that the Myerberg Foundation has worked so hard to create for all of us. And more importantly, I hope that each of you will take home a little of that magic for yourself, to effect your own transformation by hearing the want we have expressed tonight, and taking action in giving. I am honored to have been invited to speak with all of you tonight, and from the bottom of my heart, thank you for listening.”

He gave a little bow, and the room erupted in applause. Jon walked forward to shake his hand, and the two shuffled off to the side a bit to take photos and give short interviews to the press. Music began to play, Christmas carols filtering softly into the room, and soon the clink of silverware and glasses being moved around joined the sound of the music.

But Meredith barely heard any of it over the sound of Andrew’s words being repeated, over and over in her mind. Silence is not action…go out and ask…not enough just to ask it of yourself…take home a little of that magic for yourself…

Yes, her thoughts replied. Yes, I’ll take it.

Chapter Eight

“Thanks again for coming with me tonight.”

They were in the car, being driven to Meredith’s apartment. Andrew had insisted on seeing her home instead of taking his leave at the entrance, which would have been much more practical. They’d gone uptown from the gala to drop her off, while he lived downtown.

And yet she couldn’t manage to let it really bother her. They were sprawled in the backseat, falling into the leather, hands nearly touching on the cushion between them, and the outside world seemed impossibly far away.

“I had a wonderful time,” she sighed, enjoying the profound relief of being off her feet.

“Really?” He turned to face her, bringing his body that much closer to hers, his eyes gleaming as they passed under a streetlight.

“Really. The people I met were friendly and the ballroom was so, so lovely and your speech—” She sat up and twisted, too, narrowing the space between them even more. “Are you leaving Harbor to start this new company that you talked about?”

He lifted one hand as though to place it on her arm, to reassure her, but must have thought better of it, because it sort of froze in midair, hovering over her elbow. Without even thinking, she brought her hand up and threaded her fingers through his just as the car slowed in front of her apartment building.

“Meredith—” he began.

But before he could say something like, We have to keep this professional or I’ve always adored you for your work, but as a woman? Ha! No way, she drew on her ever-expanding courage and asked, “Would you like to come up?”

…

Was she asking him what he thought she was asking him?

Andrew stared for a moment, trying to process what she meant by the invitation.

“I mean, of course you don’t have to. I just—I’d like to hear more about this new thing you’re doing, but I know it’s late and you probably have other things to do, and I’ve already inconvenienced you enough…”

Don’t take away that magic she gained today. That incredible confidence. It turned him on. Turned him inside out.

“Yes. I’d love to come up.”

The driver opened the door then, and Andrew got out first, turning to help Meredith from the car.

“I’ll be seeing Ms. Klaus safely inside, Jim, and will take a taxi back to the office later. Thank you for your service this evening.”

The driver tipped his hat at both of them. “Good night. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” Meredith said, smiling, before leading the way up to her apartment.

They’d just gotten in the elevator when Andrew spoke again. “I’m not leaving Harbor. Jon and I talked about it and we both felt that it would make more sense if we found someone else to run North Star Industries.”

It was the first time he’d told anyone the name, and her reaction was everything he could have hoped for. Her face lit up with delight. “North Star? You’re really going all out with your Santa CEO nickname,” she giggled.

He grinned. “That was Jon’s idea, actually. He wanted to play up my nickname while making sure that the theme for the gala would match the spirit of the name, so that it would remind people that Myerberg was a part of it, too.”

The elevator stopped, and he gestured for her to precede him while he held the door open. “He’s a really nice, down-to-earth kind of guy,” she said softly. It was a few minutes past eleven at night, and her floor was completely quiet. He followed her in silence to a glossy white door and waited while she unlocked it. They stepped inside before he spoke again.

“Jon thought the same of you, you know. Except he added ‘smart, charming, and breathtakingly beautiful.’”

Her mouth dropped open. “He did?”

Andrew laughed. “Well, maybe he just agreed when I said those things.” She gave a squeak of protest, but he barreled through. “And he also agreed when I suggested that we ask you to be the executive director.”

“I don’t—”

“You don’t have to answer right away. In fact, I’d prefer that you didn’t. Just think about it for a bit, and if it’s something that you want, the job is yours as soon as we can wrap up your work at Harbor. But only if you want it for yourself. Not because you think I do, or Jon does, or anything like that.”

“Oh, gosh,” she sighed. “Did you mean that?”

He gave her a confused look. “Absolutely. You’re more than qualified to run an entire organization. Despite this unexpected problem with the Christmas Bonus Fund—which wasn’t your fault to begin with—you’ve proven yourself to be an excellent CFO. I think you could make the transition pretty smoothly.”

She smiled and blushed. “Actually, I meant—that part where you said—”

Ah. That’s what she’d been talking about. “Where I said you were smart, charming, and breathtakingly beautiful?”

They were standing in the foyer of her apartment, crowded close to each other in the small space. The dim glow from the single sconce on the wall behind him illuminated only her face, but he could feel the heat of her body, like a living thing all of its own. Everything beyond this narrow stretch of hallway disappeared when she leaned closer, and desire flooded through him stronger than he’d ever felt before.

“Yes,” she whispered, green eyes glinting up at him. There was no hesitation as he closed the distance between them in a heartbeat, his arms wrapping around her back and his lips pressing against hers.

She yielded immediately, hands sliding up to his shoulders, gripping at him through the layers of clothing. Her mouth opened under his, and he stroked inside, licking at her, letting her suck his tongue and hum in appreciation before she slid her hands up to his neck, threading her fingers into his hair.

He groaned at the feel of her touch against his skin. And that was just her fingers on his neck. What would it feel like to have those hands on his body, stroking down his chest, gripping his cock—

He tore his mouth away. “Meredith, is this okay? I didn’t mean to do this without asking. I don’t want you to feel—”

Whatever he was about to say fled his thoughts, because she slipped off her glasses and slid them into the pocket of her coat before putting her hands to his coat, slipping the top button open, then working her way downward. This wasn’t a polite Let me take your things.

She was undressing him.

“You don’t want me to feel what? Turned on? Hot? Needy? I haven’t felt this way, ever,” she admitted, breathless, her fingers working so fast that his coat was already hanging off his shoulders. She yanked his bow tie loose, the two ends draped down his chest by the time his brain finally managed to catch up. He pulled her back to him for another kiss.

By the time he lifted his lips from hers again, both of their coats were crumpled on the floor at their feet, the pins had fallen completely out of her hair, and both of them were gasping for breath.

And they hadn’t even left the foyer. He put one hand on the small of her back as he stroked her from neck to navel with the other. She arched against his touch.

“You look amazing in this dress. God, Meredith,” he groaned. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”

She looked at him, eyes hazy and unfocused. “You make me feel beautiful,” she murmured, then took his hand and led him into her bedroom.

Chapter Nine

Meredith’s hand trembled as she switched on the lamp on her nightstand. Oh, my God. This is actually happening.

She turned back to Andrew for another kiss, trying not to think about what they were about to do. Instead, she poured her focus into the way his mouth felt on hers, the way he nibbled at her chin and stroked her breasts, dipping his fingers inside the neckline of her dress to lightly rub over her nipples, making her moan into his mouth.

Their clothes seemed to fall away by degrees, shirt pushed back and pulled off of muscled shoulders, black silk and feathers falling to the floor, lace and cotton and clasps and hooks undone. Until the moment that he pulled her against his body, his erection pressing into the soft flesh of her belly, and she gasped at the feel of his skin against hers.

His hands were everywhere then, smoothing over her body and learning every line and curve. His mouth moved away from hers, nibbling a trail of hot, wet kisses down her body, making her pant and whimper with need, until at last he was kneeling in front of her. He swirled his tongue in her navel. Pushed her legs apart. Dipped his head…and licked, slowly, leisurely into her folds.

She jumped and moaned. He slid up a little to tease at her clit, and looked up at her, making her cheeks flame at the sight of those hot eyes, that incredibly talented tongue flicking into the red curls at the juncture of her thighs. “Did you come already and not make a sound?” he asked, pushing his face against her body and stroking deep before sliding away again. “Because you’re so wet.”

Oh, God. She couldn’t take it. The words he was saying, the way he was talking…she felt like she was going to come, just from that. She shook her head, unable to speak.

“No, you’re not wet?” He gave a mischievous laugh. That’s not what she meant, but—

“Ohhhhh,” she sighed, as he pushed one strong finger into her hot, clasping passage.

“You’re so tight, too,” he whispered, licking her clit leisurely, as though she weren’t feeling restless and needy and completely uncertain what to do with her suddenly shaking hands.

He pulled away. She wanted to tell him not to leave, but she was too embarrassed to say the words aloud. Thankfully, he seemed to read her mind, because in the next moment he slid his thumb upward to replace his mouth, rubbing around her clit as he pushed his finger back inside her body.

So good. So, so good. Meredith moaned and arched, fluttering her hands over Andrew’s hair before settling them atop his head, the thick weight of his hair adding to the sensual pleasure of his fingers moving in and out of her. Every nerve hummed with anticipation, the tension starting to coil tighter and tighter with every stroke.

Her climax was so close, but she couldn’t quite reach it, even though she was straining so hard that her muscles were beginning to ache.

“Relax, baby. Relax,” came his voice, floating up toward her even as she gasped for breath.

Oh, she loved to hear him call her that. She sighed at the words, her body opening up a bit as she exhaled, and Andrew chose that moment to put his mouth on her again, pumping his finger harder, deeper, as he sucked and tongued her clit.

“Andrew!” Meredith exploded then, coming with a loud cry and clenching her fingers in his hair as the spasms shook her body, making her buck her hips against his mouth. It was incredible, the feeling of complete release that rocked through her bones and burst through every last inch of her skin, leaving her panting but oh so sated. He waited until she’d come down from her orgasm before he rose, pulled her against him, and kissed her deeply, hot and wet. She could smell herself on the skin of his face. It made her squirm and whimper beneath him, wanting more, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask him for it, to ask him to please fuck her now.

But once again, she didn’t have to say a word before Andrew was guiding her back toward the bed, holding her as they both sank back onto the mattress, his body atop hers. He kept kissing her, stoking her need once more, and his hard cock pressed into her thigh, stiff and powerful and hot. She rose against it, trying to signal to him what she wanted.

Luckily, he got the message. He pressed a brief kiss to her nose, and then leaned off the bed to grab his tuxedo trousers, pull out his wallet, and find the condom inside. He sheathed himself so quickly that she barely had a chance to really look at him, to explore the hard muscles along his stomach, the dark hair that curled around the base of his thick, long erection, before he braced himself above her once more and kissed her until her legs spread wide, inviting him in.

His body felt so good against hers. Warm skin against her breasts, the substantial weight of a strong, handsome man against her belly, and lower, his large, stiff cock sliding back and forth between her wet folds. They lay like that for what seemed like hours, until he tore his mouth from hers, panting hard, looking as though he wanted to say something profound, and she strained toward him. But instead of saying anything, he only stared hard at her, eyes burning into hers, before he pulled his hips back, then in a single, powerful motion, thrust deep inside.

…

“Oh my God!”

Meredith gasped out the words, but not in pleasure. No, her voice was strained, and he could feel her inner muscles clenching, protesting his body’s invasion, and Andrew froze. He had to grit his teeth and lock his arms to fight against the urge to keep sliding in and out of such a hot, wet, incredibly tight—holy fuck. Too tight. Just like her face, her arms. Clamped down and struggling against discomfort.

Fucking hell. She was a virgin.

Or had been, anyway.

He tried to pull away from her, to slide out and give her some relief, but she held him fast, surprisingly strong for someone so slender. “No! Don’t go. I just need to adjust. I’ll be fine, I just—just need a minute.”

He tried to say something, like Why didn’t you tell me?, but all he could manage was a half grunt, half sob, as she angled her hips up and brought him even farther inside her wet, clasping heat. At this rate, it wasn’t going to matter whether he pulled out or not. He was dangerously close to climax, despite the shock of finding out that this was her first time. Hell. It felt like his first time.

“I won’t go anywhere,” he managed to get out, lowering his head into the crook of her neck.

How was it possible, in this day and age, to get past the age of thirty and still be a virgin? He never would have guessed, especially given the way she’d just responded to him. Not that it was a bad thing. Just…a surprise. A tight, clenching surprise that was threatening to take him over the edge, even as he tried to calm himself, to resist the heat that was building in his body.

He rested like that for a moment, focusing on regaining his control, listening to her breathing calm and feeling her body slowly relax, until she brought one hand up to tentatively stroke his back. Her touch was light, but she explored him with obvious curiosity, moving over every inch of his skin. His cock pulsed inside her in response, and she gasped again, but this time her sharp inhale was followed by a moan of pleasure.

“Are you okay?” he murmured in her ear, not wanting to move again until he knew she was ready. He wanted to make this good for her, but if he started again, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop without pulling out completely. And he didn’t want to leave her. Not now. Not ever.

She nodded, her hair rasping over his temple. He pulled back, propping himself up on his arms to look down into her eyes. The movement had him sliding inside just a fraction more, and Meredith’s lips parted on a soft sigh as he pushed even deeper into her.

Fuck, she was gorgeous. With her lying beneath him like this, her body flushed pink just the way he’d imagined—no, better than he’d imagined—it already felt like the hottest sex of his life. And he still hadn’t moved yet.

“Yeah, I’m okay now. It feels so—different. But good.” She smiled up at him. “You feel so good.”

She spread her legs a bit wider and pushed her hips gently against his to emphasize her words, and Andrew groaned at the feel of her hot, wet channel taking even more of him inside. He couldn’t hold himself still any longer and slid halfway out, fighting himself to go slowly, gently, before thrusting back home with a rough breath.

The pleasure nearly made his eyes roll back in his head.

“Yes, Andrew. That—that’s amazing,” Meredith whispered, and this time he couldn’t manage to be as gentle. His hips pulled back and pumped back in on a deep stroke, wrenching a cry of pleasure from Meredith as her fingers flexed over his ass, pushing him even harder against her body. “More,” she demanded, and before he could protest that he wanted to give her pleasure first, she ground herself against him, working his cock as though she couldn’t get enough.

“God, Meredith” was all he managed to get out, before it became impossible to think anymore at all, just feel, as he stroked in and out of her, the sound of their coupling growing wetter, faster, louder. She began to meet him each time he sank all the way inside of her, until both of them were panting, moaning on every thrust. She was so swollen around him now, and he could feel his orgasm approaching.

“Meredith—fuck, I’m so close.” He tried to stop, to pull out so that he could refocus on making her climax, but she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him toward her before he could withdraw. He groaned, feeling the tingling sensation starting to zip down his spine, warning him that he was about to come.

“Please, Andrew. Please come for me. I want it. I want you—”

She shifted beneath him, her legs tightening and her inner muscles grabbing at his cock and squeezing him almost to the point of pain. Oh, no. Please don’t do that. “Meredith,” he gasped against her skin, trying to still her, but it was too late.

The wave of pleasure washed over him, seizing him up and shaking him out, emptying his very soul into her body as he recited, over and over into her ear, “I’m so sorry. Shit, that feels good. I’m just so sorry.”

…

He was gone.

He’d stroked her body, whispered her name, released himself inside her, and then he’d left just as the clock struck midnight, stammering something about convenience and late that she couldn’t quite make out because his voice was half-crazed. Even before he’d thrown on his clothes and practically sprinted out the door, it had sounded like an excuse to leave, which he’d done without so much as a kiss good-bye.

Meredith pulled the covers more tightly around her and stared up at the ceiling, trying not to cry. She’d failed so miserably. What had she been thinking, trying to be someone she wasn’t? Pretending to be the kind of woman who belonged in that dress, in those glasses, with that man. She should be ashamed.

So…why wasn’t she?

Why, instead of shame, was it anger that she was feeling?

“Because you weren’t pretending,” she whispered, sitting up abruptly and smacking the comforter. “I wasn’t pretending!” she shouted into the room, feeling her anger rise. Anger at Andrew, at the foster system, at the loneliness of Christmas, but most of all, anger at herself.

She’d spent so many years denying this part of who she was, thinking that she had no right to ask for what she wanted, that when she’d finally done it and claimed something for herself, it had taken a long time to recognize the woman who’d been hiding inside her for so long.

She hadn’t even been able to come again just now, when he’d been inside her, because a part of her was still too scared to ask for what she wanted. Her pleasure. Her needs. She’d felt him trying to withdraw, to turn all the focus back onto her, and she’d panicked and pulled him back inside, instead.

“You’re a fool, you know that?” she snipped out, launching herself out of bed to go to the bathroom, but the soreness between her legs made her wince and sink back down to sit on the edge of the bed. Damn. She hadn’t expected that it would hurt this much after the fact, given that she was thirty-one, for goodness’ sake. But it seemed her body was still adjusting to the new experience.

The thought gave her pause. Is that what had sent him running? Had he felt intimidated by being the first guy she’d had sex with? Or was he perhaps afraid she was going to ask for too much in exchange for her virginity? She snorted. Not that she had ever thought much of it. She’d just never met anyone who made her want to bother opening herself up that far.

But men often placed importance on that kind of thing. And Andrew, with his focus on helping others and giving to people in need, might especially feel as though he took too much. Except that didn’t seem like something he would think.

What do you know? You don’t really know anything about him!

Meredith shook her head. She’d been attracted to him from the first moment she’d met him, not just because of his looks, but because of the way he’d made her feel accepted. She’d made a general fool of herself during her interview, but he’d acted like it was no big deal, and by the end of the interview, she’d felt more confident.

It had been him all along. Working with him had shown her, in slow increments over these past couple of months, the value of her own self. It had only taken a small gesture, like inviting her to the gala and showing her just how worthy she could be, to make all of the little things she’d learned click into place. He’d seen something in her that had made him offer her the job at this new company. He’d had to have talked to Jon Myerberg beforehand about the offer… Andrew had seen what she was capable of even before she’d seen it.

And then he’d left her.

God. Was she destined to be alone forever? For so long, she had wished for something that everyone else in the world seemed to have. A family. A sense of belonging. Last night, she had felt like her wishes had finally come true. Andrew had not only made her think that he might fulfill that dream of belonging; he’d made her feel that she could finally break free from the loneliness that she’d endured for all these years.

Burden. Unwanted. Orphan.

The painful memories rose up, crowding into her thoughts next to the image of Andrew’s shocked face, his hasty good-bye. She felt the hot prick of tears behind her eyes, and for a moment she gave in to the hurt, allowing a mournful sob to escape.

Immediately, she pushed the hurt back in, defiance rising. No. She would not collapse. She would not allow herself to be beaten by this.

Except, why her? What had she done wrong?

“Does it matter?” she said to the empty room.

She couldn’t help but feel that the answering silence was mocking her, driving home the realization that she’d been abandoned by the only man she’d ever trusted enough to let inside—in every way. A new wave of self-pity washed over her, warring with the anger and making her feel even more confused about how she really felt.

“Enough!” She threw up her hands and growled in frustration. This whole situation could all too easily turn into a weekend-long pity party, and that wasn’t what she wanted. That wasn’t who she was.

She had to forget about Andrew, at least for a little while. There was something else she had to do first.

…

Fifteen minutes later she was seated on her couch, a fuzzy, hot-pink terry cloth robe tied over her naked body. Well, semi-naked. The rough nap of the terry was too much for the hypersensitized area between her legs, so she’d put on her softest pair of panties—which also happened to be the oldest and most worn-out pair—and grabbed a notepad and pen and sat down to think. She’d just finished writing so much that she’d nearly filled an entire page when her buzzer rang, making her jump.

Who was at her door at half past midnight?

It had better not be some drunk kids who sneaked past the doorman. She tiptoed to her door and looked out the peephole, jerking back and gasping as soon as she saw him.

Andrew.

What was he doing back here? Had he forgotten something? Should she even answer? She hadn’t expected to see him again so soon, and didn’t quite trust herself not to rage at him for ditching her right after they’d done something so significant. Heck. Even if it hadn’t been her first time, it had been their first time together. No matter what, he shouldn’t have left.

The anger boiled up again. It had been simmering so close to the surface as she worked on her list that it didn’t take much to bring it back to a head.

Better not answer. Better to wait until Monday, when her temper had cooled and she could discuss this in a rational, professional manner.

But just then, the buzzer rang again, and she couldn’t prevent a yelp in surprise, clapping her hand over her mouth and going completely still, not wanting to move for fear she would make another sound.

Too late. He’d heard her. “Meredith?” his voice came through the door, quiet but urgent. “Meredith, are you there?”

Quit using your temper as an excuse. Quit cowering. Answer the door and tell him what you want. All those things on your list. You deserve them. He deserves to hear them.

She pulled the door open, scowling at him, ready to give him a piece of her mind, but before she could say a word, he held up a bag. “I know. I’m really sorry that it took such a long time. The closest twenty-four-hour Duane Reade is several blocks away. But I got it, and I swear I’m going to make this up to you if it takes all weekend.”

What was he talking about? It was so unexpected that it threw her anger off, replacing it instead with confusion. She stood in the doorway, staring at him and trying to figure out if he’d been knocked on the head, or abducted by aliens, or some other weird mind-changing experience, in the past half hour.

“Is—is everything okay?” he asked then, realizing that she was still blocking him from entering. He was still whispering. “I really am sorry. I only realized how late it was when I got there. I should have stayed a while longer and helped you, um, recover.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Shit, I’m so bad at this. Is it that I’m being too presumptuous about this? Of course. You don’t have to use any of this stuff. I just couldn’t stand the idea that I had hurt you.”

Stuff? What stuff? She shook her head in confusion, but gestured him in. No use trying to get an explanation with him standing in the hall.

As soon as she closed the door behind him, she crossed her arms and glared at him. “I don’t understand. You said you were leaving. Where did you go just now and why did you come back?”

His brow furrowed. “I went to the convenience store to get some things to help you with the, um, soreness.” He gestured toward her awkwardly, as though it were just then dawning on him that he might have overreacted. “But, as I suspected, most of the places around here aren’t open late. Did you—did you not hear me before, when I told you?”

Oh, dear. So that’s what he’d been stammering about as he’d jammed his feet into those shiny black shoes and scooped his coat up in such a hurry. He’d been speaking so fast, and she’d still been so dazed, that her mind had interpreted it as a hurried good-bye.

“So, you weren’t just trying to get out and go home?” She suddenly felt foolish.

“God, no!” The horror in his voice was real, and she felt herself relaxing even while feeling more embarrassed than ever. “I admit that I didn’t handle it as well as I could have, but I was so worked up, wanting to make up for how catastrophically I failed that—”

His words were cut short when Meredith wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, a hard, happy kiss that was just as much relief as it was joy. “You didn’t fail. Neither of us did. I appreciate the sentiment, but you shouldn’t have left. Because there’s nothing to ‘make up for,’ as you put it.”

“But you deserve—”

“I deserve for you to believe me when I say that you didn’t fail. Did it really scare you that much? I thought you’d left because you didn’t want to see me again. I thought I’d failed somehow. I didn’t even think my virginity—God, I feel too old for that word—would be an issue. It certainly wasn’t one for me.”

After a moment, he nodded. “You’re right. You do deserve that. God, Meredith. I’m sorry. I just—” He took a deep breath and hugged her close.

She closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the rush of relief, excitement, and hope. He hadn’t abandoned her.

“I’ve found you attractive from the very start. I made all kinds of excuses for why I shouldn’t want you, because I knew I would stop at nothing to have you if I ever admitted how much I admired you. How smart and strong you are. How I feel about you. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. Not now. Not ever. I—I fucked up and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left, even for a minute. I won’t do that to you again, I swear it. I was just so desperate to be the kind of man that you might want in return.”

Oh. He wanted her. And he wanted her to want him back. “Shhh,” she whispered, kissing him again, feeling all the frantic words inside him slipping away. I want you, she told him with her lips, her tongue, and he slipped his hands inside her robe, stroking over her body, skimming over her cotton-clad bottom—

“Oh!” She jumped back, suddenly remembering her tattered robe and ratty panties and grabbing both sides of her now-open robe to yank it tightly closed. “I look like such a slob,” she moaned.

He smiled. “Absolutely not. You look beautiful. You don’t have to wear a nice gown to make me think so. I only regret that I didn’t admit I thought that way before today. We could have been doing this months ago.”

“Months ago, you had a girlfriend and there was no six-thousand-dollar dress hanging in your closet.”

He stiffened. “That dress was six thousand dollars?”

Her jaw dropped. “You didn’t know? How could you not know? I thought you said you’d already paid Lily back for it!”

At least he had the grace to look sheepish about getting caught in the lie. “I might have stretched the truth a bit about that. But the way you looked at it…even then, I couldn’t resist the desire to give you what you so clearly wanted. And I will pay Lily back for it, because it was worth it.” He nibbled at her ear. Meredith shivered, but forced herself to pull away.

She almost insisted on paying for it herself, but when she saw the look in his eyes, the offer died. Just as she’d asked him to believe her when she told him that he hadn’t failed, she would respect him enough to believe that he felt that giving her the dress had been worth the price.

“Thank you. It’s the most amazing dress I’ve ever worn. And you’re right. I did want it, badly. But I don’t need it. At least, not anymore. You’re the one who showed me that. You’re what I wanted all along.”

“Really?” His voice grew husky.

She nodded. “Yes. You’re even on my list.”

He was beautiful when he laughed. “You made a list?”

She blushed. “Just now, in fact. When I—when I thought that you’d left for good. I might have been a little, um, keyed up, and that somehow resulted in my making a list of the things I want. That I was planning to ask for quite strongly.” She gave him a mischievous smile and led him into the living room, where she picked up the pad of paper that she’d left on the coffee table and handed it to him.

“You might want to get comfortable.” She grinned and indicated the nearly full page.

He laughed again and took off his coat and tux jacket, draped them over the back of one of her chairs, toed off his shoes, and settled on the couch. “Will you join me?” he asked, reaching a hand out to her. She settled herself on his lap and he held out the pad of paper in front of both of them.

“What I Want Enough to Ask For,” he read the title of the list aloud, but then was silent for a moment. “I’m number one?”

She nodded, but instead of letting him continue, she twisted in his arms. “At first, when you left, I was—well, I was a little angry. It’s possible that there might have been another list initially that didn’t have your name on it…”

He laughed, and she dropped a quick kiss on his curving lips. “But then I wondered whether I’d spent my life just accepting what was given to me and not realizing that I might have been able to have more all along. I just had to ask. It was you who made me realize that I’ve done myself a disservice by not asking for what I want. You taught me, in a mere day, that telling myself and others what I want is the only way I’ll ever find happiness in my life. I decided to at least find out if there was a chance at something more, so I made a new list. With your name at the top. I want you, Andrew. I’m asking for you. Maybe not in a question but, oh, heck. May I please have you?”

“You already do,” he whispered, and it was a long moment before he turned his attention back to her list.

“I see you have ‘Executive Director of North Star’ on this list,” he remarked.

She nodded. “But I only want it if I can figure out where that missing money went and recoup our losses in time to deliver the Christmas Bonus Fund in just a few days, as promised.”

“You don’t have to—”

“I do have to. I need to do it for myself.”

He dropped a kiss on her hair. “Fair enough. Let’s hope the bank will have the answers we’re looking for. But as to the executive director position, you’ve put it at number four.” He paused briefly, and his finger tapped another item on the list. “As to number two, I can understand why you would wish for such a thing. I have a family and I love them more than anything. I just didn’t realize you might not have one of your own,” he said softly. “But for number three, I have to admit that I’m curious—why is ‘a Christmas tree’ ranked higher than the job at North Star?”

He said it lightly, but his eyes were soft and understanding. Nestled in his arms, enveloped by the very thing she wanted the most in the world, she felt her confidence soar to impossible heights.

She could share her pain, and then she could move past it. She could tell him about her past, her fears, and why it had taken so long for her to learn to ask for what she wanted. And then she would have the power to reach for dreams and magic.

She took a deep breath. “When I was nine years old,” she began, “my parents and I were driving home from a party on Christmas Eve…”

Chapter Ten

Meredith wrapped her hands around her coffee mug and sighed in contentment. She hadn’t stopped smiling since she woke up half an hour ago and tiptoed out of the bedroom, not wanting to disturb Andrew, who was still sleeping in her bed. Last night had been incredible. They had nestled together on the couch and talked into the wee hours of the morning, and then he had taken her back to bed, where she’d had the courage to tell him what she wanted and he’d more than made up for his earlier “failure.” Twice.

She pulled her laptop across the table where she was sitting and logged on to her corporate e-mail, figuring she could at least get some work done as she waited for Andrew to wake up. But when she clicked into her inbox, her jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

“Three hundred new messages?” The number of unread e-mails, all since yesterday evening, was staggering. Usually, if she received thirty in that period of time, she considered it inbox overload. But as she scrolled through the list, she could see that nearly all of them were from the bank that Harbor used for corporate accounts and investments. Her heart sped up with a combination of trepidation and excitement. This must be about the missing money from the Christmas Bonus Fund.

She located the first one—from their corporate account manager—and read through the message, finishing on a sigh.

“Okay, Klaus. This is where you prove that you’ve got what it takes,” she muttered, pouring herself another cup of coffee and settling deeper into the chair to sift through three hundred transaction statements.

…

By the time Andrew opened his eyes, the sun was high overhead.

“Meredith?” He turned and reached his arm across the bed, but she wasn’t there. Lifting his head, he looked around the quiet room, sweeping his gaze over the antique-looking bureau against the far wall. No knickknacks sat on top of the polished wood. No photos of fun vacations or memorable events.

I’m going to change that. Working with her every day, admiring her competence and her drive and, in the past couple of days, watching her grow even more capable and feeling so damned proud, had helped him to realize how much he cared about her. He wanted to make those moments with her.

He continued his study of the room. It was oddly devoid of clutter. Even his clothes had been neatly folded atop the cherry-print upholstered seat of the armchair in the corner. And yet—there were patterns and colors everywhere. On the white sheets with red pinstriping, the bright-yellow drapes with flowers and vines embroidered all over them.

As though she’d described herself through the vibrancy that surrounded her while still managing to leave no trace of actual living. She’d cut herself out of her own life.

I’m going to change that, too. It’s what he wanted.

She was what he wanted, in every way. The way she’d responded to him last night, when they’d gone back to bed. He’d made her slick and hot, eliciting deep moans of pleasure from her before she’d come against his mouth, holding his head against her body in a demonstration of unabashed desire. He’d held her until the tremors subsided before pushing in, slow and deep, stroking her into another orgasm from the inside this time. He’d come, too, with a climax that had been nothing short of earth-shattering.

Just thinking about it made his cock rise, tenting the sheet that covered him. He stifled a groan of pleasure. Now was not the time for pleasurable reminiscing. First, he needed to get up and find Meredith. He’d been in bed for far too long already.

He took a deep breath and stretched, rolling off the mattress before pulling the covers up and smoothing them in his best attempt at bed-making, then pulled on his tuxedo trousers and the white undershirt he’d worn to the gala before opening the bedroom door and padding barefoot into the living room.

He found Meredith at the dining table, papers strewn all around her, a half-eaten bagel on a plate just next to her elbow. She was wearing her glasses and the same faded robe she’d had on last night, and her sexy red hair was sticking up in a few places, as though she’d been tugging at it.

She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

“Good morning.” He nearly laughed when she startled, whipping her head up to blink at him in surprise, but his amusement died as soon as he saw the bewildered look in her eyes. He stepped forward immediately, putting his hands on her shoulders and leaning down to kiss her hair. “Is everything okay?”

She gave a slow nod, then stood up, turning to pull him into a strong hug. “It’s better than okay.” Her voice was full of wonder, nearly dazed.

Andrew frowned. What was going on? He reached down and slid a finger under her chin, tipping her face up to look into her eyes. She was grinning now, a megawatt smile that reminded him of a giddy child on Christmas morning when faced with the sight of so many glittering presents under the tree.

“What happened?”

“I checked my work e-mail when I got up this morning and found that our accounts manager had sent over every transaction report associated with our accounts over the past four months, from the time the Christmas Bonus Fund lost all that money. Every stock purchase and sale, every withdrawal and deposit. Since we have such a diversified portfolio, it amounted to hundreds of documents. So I’ve been combing through all of them …”

All of them? “How long have you been at this?”

She shrugged. “Five hours or so.”

He tried to protest that she shouldn’t have been working so hard on something that there was still plenty of time for. Especially something that he knew he could still take care of when his financial manager transferred the proceeds from his personal stock sale into his bank account. But she stopped him, putting a finger to his lips. “That’s not the important part. What matters is that I figured out what happened to the money!”

Given that she was smiling, Andrew was willing to guess that she’d not only figured out what happened to it; she’d also found out how to make up the missing two hundred thousand dollars. This time, he simply smiled back and waited for her to continue, wanting to hear how she had solved the mystery.

“Four months ago, Bob opened up two new accounts. One was a conditional trust into which he deposited half a million dollars of his own money—he transferred it from his personal account with the instructions that the money should be put into the Christmas Bonus Fund if there was any deficit by the day before the disbursement. If there was no deficit, the money reverts to him. But since it was a trust under his name, they didn’t link the accounts, and when Bob left the company, it got lost in the shuffle.”

“I don’t understand. Why would Bob have done that?”

“Maybe he felt he’d had enough success with responsible fiscal practice and wanted to try something risky that could really grow the fund to a new level. Or maybe he was just bored.” She shrugged. “I don’t know, but it would appear that his risk paid off. Because the other account he opened was for that missing half million dollars. Money that got put solely into extremely high-risk investments…and paid off to the tune of an extra fifty thousand dollars! It took me all morning, but I finally pulled all the different transactions together and just finished double-checking my numbers when you woke up! The Christmas Bonus Fund…it’s actually much bigger than what we need now!”

At that, she finally let loose a little of the excitement that he could see on her face, squealing and laughing and hugging him tightly.

Holy shit. She’d figured it out. No doubt someone at the bank dropped the ball and didn’t link the accounts appropriately, but that they could take care of pretty easily. In the meantime, she’d done it. Meredith had saved the Christmas Bonus Fund.

“Meredith,” he said, lifting her against him in a strong hug. Her body molded to his, the soft curves of her breasts pushing into his chest, and he rubbed one hand slowly down her back to caress her sweet ass. He felt her breath hitch, and she leaned in to kiss him then, tangling her tongue with his and making soft noises of appreciation into his mouth.

He pulled away long enough to whisper “You’re incredible” against her lips, before opening her robe and pulling her legs up around his hips, then carrying her back to the bedroom to show her just how much he appreciated every last inch of her.

Chapter Eleven

“Are you nervous?”

It was Christmas Day. They were in a cab, heading toward his sister Lily’s apartment in Brooklyn. His mother, brother, and sisters were all gathering there together to celebrate a holiday that, for her, had for so long been filled with sadness and regret.

“Why would I be nervous?” All of my dreams are coming true. In this moment, Meredith couldn’t imagine feeling anything but intense happiness. She was practically glowing with it.

“Oh, I don’t know. Big holiday dinner. Lots of people you’ve never met before. Presents, festive sweaters, possibly carol-singing around the tree…,” he teased.

“There’s nothing wrong with presents or festive sweaters.” She pointed to her own bright-green sweater, woven with images of Christmas trees, candy canes, and dancing gingerbread men. Last night, on Christmas Eve, she and Andrew had exchanged the presents they’d left for each other under the tree in her apartment. The sweater had been among them—a gag gift that she’d surprised him by actually wearing. And despite his protests when she’d emerged from her bedroom with it on, she’d seen the delight in his eyes.

“Or carols. Or trees,” she added. Especially not trees.

The morning after the gala, after they had celebrated the discovery of the missing money, he had dragged her out of bed again to go buy the small fir that now sat in her living room, and carried it back to her home still wearing his tuxedo pants and dress shirt. After some cursing and a couple of broken boughs, they’d managed to set it up, at which point he had declared it unacceptably barren and whisked her off to Saks for ornaments and tree trimmings, dropping by the office along the way to pick up the extra set of clean clothes that he kept there.

Once at the department store, he’d insisted on buying her not one, but two handmade, delicate angels to stand atop her tree. “For your parents,” he’d said, and then held her in the middle of the store as she’d cried and cried over all the Christmases she hadn’t had with them.

“Well, good, because I don’t think we have a shortage of any of those things.”

She laughed, thinking of how they’d spent the rest of the weekend alternating between her apartment and his place in Tribeca, filling each one to the brim with Christmas decorations. Definitely no shortage.

And then, last night, they had started a new Christmas tradition. They’d given each other gifts, kissed under the mistletoe, stuffed themselves with iced sugar cookies, and played Christmas carols on repeat. After that, they’d gone to bed and made love until they’d fallen asleep, exhausted, waking up with just enough time to jump out of bed and dress hastily so as not to be late for Christmas dinner.

Christmas with family.

“I almost forgot to tell you.” Andrew’s voice broke into her thoughts, and a smile flashed across his face. “I sent a thank-you gift to Bob right after you moved the money back into the fund account.”

The fact that the Christmas Bonus Fund had grown so much only elevated Andrew’s status as a philanthropic visionary, and he’d spent nearly an hour on the phone with Bob on Monday, talking excitedly about North Star Industries. Now, mere days after the gala, the new organization already had several corporate clients and a recently appointed executive director. Meredith would wrap up her work at Harbor and step into her position at North Star at some point in the coming months.

“I hope it wasn’t a six-thousand-dollar dress,” she teased.

He let out a loud laugh, then reached over the seat and squeezed her thigh, leaving his hand there.

“Speaking of,” he began, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Lily is very excited to meet you, so get ready for a lot of enthusiasm being aimed in your direction. She’ll probably end up talking your ear off, pressing you for all the details about the gala and how I took such good care of you.”

Meredith rolled her eyes, but she curled her fingers into his hand and squeezed his palm as if to say, You do take good care of me. “First you ask me if I’m nervous, and now you’re warning me about Lily talking my ear off. Are you trying to intimidate me with threats of family closeness? Because I have to tell you, it’s not working.”

He grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners, but quickly grew serious. “Really, if you do feel overwhelmed at any point, just say so and we can bow out early. They’ll understand. Besides—” He shrugged. “They just want me to be happy, which I am as long as you’re happy.”

She sighed, feeling like the luckiest woman on earth. She was finally getting her Christmas wish. A family.

Andrew winked at her. “Really, baby. Are you sure you want to take the risk of being crushed by family togetherness on Christmas?”

Meredith didn’t even have to think twice. “Yes,” she replied, smiling. “Yes, I’ll take it.”

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Acknowledgments

I never would have been able to write this story if it hadn’t been for my husband. He not only gave me the time to write; he also gave me the confidence and encouragement I needed to keep writing until I got to where I needed to go. He is my partner in every sense, my life’s love, my best friend. There is not enough space in all the pages in all the books to express my respect and love for him.

To my children, for their patience with Mommy when I needed to finish another chapter, and for their impatience when I needed to be reminded of what was really important.

Tahra Seplowin and Heather Howland, this book’s brilliant editors, I am proud of and humbled by the hard work and constant positivity that you both put into it. Thank you for seeing something in this story in the first place, and then giving so much time and energy toward making it even better. And thank you for simply being good people.

Tahra, I wonder every day what I would do without you. After so many frustrated attempts at starting this story, it was your suggestions that really made it explode to life.

Mary Spencer, I wish you were still alive so that you could see what you inspired. I owe my love of romance—and all that grew out of it—to you.

Mom, thank you for buying those countless romance novels for me before I was able to buy my own, even when I was in my Angry Teen phase and certainly didn’t deserve your time, money, or care. If I didn’t tell you before, I want you to know now that it meant a lot to me.

To Dad, Daniel, and Sara, for being such a big part of who I am today.

For the bonds that we forged in our youth, the ones that constantly bring us back to one another across the time and distance of lives well-lived, thank you: Kim Har, John Mark Keller, Merrilee Brinegar, and Vanessa Nudd.

To everyone who has worked so hard to give this book life, including its readers…thank you.