Page 2 of A Very Naughty Christmas

“I… I’m sorry, Officer. I swear, I didn’t see you.”

“You didn’tseeme?” he repeated dubiously.

“Well, what I mean is, to be honest, Sir, I didn’t really look.”

“You didn’t check your rearview mirror? That’s what you’re saying?”

“Yes, tha-that’s what I’m saying… Sir. I… I didn’t look, and then when I did, and w-when I saw you, I—”

“All right, I hear what you’re saying. Take a moment to calm down.”

Ha! Easy forhimto say! He wasn’t a struggling college student!

“I’m going to need your license and registration, please.”

Sara reached for her wallet, cursing herself for not having taken her license out earlier. It embarrassed her to see how her hands shook as she tried to remove it, especially knowing that he was seeing it, too. She handed the information over and risked a glance up at him. She’d kept her eyes averted until now, but maybe he was feeling kindly toward her, particularly given how obvious it was that she hadn’t meant to mess up.

Sadly, he was wearing a hat that cast a shadow over his face, giving her zero indication of what he was thinking. The only thing that she had to go by was his voice, which, even when he had thanked her, had sounded full of dire warning.

Damnit! The moment he walked back to his squad car, Sara leaned back against her seat and closed her eyes, trying to rein in her emotions. It was just a ticket.Justa ticket. Life would go on. It always did, no matter what happened—hadn’t she seen ample proof of that already?

It was just a ticket. Or… maybe two. She groaned aloud when the reality of that hit her.Crap. He’d said that she’d run a stop signandfailed to stop when he’d tried to pull her over, which probably meant he’d write her up for both.

She couldn’t help it. The tears began to flow despite her best efforts to keep them at bay. She couldn’t afford one ticket, much less two. Her parents normally would have helped her out in a situation like this, after a stern lecture. But they weren’t here anymore. And though they’d both had sizeable life insurance policies, those funds were being held in a trust until she turned twenty-nine. So while she would enter her thirties pretty well off, that didn’t help her much now. The only money in the accounts was for college, and she wasn’t allowed to touch that. It was automatically taken from the account before each semester began. Her parents had both worked through college, and while they’d wanted to ensure that she had her education paid for, they believed that having to work for her clothing, books, and any extras she wanted would make her a more responsible adult.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t grateful—it was only that her job at the library had ended weeks ago and wouldn’t start up again until the next semester began, well after exams were taken. Could she wait almost two months to pay her tickets? Somehow, she doubted it.

There had to be a way out of this. There justhadto be.Think, Sara, think!Maybe she was looking at this all wrong. Maybe instead of assuming she was getting a ticket—maybe two—she should assume she wasn’t getting a ticket. That would calm her nerves, she’d be polite and sociable… she was a pretty young girl after all… well, if not pretty, then she was cute. She was hella cute.

Suddenly, a story her best friend, Maddie had been telling last week at the sorority house came back to her. She’d claimed she’d gotten herself out of a speeding ticket by showing off her… upper assets. Now, Sara had laughed plenty at the story with the rest of her sorority sisters, but she hadn’t been entirely sure that she believed Maddie’s story. Wasn’t that something that mainly happened in movies—a scene that had been overdone a few too many times at that?

But she had to try. It was her only option, really. Just… she wasn’t sure how to go about it, exactly. She should have asked Maddie when she had a chance! Maybe she had time to call her now and get the quick, beginner version? But as she glanced at her rearview mirror she saw the patrol car door open once more. No, it didn’t look like she had time to phone a friend after all. This one she’d have to do all on her own.

Sara quickly unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt and studied the effect in the mirror. Hmm. The thing was, she didn’t really have big boobs—she wore a C cup, which she’d always thought was more than adequate, but nothing in the face of Maddie’s double-Ds. Maybe she could undo the third button, just to be on the safe side? Except… well… that made her feel a little embarrassed. Maybe she shouldn’t. But maybe two was one too few? She really,reallyneeded to get out of these tickets.

Unfortunately, she was still mulling it over when the officer walked up, so she had no choice but to stick with the two she’d undone, even though by then she’d decided it looked silly rather than sexy.

“Ms. Schroder, I think that—”

“Please, Officer, I can’t afford a ticket—much less two—and it’ll never happen again, I promise!” Okay, so that hadn’t gone exactly as planned. It didn’t sound much like a come-hither flirtation, did it? More like a desperate plea. Yikes. She was really,reallybad at this. When the holidays were over, she was going to have to ask Maddie for some tips so she wouldn’t embarrass herself like this again. Of course, she could always just stop at red lights, which would solve the problem altogether, and which she totally intended to do, anyway.

“As I was saying, Ms. Schroder, I think that thisonceI can let you off with a warning, assuming that you promise to pay more careful attention in the future.”

Her eyes widened in surprise and she gaped at him in disbelief. “Oh, my God,really?”

A soft, affirming chuckle met her ears. “Yes, really.”

“Wow. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I mean it, really. You’ve made my day. Thank you, Officer…” She searched his shirt until she found his last name sewn into the fabric. “Officer Maxwell.”

“You don’t remember me, do you, Sara?”

Her brow furrowed as she slowly shook her head.

Then he stepped into the pale beam of light coming from the streetlamp and removed his cap. The moment she saw his jet-black hair that curled on top, not to mention the familiar strong jaw, she couldn’t help but gasp. It couldn’t be!

“Alex?”

His grin widened. “Yeah. Well, I don’t think you ever actuallycalledme that, but yes. It’s me.”

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