About This Book

He’s my off-limits crush, but now we’re sharing a bed for the night…

The last thing I did before joining my family for Christmas was drop a resignation letter on my boss's desk. I didn’t expect him to follow me to Colorado!

Now he's standing in the foyer of the glittering mountain chalet. I don't know how to explain to my family who he is or why I quit...so when they assume he's my boyfriend, and he gets a dangerous glint in his eye, I roll with it. Sure, it means he needs to share my room for the night, and there’s only one bed. But all I have to do is explain why we can’t work together (without admitting that it’s because I’m secretly in love with him), and then he’ll leave in the morning.

I’m not prepared for the searing kiss my previously mild-mannered boss lays on me as soon as we’re alone—or what he demands next.

Pack your bags and join us in Colorado for mountains of Christmas magic! It may be cold outside, but there’s plenty of heat between the sheets of these holiday romances!

Chapter One

Sienna

“There she is!”

I brace for impact as my mother and grandmother descend on me in the arrivals area at the Denver airport.

It’s two days before Christmas Eve and the Gibb family matriarchs are decked out in matching Christmas sweaters, but their expressions are totally different. Nana looks like she’s just robbed a bank and thinks I’d be the perfect getaway driver, and Mom looks relieved I didn’t get lost on my layover in Salt Lake City.

My mother loves me so much, I know that, but as the baby of the family—and the only one not yet married—she also judges me, fusses over me, and finds something to criticize every single time we’re together.

It’s just a matter of time until—

“Darling, have you not been sleeping? You look terrible.”

There it is. “Thanks, Mom.”

“I don’t mean it like that. You’re so beautiful, but…”

“No but required. I’m fine. Rough flight, that’s all.”

That wasn’t all. The last thing I did this morning before leaving Oregon was drop a resignation letter on my boss’s desk, and tear out my heart in the process.

The only way I could do that with any bravery was when I was about to leave the state for the holidays.

Now I’m in Colorado, and I’m filled with a complicated regret I cannot entertain. Do I look terrible? Sure. Because I lost my heart to a man who will never want me the way I want him, and that sucks.

And when I go back to Conception Ridge in a week, it’ll be to a small one-bedroom apartment and no job, no reference letter from my last employer, and no prospects. That all sucks almost as much as the broken heart I’m secretly nursing.

The aching hole in my chest is very distracting.

I could be an absolute Scrooge this Christmas, but my family can’t know the full extent of my woes, so…I have to put on a happy face.

Fake it ’til you make it, the festive edition.

“I’m grateful we’re all together as a family this holiday.” That part is the honest truth.

“It’s a shame Jake couldn’t come with you.”

And there it is. The other thing I’ll have to deal with all week…dealing with questions and comments about my imaginary boyfriend, who I never should have invented.

“Let go of the girl,” Nana says, pushing Mom out of the way. “Let me squish her, too.”

“Hi Nan,” I say gratefully.

She gives me a bright-eyed, mischievous look. “How much trouble can we get into this week?”

The giggle I let out as we embrace is the first light feeling I’ve had since last night. “So much. Do you have your flask on you?”

“In my bag.”

My mother gasps. “Mother!”

We both laugh at her exasperated snap.

“What? The girl is twenty-one now, it’s all right.” Nana pulls out the flask in question, we have a quick sip, and I refocus my energy where it is needed—on the week ahead.

* * *

We have a list of errands to run before crawling up the mountain to the vacation house my parents have rented this year. Groceries are less expensive in the city than in the resort towns, and while my parents have done well for themselves and love bringing us all together at the holidays like this, they remember when money was tight, and spend sensibly.

Something I hear about three times while we’re shopping.

It’s dark by the time we arrive, the village and the ski hill glittering in the near distance like diamonds on black velvet, and the house is gorgeous, looming large in front of me like something straight out of a Christmas rom com movie.

If only real life worked like that.

But the hollow feelings are quickly replaced by the door swinging open, and then the whole family is squishing me. The loving nitpicking repeats, this time from my sister and brother, their spouses, and my dad.

“Let Sienna breathe,” Nana finally said. “Nathan, show your sister to her room.”

Where my brother goes, his wife goes, and since they were both going, my sister Carina tags along too, dragging her husband with her, so there’s a small parade of people leading me up the stairs for the grand tour. Nana is sleeping in the only bedroom on the ground floor, they explain, and my parents and the married siblings each took one of the bedrooms on the second floor. But there is a bonus room on the third floor, with its own bathroom…

Which all sounds great until we get up there and I realize it’s a fucking nursery.

“This is a room for a child,” I point out.

The only bed in the entire space is a single twin bed tucked into the eaves. There’s an oversized armchair, and a big play area, but…that bed.

It’s so small and lonely looking.

Nathan and Carina exchange bewildered looks. “So?” they say in unison.

My brother shrugs. “When you said Jake couldn’t come with you…we decided you only needed a single bed, and that’s how this room was listed on the rental site.”

Carina turns me around and points me to the bathroom. “You may feel differently after you see the tub.”

The big clawfoot soaker mollifies me somewhat.

“I’m not a child,” I holler out at them as I immediately begin to fill it, adding a liberal amount of the provided Christmas scented bubble liquid.

“Of course not.” My brother winks at me when I return to shoo them out of my nursery so I can have a bubble bath. “But you are the baby of the family, so it felt fitting.”

“Shut up. And out you all go.”

“That’s not festive language,” Carina chastises.

I give her the finger. When Nana and the parents aren’t around, holiday sweetness rules do not need to apply.

She pauses in the doorway after Nathan and Lauren leave. “Everything okay?”

“I’m always this delightful.”

My sister snickers. “I know, but…you look like there’s something else.”

Not ready to tell anyone about what I did last night. Not just yet. Not Carina. Not my mom. Not even Nana.

“I just need a bath,” I finally say. “Wash off the day of travel.”

She winks at me. “Call that hot boyfriend of yours and catch up before dinner. That’ll put you in a better mood.”

Sure, I’ll get right on calling a man who doesn’t exist.

Once she leaves, I unpack my bag and take in my home for the next week. The room takes up half of the third floor, and it’s built into the eaves, so the ceiling is angled in places, making it cozy and cute.

I even like the designer stuffed animals decorating the shelves in a reading nook.

As far as rooms that are too childish for me, this one is kind of perfect.

In the bathroom, I strip down and slide into the water. Now that I’m alone, my thoughts spiral back to yesterday, and the not-quite-a-fight that led to my frustrated resignation.

Jacob giving me a tight-jawed, clipped reminder that he needed me to get ahead on a few client files before I left for this vacation. Which I did need to do, and I knew it, but he used it as an excuse to carefully return me to the role of his assistant once again, after I overstepped and tried to talk him through not losing his shit at his baby sister.

It wasn’t the only time I waded into his family drama. I love his family, because they are an extension of him, and—

Well, that’s a useless train of thought.

I knew it last night, and I know it now. So after I finished that work at lightning speed, I typed up a resignation letter that felt like a break-up note. Then I cried as I put it on his desk, like an absolute fool.

My cheeks get hot now, thinking about it, and my eyes burn, but I refuse to cry again.

I’m a very good assistant. I will find a new job.

And if I’m not looking at the perfect shape of Jacob Lowe every single day, maybe I’ll be able to try my hand at dating.

Don’t think about his body.

Too late.

My brain hates me, because it immediately pulls up a crystal-clear snapshot of how good he looked yesterday, his suit jacket falling open, his hands shoved into his pockets…

Don’t think about—

Broad across the shoulders and lean through the hips, with abs you could bounce a gingerbread cookie on and then desperately lick up any crumbs…

I dunk my head under water to shake off the tummy-tightening memory.

Jacob is hotter than he has any right to be. But it’s important to put him behind me and move into the new year without the baggage of unrequited love.

At some point this week, I’ll have to lay the groundwork for a break-up with “Jake”, because I won’t have real life inspiration for him any longer. And, if I can bring myself to it, I might want to actually find someone real to date in the spring, instead of devoting all of my time to my boss, my most frustrating foe, and my confounding crush.

* * *

Feeling slightly more human after I blow dry my hair, I head downstairs—straight into an inquisition.

“Carina says something’s wrong,” my mother starts.

My brother frowns. “Why’d you tell her and not me?”

“I didn’t tell her anything.” I scowl at my sister, who shrugs.

Nana offers me her flask, and I take a grateful swig.

“Fine.” I take a deep breath. “I quit my job.”

The silence that follows my announcement is so hard to parse. And then, as one, they all react.

“Finally.”

“Thank goodness.”

“Done with the emotionally unavailable blowhard?”

“Good riddance to that boss of yours.”

“Hope you made his head explode.” That’s Nana, and she says it with a wink.

I blink in surprise. “You aren’t disappointed?”

“Baby—”

“I’m not a baby,” I mutter.

My mother ignores me. “You fell into that job two years ago, and we were glad you did at the time, but we didn’t expect you to stay in a town as small as Conception Ridge. Don’t you want to do something more?”

The honest answer is no. I wanted more with Jacob, and when it became painfully clear that wouldn’t happen, I had to cut my losses.

But I have no idea what I’ll do next.

I shrug instead of explaining all of that for the hundredth time.

“Well, you’re young. You have time to figure it out.” My mom gives me a reassuring smile. “Maybe you can drive your van to California for the rest of the winter.”

“I’m not leaving Conception Ridge,” I protest, surprising myself as much as my family.

“Really?” That’s my sister. “Is this about Jake?”

“I…” I take a deep breath as they share a seven-way uneasy glance. “I don’t know. Why?”

Carina winces. “Well, if he can’t even come with you for Christmas…why would you stay in that town for him?”

A lump forms in my throat. How close she’s gotten to the truth, and I can’t even tell her. I nod and manage to squeak out two words. “I know.”

My brother gestures to the window, where snow is softly falling in the dark, the flakes lit up by the warm glow from the cabin. “Can I change the subject? How about a good old-fashioned snowball fight? Brother against sisters?”

“Oh, it’s on.” I jump up. “Let’s go.”

Mom and Nana are charged with making hot cocoa for us while we’re outside, and Carina and Nathan’s spouses agree to be neutral referees. Dad joins Nathan to balance out the team, because Carina doesn’t want our victory to be tainted by any claims of being two against one.

The refs give us ten minutes in our respective corners of the yard to prepare our weapons, and then Carina’s husband gives a countdown from ten.

Nathan is ready as soon as the fight is on, winging a nice-looking snowball right at Carina, but she dodges it, and it lands between us, the fluffy snow cushioning the landing.

I grab it, cackling that it’s still in one piece. “You made it too well, big brother. It survived impact and now I get to use it against you,” I yell out before lobbing it at Dad’s shoulder.

“That’s a direct hit,” Nathan’s wife says solemnly.

He calls her a traitor, and she blows him a kiss.

I’m crowing at the first point scored when Nathan slams me right in the chest—hubris getting me good, as it always does. “Hey,” I sputter, laughing. “Carina, get his ass good.”

She takes vengeance while I circle behind her, and then it’s a two-sister full-on attack. Dad and Nathan throw back a heavy volley as well. It’s non-stop snowballs in all directions, and we’re all laughing hysterically.

I get knocked down, flat on my back, right after the Referee Spouses inform us it’s too hard to keep score. I make one final snowball as I lie there, staring up at the twinkly, starry night sky, and as a big male form approaches, I sit up with a start and throw it with all my might.

It’s a direct hit, exploding all over his face and neck, white snowflakes clinging to every surface of his expensive coat and frowning face.

Because it’s not my dad, and it’s not my brother.

It’s Jacob, and he’s furious.

“What are you…” I scramble to my feet. I didn’t even hear a car approach. But even if I had seen him arrive, nothing could stop my heart from lurching when I realize just how hard and scowling his gaze is as he glares at me from under a flop of reddish blond hair.

And my first ridiculous thought is, he needs a haircut.

I forgot to book that for him before I quit.

I swallow hard. “What are you doing here?”

A muscle in his jaw twitches as he grinds out his answer. “We need to talk.”

We don’t have anything to talk about, but I don’t want to say that in front of my family.

As I’m grappling with what to say next, my sister tromps over, kicking snow in all directions. “Sienna, are you going to introduce us?”

Yeah, sure, this is the boss we were trashing earlier. He’s followed me across three state lines to tell me I didn’t quit properly or something. I can’t bring myself to say it, or any diplomatic version of the same truth. Instead, I open my mouth and the most batshit lie-that-is-almost-the-truth spills out. “This is…Jake.”

Her eyes light up. “Jake!”

My stomach flip-flops nervously. Oh no. This isn’t going to end well.

Sienna, think before you speak.

Jacob’s frown intensifies. “Excuse me?”

My sister grabs his arm, not noticing how he stiffens up. “Mom will be so thrilled to finally meet Sienna’s boyfriend.”

The nerves rioting inside me turn to a free fall panic. “Wait—”

Jacob shoots me a sharp, silencing glare.

I squeak instead of finishing my retraction.

“Yes,” he grinds out. “I think it’s time I meet your family, Sienna. Since I’m your…boyfriend.”

Chapter Two

Jacob Jake

Of all the harebrained things Sienna has done, this one surprises me the most.

She told her family I was her boyfriend?

When?

And what exactly did she say?

And most importantly, how long until we can be alone so I can ask her those questions instead of letting them just roll around ominously in my head?

Until we have a minute to ourselves, I’ll go with whatever they say. Jake? Sure, I can be Jake. I used to go by that back in college.

When I was Sienna’s age. A familiar guilty pang spikes deep inside me, reminding me that I’m not only her employer, but I’m also a decade older than her. The inappropriate feelings that have fuelled my cross-country chase need to be tamped down, especially because now she’s gone and done her usual reckless thing, and thrown us into unnecessary trouble.

But before I can ask to speak to her alone, we’re inside the luxury house I tracked my supposedly impoverished assistant to. A woman who is clearly her mother claps her hands together and croons, “Is this Jake? Oh, isn’t that sweet! You surprised Sienna by coming after all?”

If only she knew the truth. Because borderline stalking someone to her family vacation isn’t romantic.

It’s unhinged, even I know that, and I did it. Because I had to.

“He didn’t want to be apart from her for the holidays!” That’s Sienna’s sister, who is still clinging to my arm.

She’s not wrong.

Her father chimes in next. “And it’s nice to see someone really care about her, especially after her misguided crush on her asshole boss—”

“Dad!” Sienna gasps.

My gaze snaps to her face.

Time stops as her cheeks fill with color.

I can feel her entire family watching us, and despite my misgivings about the impulsive tendencies of my young assistant, I will not embarrass her further.

So I do my best impression of one of the haughty dukes she loves to read about so much, and give them all a casual, cooly confident look, shrugging like it’s no big deal that they seem to know she’s had a crush on one man while—or just before?—dating another man.

Both of whom are me, I’m gathering.

“That’s old news,” I say dismissively to them, while giving Sienna a look that says asshole boss? Really?

“Definitely didn’t want to think about him this holiday,” she snaps. Go away, her glare demands.

My eyes harden, because no fucking way am I taking bossy demands from the spoiled princess who has gotten us into this mess. Not after the day I’ve had. “I know you don’t like to think about him anymore.”

But I’m not going anywhere, I wordlessly add.

Her father chortles. “Then I shouldn’t have brought him up. Sorry about that. Well, come in, son.”

“No, seriously, wait,” Sienna says at the same time I hold out my hand and say, “Thank you, sir.”

If looks could kill, I’d be dead, because right now Sienna is remembering the time she told me that her father loves a well-placed sir.

* * *

Full credit to Sienna, she holds herself together until she closes her bedroom door behind me—quietly.

Then she loses her shit.

“What are you doing here?” she hisses, slapping me on the chest.

I catch her wrist, enjoying the way her breath hitches and her eyes go wide. “Don’t hit me again.”

“Don’t— Are you kidding me? You are supposed to be in Oregon! Not here, acting like…”

I smirk at her. “Like I’m your boyfriend? Because I’m pretty sure you brought that on yourself. Where did that come from?”

“I couldn’t exactly introduce you as my boss.”

“Your asshole boss.”

She huffs in frustration. “Because I told them I quit my job! And they all told me I should have done it months ago, because you’re a demanding workaholic who doesn’t appreciate me nearly enough.”

She’s glaring at me like I’m the devil, which isn’t a surprise based on what she’s just said and the anger she poured into the letter I found waiting for me early this morning.

None of that dampens my urge to lower my mouth and kiss her. It’s nearly overwhelming.

She has no fucking idea just how much I appreciate her. “Clearly, we have a lot to discuss.”

“We don’t—” She growls and wrenches her wrist out of my grip, only to push against me again. As if that would deter me, when this is the closest we’ve ever been and her hands on my body—and mine on hers—is all I’ve ever wanted.

I enjoy grabbing her arm again and pinning it against the wall this time. In fact, I enjoy it far too much. If I’m not careful, any second she’ll feel just much my cock relishes her being my little prisoner. “If you slap me again, I will take you over my knee to correct your behavior. I have half a mind to do it anyway, as punishment for your horrible little tantrum of a note.”

“You mean my resignation letter?” She sounds indignant. Good. That makes two of us.

I lean in close, closer than we’ve ever been in the two years she’s worked for me, and every tiny detail sears itself in my brain. Her sweet scent, her angry gaze, her soft mouth. The glorious way her body sways against mine.

The Story Continues on BooksBarbecue!

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