Free Winter Kisses by A.C. Arthur

then touched a hand to her just-plumping belly. Soon she’d add an addition to that family and she couldn’t be happier. Deena and Max were already beyond ecstatic with the adoption of the most adorable little girl she’d ever seen. Was it such a bad thing to want the same happiness for her big sister?
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    The day was brisk. Correction, it was biting cold in New York. He hated this city, hated the lights and allthe people and traffic. His home was the South, where things moved at a slower pace and the rich had lineage and land to prove their status instead of condos and limousines and yearlong passes to everything showing on Broadway.
    Yates Hinton was used to a much tamer lifestyle in Charleston, South Carolina. He had a house there on eighty acres of land, two cars and a thriving business. What he didn’t have was the main reason for this visit to the city he despised.
    Sitting in his hotel room, he watched the frigid air just about freeze against the windows as it blew. Even his coffee was now cold after only two sips. Thrumming his fingers on the table as he listened carefully to the report being read to him, he tried not to yell with impatience.
    â€œSo she’s not here. Is that what you’re telling me?” he asked the thin man with wire-rimmed glasses, beady little gray eyes and a mischievous smile.
    â€œNo. At the moment she is not.”
    â€œWhen will she return?”
    â€œHer assistant wasn’t sure.”
    â€œWasn’t sure or didn’t want to tell you?”
    He chuckled, a hollow sound that grated on Yates’s nerves. He was paying this grinning idiot a ton of money to keep tabs on Monica Lakefield, to ensure that what Yates wanted he would soon get. So for now, he’d have to tolerate the slimy rat instead of wringing his greedy little neck the way he wanted to.
    â€œOh, she told me everything she knew. I can assure you that. But she doesn’t know when Lakefield will be back. It was a last-minute trip. The plane ticket is openended. But here’s the thing.” He leaned forward on the table. “And this is going to cost you extra.”
    Yates leaned forward and stared into the fathomless eyes of this master extortionist. “Extra for what?”
    His smile spread, thin lips moving over crocked teeth a shade or two shy of being white with one gleaming gold on the right side. “For the extra bombshell I’m about to drop into your lap. I think it’s worth another twenty-five thousand.”
    Yates didn’t even blink, as if the amount he was asking for didn’t matter. “I need to know what the information is before I agree to pay for it.”
    â€œNah, what if you back out once I tell you?”
    â€œI don’t have to tell you I’m a man of my word. You should already know that from our past dealings.”
    â€œYeah,” he said, contemplating Yates’s words, rubbing a hand over his smooth-shaven chin. “You have been cool with your payments all this time. But that’s because you were down south and needed eyes and ears here in the city. How long you planning on staying here anyway?”
    â€œDon’t get off the subject.”
    â€œTwenty-five thousand. Agreed?” he said, the smile gone, his business glare locked into place.
    Through clenched teeth Yates answered, “Agreed.” Just as Yates had been a man of his word, so had his informant over the past years. Sure, he’d paid him more than a high-school dropout could have ever hoped to make at a legal job, but up until now every report delivered to him had been worth it. He had no choice but to trust his instincts that this time it would be, as well.
    â€œShe’s not alone on this last-minute trip.”
    Yates sat back in his chair, his hands falling to reston his thighs, the wool of his dress pants itching his palms. “Who is she with?”
    â€œThis is the part you’re going to love. She’s with