by LuAnn McLane
Rachel strode to the street corner, hearing the rhythmic bell chime. She looked up just in time to see Justin at the corner pouring a handful of change into a bright red charity bucket. Rachel rocked back on her heels. Justin hadn’t seen her as he was talking to the bell chimer. She was very tempted to turn back and find a different route to the office.
Justin glanced up just when she was about to turn around. Great. This was what she got for hesitating. She braced herself and walked to him.
“Hi, Justin. Getting some last-minute shopping done?” she asked breezily. Or what she hoped was breezily. It was difficult to pull off when her pulse skittered.
“No way. You can’t get me in the stores the week of Christmas.”
Rachel pressed the button for the walk sign, unable to concentrate in Justin’s proximity. The bell ringer wasn’t helping much either. Jingle ... jingle ... jingle ... There was no deviation from the monotonous rhythm.
“I love shopping the week of Christmas,” Rachel told Justin. “It’s all about the hunt.The challenge.”
“Sounds like hell to me,” Justin said as he stood beside her, his arm almost touching hers. “Which is why I do everything online.”
Jingle ... jingle ... jingle ... Rachel frowned. Why did that sound so familiar? Was it a song she’d heard before? “You don’t know what you’re missing.”
“Believe me, I do. I spent most of my childhood in malls.”
Jingle ... jingle ... jingle ... Wow, that bell was really getting annoying. “Were you a store clerk?”
“My mother is a shopaholic. Christmastime was the worst.”
“Ah.” That could explain why he wasn’t much into celebrating. He had seen the dark side of the season. Jingle . . . jingle ... jingle ... “But you got lots of presents, right?”
“More like a new Christmas theme each year. The worst was probably the pink Christmas.” He shuddered from the memory. “Pink wreath and pink Christmas tree. Lots of Barbie and flamingo ornaments. Pink stockings and pink candy. I can’t stand the taste of peppermint thanks to that Christmas.”
Jingle ... jingle ... jingle ... Rachel stiffened as she suddenly remembered where she’d heard the bell. It wasn’t a song! It was the sound she heard when she was behind the Christmas tree with Justin!
“Uh, yeah.” She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to forget the shaking bell ornaments on the office Christmas tree. “I really can’t picture an all-pink Christmas.”
“Don’t try, it will give you nightmares.”
Jingle ... jingle ... jingle ... Rachel lurched for the signal button and smacked it with her open palm. “What is wrong with this crosswalk?”
“It’s always slow.”
Jingle . . . jingle . . . jingle . . . The memories crashed and mingled in front of her eyes like a kaleidoscope. The scent of fresh evergreen and the salty taste of Justin’s skin. The flash of red ribbon and the lust glazing in Justin’s blue eyes. The shaking of the bell at every thrust, and Justin whispering hot, sexy words as he buried himself deep inside her.
Sweat trickled down her spine as she took a deep breath of cold air. Bad move. The scent of the evergreen decorations was powerful. She tried to take small, shallow breaths. Oh, even worse.
Jingle ... jingle ... jingle ... Her breasts started to ache, her nipples tightening as she remembered Justin’s big, rough fingers. Her hips twitched as the heat billowed inside her.
Jingle ... jingle ... jingle ... She remembered exactly how Justin slammed his cock into her. At first it had been deep and measured. Until he lost control. And then he drove into her, fast and furious.
Rachel whimpered when her core clenched with need. She dropped her shopping bags as her knees buckled. But she didn’t fall down. Justin had caught her by the arm.
“Rachel? What’s wrong?”
Jingle ... jingle ... jingle ...
Justin gathered her close. His face was right above her, his mouth a kiss away. His body wrapped around hers, his heat, his scent driving her over the edge. She clasped her hands on both sides of his face and slammed her mouth against his.
She pressed her fingertips against the stubble on his cheeks as she kissed him greedily. He tasted exactly as she remembered. Hot, masculine, and forbidden. She couldn’t get enough, dipping her tongue past his lips.
Justin held her tightly against him. He drew her tongue deep into his mouth and sucked hard. Rachel gasped as she felt the pull straight to her sex. She rubbed her aching breasts against his chest, hating the barrier between them.
A car horn pierced through her sensual fog. Rachel jerked back and stared at Justin’s face. His face was ruddy, his features taut, and his blue eyes clouded with desire.
Rachel swallowed hard and dropped her hands from his face. “I am so sorry.” She wasn’t sure what to say. Or how to explain what came over her. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
“I don’t mind.” He sounded composed, but he looked ruffled and undone. Slightly baffled and pleasantly surprised.
She took a step back and felt the resistance in Justin’s arms before he reluctantly let go of her. Rachel bent down and grabbed her bags. “I’m really sorry.”
“I’m not,” he assured her.
She looked wildly at the street and saw the blinking red light for pedestrians. Rachel sprinted across the crosswalk and hoped Justin wouldn’t follow.
So much for getting a clear head, she thought as she ran the rest of the way to the office. If anything, the shopping expedition made it worse. The bells, the evergreen trees, the decorations ... everything Christmas.
Christmas. Rachel shuffled to a stop, huffing big puffs of air. It’s all about Christmas! Every time she slipped up, something about the holidays triggered her relapse. No . . . that can’t be right. That was crazy. Or was it?
“Nikki?” Rachel whispered urgently an hour later as she stepped into her friend’s work space. “Nikki!”
Justin paused as he heard Rachel’s confidential tone. He sat alone in a nearby cubicle, going over Leah’s work for their project. Leah had left early for the day to start her vacation. Now that he thought about it, this floor was so quiet it felt abandoned. Rachel and Nikki probably thought they were alone. He should let his presence be known.
“Nikki, guess what,” she whispered. “I figured out why I keep having sex with Justin!”
Or not. He was tempted to lean back into the chair, but he didn’t want to make a move or a sound. He discovered he was holding his breath as he remained very, very still.
“Well?” Nikki asked. “What is it?”
“It’s the holiday stuff!”
There was a pause after her dramatic announcement. Justin frowned. Holiday stuff? What holiday stuff? Could she be a little more specific so he could use it to his advantage?
“Uh”—Nikki dragged out the word—“repeat that again.”
“Everything about the holidays is making me hot for Justin.”
Justin pressed his lips together hard and tried not to laugh. Was she serious? It wasn’t him? It was the freaking holiday? She was so wrong.
“That can’t be.”
“Think about it,” Rachel said. “I jump him during the office party. I have my wicked way with him behind a Christmas tree.”
That didn’t have anything to do with the holidays, Justin decided. If they had been next to a closet, she would have dragged him in there.
“Coincidence,” Nikki said. “You guys are coworkers and this place is crawling with decorations.”
“All right, well how about this? I take a whiff of gingerbread and want to take him right then and there.”
Justin smiled as he remembered that coffee break.The way she had looked at him made him feel irresistible. If only there hadn’t been anyone else in that room.
“Okay, that is a little weird,” Nikki said. “Gingerbread isn’t usually considered an aphrodisiac.”
“And then when I heard the jingling bells ...” Rachel gave a deep sigh. “Well, let’s not get int
o it.”
“Jingling bells? You’re hearing bells?” Nikki asked. “And you’re conditioned to have sex when you hear bells?”
Justin shook his head. She thought that was why she kissed him? Not because she believed he was sexy, but because of the jingle bells? Note to self:Wear a bell at all times.
“No, the bells are Christmasy,” Rachel explained, her voice thick with frustration. “Don’t you get it?”
“What’s the correlation between sex and Christmas?” Nikki asked. “And why Justin? Why not Chuck?”
Justin jerked his head up and glared at the wall. Hey, he was way better than Chuck! At least he’d like to think so.
“Okay, obviously I don’t have all the answers,” Rachel admitted. “But at least I’ve identified the problem, right?”
“Uh, right.”
Uh, wrong. Christmas had nothing to do with it. It was more like she was flailing for excuses. She was scared at how much power her feelings for him had over her, Justin thought with a wicked smile.
“So the solution is easy,” Rachel said, her voice high with relief.“All I need to do is make sure I’m always in a Christmas-free zone until the season is over.”
Justin swallowed back a laugh and almost choked. Rachel Bartlett was in for a shock after the New Year. This sexual attraction wasn’t going to fade that easily. He wouldn’t let it.
“Good luck with that, Scrooge.”
“I’m doing it for survival.”
Justin frowned. He was forgetting one very important fact. It didn’t matter how long this awareness, this need, lasted. Rachel didn’t want this sexual attraction between them. Ouch.
Nikki scoffed. “And you can’t survive wrapped naked around Justin?”
He always had liked Nikki.
“No, I can’t,” Rachel said. “Not if I want some peace of mind.”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
“As of now,” Rachel said in such a haughty tone Justin imagined her thrusting her chin up, “I’m going to go take down the decorations in my cubicle.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s going to make all the difference,” Nikki muttered as he heard Rachel walking away. Nikki paused for a moment before calling out to her friend, “And peace of mind is overrated!”
Justin sat quietly, staring in the direction of Nikki’s cubicle. Rachel didn’t want to desire him. Real flattering.
He knew that Rachel was wrong. This fire between them had been building for almost a year. She jumped him at the office party not because it was the holidays but because she was relaxed and having a good time. She had let her guard down because she was tired of holding it up all the time.
She couldn’t keep her hands off him then, and she still couldn’t. She’d had one taste of how good they were together and wanted more. So much more that she couldn’t think straight. He couldn’t blame her for that.
But blaming it on the holidays? That was just crazy. But she seemed to believe it. Or she was grasping for the easiest, quickest solution. She wanted to believe that this was temporary insanity.That she could get it out of her system by tearing down a few decorations.
Justin leaned back in the chair and rolled the problem around in his mind. It didn’t matter what was true or what was correct. Rachel believed the holidays were seducing her to have sex with him. Fine. If that was what it took to disarm Rachel, he’d use it. He’d take all the help he could get, even if it meant making the Christmas decorations a permanent fixture of the decor.
And if it meant he had to embrace the holidays, then he’d do it. Now that he knew what turned Rachel on, he would put aside the plans for roses, champagne, and candlelit dinner. All he had to do was sing a few carols, spread a little holiday cheer, and wear those Christmas sweaters his mother insisted on sending every year.
But what would he do once Christmas was over? He didn’t want this to end once December 26 arrived. Justin closed his eyes and sighed. He would have to come up with something, but for now he would make this office the North Pole if it meant getting Rachel back into his arms, where she belonged.
Justin was lying in wait for her the next day. He didn’t pounce the moment Rachel stepped into the office. She would be with Nikki, who always gave her a ride to work. He needed Rachel to be alone with as few exits as possible.
He waited in the break room when she usually took her coffee break. She was running late, and he was almost going to give up. Standing by the windows and drinking a rapidly cooling cup of coffee, looking out over the snow-laden trees, he heard her walking toward the break room.
Anticipation flooded his bloodstream. He always felt like this when he knew he was going to see Rachel. She was fun, challenging, and sexy as hell. Rachel managed to fascinate and frustrate him like no other woman.
He turned just as she stepped into the room. She looked simply gorgeous wearing a gray turtleneck sweater, jeans, and black knee-high boots.Today she didn’t hide her slender curves underneath layers or bulky clothes.
Rachel was startled to see him and her eyes zeroed in on his chest. She came to an abrupt stop, her hands up, almost in a gesture of surrender, as she stared at him. Her mouth opened and closed, and nothing but a squeak came out of her mouth.
“Morning, Rachel,” he said as he casually took another sip of coffee.
“Oh, dear God,” she finally said, clapping her hand over her mouth. “What are you wearing?”
He frowned as if he hadn’t expected the question. “A sweater?”
She stared at him. Justin couldn’t blame her. The blinding red holiday sweater was a gaudy eyesore. “Are those ... ?”
“Flying reindeer,” he answered for her. He suspected they were flying, but he could be wrong.The sweater looked like it had been knit by drunken elves.
Rachel dropped her hand, and he saw her fingers curl up into a fist. She took a step closer to him. He felt the aggression shimmering off her, but it wasn’t the kind he was hoping for.
“What?”
“Interesting choice.” Rachel eyed him suspiciously.
“It is the season, you know.” He hid his smile as he took a hurried sip of his coffee.
“You don’t do the holidays.” She gave another quick glance at the sweater and then glared at him. “Where’d you get it?”
“My mom buys me one every year.” Sad, but true.
“Does she live nearby?” she asked, trying her best not to look at the reindeer. “Is she coming over for lunch?”
“God, I hope not.”
Rachel’s jaw shifted to one side as she visibly controlled her temper. “Then why, of all days, are you wearing this?”
He shrugged and tried for an innocent expression.
Rachel gasped and took a step back. She pointed a finger straight at his chest. “You know!”
He was never good at being innocent, but it didn’t stop him from trying. “Know what?”
She wagged her finger under his nose.“Don’t try that with me, Justin. How did you find out?”
He decided to drop the innocent act and go for clueless. He was better at that. “You’re speaking in code.”
Rachel put her hands on her hips. “Take off the sweater.”
“Are you coming on to me?” he asked as he set down his coffee mug.
“I’m serious, Justin.” She motioned for him to whip off the offending clothing. “Take it off now.”
“The sweater is that sexy to you?” He sang the drumroll for a stripper and grabbed the hem of his sweater. As he bunched it up and revealed his bare abdomen, Rachel’s eyes widened. He slowly pulled it up farther, showing off the defined muscles of his chest that she couldn’t get enough of the night of the office party.
Rachel blinked as if she were pulling herself out of a trance. “No, forget what I said.” She held her hands out. “Put it back on, put it back on.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded frantically.
“All right.” He continued humming the stripper song as he slowly smo
othed the sweater back in place, all the while watching her response.
Rachel wasn’t as upset as she appeared. She was trying to hide her arousal, but it wasn’t going to work. Her face was too expressive. He saw how her eyes dilated when she saw his naked chest. She was also breathing unevenly. Her cheeks were flushed and that thin turtleneck couldn’t conceal her tight nipples.
As if Rachel could sense his gaze, she crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m surprised you didn’t go all out. Put on reindeer antlers! Wear Rudolph’s blinking red nose!”
“I think the sweater is all that I need.” He patted the neon red monstrosity, pleased that he hadn’t donated it to charity yet.
She leaned forward and her glare deepened.“You are shameless.”
“True,” he said as he retrieved his coffee mug.“But that can be a good thing.”
She shook her head and tossed her hands in the air as if she couldn’t deal with him. “I have to get out of here.” She turned on her heel and started to walk away.
Justin started whistling “Jingle Bells.”
Rachel’s body went still with tension. Or was it indecision? Was she going to turn around and jump him? He hit a high, piercing note as anticipation squeezed his chest.
She squared her shoulders back and marched away.
Justin continued to whistle the song as she disappeared from his view. She was going to crack, he decided as he left the break room and followed her down the corridor to his cubicle. She started to walk faster. Once she got to her desk, she grabbed her headphones and slammed them onto her ears.
Very, very soon. Justin strolled into his cubicle and sat down with a sense of impending victory. All he had to do was keep this up and Rachel Bartlett would be in his bed by Christmas morning.
There was only one more workday before the Christmas break, but she wasn’t going to last, Rachel decided as she hunted for Nikki through the maze of cubicles. If she just looked at Justin, she would drag him to the nearest bed—no, the nearest horizontal surface—and have her way with him.
Rachel saw Nikki step out of the women’s restroom and ran after her. “Nikki, I need a favor.”
“Name it.”