Page 1 of Holding Out For A Holiday Hero

Chapter One

“Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?”

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“No, I’m fucking not. Stop ringing them.” – Jake Hale

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The Ghost of Christmas Past had just walked her sexy self into his office.

Jake Hale blinked—then blinked again—because he was pretty sure that he might be hallucinating. Or dreaming. Yeah, this could be a dream. A really hot fantasy because surely there was no way that True Blakely had just walked her gorgeous ass into his bounty hunting office.

A soft glow came and went behind her body, and Christmas music seemed to drift in the air around her. She wore a form-fitting, red dress, one that displayed all of her glorious curves to true perfection. Her dark, nearly black hair tumbled over her shoulders, and he could see a few white snowflakes in the thick mass. Her blue eyes—the most unforgettable, brightest shade of blue imaginable—locked on him.

Now, if this was truly one of his fantasies, she’d open those lush, red lips of hers and say something like… “Jake, I need you.”

Then they would spend the night doing all sorts of incredibly unspeakable things to each other. The kind of things that would have her clawing her nails down his back and screaming his name while she came for him.

In the doorway, the Ghost of Christmas Past parted her lush, red lips and murmured, “Jake? Jake Hale?” Her husky voice seemed to wrap around him.

He’d been reclining in his desk chair, with his scuffed sneakers propped on the edge of his desk.

“Jake, I need you,” she said.

Holy hell. This holiday season had just gotten way brighter. He swung his sneakers to the floor and jumped to his feet. His chair rolled behind him with a screech of its wheels.

Jake stared at True. Best dream ever. And then he?—

“Hey, boss!” His assistant Perry Cornwell poked his head beside True’s. “The lady insisted on seeing you. I told her that we were closing up for the night, but she said you two were old friends.”

Perry would never be in any dream he had. Jake glowered at the kid. Perry was twenty-two, as of last week. The kid had been hounding Jake forever for a job, and he’d given in—reluctantly—about two months ago. And now he had an assistant who’d insisted on putting up a damn tree in their small lobby. A lop-sided, Charlie Brown look-alike Christmas tree.

That was where the glow came from. The faint flicker of lights that he could see behind True? That was coming from the sad Christmas tree. And Perry was playing his annoying, holly jolly music again. How many times had Jake asked him to kill the holiday songs?

But he pulled his glare from Perry and focused on what mattered. A most unlikely Ghost of Christmas Past. One who should not be in his office.

True stared straight at Jake with her big, gorgeous eyes. She wet her lips. Sweet heaven. “We…are friends, right, Jake?”

Uh, no. They were not. But, wow, that voice of hers was sexy. It seemed to stroke right over him.

“You remember me?” she asked, with a faint hitch in her breathing.

Not like he could forget her. She’d pretty much starred in every single teenage dream that he’d had. Not that the upright and uptight True had ever known that fact. She’d been the homecoming queen. He’d been the one voted most likely to cause extreme havoc.

Jake had been thrilled with that particular award.

If True only knew all of the things he’d always wanted to do with her…

“I need you,” she told him again.

No dream. But also no sex-fueled declaration from her. The woman actually sounded desperate. Maybe even a little afraid.

And Jake realized he hadn’t spoken a word to her. Old habits died hard. Back in the day, he’d always gotten tongue-tied around her. So he’d stared and glowered and probably scared her to death. He definitely could not have left a positive impression on her.

So why is True here, asking for my help?

“Uh, boss?” Perry edged closer. The Santa hat on his head bobbed.

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