Hot Winter Nights

by Jill Shalvis

  “Stay alert,” he said.

  She saluted him. “Yes, sir.”

  “I like that,” he said, pointing at her. And then he left, vanishing into the surrounding shrubbery.

  He hung out in the shadows, counting off the minutes in his head. At the three-minute mark, Louise unexpectedly showed up at the bottom of the stairs to the office.

  She was early.

  He headed up the walk to stall her. “Hey,” he said. “Just who I was looking for. You’re in charge of the crafting elves, right?”

  Louise looked flustered at the sight of him and put a hand to her chest. “Yes. How did you know—”

  “They’re having a little tussle at the stockings booth. Someone insulted one of the ladies’ goods and you can imagine how that went over.”

  “I bet it was Eleanor. She’s such a bitch.”

  Lucas nodded. “Anyway, it escalated and I think they need a referee.”

  “Dammit, I told them the next time they started throwing things at each other that I’d fire their geriatric asses and buy out the dollar store and slap homemade tags on everything.” She whirled and stormed back down the path.

  Lucas checked his watch.

  The five-minute mark.

  Just as Lucas got back to the shadows, Santa rounded the corner and jogged up the steps. He entered the trailer yanking off his hat.

  Shit. What the hell was with everyone being early tonight?

  Lucas took the stairs quickly and silently, plastering himself against the wall to listen. Santa hadn’t shut the door all the way so he could both hear the guy clomping to his desk and also see him through a break in the shades.

  “What the fuck?” Santa said to Molly.

  She’d turned away from his computer and was leaning back casually against his desk as if she’d been waiting for him. She sent an easy smile, but Lucas could practically hear her heart pounding from here.

  “I said what. The. Fuck,” Santa repeated. “No elves allowed in here.”

  “Oh.” Molly winced, looking apologetic. “Sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “Unless maybe . . .” Santa cocked his head, the anger leaving his voice. “You came to see me for some reason. Maybe you want to sit on my lap and tell Santa what you want.”

  Lucas shook his head. Christ, women were right. Men were pigs. He started to move inside, but Molly’s gaze slid to the window and she gave a subtle shake of her head.

  She wanted to handle this on her own.

  Santa closed the distance between him and her, trapping her between his desk and a table that held a coffeepot along with cream and sugar and cups, as well as an opened tin of popcorn.

  Santa smiled. “I really like it when pretty elves sit on my lap and whisper their fantasies to Santa.”

  “Oh,” Molly said, leaning back as far as she could. “Well, I’m not really much on fantasies.”

  “Are you sure?” He leaned into her. “Because I’m pretty good at it. Tell me what you want.”

  Molly’s smile congealed. “A little more personal space might be great . . .”

  Santa chuckled. “Come on, you can do better than that. Would it help to know that I actually specialize in . . . sexual fantasies?”

  Okay, that was it. Again Lucas started to go in, but Molly spoke first, saying, “And I specialize in handling such things on my own.”

  Shit. She was talking directly to him. She wanted him to stand down. Still at the ready, he paused, willing to give her another minute, tops.

  Santa laughed. “Feisty,” he said. “My very favorite. You’re legal, right? Cuz I don’t do illegal chicks anymore. Turns out you go to jail for that.”

  Molly put out a hand to ward him off. “Legal, yes,” she said. “But willing? Not so much. Aren’t you married? To like your tenth wife?”

  “Fifth,” he said. “She’s brand-new, but no worries, she’s the understanding sort.”

  “Well good for you,” Molly said. “But I don’t put out on a first date.”

  Undeterred, Santa slid a hand down her waist and hip and then back up again, beneath the short hem of her dress this time and all bets were off. Fuck her cover because Lucas was about to string the guy up to teach him a lesson in how to treat a woman. He slipped inside the trailer just as an angry roar came from Santa.

  His amazing, smart, quick-footed elf had grabbed the coffeepot behind her and poured hot coffee on his crotch.

  “Oh!” she gasped, covering her mouth. “I’m so sorry!!!! I don’t know how that happened—” She set the coffeepot back onto the counter. “I thought I’d pour us a cup, but you must’ve jerked my arm! Are you okay?”

  “No, I’m not fucking okay!” Santa spit out between gritted teeth. “You burned my dick!”

  “No, look, the pot’s just on keep warm,” she said quickly. “See? But I can still 9–1–1 if you’d like?”

  “No!” he growled, doubled over, cupping himself.

  “Okay, then, well . . . I should go. Break’s over and all . . .”

  Santa opened his pants and peeked inside, and that’s when Molly made her exit. She came out the door at a dead run. Lucas grabbed her hand and they flew down the stairs. She stumbled a little on the last step and he slipped an arm around her, guiding her to his hiding spot in the bushes.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yep, except for the near heart attack.”

  “When he touched you?”

  “No, he didn’t get to cop a good feel. The almost heart attack came when I thought you were going to come in and kill him.” She closed her eyes. “But I dropped your flash drive when he came in. I’d just pulled it from the computer and he startled me. I managed to kick it way under Louise’s desk, though.”

  “Quick thinking,” he said.

  “It was stupid. I’m going to go back and get it after my shift, at the end of the night after everyone’s gone.”

  “You’re not going back to bingo,” Lucas said.

  “Of course I’m going back. I’m learning all kinds of new stuff.”

  “Such as?”

  “Such as the renovation going on at the bingo hall hasn’t made any progress in days, if all week. It’s a big enough job to have a full crew on site, but the elves say no one ever sees more than one or two guys working there for maybe an hour or so every few days. And guess what else?”

  “Santa owns the construction company,” he said.

  She gaped at him. “Yes, how did you know?”

  “The craft elves love me.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “I’m going to go out on a limb here,” he said. “And guess that Santa’s overbidding all of the so-called work and then understaffing it to keep more of the money for himself.”

  “I heard his fifth wife likes cruises.”

  “That would’ve been my second guess,” he said. “You realize you just smoked your second job, right?”

  “Me coming back won’t be any more dangerous than it’s been,” she said. “He’s not onto me.”

  Lucas sent her a steadying look and she gave him a return gaze that told him she realized he was about to say something she wasn’t going to like.

  “You just messed with a dangerous guy,” he said.

  She let out a low laugh. “Yeah. Well in case you haven’t noticed, all the men in my life are dangerous.”

  “Look, you don’t know this because you’d have no reason to, but if you took twenty to thirty years off of Nick’s face, he resembles what Tommy Thumbs looked like back in the day. I happen to know that he’s not Tommy because he’s still got both thumbs and Tommy lost one of his to someone he crossed way back when. It’s why he used to go after people’s thumbs first. Petty revenge.”

  “So you believe the driver was Santa’s brother then? Tommy?”

  He shrugged. “I couldn’t see his face and he was wearing gloves. And then there’s the fact that everyone, including the authorities, believe him dead.”

  “But you don’t,” she said, watchin
g his face.

  “That’s my point, Molly. I’m not sure what to believe. I need more information. But you’re on their radar now.”

  “Are you mad?” she asked.

  “At you? No. But I think there’s a really good chance that we’re right, that Santa’s brother is indeed Tommy Thumbs with a few decades on him, which makes him no less dangerous. He cuts people who cross him up into pieces, Molly. Some of the pieces were never found.”

  She swallowed hard and nodded. “But he’s laid low for a long time. He’s going to want to remain low profile.”

  “True,” Lucas said. “He changed his name in the ’90s after declaring bankruptcy and walking away from a million bucks of debt and a lot of people who were missing body parts. Lying low has become his MO, but he’s wanted in God knows how many states and he’s on guard and focused. I just don’t want him to focus on you.”

  “I’m wearing an elf costume,” she said. “No one has any reason to suspect me.”

  “That’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”

  “You won’t have to,” she said and gave him a small smile. “Since you tend to stick to me like glue out here.”

  He gave a ghost of a smile. “Just remember, you poured hot coffee into Nick’s lap. He’s not going to be happy with you.”

  “Warm coffee,” she corrected. “And what a big baby. Trust me, I can take him again if I have to.”

  He knew that. Hell, he was proud of that. She was amazing. But this was more than any of them had thought. “You know we need to bring Archer and the guys in on this,” he said.

  “Hell no. They didn’t want this case.”

  “It’s not about that, or proving you’re worthy of the work. It’s about your safety.”

  Her smile was gone. “If you tell them, they’ll take over.”

  “We could use the additional resources.”

  “Fine. I’ll think about it,” she said and turned away. “I’m going back to work.”

  “Molly—”

  “Either watch my back or don’t,” she said without facing him. “Just don’t stop me.”

  So he did the only thing he could do. He watched her back.

  Two long hours later, she emerged from the bingo hall looking exhausted. “Did you get the memory stick?” she asked in lieu of a greeting.

  “No. Janet got a migraine and is crashed out on the couch in the office. A couple of the elves are sitting with her drinking straight out of a bottle of cheap whiskey. They’re not going anywhere tonight.”

  “Shit,” she murmured.

  That about summed it up. Unable to do anything else, they headed to the car. Inside the dark interior, he looked over at her. “You were incredible tonight.”

  “Yeah. So incredible you want to cut me out of this job.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not going to do that to you. I’d never do that to you.”

  The wariness vanished from her gaze. “No?”

  “No. I just said that it’s time to think about backup on this. Backup, Molly. No one’s going to take this from you.”

  She sent him a dazzling smile. Losing the battle to keep his hands off of her, he hauled her in close and kissed her.

  “What was that for?” she asked breathlessly when he dropped her back into the passenger seat and drove them out of the lot.

  “I have no fucking idea,” he said, eyes on the road.

  “Maybe it’s because I totally handled myself tonight with Santa,” she teased.

  “You did.” He merged them into traffic and slid her a look. “It turned me on.”

  She smiled smugly.

  “And terrified me.” He shook his head. “Archer and Joe are idiots. If they took you seriously, you’d be our biggest, most impressive asset.”

  She stared at him. “That’s the sexiest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

  “I’m not kidding. You’re terrifyingly good at this. Archer needs to see you in action.”

  Her eyes were dark and luminous in the ambient lighting as she slowly dragged her teeth over her lower lip. “Now you’re just talking dirty to me on purpose. Lucas?”

  The husky low whisper of her voice had him already hard. “Yeah?”

  “If I say take me home, can we have the same rules as last time?”

  “You mean the no talking thing unless it’s dirty talk?”

  “Yes.”

  He wanted more, so much more, but he’d take what he could get from her and deal with the consequences later.

  Seeing the answer in her eyes, she gave a small, heated smile. “Take me home, Lucas,” she whispered.

  She didn’t have to say it twice.

  Chapter 21

  #YouSleighMe

  Molly wasn’t all that surprised when Lucas brought them to the Pacific Pier Building and his apartment instead of her place.

  He had the bigger bed.

  It’d started pouring on the way home. He parked and turned to her, his eyes hotter than sin. They sat and stared for a moment, and then by unspoken agreement they twisted toward each other, kept from complete contact by the console between them.

  Lucas slid his hand around to the nape of her neck, pulling her in closer, brushing his lips over hers, lightly at first, small, teasing kisses until it wasn’t enough. She moaned for more, touching her tongue to his bottom lip until he deepened the kiss.

  Closing her eyes, she let herself fall into the sensations. The sound of the rain hitting the roof of the car. The taste of Lucas, the feel of his touch, the scent of him, the heat radiating off his body . . . all of it making her feel like this was all that mattered. Screw thinking. All she wanted to do was feel.

  As if he could hear her thoughts and he agreed, he made a low sound deep in his throat, tightening his grip on her as he pulled his mouth back a fraction. “Be sure, Molly. Because after last night I didn’t think we’d—”

  “Shh.” Not wanting to think about last night, or what would happen later, she brushed her mouth up his jaw toward his ear at the same time as she slid her hand beneath his T-shirt to caress his abs. “I’m sure,” she whispered and nipped his earlobe.

  With a low growl, he hauled her over the console and into his lap. Outside, the icy rain and windstorm continued to beat at the car. They’d heated up the interior and fogged all the windows, so the real world was a complete blur. Inside, things went just as wild, but thankfully without the cold. Just the crazy heat and chemistry between them as he aided the already rising hem of her dress northbound until he had a front row view of her pale blue lace panties.

  With a rough sound of pure male pleasure, he ran a finger along the lace, making her fist her hands in his hair to hungrily pull his mouth back to hers. When he slipped past the lace barrier and gently stroked her wet flesh, she arched against his hand and cried out.

  She’d only meant to tease him out of his famed control so that he’d feel some of what she did, but she was the one she’d teased out of control. She needed him now, and to that end, she reached for the button on his jeans.

  He caught her hand. “Not here.”

  She rested her forehead against his, her breathing irregular and coming in short gasps. “Why not?”

  “Because you deserve a bed.”

  “I don’t need a bed.”

  “Good to know. But inside at least, where no one can interrupt us, because Molly?”

  “Yeah?”

  “This is going to take a while.”

  She gulped and the bones in her legs melted as he came around for her, grabbing her hand, running with her through the cobblestone courtyard up the stairs to his fourth-floor apartment.

  They were drenched and dripping all over the hallway as he pulled out his keys. When he turned to the door, Molly took in the way his shirt clung to the muscles of his shoulders and back, and utterly unable to help herself, she ran a hand down his spine.

  He dropped his keys and swore.

  Smiling as he straightened, she pressed a kiss to his wet biceps.

>   With a groan, he shoved the door open, curled an arm around her and pulled her inside. Kicking the door closed, he picked her up and headed with fierce intent toward his bedroom. Setting her down by the bed, he stripped before backing up a few steps to hit the light switch with a slap of his hand.

  Then he came back to her, dropped to his knees and fisted his hands in the material of her dress to tug off of her.

  “Wait,” she gasped.

  Going still, he met her gaze, his passion in check thanks to his incredible control, but she’d bet by the look in his eyes, he was barely leashed.

  She’d felt that way herself only seconds ago, but the light flooding the room had been like a bucket of ice water. “The light . . .”

  “Molly.” He cupped her face. “I want to see you.”

  “Yeah . . .” She squeezed her hands together and stared down at her white knuckles. “About that. Um . . .”

  He glided his hands up and down her thighs. “You’re beautiful, Molly. Let me show you how much.”

  “See, I was sort of planning to skip the show part.”

  He took her chilled hands in his warm ones, a question in his eyes, though he didn’t say speak.

  She blew out a breath. “Okay, so I have a . . . thing.”

  “A thing.”

  “A hang-up thing,” she said.

  “Okay, well, that’s better than what I thought you were going to say. A hang-up we can work with.”

  “I—Wait,” she said. “What did you think I was going to say?”

  “That you didn’t want to get me naked again.”

  She snorted. “Have you seen you naked? I’d have to be dead to not want to get you that way again.”

  He didn’t smile. Instead he pressed her hands to his chest. “Molly.”

  “Right,” she murmured. “You realize I’m trying to scare you off.”

  “Yes, but I don’t scare off easily.”

  “I’m starting to get that.” She blew out a breath. “Okay, it’s just that . . . You know what happened to me, about the surgeries.”