Free The Christmas Catch by Ginny Baird Page A

Carlos!” she yelped, starting to freak just a little. Maybe it was enormous and had teeth! Ellen wasn’t sure whether they had piranhas up here, but decided now was not the time to find out.
    “Hold it steady,” Carlos offered. “Let me help you.”
    He sidled up behind her, positioning his legs on either side of hers and wrapping his firm grip around the pole before them. She almost swore she felt his pole pressing up against her backside. She squirmed with excitement, suddenly too hot in her heavy clothing.
    “This isn’t working out so badly,” he said in a sexy whisper that nearly melted the ice beneath them. If she weren’t so dearly afraid for her life, she might have found herself turned on. For now, Ellen just hoped to live until lunchtime.
    The line yanked forward as they wrestled with their footing. “Do they have sharks up here? Great whites?” Ellen asked. She dug her heels into the slick surface below her, thinking maybe practicality should have trumped fashion just this once.
    Carlos settled her hips and bottom against him with one arm, to keep her from sliding, then said in a commanding voice, “We’re going to take that sucker for what he’s worth. You ready?”
    As long as he was in charge and they weren’t going under, Ellen was prepared to do anything Carlos said. She nodded, grimacing at the strain of holding the pole that arched over in their grip.
    “When I say go…”
    “What happens on go ?” she asked, glancing quickly over her shoulder.
    His eyes danced with mirth as he gave her a peck on the cheek. Her skin tingled at the brush of his beard and she saw a flash of bright light. Either she was dizzy from the contact or going snow-blind. “We pull that baby out of the water.” He leaned back a bit and added with a chuckle. “Though something tells me it’s an awfully big baby.
    “Ready…” he started, strengthening his hold on both her and the pole. “Set…”
    Ellen’s heart thundered at the thought she was about to do it. Something so recklessly primitive as catching a fish!
    “Go!” Carlos shouted, wrenching back with all his might. Ellen gave it everything she had, yanking hard. The monster strained against them. They pulled, it tugged… they pulled, it tugged. Then finally they pulled harder, and— wham ! Ellen and Carlos fell back in a heap, with her landing squarely on top of him.
    “Are you all right?” he asked, gripping her breasts through her coat as she stared up into a clear, blue sky.
    “I think so,” she said, spinning over on top of him. Six feet away, the most enormous fish she’d seen in her life flip-flopped on its side beyond their tackle box.
    Ellen grinned. “We got him!” she shouted, happily pounding Carlo’s chest with her gloves. “By God, we got him!”
    Carlos laughed with delight and pulled her toward him for a kiss. “Damn good fishing for a city woman.”

    Christine and Tyler made their way through the busy crowd at the airport, dragging their rolling carry-on bags behind them. They were almost to security when Christine heard a distant cry. “Christine! Wait!”
    Tyler turned first. “Mommy! Look!”
    She spun on her heels to find John sprinting toward them in his Carolina sweatshirt, a large manila envelope in hand.
    “Thank God I caught you.” He leaned forward panting, hands resting on his thighs. “I thought I was too late.”
    Christine stared at him is disbelief. “What are you doing here?”
    He huffed and puffed, still catching his breath. “I couldn’t let you leave without this,” he said, extending the manila envelop toward her.
    “I’m not sure I understand. What is it?”
    John caught his wind, straightening. “A business plan, Christine. This is it! A solution. A way to get from point A to point Z!”
    She stared at him flatly unable to mask her disappointment. “Oh.”
    He appeared confused, thrown off guard. John ran his fingers through his short dark hair, settling his gaze on hers. “But this is