Page 81 of False Evidence

As they decorated the tree, there was a very simple—made with canned peaches—cobbler in the oven that made the kitchen and living room smell heavenly.

JT handed her a glass of white wine. Christmas music played through the in-house speaker system. She said, “Thanks,” and clinked glasses with him.

Gemma ever so carefully placed a plastic ornament ball on the lowest branches of the tree. “See, Mommy? Good?”

She smiled at her daughter and clapped her hands. “So good, baby!”

“She’s amazing,” JT whispered.

“Of course she is.”

He laughed. “I never had any doubt.”

She looked at her daughter and felt her heart ready to burst. After all the fear and horror, she had this moment to cherish. Having Gemma had been the best decision she’d ever made.

ChapterThirty

Washington, DC

Christmas Eve

Sixteen years ago

The suite door closed behind JT. He leaned back against it as he watched Lex move deeper into the room.

He no longer had any doubt that Alexandra Vargas would bring him to his knees. She’d shown up at the event not because she wanted to ingratiate herself with his dad. Not because she wanted something from the CEO of Talon & Drake.

No. She wanted Jay and had decided to pay the price he’d set: her time and her name.

She turned to face him and said, “What does that grin mean?”

“You decided to buy the cow.”

She smirked and shook her head. “I’ve never met a man who was so willing to call himself a cow.”

“Pumpkin. Cow. I don’t care what you call me, as long as you call me.” He took a step toward her.

“You were pretty confident I’d give in.”

“I was. But I like that you did it on your terms instead of caving because you wanted sex in the moment.” That was true. He’d fully expected to learn her name tonight. But he figured it would happen here, in bed.

“Getting the text from your stepmom about the Santa costume was too tempting to resist.”

“So that’s how it happened. I guess she didn’t see my message with my new cell number. Fortuitous.”

“You might want to message her again. If she keeps texting me thinking I’m you, it could get awkward.”

“You can tell her. Or just keep pretending to be me.”

“I feel like this relationship is too new for me to be fielding messages from your stepmother.”

He grinned again. “So this is a relationship now?”

“No. It’s a…holiday fling.”

He’d slowly moved toward her, and now they were nearly chest to chest. He stroked her chin, running his thumb along her jaw. “Call it what you want. I figure I’ve got until January first to convince you this is more than a fling.”

“What makes you so certain you’ll still be interested in me tomorrow, let alone in a week? Maybe you only want me because I’m a challenge.”

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