A Hot Holiday Collection

Prologue

PROLOGUE

DANNY

L ong, silky dark hair. Chocolate-brown eyes. Rosebud lips. Creamy skin. Petite, but with sexy as fuck curves. Intelligent. Funny. Musical laughter.

This was the description of my ideal woman.

I didn’t know I had one until I met her.

Delia Parker. From the moment I first laid eyes on her, she became mine. She just didn’t know it yet.

I was a sophomore in college with one goal. Harvard Law. It had been my dream since I was a kid, and I’d been solely focused on it. I had a 4.0 GPA, participated in and organized activities that Harvard would appreciate seeing on my application, and basically lived in the library.

At the urging (nagging) of my best friend, Leland, I’d pledged into a fraternity, but their reputation also made them an asset to my law school application. Unlike my brothers, though, I didn’t have time for parties, and I certainly didn’t have any interest in complicating my life with a relationship. Women were more trouble than they were worth and would distract me from my path.

Then one sunny day, I was crossing the quad when I spotted a gorgeous girl, and my entire body froze. My breath caught in my lungs, and my heart skipped a beat. Leland happened to be walking next to me, and he halted in his tracks, looking around to see what had brought me to such an abrupt stop.

“What?”

My mouth was completely dry when I pointed a shaky finger in her direction and croaked, “Her. Who is that?” Leland wasn’t one for meaningless sex or relationships, but he was still the life of the party on campus and knew just about everyone.

He scratched the blond scruff on his chin while he thought. “Delia...starts with a P…”—he snapped his fingers—“Parker!”

Her name was just as beautiful as her body. For the first time in—I honestly had no fucking clue—my groin tightened, my cock twitching with interest.

Great. Just what I need right now .

“What do you know about her?”

“She’s a sophomore on the communications track. Her dad owns a hotel and restaurant in Las Vegas, I think. Maybe more? He’s a fucking billionaire, but from what I’ve heard about her, you’d never know it.”

“Is she seeing anyone?”

“Not that I know of. I’ve spotted her on dates a few times, but I’ve never seen her with them on campus or anywhere else after that.”

My jaw hardened at the thought of my girl spending time with another man.

Leland had gone quiet, and he looked back and forth between Delia and me a few times. “Want me to introduce you?” he offered, gesturing in her direction.

Yes.

No.

Fuck.

I forced myself to shake my head. “I can’t deal with a relationship right now. But…” I trailed off and blew out a harsh exhale. “Fuck. I can’t...I just need two years. Then I’ll have my acceptance and can just focus on my studies instead of everything else I need to get admitted. We could move in together and?—”

“Um,” Leland interrupted me. “I doubt she’s going to sit around twiddling her thumbs for two years while you figure your shit out. Especially if she doesn’t even know you’re interested. Some other guy is going to swoop in and steal her.”

“Then we’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen,” I said through clenched teeth.

“I guess you could just tell her what you want and see if she’s willing to go along with it.” Leland shrugged, but his expression made it clear that he thought that wouldn’t work.

He was mostly right. I couldn’t get to know her enough to ask her to wait for me and then ignore her for two years. Friendship was out of the question, too. I’d never be able to stay in the friend zone with her. We were yards apart, and I was already hard as fuck and tempted to snatch her up before finding the nearest bed to fuck her on.

Just then, some punk sidled up to her and threw his arm around her shoulders. She gave him an uncomfortable smile, then stepped to the side, shrugging him off.

My fingers bit into my palms as my hands curled into tight fists.

“This is going to be a problem, isn’t it?” Leland sighed.

“Find out who he is and arrange for us to have a chat.”

He cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “Who says I’m going to help you with this ridiculous scheme?”

I finally tore my gaze from my girl and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Setting aside the fact that you’re like a brother to me, how about because of all the times you dragged me into shit? Or all the times I bailed your ass out after I warned you, and you did it anyway?”

Leland grinned and stuck his hands in his pockets. “You have a point.” He glanced in Delia’s direction for a second, his smile growing even bigger. “Her best friend, Olivia, is pretty hot. Maybe I’ll ask her out and get the nitty-gritty details on your girl. It’d probably make it easier for you to stalk her and make sure she stays single.”

Perhaps I should have objected to him classifying what I was planning as stalking her, but I couldn't because I had every intention of doing it. I was busy, but with Leland’s help—who didn’t give a fuck about school because he could get A’s even if he slept through his classes—I’d know who the guys sniffing around her were.

Like the little shit who’d dared to touch her on the quad. He’d been about to wet his pants by the time I gave him the warning to stay away from Delia. I could be a scary motherfucker if I wanted to. I was tall, muscular from regular workouts, and fueled by my possessive feelings for Delia.

Over the next two years, I gained even more muscle and started boxing because I needed an outlet for all the sexual frustration. Fate must have agreed with my timeline because I had no fucking clue how I managed to stay away from my girl.

I just hoped that my intensity and deep hunger for her didn’t freak her out when the time came. Because the moment I gave myself permission, my patience would fly out the window, and it was unlikely I’d let her out of bed for a few days...at least.

Finally, as the Christmas break approached my senior year, my application to Harvard was submitted, and my next semester was light with only a couple of labs and a capstone project that was mostly done.

I began making a plan for when we returned to school after the holiday.

The plan went in the garbage the second Leland informed me about the present Delia’s sorority sisters were giving her.