Free Love Finds You in North Pole, Alaska by Loree Lough

Garrett Brooks, President and CEO . Despite the fancy title, she had no desire to go to Paris—or anywhere else, for that matter—with the man!
    “Looks to me like you’ve turned Danny boy’s head,” Bryce said, smiling around a bite of egg.
    Sam slapped Dan’s card onto the table, wondering why in the world it would make any difference to Bryce, one way or the other. “Excuse me,” she said, “but I need to get back to work.”
    He slid from the booth and stood at the end of the table as she got to her feet. Slinging her purse over one shoulder, she faced the lobby. “See you at the shop, boss .”
    Sam could almost feel his eyes, drilling tiny holes into her back as she half-ran toward the door. A mental image of herself tripping over the restaurant’s long red welcome mat slowed her pace. The last thing she wanted was to give Bryce yet another bit of evidence for his “Why Sam’s too Ditzy to Manage the Shop” list.

Chapter Seven

    When Bryce entered the shop shortly after closing time, the breath caught in his throat, because there stood Sam at the top of a twelve-foot stepladder, reaching for something at the back of a high shelf.
    “Are you out of your ever-loving mind?” he thundered as the door slammed shut behind him. “Get down from there before you—”
    Eyes wide with fright, her arms windmilled as she struggled to retain her balance. If he’d known that the sound of his voice would startle her that badly, he never would have burst into the store, roaring like an irate lion. If she fell from that height, she’d break her pretty neck. Not to mention the thousands of dollars’ worth of crystal and porcelain Christmas garden houses she’d take with her.
    Bryce made it from the door to the base of the wobbling ladder in three quick strides, steadying it with one hand as the other wrapped around her slender ankle. Rudolph’s clocks chose that instant to announce the six o’clock hour, and he hoped the rhythmic harmony would drown out the sound of his hard-hammering heart.
    “I’ll get down,” she said through clenched teeth, “just as soon as you let go of my ankle.”
    Until she mentioned it, Bryce hadn’t even realized he’d grabbed it. He swallowed, hard, and released her. “You scared me half to death,” he admitted as she made her way down the rickety rungs, “swinging around up there like a monkey in a zoo.”
    Once both feet were on steady ground, she glared up at him. “I was fine until you blasted in here like a bull in a china shop.”
    “Could’ve fooled me.”
    Hands on her hips, Sam’s eyes flashed. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume you had only the best of intentions. But do me a favor, will you? Next time you’re tempted to play the hero, make sure the person you’re rescuing needs rescuing!”
    Playing hero? Out on a limb? Bryce turned his back to her. He didn’t know whether he felt embarrassed or annoyed by her attitude…or both. “Of all the ungrateful—”
    She darted around and faced him head-on. “Excuse me?” It was almost comical, the way she stood glaring up at him.
    Almost.
    If he hadn’t come into the store when he had, no telling what might have happened to her. Bryce had no intention of apologizing for saving her from certain doom. But he had no desire to stand here bickering with her about it, either. “Have you balanced the checkbook for this month?”
    Sam blinked, looking a bit baffled by his sudden change of subject. “What?” She stiffened her spine and lifted her chin in defiance. “Of course I have,” she snapped, “and you’re more than welcome to double-check my math.”
    He’d heard it said that some women wore their anger well, but he’d never seen proof of it before now. Much as he hated to admit it, she did look gorgeous all riled up.
    Bryce clapped a hand to the back of his neck and shook his head. He didn’t know why, but he wanted to wrap her in a fierce hug, kiss the daylights out of her, and tell