Page 24 of The Naughty List Agreement

“I guess I should be going.”

“Me too,” he said. “Want to share a ride?”

“I was going to walk home. It’s not that far and I’ve drunk too many calories tonight,” she said.

“Mind some company?” he asked, knowing that if he was going to get that magic boost for the coffers—and save her from Pete—he had to put in the work.

“Why not?”

Nick put on a thick deep red leather duster over his suit. She pulled on the red wool coat she’d purchased in a sale two years ago. She’d taken it to a seamstress in town and had red faux fur added to the hem and cuffs.

Nick grinned when he saw it. “For someone who doesn’t want to get married you sure give off a lot of Mrs. Claus vibes.”

She twirled around and the tails of her coat swung out around her. “You think? I was going for one of those sexy backup singers in Mariah Carey’s video.”

“You’ve nailed the sexy.”

“Have I?” she asked. Was Nick Bari flirting with her? After she pretty much crashed his date with Hannah because … why? Because she couldn’t bear to see them together? She felt very confused, but one thing she knew for certain was that there was definitely something about Nick’s bulging muscles, and normally she preferred clean-shaven men, but his beard looked so soft and well-trimmed.

“You know you have,” he said. “Which way?”

She pointed left. She lived half a mile from Calvin’s in one of those charming older neighborhoods that surrounded the town center. She’d purchased the house because of its proximity to the Winter Wonderland offices—the fairgrounds themselves were too far for walking but the offices were close enough.

“I noticed you said your favorite Christmas was as an adult. Do you have any from when you were a child?” he asked as they walked.

It was one of those nights where the sky looked like black velvet and the stars poked through like shining pinpricks of light. The cold air made her fingers tingle and she wished she’d brought gloves with her. It was unusual for her to have forgotten them, but the upheaval of the last few days had thrown her. She wasn’t used to her schedule being messed with. “Definitely not.”

“I’ve got to know more about that.”

That’s what you get for drinking cocktails and then champers, Cora. “You really don’t want to. It’s one of those Dickensian tales. You’ll regret asking.”

“I’m a no-regrets kind of guy.”

He’d stopped under one of the replica gas lamps that lined the sidewalk which the city had decorated with a large wreath tied with a big red bow. She’d like to see him dressed in nothing but one of those bows. The light fell around him, in his long leather coat with his thick chestnut hair. It was difficult to tear her eyes from his full lips. His mouth had never been anything she paid attention to but now she wanted to tempt him. She wanted to see if she could make him do something he’d regret.

Being perverse was her least favorite quality, but there it was. They had to work together and they really didn’t like each other, but each time she looked at him, a heat that she had no explanation for started in her center and pulsed outward. She’d give anything for one kiss.

He arched an eyebrow at her.

Dang. What had they been talking about? Regrets…

“Really? I mean, people say that but usually don’t mean it.”

“I do. If you don’t want to tell me you don’t have to,” he added. “Seems pretty obvious you’re trying to avoid the subject.”

“Then why point it out?” she asked. Those tingling feelings he gave her began to wilt. She’d had a buzz going and wanted to enjoy her win, not dwell on the fact that the Christmas season was starting again.

He put his hands up near his shoulders in a sign of surrender. “What would you prefer to talk about?”

“How about why the lumbersexual wore a suit tonight?”

He was giving her Mr. Big vibes. She’d had the hots for him since the first time she’d watched Sex And The City. Cora had imagined herself growing up to become like Carrie but those dreams had ended a long time ago. New York was expensive and she wasn’t as open as Carrie was to experiencing new things.

She noticed Nick’s face flushed under his beard.

“Calvin’s is a nice restaurant and it was a first date with Hannah,” he said.

Interesting. So he was the kind of guy who wanted to make a good first impression. While she applauded the effort, she didn’t necessarily agree with it. “What were you going to do if she liked this polished look and then sees you in your normal jeans and flannel?” With all those thick muscles clearly visible and that world-class ass⁠—