Page 35 of A Wrong Bed Christmas: Ignited\Where There's Smoke

Then she woke up to someone actually screaming.

And noticed the man sitting next to her.

A naked man.

“Emma, Emma,” the man whispered softly. “It’s okay. It’s me.”

It took her a moment to register that the “me” was Alexis’s older brother, Erik. “Wh-what are you doing?” she whispered as she scrambled away from him, clutching the covers in her fists, trying to figure out what was happening.

Erik was in bed with her. And he was naked. And Alexis was screaming.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were here,” he said, grabbing the quilt at the foot of the bed and pulling it around himself.

“Alexis?” she whispered, still confused.

“Look, I’m sorry about all this, but I got to go save Layton. She’s probably thrown something at him.” Erik switched on the lamp, causing her to blink. The alarm clock on the nightstand showed her a steadfast 1:42 a.m.

Alexis had stopped screaming, but then a masculine yelp and curse followed.

“Too late,” Erik said, rising, the patched quilt clutched around his waist. His broad back narrowed to a trim waist above the intriguing curve of his butt. She rubbed her eyes and zeroed in on his ass. Which she knew from past viewings was really nice.

There was a crash and then a wail.

“What the hell is going on?” she murmured as Erik opened his bedroom door. He’d taken only one step when another man, this one clad in jeans, came bounding by.

“Your sister’s crazy, man,” the guy said, raising his arms as if to fend off attack.

Alexis appeared, clad in a camisole and a pair of postage-stamp panties. “What the hell, Erik? Who is this?”

“Hey, hey.” Erik caught his sister. Alexis looked ready to fight someone.

“Jesus, woman,” the man beside Erik said. “I didn’t know you were in there. Give me a freakin’ break.”

Emma remained rooted to the bed, covers tucked beneath her arms. She’d worn a T-shirt to bed, but her bra hung from the bedroom door and she’d shucked her pajama pants before climbing into Erik’s bed. She tugged the covers up.

“What are you still doing here?” Erik said, gently pushing his sister back.

“Ow.” Alexis winced as she stepped backward. She immediately lifted her foot and frowned down at the dangling appendage. “I think I hurt my ankle. And we’re here because my memory sucks. I drove to pick up Em, but we decided to take her SUV from her place. Then just as we headed down I-25, I realized I left my laptop charger and we swung back because there wasn’t going to be time to get a new one once we got to Emma’s parents’ place. By the time we could leave again, they had closed parts of the interstate. We figured we’d wait until midmorning to leave. Roads should be clear then.”

“So that’s why your car wasn’t in the driveway,” Erik said.

“Yeah. I thought you were working.” Alexis hobbled into Erik’s room and sat on the bed. Erik and the dude behind him watched as she tenderly prodded her ankle.

“Lex, you don’t have any pants on,” Emma whispered.

Her friend glanced up. “How different is this from my bathing suit? Crap, my ankle is really swelling.”

Alexis was the person Emma wished she could be. Bold and confident, her best friend since third grade was a ball of energy, sass and smack talk. Being seen in her underwear didn’t faze her.

“She punched me and then threw a shoe at me,” the guy behind Erik said, sounding incredulous.

“You scared the crap out of me,” Alexis retorted, her dark eyes blazing.

“Okay, okay.” Erik held his hands up, pressing them against air. “Let’s all just calm down. This was a big misunderstanding. No harm, no foul.”

“Speak for yourself,” Alexis muttered, her face twisted in pain. “I tripped over my suitcase when I was chasing that pervert out of my room.”

“Pervert?” the guy said. “I’m not a—”

“He’s not a pervert. Well, not usually. This is Layton Davis,” Erik said, tilting his handsome face heavenward in what looked to be a prayer for patience. “He drove me home after we worked a blaze. I told him to take the spare room. I thought you were gone. You were supposed to be gone.”

Guilt nudged Emma. Their being stranded was all her fault. She’d tried to run too many errands on her list that morning and it had pushed them back on getting everything done for the Christmas dinner and dance being held at the school her parents ran for mentally challenged adults. The party was scheduled for Saturday night and Alexis had volunteered to go with Emma to surprise her parents, who were receiving a community-service award at the annual function. Since Emma had recently moved to Greeley, which was just east of Pine Ridge, to teach at North Colorado State, she’d been thrilled when her bestie had suggested they make a girlfriends’ weekend of it.

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