Page 104 of Mistletoe Mischief

“Would you kiss him already?” Holly hissed.

“I swear, if you don’t, I will!” Another woman called from the doorway of the house, and Ryler shot her a dirty look. Find your own man, hussy.

“Will you date me, Delilah?” Anthony asked.

Delilah laughed. “You are very drunk.”

“That is a statement of fact but not what I’m looking for.”

“And you’ll get an answer when you’re sober.”

“Boo,” the men on the lawn hollered.

“Sloshed or not, that was pretty epic,” Ryler said, leaning against the railing. “Although the redhead was pitchy.”

Pike glowered at her. “Witch, I have the voice of an angel.”

“A fallen angel.”

Suddenly, Pike bent over and gathered up a handful of snow, letting it fly. It missed Ryler and hit Holly on the side of her face. Delilah’s mouth dropped open as Holly dived off the porch.

“You’re a dead man, Pike!”

“I wasn’t aiming at you!” he protested, hiding behind one man after another. “Declan, control your woman!”

“I don’t know, man. I kinda wanna see what she does when she gets you.”

Ryler jogged down the steps to join Holly in her pursuit of Pike, picking up a handful of snow. She ignored the stinging cold as she snuck up on Pike from the other side, using the rush of wives and girlfriends who had joined in the fun to hide in plain sight. There were whoops and cheers as snow exploded against the side of Delilah’s house and windows. The door slammed on a group of women who ran back inside, but Ryler was in this, stalking Pike as he pleaded with Holly, holding on to Nick’s shoulders to keep him between them.

Ryler pressed the snowball into the back of his neck, laughing as he danced forward with a yell, nearly knocking Nick off his feet. When he spun around and spotted her, he said, “You’re dead, woman.”

Ryler took off as soon as he bent over.

The female officer she’d been introduced to earlier, Officer Wren, hollered, “We’re going to get the cops called on us if we don’t simmer down.”

“Officer Wren, is that you?” Sam called. “I didn’t think you knew what fun was.”

“Smug son of a bitch.” Ryler watched the woman hop off the porch from her hiding spot behind the trash can. Officer Wren’s blond hair was up in a high ponytail that swung as she bent over for a handful of snow. “You’ve been asking for this for weeks.”

“Well come on, hot stuff! Catch me if you can!”

Ryler saw Pike coming and stepped back into the darkness of the side yard, hoping he wouldn’t see her, but a motion light clicked on, and Pike whirled, grinning at her.

“Gotcha,” he said, launching a snowball that caught her on the shoulder.

Ryler laughed. “Truce, I’m unarmed.”

“You yield to me, then,” Pike said, advancing on her until the side of Delilah’s house stopped her. He pressed into her, trailing his fingers along her cheek. “Hmmm?”

Ryler’s breath caught as she stared up at him, the intensity of his gaze too arresting to speak. “Yes,” she managed.

Pike took her hands, pinning them above her head. His mouth dipped, his lips settling against the shell of her ear. He kissed Ryler along the side of her neck, and her eyes fluttered closed.

Pike leaned back, his blue eyes boring into hers. “Should we take this discussion somewhere with more privacy?”

“I brought Alia with me,” Ryler murmured.

“You could drop her off and come back to me.”