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I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers, sliding my arms around her and pulling her close. We deepened our kiss, forgetting our vocal audience, and lost ourselves in each other. I hadn’t expected a kiss like that, and I couldn’t help but want more. She felt right in my arms. I wanted to pick her up and carry her upstairs and explore the rest of her body. The glimpse I’d had, hadn’t been enough.
One of our onlookers whooped again, and we broke apart. She looked a little dazed, just like I felt.
I’d come here to hunt a thief, I hadn’t expected to be so attracted to her. I hadn’t expected her to have such a perfect body and a great laugh. I hadn’t thought I’d go all caveman at one kiss and want to drag her upstairs and ravish her. I sighed.
We followed the crowd into the ballroom where they were playing music and dancing. Lily greeted people and they all spoke kindly to her. They all seemed at ease around one another. These people who had fought me tooth and nail for every inch I’d gained in this business accepted Lily completely and clapped me on the shoulder to thank me for my Santa performance.
The more I watched her, the more I realized that she didn’t seem to be the type to steal. Lily certainly seemed beloved by her family. They all trusted her around some pretty big celebrities and probably company secrets—Sparks Entertainment was a family business after all. If she’d been stealing songs, wouldn’t they have noticed? Wouldn’t they have banned her from family gatherings? It just didn’t make any sense to me.
I lifted Lily’s hand. “Can I have this dance?”
She nodded, and I took her in my arms again. I never wanted to let her go. I couldn’t help feeling that I’d found something special here, and I was going to regret losing it.
The music sounded familiar and I glanced up at the stage. “Is that Justine Hex and her band?”
Lily looked up and smiled. “Yes.”
The Sparks sure had a lot of friends. “But aren’t they with the Drake label?” My label, my band, and here they were playing for the Sparks.
“Oh, yeah, I think so, but they’re just friends of the family. I’m sure it’s just a favor to Brant.”
I sure hoped they weren’t trying to steal more of my acts. I was having enough trouble keeping the lights on without more thievery. Which reminded me, how was I going to get Lily away from her bag? I was letting my libido get the better of me. I needed to stay focused on why I was here.
“Earth to Noah,” Lily said.
I shook myself and focused on the woman in my arms. “Sorry.”
“Where were you? You were a million miles away.”
“Just some troubles with work,” I said sourly. “The competition is always trying to get the jump on me.”
“Oh?” Lily asked. “You never did tell me what you do. When you’re not playing Santa, that is.”
“I run a business,” I said evasively.
Her eyebrow rose even higher. “A business owner who plays Santa?”
“Lily Sparks, is that you?” someone called from the direction of the stage.
They’d saved me, but as soon as I saw who it was, I turned away.
Justine, the lead singer, was waving at Lily to come up to the stage. “Come on, girl. I heard that the new single is to die for.”
That made me look up. Justine knew about the song?
“No,” Lily said bashfully. “I’m not really a performer.”
“Nonsense,” Charlie said, giving her a little push. “I’ve heard your voice, it’s lovely.”
I looked around at the crowd. I’d known I was in Sparks central, but I hadn’t thought about what that would mean. I’d had clashes with most of the people in here. The pop diva Morgan Sparks and her husband were over on one side, and Roark Sparks, the rock star, and his girlfriend were on another. I didn’t see my brother Liam and his wife Abigail (formerly Sparks) but I knew they were around somewhere. I’d seen them earlier in the Santa line with my niece Lute.
“I’m sure Santa would love to hear you sing,” Charlie continued and she winked at me.
“Of course.” I nodded while trying to pull my hat down lower. No one could recognize me. I found myself curious after all. If she had stolen the song from Dick, would she really know how to sing it? Would she be any good? She was a Sparks so that usually meant some inborn musical talent, but I didn’t know.
“You can use my guitar,” Justine’s bandmate said, offering it up.
With all the luminaries in here, I was surprised they were going to let a little no-name cousin take the stage. I was starting to get the feeling that Dick hadn’t been entirely honest with me.
