Free The Boss's Mistletoe Maneuvers by Linda Thomas-Sundstrom

in our genes.”
    “So what will she do after that?”
    “Simmer awhile, most likely, and then start thinking.”
    “She doesn’t really have a case you know,” he said. “There’s no one to remove me or waggle a finger over a kiss.”
    Brenda nodded. “I know that, and who you really are. You might have changed your name if being undercover here is your game, because I just looked your family up online. Kim doesn’t know yet because I didn’t get to it until now.”
    “You looked me up?”
    “The internet is a marvelous thing,” Brenda said. “Your family’s business dealings are plastered all over it.”
    “Then you know why I’m here?”
    “Yep.”
    “You’ll tell her?”
    “I would have already, if you hadn’t followed her to this hallway. Just so you know, friends don’t usually allow each other to do anything they might regret.”
    “When she knows about me, and without her little blackmail scheme getting her the office she wants, will she leave the company?”
    “I wouldn’t put it past her. What would you do, in her place, if you found out that the man you were going to resort to blackmailing was in fact the owner of the agency?”
    “I’d take the damn Christmas gig and get on with it,” Chaz said.
    “Yes, well you have millions of dollars to fall back on, and no female hormones. Kim has a tiny apartment she can barely afford as it is, close by because she’s here working most of the time.”
    Chaz gave her a sober sideways glance. “Point taken.”
    “Is it?” Brenda countered.
    “Quite.”
    “She’s not putting you on, you know. She has been dealing with holiday stuff for years. Very real issues. Serious setbacks.”
    Chaz looked again to the elevator, which had indeed stopped two floors up. He then glanced to the revolving doors leading to the street. “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me where her apartment is?”
    “The name is Chang, not Judas.”
    “I want to keep her, but I’m running out of options, Brenda. I’d like to tell her about my real position here, myself, before she does anything stupid.”
    “So you’ll show up on her doorstep?”
    “Do you have a better idea?”
    “I think that might be going beyond the call of duty. Unless there’s another reason you want to keep her here, other than her ability to work her tail off.”
    Chaz thought that over, deciding that Brenda was right. He was letting an employee dictate his actions, actions that might appear as desperate. As for a reason for wanting to keep Kim, beyond chaining her to her desk...his body had made it pretty clear that he was interested in more than her work ethic. The intensity of their attraction that had led to the kiss couldn’t be ignored, and hadn’t lessened one bit.
    It was a double-edged sword. If he went out of his way to keep her at the agency, his actions tonight might hurt her reputation. If she walked out, taking those big clients with her, the agency might tank.
    This was an impossible situation that he had to try to put right.
    “You’re right,” he said to Brenda. “She has to decide for herself, without further interference, what she will do next. Feelings have no place here.”
    Brenda thought that over with her head tilted to the side. She searched his face. “Feelings, huh?”
    He shrugged.
    She sighed loudly and opened her purse. Removing a piece of paper and a pen, she scribbled something and handed the paper over.
    “If you tell her I gave this to you, I’ll tell her you lied. Three guesses as to whom she will believe.”
    After a hesitation, she handed him something else. It was a tiny tape recorder just like the one Kim had used to record their conversation.
    Chaz glanced at her questioningly.
    “I taped something in case Kim and I needed a laugh later,” Brenda said. “You might want to listen to the tape before finding her. It might help with that lawsuit business and save everyone some serious damage.”
    Chaz pocketed the recorder. “Does this mean