The Trouble with Mistletoe Read online

  “Yeah,” he said, hands on her ass, rocking her into him, loving the gasp that wrenched from her throat. On a mission now, he began to tug her even closer, his gaze locked on his target . . .

  “Wait,” she gasped, crawling off of him, running naked to her duffel bag on the floor. “I have another present for you.”

  “Mmm,” he said watching as she bent over to rifle through the duffel. “You’re giving me a gift right now—”

  She grabbed his discarded shirt and pulled it over her head. Then she whirled and ran back to him, jumping on him like a kid on . . . well, Christmas morning. “Open!” she demanded.

  The bag was bright red. He peeked inside and pulled out a pair of . . . boxers with eyeballs covered in glasses all over them.

  “Interesting,” he said.

  “Crap!” She snatched back the boxers and stuffed them in the bag again. “Those are for Haley.” She ran to her duffel again and came back with another bright red bag, same size as the other.

  This time he pulled out a box of joke condoms that said Size Matters! Think Big! He laughed and reached for her. “This here’s a present that needs to be shown how to use—”

  “No, wait!” she said, laughing as she evaded him. “That’s Pru’s!” And she once again exchanged the bag. This time she peeked into it first and sighed. “Okay, this is it.”

  He took in her shaky smile and the way she was fiddling, and realized she was nervous. Setting the present aside, he sat all the way up, stuffed the pillows behind his back, and then pulled her into his lap. “Better,” he said and reached for the present again.

  When he pulled out the vintage tape measure, he let out a long breath. “Is this—”

  “From the turn of the twentieth century,” she said. “It’s got a lightweight brass casing with a conversion table on the other side. After you told me about that time you spent working with your uncle and how much you liked his antique tools, this felt like something you might like.”

  “Love,” he said, marveling at it. It was amazing. “Where did you get it?”

  “I found it at an antique store on Divisadero Street.” She shifted uncomfortably, clearly embarrassed. “It’s not much, and I’m not even sure it really works, I just—”

  He leaned forward and kissed her to shut her up. Pulling back only a fraction, he held her gaze. “It’s perfect. You’re perfect.”

  She bit her lower lip and smiled. “Good. Let’s get up. I’ve got something in my bag for Petunia before she gets picked up—”

  “She’s not getting picked up.”

  “She’s not?”

  “No,” he said. “I called Sally and said the cat had to stay because I have a mouse problem.”

  She choked out a laugh. “You didn’t.”

  “I didn’t,” he agreed. “I told Sally the cat had to stay because she belonged here in this house, that I’d fallen in love several times over and I needed both my girls here with me.”

  Willa let out a shaky breath. “I’m not going to get tired of hearing that anytime soon.”

  “Mew.”

  They both looked over at Pita sitting in the doorway. “She’s demanding sustenance,” Keane said.

  Willa laughed and slid off him. “I’ll go feed her. I’ll be right back.”

  He heard her move into the kitchen. Heard her pad to the bin of cat food and stop.

  He knew why. Knew exactly what she’d found. And two seconds later she came racing back into the room, a blur of red hair and soft, sweet skin as she jumped him for the second time that morning.

  Straddling him, she beamed down at him, her eyes shimmering brilliantly.

  “What?” he asked innocently.

  She held out the robin egg blue box. “Tiffany’s?”

  “Are you going to quiz me or open it?”

  She slipped the silver ribbon off the box and slowly lifted the lid. Gasped. “Oh my God,” she whispered as she gaped at the platinum chain with a W encrusted in diamonds. “You remembered about the necklace my mom gave me when I was little.” Tears gathered in her eyes as she let him put it around her neck.

  This one was most certainly not going to turn her neck green.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said, staring down at it. “It’s the most thoughtful gift anyone’s ever given me.”

  “Looks good on you.” He pulled her over him and softly caressed her until she pulled back.

  “Have you ever made love beneath a Christmas tree?” she murmured.

  “No, but I’m in.” Catching her against him he rose and then threw her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold, palming a sweet cheek. “I’m all about starting a new tradition.”

  She was laughing as he carried her to the still undecorated tree and together they crawled beneath it to lie on their backs. Her hand slipped in his as they stared up at the tangle of branches. “To new beginnings,” she said.

  He came up on an elbow and cupped her face. “Forever, Willa?”

  She tugged him over the top of her. “Forever.”

  Announcement

  Here’s an exciting sneak peek at

  ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE,

  the next book in New York Times bestselling author

  Jill Shalvis’s Heartbreaker Bay series

  On sale February 2017

  And look for Max and Rory’s story,

  ONE SNOWY NIGHT,

  a Heartbreaker Bay novella

  from Jill Shalvis

  On sale from Avon Impulse

  November 8, 2016!

  Excerpt from Accidentally on Purpose

  #TakeMeToYourFearlessLeader

  It was a good thing Elle Wheaton loved being in charge and ordering people around because if it wasn’t for the thrill of having both those things in her job description, she absolutely didn’t get paid enough to handle all the idiots in her world. “Last night was a disaster,” she said.

  Her boss, not looking nearly as concerned as she, nodded absently. He was many things and one of them was the owner of the building in which they stood, located in the Cow Hollow district of San Francisco.

  A detail he preferred to keep to himself. In fact, only one other person knew his identity, but as the building’s general manager, Elle alone handled everything and was always his go-between. The calm, kickass go-between, if she said so herself, although what had happened last night had momentarily shaken some of her calm.

  “I have faith in you,” he said.

  She slid him a look. “In other words, ‘fix it, Elle, because I don’t want to be bothered about it.’”

  “Well, and that,” he said with a smile.

  She refused to be charmed. Yes, they were best friends and yes she loved him, but her love most definitely had limits. “Maybe I should recap the disaster for you,” she said. “First, the little lights in every emergency-exit sign in the entire building went out at midnight and then stayed out so that when Mrs. Winslow in 3D went to take her geriatric dog out in the middle of the night, she couldn’t find the stairwell. Cut to Blackie then letting loose in the hall just as Mr. Nottingham from 4A—who was sneaking out of his mistress’s apartment in 3F—slipped in the mess.”

  “You can’t make this stuff up,” he said, still smiling.

  Elle crossed her arms. “Mr. Nottingham broke his ankle, requiring an ambulance ride and a possible lawsuit. And you’re amused.”

  “Come on, Elle. You and I both know life sucks golf balls if you let it. Gotta find the fun somewhere.” Spence handed her a hot tea. “Here. You look like you’re down a quart.”

  “My life isn’t normal.”

  “Forget normal,” he said. “Normal’s overrated. Now drink your favorite poison—caffeine.”

  “Hey, I could survive without it if I needed to,” she protested and then paused. “I just can’t guarantee anyone else’s safety.”

  “Exactly, so why take chances?”

  She smiled but she was still taking what had happened last night personally. She knew everyone in this b