A Mistletoe Kiss with the Boss

“Well, I don’t care.” She reached up and linked the two straps of the hat under his chin, securing them in their catch. “I like it when you’re funny.”

He caught her hand to stop it. “You shouldn’t.”

Once again they were standing incredibly close, almost as if they couldn’t help themselves. “Why are you so determined to ignore what we feel for each other?”

“Because I’m not anybody’s knight in shining armor, Kristen.”

“Only because you were hurt.”

“And that turned me into the kind of guy who isn’t made for relationships.”

He didn’t have the look of longing that usually came to his eyes when they stood this close. For a few seconds, she missed it, and then she understood what he was saying. Away from the trouble that threw them together in the first place, he was in control again.

And maybe he didn’t like her as much as she’d thought.

She cleared her throat. “Now that you have a coat, you should go out. Go find your people on the ski slopes. Have some fun.”

“Yeah, Dean, maybe you should.”

Kristen whipped around to see Dean’s right-hand man, Jason, standing in the doorway. Dressed in a colorful sweater that made his twenty or so extra pounds all the more obvious, he sauntered into the room, holding a cup of coffee.

Dropping her hand, Dean said, “What are you doing here?”

“Stella’s down for the count.” He shrugged. “She’s got a few days of really good drugs for the pain and then six weeks in some sort of boot thing, then a few weeks of rehab.”

Dean winced. “Ouch.”

“Yeah, she says ‘ouch’ a lot.” He laughed. “Anyway, I thought you might need me. So I flew over.”

“Thank God.” Dean breathed an insulting sigh of relief, as if Kristen didn’t cut it as his assistant. “I do need you. This is where the royal family decided we should work.”

Jason didn’t answer. He glanced at Kristen.

Kristen held her breath. One wrong word from Jason and she’d be looking for another place for them, and she didn’t have the clout of a princess.

Jason glanced around, took a sip of coffee and said, “I like it.”

Dean scowled.

Kristen’s heart about exploded with relief.

“Winslow Osmond said the staff needed a change of scenery, but I was thinking maybe we need a change in the way we’re doing things too,” Jason said. “What can it hurt to have all the key players in the same room?”

“They could kill each other.”

Jason shrugged off his boss’s concern. “Or they could learn to work together.” He ambled over to Dean. He pinched a bit of the sleeve of the parka. “What’s this?”

“A coat, gloves and some hat thing,” Dean said, peering at Kristen as if the coat and hat had somehow ruined his life.

Jason nodded. “I like them.” He caught Dean’s gaze. “So technically you could go skiing.”

Dean just looked at him.

Jason faced Kristen. “Truth be told, he’s not a skier. But he used to be hell with a snowboard.”

“Used to being the operative words,” Dean said.

But Kristen pictured a much younger Dean, in a cooler coat and a trendy knit cap. Having seen him laugh, she guessed he’d probably laughed on the slopes, that he’d loved the challenge of the snowboard and the rush of speed as he flew down winding hills. Once again her heart ached that one tragic episode in his life had taken a probably happy young man and turned him into someone afraid to live.

Jason smiled. “You know what? You might not want to jump on a snowboard today, but you should get out and see the town.” He turned to Kristen. “Your capital is amazing.”

Kristen said, “Thank you. Most of the buildings have been around for centuries.”

Jason nodded. “You don’t see craftsmanship like that anymore.” He pivoted to face Dean. “You need to go out and see some of this.” Then back to Kristen. “Kristen, would you take him?”

Kristen said, “I can’t,” at the same time that Dean said, “We have work to do.”

Jason waved both hands. “Oh, garbage, you two. You’ll work tonight. Or tomorrow when our wayward staff is scheduled to be here. Go now, while you still have—” He glanced at his watch. “What? Four hours of sunlight?”