The December Deception

by Dana Volney

  “One buys them at Halloween, costume, and novelty shops from time to time.” She tried to wipe her dumb happiness from her face, but she couldn’t.

  “There’s a decently scary Halloween store in Buffalo. You’ll have to check it out sometime. I still might have a Krampus mask from a prank I pulled on Trent years ago. It wasn’t blood-dripping-from-your-face terrifying, though.”

  His blue eyes shined back at her, and her breath caught before she remembered why they were having dinner with her mom. Henry wasn’t her boyfriend. She was allowing him into her world so that he could see she was partner material.

  “I would love to see your Krampus mask.” OK, her fascination with creepy masks was odd, but that didn’t lessen her interest. She didn’t own the European companion of Saint Nicholas.

  “It’s not often Lorelei brings a man she’s dating over here,” her mom said, breaking the moment.

  Lorelei choked on her sip of wine. “We’re not dating, Mom. I told you that very specifically.” She couldn’t even glance at Henry to see his reaction to her mother’s intentional slip. Make no mistake, Francis knew they weren’t dating, and Lorelei would be discussing that with her mother later. If anyone should understand about being professional in the workplace, it was her mother, who’d always prided herself on her reputation.

  “How do you like working with my daughter?” Francis changed the subject without a hint of apology in her voice.

  “She’s an exceptional lawyer.”

  When he gazed at her, approving and genuinely, her belly tingled. She hadn’t experienced that because of him before. Was she starting to like him? No. Nope. Not a good idea and not possible. Henry was her boss, soon to be equal, and nothing more. If she wanted to date someone, there were plenty of eligible bachelors she knew or could probably meet somewhere. When she had the time to get dolled up and go out. She could date anyone else in the world. Just not Henry.

  She broke the moment by looking down at her half-eaten pile of mashed potatoes.

  “That she is.” Francis rubbed her shoulder. “I’m so proud of my baby girl.”

  That was enough of that. “Did I see hot chocolate on the counter?”

  “Yes.” Her mother took the hint. “It’s been in the Crockpot this whole time, so it’ll be perfect. Why don’t we move to the solarium? Your father decorated the yard again. It’s so festive. I love it.”

  Lorelei put her silverware on her plate and started to pick it up.

  “Don’t worry about it.” Her mother waved her hand. “I’ll get it later.”

  They each took a cup, filled it with the liquid that had been warming, and headed to the back of the house, which was one of Lorelei’s favorite places.

  She stepped down onto the porch that her parents had windowed in about five years ago. The backyard was dazzling. Lights wrapped around all of the trees along the edges of the fencing, with lighted deer in one corner, a manger set up in the other, and white-lit snowflakes strung across the entire length of the yard.

  “Mom, this is amazing.” They could still hear the holiday music from inside, and Lorelei’s chest filled with the wonder of Christmas, just like when she was a child. This was truly her favorite time of the year.

  “We’ve been enjoying it all month.” Francis sat in a comfortable padded wicker chair to the right of a wooden end table and put her feet up, crossing them at the ankles.

  Lorelei sat next to her, and Henry sat on her left. Snow fell lazily from the sky, giving the lights a winter haze. She could stay here all night.

  “Where were we?” Francis mused. “Oh, yes, when is my daughter going to make partner?” She gave Henry a polite smile, but her stare was serious.

  Welp, this had gone from a beautiful moment to a mortifying situation in less time than it took for a celebrity parent to be shamed on Instagram for posting a picture of their baby.

  Henry’s relaxed posture turned rigid. The light in his eyes darkened for a second. “We’ve made some considerations. I’ll be looking at options and making a decision in the near future.”

  Something wasn’t right. Lorelei blew on her cocoa while watching him and gingerly sipped. Was he not going to name a partner, or was he not going to name her? She hadn’t even considered the latter possibility. There were three other lawyers in the office: Diana, Paul, and Diego. None of them had a record as good as hers, and none of them billed as much as she did. Her chest felt heavy as her mind spiraled. Would he bring in an outsider? That was unacceptable. She’d have to leave. There was no way she could stay if she was overlooked for partner for no good reason. And if he had one, she’d love to hear it.

  She clamped her teeth together until they hurt and watched him for any sign that she was right or wrong.

  “You’re right about him.” Her mother nudged her arm. “Always the warrior diplomat. The nickname fits.”

  “Mom.” This was enough. She had to stop reading into Henry, and her mother really needed to stop whatever agenda she was working. What was her mother’s angle tonight—to talk her daughter out of a job? Because that’s what she was one comment away from doing. Henry valued professionalism just as much as Lorelei.

  “You have a nickname for me?” Henry asked, his blue eyes sparkling in the holiday lights.

  She let out a breath as her spiral halted. Had his gaze always calmed her down?

  “Maybe.” She captured her bottom lip with her front teeth.

  “Let’s hear it.”

  “Hale the Conqueror.” She could barely say the three words without smiling so widely her cheeks hurt. “It’s meant as a compliment.”

  “I see.” A smile crooked to one side of Henry’s face, causing a dimple.

  He was so darn cute. She’d never noticed the dimple in his cheek before. There was a lot about him she’d never noticed before.

  Time to call it quits for the night. She couldn’t afford to get caught up in any kind of moment or see him in any other light than as her boss.

  “So, Mrs.—” Henry started.

  “It’s getting late,” she interrupted and nodded to Henry as she set her cup of hot chocolate down and stood. “We’re going to head out.”

  Henry was probably going to talk shop, but Lorelei couldn’t risk the night becoming even more personal than it already had.

  “Thank you for a lovely evening, Mrs. Sullivan.” Henry stood and put his palm on Lorelei’s back as they filed out of the sitting area.

  His touch was unexpected but, as much as she hated to admit it, welcomed. Her flesh tingled. This night had not been a good idea—she should’ve squashed it the minute she’d heard he’d spoken with her mother.

  His hand on her could mean nothing. She hoped it meant nothing. She was 90 percent sure of it.

  “Look at that.” Her mother was right behind them. They stopped and turned toward her. “You two are under mistletoe.”

  “Since when do you put up mistletoe, Mother?” Lorelei looked around for the blasted sprig. This was just like her mom—to scheme even after Lorelei had explicitly told her Henry was her boss five times.

  “I always put it up. You just never have a reason to use it.” All said with a smile. Typical. “It’s tradition.”

  Lorelei’s belly fluttered. How embarrassing. She was thirty and fine with being single. She didn’t need to look desperate to kiss her boss. He could surely come up with an excuse not to kiss her. But was that a good or a bad thing?

  She gazed at him, trying to nonverbally communicate that he was the one who needed to bow out. She had no clue what to do next.

  Instead of arguing, he shrugged. “Who are we to argue with tradition?”

  Henry’s hand cupped her cheek and gently titled her lips up to his. She closed her eyes as he pressed his lips against hers ever so smoothly. His warmth engulfed her and then was gone all too quickly. She’d barely had time to take in their physical connection.

  She opened her eyes, and he was staring back at her with a look she hadn’t seen from him before.
His gaze was gentle; it cradled her, soft and snug.

  His hand left her cheek, and she made an effort not to shake with a chill.

  “Shall we?” His eyes were back to being on the cold side of friendly. Had all of this just been to be sociable, to impress her mom? They’d certainly moved beyond co-workers with that kiss.

  Ugh. Here was a problem she hadn’t been seeking. Henry was a great catch, and he’d be easy to fall in love with. On the other hand, and most importantly, she was his subordinate and wanted to be seen as a professional, not some office hookup. She wanted to make partner at the firm. Then maybe they could revisit the kissing. Or, maybe by then they wouldn’t be caught up in the lure of the holidays, so it would be a good thing if nothing more happened between them now.

  She nodded, hugged her mom good-bye after they made plans for Christmas Day, and was out the door and into the cold December night.

  She followed Henry to the car. He was all toned meat at a solid six-foot-one. He was someone you could really put your arms around, and yet he seemed nimble, like a fighter. And a fighter he was. In the courtroom. She wanted to see that fire in him now.

  “Sorry about that,” she said as she got into the car. “My mother was in rare form tonight. She gets an idea in her head, and it’s hard to get it out.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “I don’t want you to think that . . . ” She paused to make sure she used the best phrasing. “I don’t want there to be any confusion. That was all her doing.”

  He nodded, silent. Whether it was a good silent or bad silent she wasn’t sure. The one thing she was certain of was how much she wanted more of his lips. That kiss, that simple taste she’d gotten, was enough to make her question everything she’d thought about him before. But she wasn’t going to throw away a career opportunity because of a man and his kiss. No. She was smarter than that.

  Promotion. Get the promotion. That was her goal, and she wasn’t going to deviate. Not again. Not when she was so close.

  Chapter Five

  The sound of the doorbell reached Henry in the kitchen, where he was helping his mom clean up the dinner dishes.

  “You better get that.” His mom took the rag from him and started drying the plates. He had a dishwasher, but she insisted doing the dishes by hand was faster.

  Was Francis the same way? She’d left the dishes on the table after dinner, so he wasn’t sure. Last night had been great. And not what he’d expected at all. For a lawyer whose career he greatly admired, he expected Francis to have more of an edge. Lorelei was no-nonsense at the office. He assumed Francis would be ten times like that always. There were no pretenses of family dysfunction either. It had been nice, and somewhat relieving, to see an accomplished lawyer have it all—a good personality, significant other, and one amazing daughter. There may be hope for him after all.

  He swung his front door open to reveal Lorelei. “Hey.” His brows rose at the sight of the woman he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about since he’d kissed her last night.

  “She didn’t tell you, did she?” Lorelei rubbed her hands together in the frosty evening.

  “Nope.” He moved to the side so she could come in out of the cold. There was no way he was turning her away. Another chance to kiss her had smiled upon him tonight.

  “Your mom found me on Facebook.” Her forehead wrinkled. “She said tonight was game night and you needed an even number of players.” She searched his gaze. “I’m going to go. This is weird.”

  “Stay.” He shrugged, hoping she didn’t see the excitement in his eyes. “It really is game night.”

  “Okay.” She started undoing the zipper on her coat. “What’s the game?”

  “Phase 10, Crazy Eights, or poker. Probably something like that.”

  “I see.” She nodded, pink spreading over her cheeks. “I can go. Really, this is just too . . . ” Her words trailed off as she swiveled toward the door.

  “No. Of course you should stay. Everyone knows even numbers are best.” He should’ve found mistletoe and hung it up in his doorway today. Count that as a missed opportunity. He hadn’t called her, but not for a lack of wanting. Her scent, the way she’d smiled at him last night on the couch while they’d laughed, the way his whole being felt lighter around her this week. Yeah, he wasn’t letting her leave.

  “What a friendly invitation.” Her sarcasm was not lost on him. Nor was her likelihood of taking the opportunity to leave. He had no idea how she felt about that kiss.

  He laughed. “I mean, please join me for game night with my family.” He put his right hand over his heart. “Save me.”

  She eyed him before stepping past him in the hallway and continuing to the kitchen. “I play to win.”

  “I expect nothing less.” He followed her intoxicating scent. “We all do.”

  “A family of lawyers.” She chuckled. “I guess that’s to be expected.”

  “Buckle up, buttercup.” He winked. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” Ugh, he’d freaking winked. Was he from the ’70s all of a sudden?

  “Are we playing in here?” She pointed to the table in the dining room.

  “We are. Trent and Alicia are putting the kids to bed. I’ll let my parents know we’ll start soon.” His mother had suspiciously disappeared from the kitchen. Again. He wasn’t about to let this get awkward—like it wasn’t already, even though they might never acknowledge that kiss—and he wasn’t about to let her come over for a game night that didn’t happen.

  But when he returned to the dining room, Lorelei was gone. He stepped into the hallway. Relief caved his chest when he spotted her coat and purse still slumped against the wall by his front door.

  “Lorelei?” he called out, feeling a little silly.

  No answer.

  He headed back to the living room, then farther down the hall, and stopped abruptly at his open office door. He always kept the door shut, especially with guests around. He slipped his hands in his jeans pockets and stood quietly in the doorway. She was sitting at his desk lazily moving side to side in his chair while she studied his wall of bookshelves and fiddled with his pen between her fingers.

  His home office was his sanctuary. When he was working on the weekends, or poring over an extremely intense case, he chose this spot. He smoothed the front of his long-sleeved polo. His life was on full display for Lorelei’s judgment in this room. Not even his bedroom was this intimate.

  The last time he’d let someone this far into his world it had ended in disaster—his college girlfriend of four years had cheated on him. Multiple times. After graduating, he’d thrown himself into work, set goals, and gone after them at a hundred miles an hour. Now he had his firm. People who worked for him. A solid reputation in a community he loved.

  Intellectually, he knew the next step was to grow his firm—bring on partners to get to that next level that he was surely close to but unwilling to outright acknowledge.

  He watched this beautiful woman at home in his chair and felt a crack start in his stone heart. He considered himself a good, genuine person. He didn’t, however, wear his heart on his sleeve—he’d locked up that part of himself a long time ago now. As he watched her nose scrunch at something she possibly didn’t like on his shelf, he knew. He was in trouble. Or rather, his heart was. Because not only was Lorelei Sullivan an employee and, therefore, off of the potential list of women he could date, but it would not be long before the sparkle in her eyes dimmed. She was not going to take a career letdown well. He’d seen her take bad news; she was a ball of well-spoken fury. It was an inevitable moment he was not looking forward to.

  “Judging me on my Star Wars figures?” He stepped into the space dimly lit by his green metal desk lamp.

  “I’d be judging you if you didn’t have them. No, it was the Hardy Boys books in the corner that piqued my interest.”

  “I read them as a kid and look for them whenever I’m in a book store or antique shop.” He and Trent had gobbled them up as elementary scho
ol children. He still had some of the copies from his childhood, although not all had made it through two boys and years of caring more about girls than books.

  Lorelei cocked her head, studying him. “Quirky.”

  He felt like he was on stage in his own home. “Nostalgic.”

  He knew she was always checking for angles, seeking out what she wasn’t seeing. He probably should have been doing the same with her. He was aware of one of her goals—to be partner—but were there other aspirations he should be dialed into? Was she also playing him, the kiss somehow a ploy to manipulate him? What else would she gain by having a relationship with her boss? Money? No, she made good money at the firm. Standing? She was already very respected in the community, without people knowing who her mother was. His reputation wouldn’t boost hers any. Leverage? But for what?

  “I was a fan of Nancy Drew, myself.” Playful brown eyes with flecks of green watched him. There was no malice to be found.

  Shaking his head, he tsked. “Is that when your obsession with criminal activity started?”

  “I could ask the same of you.”

  They were locked in a staring contest, and he didn’t know why. But he wasn’t detouring or yielding. She was formidable. But she was playing a game where she held no cards. And, yet, somehow, he had an ominous feeling that they both were going to lose.

  “This room isn’t usually for guests.” He stepped around the right side of his desk, blocking her view of his bookcase, and rested his backside on the side of his desk.

  “I got that.” She nodded to the empty space in front of his desk. “No second chair.”

  He’d not placed extra chairs because he’d not intended to be a host in the one place that was all his.

  “Are you two playing or not?” His dad’s yell was sure to have inspired a dirty look from Alicia, who’d spent the better part of the last hour wrangling her three children into a sleepy lull.

  “That’s our cue.” Henry hefted himself from his perch and let Lorelei go out the door first, shutting off his lamp after them.