Just for Christmas Night by Lisa Marie Perry

Author:Lisa Marie Perry [Perry, Lisa Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, African American
ISBN: 9781460343838
Google: KcXSAwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00L0XIG2K
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

When Martha went to bed on Christmas Eve, visions of sugarplums weren’t dancing in her head. Dangerous impulses were.

She blamed it on the European necktie she’d successfully laundered herself—thanks to an internet tutorial—and had had professionally gift wrapped at a high-end specialty boutique.

Okay, perhaps on the surface it wasn’t usually good taste to pass off a person’s own possessions as Christmas presents. But gifting Joaquin the tie that had tumbled from his jacket pocket during her mission to sex him up good and proper at MGM Grand? And including a note that read “I resuscitated your necktie”? Well, it would be more of an inside joke, a way to shrug and airily say “No regrets.”

Yesterday she’d been struck with the wicked inspiration to do so during her parents’ party. While a fleet of award-winning designers transformed Marshall and Tem’s main floor into a spectacular Christmas wonderland, she’d helped Tem’s assistant with the guest list and had spotted Joaquin’s name with the word confirmed beside it.

At least she’d taken the care to clean the tie—and she’d done so without ruining the fabric. That in and of itself was a gift.

Anyway, what to give a man who was more naughty than nice and had practically anything he could want in the free world?

A reason to laugh the kind of laugh that baited the dimple in his cheek and teased her like a million little kisses. Could a necktie and a sarcastic note accomplish that? Setting the gift at the foot of the bed and snuggling under the covers, she’d hoped so.

But now, at six can-I-go-back-to-bed o’clock, with Christmas being ushered in on gray skies and her mood preset to crappy, she was having reservations.

What if he didn’t find the joke funny? What if someone at the party asked him about the tie? Worse—what if he brought a date and she asked about it?

As far as solutions went, primping and driving to Ryder’s Boxing Club at an early hour was the most reasonable, even if the most inconvenient. There were perks, though: pit-stopping for fresh bakery doughnuts and leaving the tomb-like quiet of her house behind.

Sure, she’d appreciated the silence of the house when she’d taken ownership last month. It had been a perfect environment for studying, and would be again once the next term began.

But if the place was going to be her home, it needed more noise, disorder and character. Waking up to a completely silent Christmas morning, with no family or friends within reach, had introduced her to loneliness. And she despised it.

So she gladly traded a few laidback do-nothing hours for a place rich with noise, disorder and character.

The gym was unlocked and, expecting to find Joaquin all sweaty and focused and sexy, she added a little pizzazz to her strut. Which was for no practical reason, because they’d chosen the “un-crazy” route that prohibited getting hot and horny together.

No one stood in the ring or milled around the weight-training stations. Muffled voices came from the rear of the building.

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