He
knows if she's been bad or good.
Amidst the sugarplums and mistletoe, fashion stylist Julia Bennett is every
inch a scrooge. Known for her ice-queen ways, she's having a meltdown over a
botched business deal and an upcoming milestone birthday. Add the pressure of
forced holiday cheer, and she's ready to dive into the spiked eggnog and not
come out until summer.
Warren Stone, president and owner of the Sugar Rush Candy Company, is
determined to make Julia slow down and enjoy the holidays. As her friend and
confidante for thirteen years, he knows her better than anyone. But when
decking the halls leads them to an explosive, sexy night, everything suddenly
changes.
And
when Warren decides Julia is all he wants for Christmas, will she risk their
longtime friendship for the gift of love?
Excerpt
“Now step into my office.”
Julia blinked at his hard tone, her
gaze shifting to his closed office door. “I beg your pardon?”
Warren opened the door. “In. Now.”
Her features tightened with resistance
just as the elevator doors opened and several employees emerged, their voices
rising in chatter. Julia crossed the hallway in front of them, her shoulders
rigid. He caught a whiff of Chanel No. 5 as she passed him.
He entered the office behind her and
closed the door, flicking the lock shut.
“You are not to take out personal crap
on my employees,” he said. “That’s
not how I run this company.”
Julia’s lips compressed. “Odd that
you’ve never before questioned my treatment of your employees. And it wasn’t personal. She needed to know she’d
screwed up.”
“Announcing the holiday party early is
not screwing up,” Warren replied evenly. “You’re pissed off because you’ve had a
shitty week, you have too much on your plate, an old bucket list has thrown you
off your game, and you don’t know what to do with the fact that we fucked the
other night.”
Two spots of color appeared on her
cheeks. “I seem to recall that what I did
with that fact was tell you it wasn’t going to happen again. After which
you informed me in excellent caveman style that I was wrong. You seem to forget
I’m never wrong.”
About this, you are.
He bit back the words. He hadn’t become
the president of Sugar Rush by throwing his weight around. He knew how to bide
his time, work his way into getting what he wanted. And damned if he didn’t
want her more with every passing
second.
“Well?” Julia put her hands on her hips
and glared at him. “Are we done here?”
Under her make-up, purplish smudges
shadowed her eyes. Brackets of tension lined her mouth. His jaw tightened.
“You had a migraine yesterday,” he
said.
“What the fuck do you care?” Julia
snapped.
Warren’s hands flexed. He was used to
her quick-fire cursing, all the more effective when delivered by a woman who
looked like royalty, but he didn’t like being the recipient of her wrath.
“I’m putting Mia Donovan in charge of
the Sugar Rush holiday party,” he said.
“You’re firing me?” Julia stared at him, her eyes widening. “Are you
serious?”
“Yes.” He steeled himself against her
shock and the knowledge that he was hurting her. “You’ve planned it for the
past ten years, and it’s time to hand it over to someone else.”
“You don’t get to decide that.”
“Yes, I do. Sugar Rush is my company.
This is also the event where I’ll be announcing my retirement. You’re not going
to plan it.”
“Because I have too much on my plate?”
Julia stopped in front of the windows, her arms crossed and her fiery gaze
fixed on him. “Thanks for your concern, Daddy, but I assure you I can handle
everything I take on.”
“That’s why you’re such a success. It’s
also why your headaches are getting worse.”
“You are not my fucking doctor.”
“Stop swearing.”
She barked out a laugh. “You need to
rethink this retirement thing, Warren. It’s making you soft.”
Given the state of his dick, he was
anything but soft.
About the Author
New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Nina Lane writes hot, sexy romances about professors, bad boys, candy makers, and protective alpha males who find themselves consumed with love for one woman alone. Originally from California, Nina holds a PhD in Art History and an MA in Library and Information Studies, which means she loves both research and organization. She also enjoys traveling and thinks St. Petersburg, Russia is a city everyone should visit at least once. Although Nina would go back to college for another degree because she's that much of a bookworm and a perpetual student, she now lives the happy life of a full-time writer.
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