A Very Merry Temptation: 'Twas the Season / Mistletoe in Memphis / Second-Chance Christmas

But it was the things beyond the what’s your favorite color and what did you want to be when you grew up that she began to want to know about him.

The longer she was around him, the more she wanted to know him. Beyond the superficial. She had sighed and shook her head.

“Forget it, it’s not a biggie,” she’d quipped. She had hopped up from the table, grabbed her dish and made for the sink.

He’d caught her, swinging her around, a frown on his face as he took the dish from her hand.

He had palmed both sides of her face, his look intense as he stared down at her.

He had opened his mouth to speak and shut it.

Making her want to smack him. She had known there was something he wasn’t telling her, and the more he held on to it, the harder it was becoming for her to pretend like it wasn’t there...that something between them.

* * *

Max needed to be prepared for anything Nikki threw at him. He thought back on that date with her, the mountain of questions she’d thrown at him.

That morning he’d gotten up and realized two things. One: that while he thought he’d been falling in love with her, he knew it was already a done deal; the woman had his heart on lockdown and the key hers to do with as she wanted.

Question was, would she throw away the key or store it within her own heart?

He’d left her sleeping and drove his car to the office. Wondering what the hell his next course of action was.

The answer had surprisingly come from his mother.

His cellphone had rang, indicating she was on the line. He had been in communication with his mother from the moment he’d taken over the office, and although the topic had stayed within the confines of business, i.e. a good replacement for Max, as she assumed he wanted out ASAP, it had, of course, gone to the personal.

“Mom, I’ve met someone...” he’d begun, and paused. “Someone I want you to meet.” He stopped, waiting. A shout, scream, exclamation...something.

He knew it had to be significant for his mother. He’d not only never brought anyone home to meet her, he’d never even discussed a woman by name, much less told his mother he wanted her to meet the woman.

“Well, it is about damn time, Maxwell! I’ve been waiting for you to bring Nikki to me for the last week. Or at least to tell me about her, from your own mouth!”

“What? You knew?” Surprise left his mouth wide open and had he not been paying attention as he drove he would have wrecked his car. As it was he barely missed swiping another one as he swerved to miss.

“Well, of course I knew, darling. Nothing goes on in the company I don’t know about,” she had said, her cultured voice smug and eliciting a reluctant laugh from Max. He knew how his mother knew....

“So, old dragon breath knows about us, huh?” he had asked and they had both laughed.

Max sobered and paused.

His mother waited for a minute before she had said, “That’s the reason I brought you to the company. You needed to meet someone special. But before you bring her to me, she has to know who you are, son.” Her tone had been quiet and motherly.

He had sighed. “I know, Mom, but it’s not that easy. There’s more to it. I know information about her that I wouldn’t know...shouldn’t know, I guess,” he had said, uneasily broaching the subject of how he’d used his influence with the chief of security to gather information about Nikki. “I’m not sure she’s going to be keen on how I, uh...acquired it,” he had said, not even comfortable with his mother knowing what he’d done. The way he’d invaded her personal life.

“The fact that you had James Green do a little digging into her past, Max?” she’d asked.

Why he was surprised was beyond him. As she had said...nothing went on that his mother didn’t know about.

The rest of the ride into the office, he’d listened as his mother both fussed at and guided him on his next course of action.

“At the end of the day, it’s your decision on how to go forward. Telling her who you really are...she’ll understand that. She’ll understand your reasons. They’re valid, son. As a woman I feel confident telling you that,” she’d begun and Max felt a semblance of relief.

Her next words snatched his security blanket away.

“But as for you digging into her past...go gently with that. You don’t have to tell her, she’ll never know...but tell her. If you want a real relationship, you have no other option.”

And with that sage advice, Max had gone into his office and downloaded everything onto a jump drive, both his dossier...and the one he’d collected on Nikki.

After he loaded the documents, he knew what a man facing life in prison or freedom felt like when waiting for the jury’s verdict.

Chapter 10

A few days later, Nikki woke up slowly, lazily from a night filled with restless sleep. She reflected on the past three weeks since she and Max had become involved. They had been filled with excitement and passion, and now uncertainty.

Her mind took her back to their last encounter.

It was the first time she’d spent the night at his place, and although she’d warned herself not to make too much of a big deal about it, a part of her knew that it was significant. Just as she knew there was much, much more to Max than met the eyes.

She’d known that as soon as he’d driven into the upper-end neighborhood where he lived.

Tension had fairly radiated off of him, but she’d kept silent, not asking the burning question...how does a temp manager afford to live in the clearly affluent West Austin suburb? An area like this?

She nestled deeper into the down comforter and pulled it up to her chin, not really ready to get out of bed, but knowing she had to. Her boss expected her staff to be in the office on time, and did not like to hear excuses.

Memories of the previous night still lingered. After each time they made love, their intimacy grew. But more than that, they had begun to share things with each other, things beyond the sexual.

She’d told him of her desire to be a designer at MagHard, hopefully soon as she received her master’s degree at the end of the semester.

She’d lain in front of him, warm and satisfied from his latest lovemaking.

“And I know that with dedication and commitment, I can do it. I’ve already learned a lot from my time at MagHard,” she’d confessed during their pillow talk.

He’d been silent before he spoke. “But you want more than just to be a designer at the firm, right? Don’t you want to...branch out, start your own company?” he’d asked, and she’d sighed, nodding her head in the dark, running her fingers back and forth over the back of his hand that he had wrapped around her midsection as they spooned.

She smiled. It was as though he had read her mind. Sometimes the intuitive questions he asked seemed as though...he had a blueprint to her heart. The thought was as scary as it was enticing. No man had ever...gotten her, she’d always thought.

He’d kissed the back of her neck and asked, “What made you laugh?”

She snuggled back into his embrace and shook her head, a small smile playing around the corners of her mouth in the dark. “Nothing. Everything. I like you, Max Stele,” had been her only reply, the region of her heart seeming to expand with the knowledge that she was falling in love with him.

After that night’s marathon session they’d stayed up late, sharing their childhood stories.

She hadn’t wanted to pry, but she wanted...yearned to learn more about Max.

“There’s something that has been, well...on my mind,” she had said, broaching one of the subjects that she had only recently been thinking about.

He’d brought her into his arms and held her close, his head on top of hers as he feathered it back and forth.

“What’s that?” he had asked, his tone casual, yet she felt the tension that radiated from him the minute she spoke.

“Remember the night of the party?”

“Hmm, vaguely. Something comes to mind,” he had said, pressing his shaft against her butt as she was spooned in front of him, one of his big arms loosely wrapped around her waist.

She had smacked the hand at her waist. “I’m being serious, pervert!” she had said with mock anger. Even when she was trying to be serious, he tried to bring levity to the moment.

“Hey, I resemble that remark,” he had replied and she groaned before joining in his laughter.

She grew serious and plunged ahead. The question had been nagging at her all day as she recalled the evening that began their...affair.

“What’s my middle name?” she had asked lightly and held her breath, waiting.

“Francine...why?” he had countered smoothly.

She paused, bit the corner of her mouth and jumped in. “How do you know that? Have you been spying on me?” she had asked.

There was only the briefest of pauses before he responded. “Why would I do that? Are you hiding something?” And for a moment Nikki had wished with all her might that she had the nerve to turn around and face him, to see his expression as he deflected her question with a question.

She felt her gut turn. “No, just wondering how you knew my middle name,” she had asked, and waited.

“It’s in your personal file, baby. How else would I know?” The answer had made her gut sink just the smallest bit. “Although I’m the temporary manager, I had to know about all key and essential personnel, so I read a few files. Yours was one,” he had replied, his voice casual.

“Key and essential personnel? Me?” she had giggled, keeping it light.

“You’re key and essential to me,” he’d said and with that quip, he’d flipped her on her back and explained—or showed her—how key and essential she was to him.

She blushed at that memory of their lovemaking, but then grew reflective as more details unfolded from that night.

There was no way he’d gotten her middle name from the file, because she hadn’t put it on her employment record. Not her full middle name. Most thought she was simply Nikki F. Danes. She only included her middle name on one social media site, but that was not a public profile.

But he’d called her Nikki Francine Dane.

She had forced herself to rise, and looked around the simple but beautiful furnished room. She’d been awestruck when he’d brought her into his home, the upper-end condo one of only a few in the affluent neighborhood.

She hadn’t wanted to appear like a country bumpkin, but she was impressed and more than a little curious about how he could afford it.

“Which begs the question, who are you, really, Max Stele?” she said out loud. Not expecting an answer.

“I’m Maxwell Steele-Hardaway, Nikki...and I need to talk to you.”

Nikki spun around and gaped, staring across at Max, her face losing color as the significance of his name, apparently his true name, sank in.

Her face scanned his, noting the grim lines bracketing his sensual mouth...her eyes going to a file in his hand. One he held out to her.

“People don’t really use folders anymore. Everything is learned and created on disk. But I thought it would be easier for you to read this here and not on a computer. It seems so cold to read things from a computer. At least to me,” he said, his deep voice, which normally turned her on, this time confusing her.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, frowning, pulling the ends of his robe closer around her body.

She felt dread coursing through her body as he walked toward her. He held out his hand, motioning for her to take the folder.

He wanted her to read it.

She looked from the folder in his outstretched hand back to his face, which was devoid of any real telling expression.

She knew the answers to some of the questions she’d been having about him were inside.

As much as she wanted to know, as much as she’d known he was hiding something from her, suddenly she found that she didn’t want to know.

When she finally nodded her head, ready to accept it, whatever it was, he covered her hand with his.

She glanced up at him and he laughed, a slightly nervous-sounding laugh, and one that was completely unlike what she’d expect. Nervous and Max went together like oil and water. He was the most confident man she’d ever met. Her brows drew together.

“It’s not earth-shattering, baby. What’s inside,” he said when her frown deepened. “It’s just that...I want more with you.” His words made her heart pause, hiccup a little and resume its normal beat.

“I want more than I ever thought I would. I didn’t think I would feel the way I do, never thought I would...fall in love. But I have.”

“Baby...” Her eyes flew to his, her gaze searching his out. She felt the sting of tears in her eyes. He loved her.

And she was crazy in love with him, and now...

“But before we went any further, before this amazing, beautiful thing we have could grow, I knew I had to come clean. So...” He paused and looked deeply into her eyes. In his she saw, clearly, his struggle. She drew in a breath.

“I need you to know this is only one part of me,” he said, his eyes indicating the file. “And what I did was only because I wanted to get to know you. Even from the first moment I saw you on that elevator, I wanted to know you.”

With that he handed her the file and turned, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

All kinds of emotions were swirling around in Nikki’s head, from high elation—the minute he’d said that he loved her, she had wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him until neither one of them could breathe—to fear and dread. As he’d said he loved her, his face had been so solemn, not happy at all, and she’d wanted to slap him and cry knowing that she wasn’t going to like whatever he had to tell her.

She took the file and sat down on the bed, her eyes widening as she began to flip through the documents, her brow furrowing and her stomach hollowing out as she realized it appeared to be Max’s résumé...and hers as well. But it wasn’t the normal résumé she’d given to the company.

There were pictures of her, from the time she was young to her most recent time as an employee of MagHard. The information went way beyond what she’d given to the company upon her employment.

He had her life in front of him. Everything she loved, liked to do, family life...hell, even her favorite nail polish was listed in the extensive folder.

He hadn’t had to find out who she was. He had already known.

Which made her feel as though he was nothing more than a con. Blueprint to my heart, my ass, she thought, tears streaming down her face.

Max Stele...aka Maxwell Steele-Hardaway had had the blueprint for her heart at his fingertips all along.

Chapter 11

“Just take me home.” Her demand was curt and to the point.

“Nikki, baby,” Max began, reaching out to touch her. He had to touch his baby, had to bring her to his body and make her forgive him...make her understand.

“I was falling in love with you, goddamn it, and it was all just some kinda—” Nikki paused in her quiet anger, her voice little above a whisper, her face scrunched in anger and tears running down her face. “Some kinda game.” She said the final word as though it were a curse word.

“God, no, baby! It wasn’t a game. Look, I know it wasn’t right, I should have told you who I was. I—”

“I don’t give a shit about your name, Maxwell Hardaway...as much as it pisses me off that you didn’t feel as though you could tell me that very important information...I get it. I get who your family is, and how you wanted distance from it.” Her words had filled him with hope until she continued.

“I respect that you made your own way and didn’t use your family name. All of that I get!” she continued, her voice beginning to rise as she faced him.

“What I don’t get is how...why you felt you had the right to dig into my past like that. Why not just ask me. Unlike you, I had—have nothing to hide.” She turned from him and wrapped her arms around her waist, the position defensive, angry...hurt.

He couldn’t let her think that. He reached out and spun her around, forcing her to look at him.

“It wasn’t like that, baby, please. I knew from the moment I first met you, the moment you walked into that elevator that I was sprung like an addict,” he said, laughing harshly. “I didn’t know how...what to do. I had never felt like that, had such a strong reaction like that, so immediately, for a woman. The more I saw glimpses of you around the office, I knew I had to learn more. I wanted some sort of...” He paused, running his hand through his hair, spiking it over his head, thinking of the right word. “Leverage...” he finished, finding the word inadequate the moment he said it.

He had known it was the wrong word when her dark complexion lost all color and appeared ashen.

Her mouth firmed and a small tic formed in the corner of her pretty, full lips.

Priding himself on his strong gut instincts, he shut his mouth, even though he had to fight to do it.

Her chest was still heaving, the tears drying on her pretty chocolate-colored skin. Her pain was his pain. But he knew she wouldn’t want to hear that.

He felt the mist in his eyes turn to real tears, tears he’d never shed in his life for a woman, as he saw the response to the evidence of what he’d done to her, how he’d betrayed her. He knew there was nothing that would convince her that he’d had no intention of using the information for any other purpose but in his stupid, egomaniacal male way of finding out as much about her as he could.

Leverage.

The word hung between them in the silence, heavy and thick.

“I am not an acquisition in some kind of merger, Max. I am a woman. I was your woman.... Now take me home.”

He stared at her, feeling like his heart was being ripped from his chest. Slowly he nodded his head and watched, his body and mind numb, as she slowly turned away and, with her head high, went into the bedroom to dress.

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