Free Jingle This! by Stephanie Rowe Page A

yet?"
    The mood she was getting into with Kyle walking around his loft in his socks and looking mischievous wasn't exactly the Christmas mood.
    "Hang on." He pulled open a cabinet, took out a tin, and brought it over to her. It was red with a painted Christmas scene on the top. "My mom makes me Christmas cookies every year. Take your pick." He opened the container and set it down on the desk. Candy canes, Christmas trees, little Santas, all meticulously decorated.
    Angie's heart softened at all the cookies, so endearing with their less-than-perfect decorations. She thought they were adorable the way there was a little too much red on the candy canes, and a thumb print on the Christmas tree. "Your mom must love you to make all this for you."
    He turned red. "I help."
    She stared at him in surprise. "You help your mom decorate Christmas cookies?"
    "Yeah."
    Wow. She had no idea that the workaholic who ran their company would take time off to decorate cookies with his mom. "That's not exactly the autocratic financial wizard image you project at work."
    He looked surprised. "You think I'm autocratic?"
    "Everyone does. Because you are." She gestured to the computer. "You've been bossing me around all day."
    "But that's because..." he paused. "Sorry."
    Sorry? He apologized to her? Since when was he the type to apologize for being focused on work? She was so confused. She thought she knew Kyle so well already, but he was showing her sides she'd never seen. Sides that made her like him even more. This wasn't good. She couldn’t afford to trust him again. She simply couldn't.
    "So, are you in the holiday spirit yet?" he asked.
    She sighed. "Kyle, I appreciate the effort, but I've got to do this on my own. A few reminders of Christmas aren't going to snap me back into my happy place."
    He held up his finger. "Hang on." He disappeared into his bedroom, where she could see him rifling through a wardrobe. He let out a triumphant grunt, then re-emerged, holding a headband that had antlers sprouting out of them. "Here. Wear these. I got them at a White Elephant party last year."
    She eyed them dubiously. "I think you should wear them. How am I supposed to respond to them if they're on my own head and I can't see them?"
    He narrowed his eyes. "Are you serious?"
    "Sure." She didn't believe for a minute he was going to put those on.
    "Fine." He stuck them on his head. "You better be inspired."
    He looked so ridiculous with the antlers bouncing around and the headband totally askew on his head that Angie couldn't help but laugh. "You're crooked. Come here."
    He obediently crouched in front of her so she could reach his head. "I'm at your mercy. Be quick with it. It's torture for me."
    She laughed and tucked the ends of the headband in their proper place. "It goes behind your ears, and then you need to free the antlers so they bounce." She fluffed his hair around the headband. "There. You look fabulous." She suddenly realized that his hands were on her thighs for balance. "Um..."
    "So, you're in the Christmas mood now?" His voice was husky, and he seemed to have developed a deep fascination with her lips.
    "I'm getting there." Uh, oh. Why was her voice so throaty?
    "What about romance?" He met her gaze, and she sucked in her breath at the intensity blazing in them. "What about love? Are you feeling that yet?"
    She swallowed, cursing her traitorous mind that was fixating on the man between her knees. "That would be a no." Sex maybe. Yes, definitely raw, animal attraction and desire. She might be feeling that. Love? Bah. Love was for idiots.
    He twisted a strand of her hair around his index finger. "It's my job to inspire you."
    Her mouth felt dry. "Is that right?" Remember, he's only motivated by work. This isn't real.
    "Mmm." He shifted onto his knees, so his face was almost level with hers. "You think a kiss might inspire you?"
    Oh, dear Lord. He was not really going to do this, was he? She tried to swallow. "Depends on who it was from. Rudolph,