Fantasy for Hire

Jordan withdrew a pair of scissors from the Queen Anne desk next to him and handed the shears to Teddy. “Perfect.”

Yeah, she was perfect, Austin thought. Beautiful, smart, a fabulous kisser, fun to be with…and she didn’t want anything to do with him, he sternly reminded himself.

Teddy snipped a section of red ribbon and twisted it into a pretty bow. “It’s been years since I’ve decorated a tree,” she said, a touch of melancholy in her voice.

Jordan cast her a sideways glance as he took over the job of cutting sections of ribbon for her to tie. “Your parents don’t get a tree at Christmas?” He sounded as curious as Austin was.

“Oh, they do, usually a twelve-foot blue spruce. But my mother hires a professional to decorate the tree so the trim and ornaments match with the house and look evenly distributed on the branches.” She added another bow, swaddled the green velvet around the base to cover the plastic pot, then stepped back to admire her handiwork. “When I was a child, my mother used to let me hang a few of the decorations just to appease me, but by the next day my ornaments were either gone, or rearranged on the tree.”

“That must have been tough,” Jordan commented insightfully.

Austin didn’t want to care about Teddy and her underprivileged youth, yet something near the vicinity of his heart tugged for the little girl Teddy had been, and how she’d been denied one of Christmas’s favorite rituals enjoyed by most kids. He could easily picture her as a mischievous little girl, full of energy and curiosity.

Teddy shrugged, as if having come to terms with her mother’s peculiarities long ago. “Now that I live alone, buying a tree and decorating it seems like so much work, especially when I don’t have anyone to share it with.”

For as much as she declared the importance of embracing her freedom, Austin heard the note of loneliness in her voice, and wondered how much of her need for independence was pure rebellion. Ninety percent of it, he’d bet.

Finished with the last of the bows, she rummaged through the box and withdrew an old, fond memory of Austin’s. A dazzling smile lit her face. “This papier-mâché star is great!”

A wry smile curved Jordan’s mouth. “Austin made that for our mother for Christmas when he was in the third grade. She loved it and used it every year until she died.”

Teddy touched the handmade ornament reverently. There was nothing special or fancy about the star—it was just a hodgepodge of paper, glitter and yarn an eight year old boy had glued together—but Austin imagined Teddy silently wished her own mother would have been so accepting of a gift handcrafted with youthful love and enthusiasm.

She glanced back at Jordan. “It’s the perfect decoration to top the tree, wouldn’t you agree?”

Her softly spoken question asked Jordan’s permission to adorn the Douglas fir with Austin’s star. He nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

Austin steeled himself against the rush of feeling that stirred to life within him. This scene was too cozy, a false illusion when he knew Teddy would never allow those emotional needs he’d glimpsed in the past few minutes to interfere with her personal goals.

That sobering thought prompted him to push off the doorjamb and fully enter the room, startling both Jordan and Teddy. His brother looked at him questioningly, while an anxious look flitted across Teddy’s expression. She wiped her palms down the sides of her skirt, making him wonder why she’d sought him out again when she’d made it abundantly clear she didn’t have time in her life for a relationship. Or for him.

Another business proposition, he guessed. The thought rubbed him raw, but he couldn’t help being curious. Neither could he help wanting her as badly as he did.

Man, she did have him tied up in knots.

He closed the distance between them, catching the awareness glittering in her gaze, the flutter of her pulse at the base of her throat and the slight quiver of her breasts beneath the dark green, silk blouse she wore. The satisfaction he experienced was heady.

“I see you’ve met my brother,” he drawled, smiling pleasantly.

“I, uh, yes,” she stammered, a nervous smile on her lips. “We were just trying to make your tree a bit more presentable for Santa.”

His gaze flickered to the ugly duckling of a tree she’d transformed into a swan, then back to her. “As much as I’m sure Santa will appreciate your efforts, I’m certain you didn’t drop by to make sure I had a well-decorated tree for the holidays.”

Jordan frowned at his brother’s cool tone. But in Austin’s mind, even though their mother had taught them to be gentleme

n, there was the matter of his ego being bruised.

“No, I didn’t,” she admitted, that chin of hers lifting a notch. “I’d like to talk to you. Privately, if that’s okay.”

He stared into her unwavering brown eyes, tempted beyond all reason. For all of three seconds he considered telling her no, that whatever was on her mind could be said in front of Jordan, but he wasn’t that much of a jerk. Besides, he really didn’t care to share this conversation with his brother.

“Private it is,” he said. “Why don’t we step into my office.”

“Behave yourself,” Jordan muttered beneath his breath.

Austin glared at his brother’s protective gesture toward Teddy before heading toward the back room. Geez, whose side was Jordan on, anyway?

Teddy watched Austin go, suddenly doubting the wisdom of her visit. Austin was hardly welcoming, nor did he seem inclined to accommodate yet another request of hers.