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Chapter One
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…absolutely nothing. Because he had no idea that he was my true love. What a jerk.
—Noelle
“The Christmas tree isn’t straight. It’s definitely leaning hard toward the right.”
At that rumbling, sexy-as-sin yet ever-so-annoying voice, Noelle Lennon gave a jolt of surprise and grabbed desperately for the top of the six-foot ladder. Of course, the ladder chose that moment to wobble in the most alarming way—probably because she’d just grabbed it so fiercely—and that wobble made her knees knock even more as she dangled precariously on her perch. With mounting horror, Noelle realized that she was about to take a tumble that was going to absolutely wreck her holiday.
The ladder tilted sharply to the left—toward the tree—and she fell back to the right, already anticipating the pain that would come when she—
Fell straight into warm, strong arms. Arms that belonged to her nemesis, Brady Breckridge. He didn’t even grunt at the impact, because, why would he? The guy was as close to Superman as it was possible to be. He scooped her out of the air as if it was nothing, held her easily, and Noelle could feel the burn in her cheeks as she shoved her dark hair out of her eyes.
She could also hear a loud crash. The shattering of ornaments. The thud of the tree hitting the wall. How utterly perfect.
“Got you,” Brady chimed in, all cheery.
Her head turned. The heat of his touch practically singed her straight to her core.
He smiled at her, showing freakingdimples, and his blue eyes twinkled. “Don’t worry about the tree,” he told her. “I think the new look is an improvement.”
Such an asshole.Her teeth ground together.
He kept holding her. He even brought her a little closer to his body and his grip seemed to tighten.
Brady’s nostrils flared. “Is that vanilla? And a little cinnamon? You smell delicious. Good enough to eat.”
Her cheeks burned even hotter because the mental image that came to mind?Nope, just stop it right there.She was not going to slip back into fantasies about Brady, no matter how gorgeous the man might be. Gorgeousandinfuriating. “Put me down.” Like Brady cared about how she smelled. He didn’t care about anything concerning her and that was why he was in nemesis land. Once upon a time, she’d made the mistake of crushing hard on Brady—technically, his name was Braden. But she’d given him the nickname of Brady years ago, and the moniker had stuck. Noelle had known him forever and had been obsessed with him for most of that time, until Brady broke her heart.
Just shattered it beneath his size fourteen shoes.
“If I put you down, you might cut your feet on some of those broken ornaments. Don’t want to tell you your business—”
“Since when?” Noelle demanded. Brady loved butting into her life. It seemed to be his favorite hobby. Well, his favorite hobbyafterhis love for rushing straight into danger. That had to be at the top of his list. Brady was special forces. Top secret missions were routine for him. He seemed happiest when he was in some life-or-death situation.
“I don’t think it’s the best idea to decorate a tree barefoot,” he continued as if she hadn’t interrupted. “And you shouldn’t be that high up on a ladder without someone to support you.” A shake of his head. “If I hadn’t been here to catch you, you could have broken some bones.”
“Ifyouhadn’t been here, I wouldn’t have fallen. I had just put on the last ornament, and I was going to climb down.” Until he’d snuck in with his usual silent steps. The mannevermade a sound when he walked. Half the time she wondered if he was a ghost. He’d snuck in and then when he’d spoken, he’d scared the crap out of her. Maybe because she’d been a little more jumpy than usual lately.With good reason.But, back to the business at hand. “I had on heels,” she gritted out. “Because I’m at the office. I took them off when I climbed up the ladder.” That way, she could balance better.
Noelle and her brother Elliott owned the real estate company in Charm, North Carolina, and she’d been trying to make the place look festive. Was that so wrong? Her plan had been to surprise their employees with the decorated tree, so she’d hung around after everyone else had left the office.
She peeked to the side at the wreckage.Oh, yes, everyone will be surprised.Definitely surprised. In the worst way.
“I can help you fix things.”
The offer surprised her so much that her head whipped back toward Brady. She almost clipped him in the chin. Missed him by about an inch.
His lips pressed together—sculpted, sexy lips—as if he had to fight a grin. After a moment, Brady schooled his expression. “I can help,” he said again.
“Since when do you want to help me?” Noelle’s voice notched up because she’d just realized… “Why are you still holding me?” If she squirmed, would he drop her? Unable to help herself, she squirmed just a little.
“Because I like holding you?”
She stopped squirming and gaped at him. “Is that supposed to be funny?”
“Do I look like I’m laughing?”
He usually laughedather. Typical Brady. Noelle huffed out a breath. “Why are you here?” And why had she wrapped one arm around his neck?For balance. Just to hold myself steady. Not because I like touching him.
