Kiss Me, Katie! & Hug Me, Holly!

Opened.

Closed.

Opened again. “I kissed Matt,” she finally managed to say. “In the Santa costume.”

“No. You kissed me. In the Santa costume. And I think you already know it.”

“No.”

“Yes. Otherwise, how would I know about it?” He tried to smile, but truthfully the memory of her in that dress, pressed against him, her mouth on his, pretty much made it difficult. “I know if you think about it, you’ll see the truth. You’ve nearly recognized me every single day since.”

“In your dreams.”

“Really? Then why are you always staring at me?”

“I am not always staring at you!”

When he only waited patiently, she blew out a frustrated breath. “Much,” she muttered.

“I’m flattered,” he said.

“Don’t be! I did not kiss you!”

“I could prove it to you, if you’d like.”

4

HE COULD prove it to her.

Oh, Lord.

Katie’s palms were clammy, her heart raced.

The flu, she decided. It was just the flu coming on.

Which didn’t explain why the thought of him “proving it” to her had her nipples hard and achy.

Bryan kept his distance, but she felt the heat of him, the power in his big frame all the same, and she knew if she slid her arms around his neck and pressed close he’d make a rough, appreciative growl-

No. This was most definitely a road she did not want to travel.

Normally she was an easygoing person. Quiet and reserved, maybe even a little mousy, but she was working on that. And yet she wasn’t easygoing now. “How could you prove something that never happened?” she asked with remarkable-and totally false-calm.

“By kissing you again.”

She stared at him, and it wasn’t a loss of words that made speaking difficult, but that she had so much to say and no rationale left in which to say it. “No, you can’t kiss me.”

“Again. You mean I can’t kiss you again.”

“There was never a first time!”

He leaned closer so that she was surrounded by him. “I have six sisters,” he confided in a voice that managed to convey both his affection and love for his family. “That’s six nosy, bossy, demanding and completely wonderful females.”

She did not want to know this about him. She wanted to picture him as wild, uncaring and…well, a jerk.

He felt safer that way.

But nothing about this man was safe. Nothing.

“So trust me on this one,” he continued. “I learned early to never disagree with a woman, but I’m very sorry to say you’re wrong.”

Did he have to stand so close? She could see his eyes weren’t just a little blue, but all the way, ocean-deep, drown-in-me blue. Terrific. Not only did he love his family, but he had amazing eyes.

Not fair.

He also had a scar that ran along the line of his dark brow, probably from doing something crazy.

Realizing she was staring at him, and that he was enjoying that very thing, she turned on her heels and moved toward the storage warehouse. She didn’t need anything, but she felt so flustered, so uncustomarily unnerved, she opened it, flipped on the light and stepped inside.

Okay, think.

She’d kissed Santa Claus, she knew this much for certain. The rest was pure speculation. She knew what she wanted. She wanted Santa to have been Matt. Wanted Matt to have hoarsely whispered her name with longing. Wanted Matt to have been the one to put his hands on her and gently squeeze as if he could never get enough of her.

Nice, dependable, kind Matt. Grown-up Matt. Perfect Matt.

She had no doubt it had been him, none whatsoever.

None.

Mostly none.

This wasn’t good. In fact, this was bad, very bad.

“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?” Bryan whispered.

“No.”

“Liar.”

“If you have six sisters, you also know it’s not exactly flattering to call a woman a liar.”

He grinned.

“I bet you’re the baby of the family,” she said without thinking, and his grin widened.

“Oh, I am. Spoiled rotten, too. And you know what else? You’re interested in me. I like that.” He settled even closer and smiled at her. “What else can I tell you?”

“Why you’d want to play footsy with Holly.”

His smile faded. Honestly faded. “Holly is the last person on earth I would play footsy with,” he said. “That woman is dangerous.”

“Men like that.”

“Men like excitement, not danger, not in a woman anyway.”

“Uh-huh,” she said in a tone that could be construed as nothing other than sarcasm.

“Tell me this much,” he said, strangely intent. “Did you see me egging her on? Or did you see me move away from her as quickly as I could?”

She thought about that. “You moved away from her.”

“Like a mouse out of a snake’s path.”

That made her laugh. “You’re hardly a mouse.” But she could concede that maybe what she’d seen in the meeting had been one-sided. There were, however, other issues here. Personal issues. Bryan may be charming when he wanted, but he wasn’t serious. At least not about women. And she was serious. She wanted a serious man.

“Ask me something else,” he encouraged. “Go on, try me.”

“Okay…why did you take that terribly dangerous stunt job yesterday morning?”

“It wasn’t that dangerous.”

“I watched you pull out of that spin with only seconds to spare.” She hadn’t meant to say it, hadn’t meant to sound so worried.

“You watched.”

Oh, yeah, she’d watched. Watched and bitten her nails down to the quick with anxiety she hadn’t wanted to feel. “You fly with wild, reckless abandon.”

“Thank you.”

“That wasn’t a compliment!”

“I’m careful, and highly skilled.”

He was talented, she’d give him that. “I just don’t know why you have to do it like that, as if each second was going to be your last.”

“Katie, I live like that.”

She backed up until she came up against a shelving unit, which she gripped at her sides with fisted hands. “Exactly. You live like that. Which is the reason…which is why-” Horrified, she broke