Page 14 of Santa Baby

I’d momentarily forgotten this wasn’t a real date. I couldn’t let that happen anymore, but looking into her eyes, it was easy to lose myself in the fantasy that she was all mine.

“I thought I saw you guys come out here.” Colin’s voice rang through the air behind us. We whirled, taken off guard by his sudden arrival. “Oh, is that the Icicle Dream? Let me try a sip, Fia.”

7

FIA

Ipursed my lips as Colin, dressed in a black-on-black suit with his hair swept back away from his face, drank half of my drink in one go. Grimacing and baring his teeth, he passed it back to me. “A little sweet, huh? Oh, what’s that face for, Fia? You weren’t going to drink it anyway.”

I frowned but noticed Mason watching us out of the corner of his eyes, his normally unreadable expression faltering a bit as his mouth quirked into an amused smile. “I was going to drink it,” I grumbled, turning back to my brother.

“She wasn’t,” Colin said to Mason, shrugging. “She likes red wine only. The kind that comes from the box.”

“I don’t just drink boxed wine, you ass,” I growled through gritted teeth. What was he doing? And also, why did I care that Mason knew about my cheap taste in wine, or spirits in general?

“If you really want to win her over,” he continued, his cheeks slightly flushed from the onslaught of gin simmering through his veins, “one of those half gallon size bottles of Cupcake brand red blend⁠—”

“Why are you here?” I asked hotly, balancing my drink on the frost-covered railing before crossing my arms under my breasts. “You hate loosening up and having fun.”

“Because Heritage Springs is providing all the alcohol and I was invited.” Colin smirked, but his eyes narrowed as he looked from me to Mason, finally noticing the fact that I was wearing Mason’s suit jacket. “Did I interrupt something?”

My mouth popped open, realizing my mistake. Sure, things had been getting rather cozy between Mason and me tonight, but I was sure I could come up with a quick explanation as to why we were out on the balcony, alone, standing close enough to share heat.

“We ran into an old friend,” Mason cut in smoothly, lingering harshly on the word friend. “Greyson Morrow. We came out here hoping the fresh air would wash some of the stink off.”

“Ah.” Colin nodded, and apparently that explained everything he needed to know.

I glanced from man to man, completely in the dark. “Why don’t we like Greyson?”

“He went to college with us,” Colin replied, picking an invisible piece of lint off his lapel. “He’s just kind of a sleaze, Fia. The kind of guy who’d pick up on this arrangement and start spreading rumors if he thought things didn’t seem right. He’s had it out for Mason since we were freshmen.”

I looked at Mason, who nodded along, but his eyes had taken on a darker shade of blue. I honestly didn’t think it was a play of the light floating over us, spilling from the ballroom. “He likes to take things that don’t belong to him.”

His gaze slid to mine and a chill ran down my spine, blooming into something warm. I quickly looked away, fidgeting with the sleeve of his jacket, still draped over my shoulders. I zoned out of their conversation as it dipped into talk regarding the popularity of a new, cinnamon whiskey being debuted at this very party, but a few minutes later Colin dragged me back in, saying, “It sounds like this is working. Everyone is talking about the two of you. I was just asked by Morgan Anderson if you were bringing her to his dinner on the fourteenth.”

I blinked, realizing I’d been staring at the glittering New York City skyline for several minutes.

“I totally forgot about that,” Mason replied, scratching his jaw where the first signs of a five-o’clock shadow were evident. “I’m sure we can both attend, assuming Fia’s free.”

I nodded. “Probably.”

Colin clapped him on the shoulder, gave me a brief onceover, and walked back into the ballroom. Mason turned his attention to me, looking slightly apologetic. “You look cold. Can we go back inside, or are you still admiring the view?”

The best view in the city was the man in front of me. Mason looked like an absolute dream in his black suit, his dark hair a little ruffled from the breeze on the balcony. There was a ruggedness about him that I appreciated. He wasn’t totally clean-cut. There were calluses on his hands and those big arms had moved some heavy stuff in their time, like he hadn’t lived his entire life in an office.

“Sure, we can go inside,” I said. “Might as well let everyone get a good look at us together.”

I allowed him to lead me back to the auction. The bidding crowds had thinned as the initial excitement and novelty of the event waned, and now most of the groups were mingling along the outskirts of the unused dance floor. The warmth and merriment of the party started to feel a little flat. The blue and white decorations suddenly felt off. That feeling of connection between Mason and me I’d sworn I’d felt only an hour ago, when he’d walked me around the ballroom, introducing me to acquaintances in both business and pleasure, was gone.

An awkward silence hung between us as we walked along the edge of the ballroom. I had a feeling he was leading me out to the foyer, and honestly, after being caught by Colin on the balcony in what had a totally innocent—I think—conversation, I was ready to go home, shed the most expensive article of clothing I’d ever worn in my life, and crawl into bed.

But then he was there, walking toward us with a predator’s focused gaze as Mason stopped to check the bids on the baby blue Fiat convertible.

“Someone outbid us,” Mason murmured at the same moment Jake, my ex-boyfriend, roughly brushed past me. Mason straightened up and whipped around to look at Jake, his expression twisting into something hard and ice cold. “Hey, lay off the whiskey. You nearly knocked my date over.”

I knew Jake had seen me and purposefully bumped into me. A tremor licked down my spine as I stepped closer to Mason, which he didn’t notice because Jake turned around looking severely apologetic, a nearly empty glass in his hand.

“I apologize—Fia?” He gaped, then chuckled darkly, his hazel eyes sweeping over me from head to toe and back up again, lingering a little too long over the swell of my breasts. I was still wearing Mason’s jacket over my shoulders and fought the urge to cover myself further as Jake’s mouth curved into a cocky, disbelieving smile. “I didn’t even recognize you. You clean up nicely.”