The Naughty List Bundle with The Night Before Christmas & Yule Be Mine. Fern Michaels
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told you she could handle a little stress.” This came from Jonas.
More than a little. She’d been handling stress all her life. Try being thirteen in a room full of eighteen-year-olds—stress much?
Daniel’s gaze bored into her. “Christie, you know what he’s like.”
“He’s your best friend. He’s had your back for years. Yes, I know.” She bit out the words. “He’s strong and loyal and—”
“Not when it comes to women.” Daniel caught her hand and tried to tug her away from Jonas. She wasn’t in the mood to be tugged. “When it comes to women, he’s just like me.”
She shook her head. “You’re—”
“No commitment, Christie.”
Jonas rolled his shoulders.
“When’s the last time I brought someone home for you to meet?” Daniel pushed.
Never.
“Sex is great. Sex is fucking fantastic.” Daniel huffed out a breath. “But I’m not looking for forever right now.”
Neither is Jonas. The words hung unspoken in the air.
She took a moment to make sure her voice wouldn’t waver. “I’m not a kid who needs looking after anymore.” She licked her lips and did the hair-toss she’d seen other women do, the move that made them look like they were confident and in charge. “I’m a woman who knows what she wants.”
“Damn right.” Jonas sounded pleased, almost proud.
She ignored him. “I don’t want forever.”
Daniel’s eyes slit so much he seemed to squint.
“Men aren’t the only ones who just want—what did you call it? Fucking fantastic sex.”
Daniel’s jaw dropped.
“Jonas and I understand each other. What’s happening is between us, not you.” Christie glanced at Jonas. His eyes were on her, and his expression—well, crap, what was wrong with him? He was glaring at her.
Glaring when she was trying to stop him from getting into another fight with her brother.
“Uh, Ms. Tate?” the uniformed officer called out tentatively.
She’d forgotten about the other cops. Oh, fabulous. Had they heard everything? How fast would this little conversation get repeated at the station? No wonder Jonas looked pissed.
She cleared her throat and looked at the cop.
“Since you’re here, ma’am, we need you to do a sweep and determine if anything was taken.”
“Right.” She sucked in what should have been a cleansing breath. It wasn’t. Christie stepped back and pointed at both Jonas and Daniel. “You two going to behave?”
Glares were her response.
“Fine.” She shifted her focus to Jonas. “Feel free to arrest him if he swings again, or if you want to punch back, we both know he’s got a glass jaw.” With that, she left them, aware that her strong front was about to shatter.
Her knees shook as she headed back toward her office. The damn heels twisted beneath her and she almost went down hard. Only a quick grab of the wall saved her, the wall and—
Jonas’s hand, catching her under her elbow.
“Sexy as hell, baby,” he breathed the words in her ear and she realized her coat had come open to reveal the green dress. His gaze dipped to her cleavage. “Sexy as hell,” he whispered again, “but those shoes could be lethal.”
He bent and ran his hand over her calf. A soft, sensual caress that had her breath catching.
He eased off her high heel. The left shoe, then the right.
Her stocking-clad feet touched the soft carpet.
“Watch your step,” he told her, and for an instant, she couldn’t move because the warning in those words was too heavy. The man wasn’t just talking about walking. So about what? Them? The attack in her office? She forced her shoulders to straighten and she pushed away from him. She grabbed the heels, clutching them too tightly, and even though she was tempted, Christie didn’t look back.
“I don’t know what kind of game Christie thinks she’s playing.” Daniel spoke only after Christie disappeared with Officer Piner. “But she’s not up to handling you.”
Jonas realized he was still staring after her. “Sometimes, I don’t think you know her well at all.” He slanted Daniel a measuring glance. Dangerous territory. He could well lose his friend over this.
She’s worth it.
“You don’t know her,” Daniel snapped right back.
Yeah, he did. “I know she’s stronger than everyone gives her credit for.” Stronger than he’d given her credit for in the beginning. That woman wouldn’t break when reality shoved its ugly face before her. No, she wasn’t going to break—period.
“So what? You think that makes it okay for you to screw around with her?” Real fury vibrated in Daniel’s voice. “She’s my sister! And you’re not—”
Jonas spun around. “Save it, Daniel.” And you’re not good enough for her. Yeah, he got that picture. “This isn’t about you.” Just her.
But Daniel blazed on. “You’re not the kind of guy who’s going to settle down. Hell, until six months ago, you were a different man with every case you took! Christie isn’t like you—she wants stability. She wants a family. She wants forever.”
But she’d only asked him for a few nights. She’d told him she didn’t want forever.
Or she just didn’t want it with him.
“I told her to be careful with you.” Daniel crossed his arms over his chest. “I warned her, but she didn’t listen.”
“I’m not gonna hurt her.”
Daniel just stared back at him. Then he exhaled. “You’ve known her all these years. So long. Why now? Why’d you finally make a move now?”
Because you’re right—until six months ago, I was a different man almost every damn day. I was drowning in the crime and the hate and realized I had to get out. And when I got out…there was Christie. As perfect and tempting as she’d always been and this time… “Because she wanted me.”
“Plenty of women will screw you, you don’t have to—”
“She wanted me,” he said again. “She knew me, and she still wanted me.” Dark shadows on his soul and all. “With Christie, I wasn’t gonna be fool enough to turn away from her. Not even for the sake of our friendship. So just deal with it, asshole.”
Daniel blinked at him. “Wait, man, are you sayin’—”
“I’m saying it’s none of your business, and I’m saying the last thing you want to do”—he let the steel ripple beneath his words because he was tired of explaining himself and tired of playing the nice guy—“is get between me and Christie.”
Because nothing would keep him from her, and friendship could only stretch so far.
Silence.
“I don’t think anything is missing.” Christie sounded uncertain as she appeared once more in the hallway, with the cops at her sides. “The files”—she shrugged her shoulders—“will take me hours to sort through, so I can’t say for certain. But…I didn’t really have anything of value. The computer is still there—smashed—but there. The fax machine, the printer, all my photos—everything seems to be still inside.”
Officer Piner—Larry—had his notebook out. “If something wasn’t taken, then it