Page 8 of One Night on the Naughty List

Samantha

I can’t believe I told him about prom.

I was careful to keep my gaze straight ahead as Bain exited the highway and turned down a two-lane road that was icy but recently plowed. Mountains rose in the distance, and thick trees, their needles laden with snow, soared overhead. The scenery was breathtaking, but all I could think about was my off-limits boss who had suddenly become a lot less off-limits.

Or had he?

I gnawed my lower lip, reviewing the past two and a half hours. Every time we tried talking about work, our conversations veered into more personal topics. I told him I loved cooking but was terrible at it. He made me laugh until my eyes watered with stories about his brothers’ antics. We discovered a mutual appreciation for Project Runway.

“Mondo was robbed,” Bain said, fiddling with the temperature controls as we headed farther north.

I nodded. “Definitely.”

“I mean, Gretchen wasn’t a bad person. She was just—”

“Harsh,”we said together.

We grinned at each other, and any anxiety I felt about spending time alone with him melted away. How could I be nervous when he was so easy to talk to? When he made me laugh and went out of his way to be nice? He didn’t have to be. I was his employee, and the trip was supposed to be about selling nutrition bars, not discussing my pitiful teenage dating life.

Not that my current dating life was much better.

But he didn’t treat me like an employee.

Because he’s nice.I kept telling myself that. Bain Thatcher was just naturally nice. I shouldn’t read into things.

Still, something had passed between us when I talked about his “sexy Santa” bod—and again when we discussed his dreadful social media skills, his quick grins and easy laugh making me catch my breath. The air had seemed to crackle, and the look in his blue eyes had been anything but nice. An intensity had burned there—the heat of it moving over my skin, making me flushed and restless. My nipples had tightened, and my sex clenched. Mortified, I’d crossed my legs, squeezing my thighs together in hopes of quelling it. But that just made things worse.

The trip wasn’t even half over yet, and I was gritting my teeth as a wave of lust threatened to crash over my head and drag me under. It didn’t help that he smelled so damn good or that he kept running a big hand through his hair, tousling the thick waves in a way that made me think of how he must look after a night in bed. Maybe he slept on his stomach, his arms hugging his pillow, all the hard, masculine angles of his face relaxed into something softer and more boyish. It was a lucky woman who got to wake up to that view.

“What do you think of the view?”

Bain’s voice made me jerk, my face going cold then hot as my heart pounded and I wondered if I’d spoken out loud. Then I saw he was gesturing at the snowy landscape.

I released a cautious breath and let my gaze wander over the mountains. “It’s beautiful. Are those ski trails?”

“Yep.” He shot me a smile. “City slickers drive north with brand new skis and hundred-dollar goggles and end up with a broken ankle. My brothers spent most of their teenage years up there working as ski patrol.”

“What about you?” That seemed right up Bain’s alley. He was always leaving work early on Fridays to go rock climbing or “try out” skydiving or any number of activities that would make a life insurance broker cringe.

“Not a chance,” he said, a smile playing around his mouth. “Trust me, you do not want to see me on skis. I’m about as graceful as an elephant.”

I doubted that, but I held my tongue.

“I was an elf,” he added.

What?I swung my head around. “An elf?”

“In Santa’s Workshop in town.”

“You’re joking.”

“Just about every kid in North Pole works there at one point or another.” His smile broadened, making his eyes do the sexy crinkle-at-the-corners thing. “I was employee of the month six months in a row. My mother framed the certificates.”

“You dressed up as an elf?” I fought back laughter.

“In curled toe shoes and tights.”

I lost my battle to avoid laughing. The image of Bain in a pair of tights was too hilarious. When I caught my breath, I said, “I would pay to see photos of that.”

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