Just One More Mistletoe (Sterling Family #2.5)

Chapter One

B randy Bloom finished up her work for the day. The office Christmas party was in a few hours and she had to prepare. The event was a week before the actual holiday so everyone could go home to be with their families. Those who had families, that is.

Brandy had an invitation to join Samantha and her husband, Dex, at whichever large family event they were attending. Last she’d heard, they were going to the Sterlings on Christmas Eve and the Dares later on Christmas Day. Brandy doubted she’d attend. Big family events weren’t her thing. Samantha might be Brandy’s chosen family but that didn’t mean she was comfortable at a big family get together like hers.

Before she could stand up and unzip her costume that was hanging on the door, a knock sounded.

“Come in!”

“Merry Christmas!” Her boss and friend, Samantha Dare-now-Sterling walked in with a card in one hand, and took a seat across from Brandy’s desk.

“A little early, but Merry Christmas to you, too.”

“I come bearing gifts.” Samantha placed the card on Brandy’s desk. “This is your office present.”

“And here’s yours.” Reaching into her bag, Brandy pulled out a small box and they exchanged items to be opened later.

Samantha tucked hers into her shoulder bag. “Listen, I got you something special and didn’t want to give you your gift in front of everyone else.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Brandy said, though she, too, had bought her friend a more personal present.

Samantha waved a hand in dismissal. “I didn’t have to, I wanted to. Brandy, you’re more than the office manager and my PA. You’re family.”

Family. She’d always told herself she didn’t have any but Samantha was different, she thought, a lump rising in her throat.

That lump remained and all Brandy could do was nod. “You also have Dex as family and the Sterlings. You two are so good together.” She smiled at her friend.

“And I want that same thing for you.”

Brandy shook her head. “You know I don’t do relationships.”

“Umm… what do you think this is?” Samantha asked, gesturing between them. “It’s a relationship.” She spoke before Brandy could reply. “And you’re really good at it. The way you stayed by me in the hospital after everything with Jeremy meant the world.”

Samantha had overheard her almost-groom plotting to steal her fortune and the business she’d built. She’d run from her wedding in tears, right into Dex, who’d saved her by offering a quick getaway. “Brandy, I’m so grateful to have you in my life.”

Brandy managed a smile. “I’m grateful for you, too.” Samantha was different. Brandy trusted her. She knew her strengths and weaknesses. She could manage Samantha’s workload and keep the office running. She loved the life she’d built for herself. She wasn’t good at forming attachments beyond friendship.

“Can I stop by tomorrow morning and drop off my gift?” Samantha asked.

Brandy nodded. “Of course, and thank you. I have something at home for you, too.”

“Are you ready to play Santa’s elf at the party?” Samantha glanced around the office, her gaze landing on the garment bag hanging on the door. When she turned back, she had an amused smile on her face. “Looks like you are!”

Brandy laughed. “I enjoy it,” she admitted. And she had a plan her friend knew nothing about.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it. See you at the party.” Samantha rose and walked out of the office, closing the door behind her.

Brandy blew out a breath, her stomach bouncing with nerves. Not for playing elf, that was something she did every year, but for her plan to seduce Stephan Corbin, an associate partner at Samantha’s PR firm and the object of Brandy’s desire.

A little while later, her office door locked, Brandy fastened the white fur anklet adorned with three silver bells and a green velvet bow, closing the accessory around her ankle with a single snap.

From her phone on the edge of her desk, a traditional Christmas carol ended and the Bruce Springsteen version of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” now reverberated through her small office. Pulling her hat over her head and securing it with bobby pins, she hummed her own off-key rendition of her favorite Christmas tune. She twirled once, pleased with the jingling accompaniment to the gruff voice of The Boss.

If Santa was coming to town, he wasn’t going to find Brandy being a good girl. Not this year. Not this night. Tonight, she was a woman on a mission. A mission to seduce the man she’d been attracted to for too long. She hoped to act on their obvious physical attraction and indulge in a safe interlude she could easily walk away from when their time together was through. Something Stephan, the firm’s confirmed self-proclaimed bachelor, would appreciate and understand.

Because they’d been working closely together for a few years, acting on her desire had been impossible until now—but today had been her last day of work before the long holiday vacation. Samantha was a generous boss and gave them all a long holiday break. When she returned after the new year, she’d be in the new suburban offices of Dare PR. Samantha and Dex had bought a house on Long Island. She’d decided to open a satellite office and Brandy was only too happy to leave Manhattan and join her.

Stephan was remaining in the city. Work and office protocol no longer stood between them.

Nothing did except her courage and the good-girl role she’d played all her life. A role she could afford to let go of, at least this once. It had served her well in foster care while watching the younger kids and later in other office work but it was time to let it go. At least for the night.

Being naughty had no place in business. Neither did coming on to a man she worked alongside. But Samantha’s life was on track, she was living her happily ever after, and talking about starting a family. It was time for Brandy to act on her own on desires.

Then with the onset of the new year, she would put Stephan behind her and step back into the stable, secure, independent life she’d created for herself.

She smoothed her skirt and straightened her hat, giving one last jingle of her bells for good luck. No matter how naughty she had to be to accomplish her goal, Brandy intended to get her man.

***

Maxwell Corbin glanced at the men and women milling about the large conference room. Muffled laughs, discreet corner discussions, and a handshake every now and then along with lots of laughs. Nothing like The Back Door bar where he preferred to hang out, he thought. The atmosphere, though light, was still an office party, and immediately reminded him of why he’d traded in his SoHo apartment and the possibility of working at his father’s downtown New York City law firm for a place above his friend’s bar. He’d recently moved in after the current tenant moved out. No matter how happy it would make his father if Max decided to return to the corporate world, he had to live his own life, his own way.

As he made for the eggnog across the room, his sneakered foot crushed a stray pretzel, marring the otherwise pristine carpet. Beside him, someone made a toast to an upcoming pitch he hoped to cinch, increased income, and the hard work to come. They didn’t work all night here but his father’s employees and partners did. Max shook his head. The only thing worth staying up all night for was sex—something he hadn’t had in too damn long, mostly because no woman had interested him enough. But lately he’d begun to wonder what being discriminating and picky had gotten him besides a cold bed at night.

He lifted the ladle to serve himself a drink when the faint ringing of bells caught his attention. He turned toward the sound and the expensively decorated Christmas tree, a pine, lavishly trimmed with white and gold, with dozens of boxes beneath the branches to increase holiday spirit. He stepped to the left so he could see around the tree and caught sight of a dainty elf kneeling over a bulging bag of toys. As she reached inside the large bag, the hem on her miniskirt hiked up higher, revealing black lace beneath white fur trim.

Max swallowed hard. So much for disinterest, he thought wryly. A longer glance as she dug through her huge bag and he discovered the lace ended at mid-thigh. He wondered what she wore beneath that green suit, if the hands-on exploration would be as satisfying as his imagination.

He tried to swallow but his mouth had gone dry. If he had to spend time at any office holiday party—this one because his twin had invited him—then maybe the pixie in the corner would make his time here worthwhile. He dodged his way around the business suits and headed for the tinsel-laden elf.

On his way, he realized that not only was she the sole focus of his attention, but he was the center of hers. She’d straightened from her chore and looked at him dead-on, heat and something more in her smoky gaze. Drink forgotten, he walked the rest of the way to where she stood. Despite the drone of preoccupied, chattering people, Max felt as if he were approaching her in utter silence.

As he closed in, he raised his gaze from the white fur anklet to her belted, trim waist to her green-eyed stare. Sea-green scrutiny made more vibrant by the interested flush in her cheeks. After promising his brother he’d show up at this gig, he’d mentally called the day a bust, but when she pulled him behind the tree, rose onto her booted tiptoes, and touched her mouth to his, he reassessed his opinion.

He’d been kissed before—but he’d never been kissed. Not with such intensity and single-minded purpose. She tasted sweet and smelled sensual and fragrant, making both his mind and his body come alive. Her hands gripped his shoulders in a death-lock as her champagne-flavored tongue darted past his willing lips.

She had a potent effect, yet despite it all her touch was endearingly hesitant, turning him on while arousing a fierce protectiveness within him at the same time. He gripped her waist to anchor her, something she obviously took as a sign of acceptance because a soft but satisfied sigh escaped and he caught the erotic sound with his mouth, deep in his throat. Though he hadn’t a clue what he’d done to become the lucky recipient of her attention, he wasn’t about to question good fortune. He’d rather make more of his own.

He began an arousing exploration, mating his tongue with hers in a prelude she couldn’t misinterpret or mistake. And obviously she didn’t. Her head tipped back and she welcomed the onslaught of his roving tongue and hands. He pulled her forward, her breasts flush with his chest, her hips brushing his.

Such close contact with his elf had him aching for more and he sucked in a startled breath, inhaling deeply. The scent of pine assaulted his senses and reminded him of their surroundings and the possibility that despite the barrier of the Christmas tree, they might have an audience taking note.

With regret, he raised his head and took a safe step back from temptation. Eyes glazed with desire stared back, an engaging smile on her well-kissed lips.

“Mistletoe,” she said in a husky voice, pointing upward.

He glanced at the greenery and grinned. He wondered what other surprises this mystery lady had in store. “Whatever you say.”

She touched her lips with shaking fingertips. “I say you’re not him . You’re nothing like Stephan.”

Kind of her to point out something he’d been told hundreds of times before. But she’d spoken low, more to herself than to him, and not with the well-aimed need to hurt, the way the information had often been used against him in the past.

Her gaze darted from his worn basketball sneakers, up the length of his dark denim jeans, and focused on his face. “In the dim lighting and from a distance you kind of looked like him.” He saw as well as heard her searching for answers. “The same dark hair and piercing blue eyes, though yours are somewhat warmer.” A glimmer of passion infused her voice. “Similar dimple but yours is deeper.” She reached out with the same hesitant determination he’d sensed behind the kiss before she grazed the dimple in his cheek with her finger.

Her touch burned him straight to his soul.

“And when he works weekends, he… dresses… like… you.” She jerked her hand away from the same fire consuming him.

Max was surprised to learn Stephan ever veered away from conservative suits and ties. Maybe he and his twin had come from the same egg after all. Maybe they had more in common than either of them let on. And maybe they could be friends as well as brothers. The thought arose, not for the first time in ages, but it was the first time he considered acting on the impulse.

He had his elf to thank for revealing the surprising similarities and possibilities. His elf. Funny how proprietary he’d become in such a short span of time. But it wouldn’t be funny if she had any kind of relationship with his twin, and based on that hell of a kiss, the odds tipped against Max.

“Since it’s a party, and he’s the new head of this office, I should have realized,” she murmured. Scrutiny complete, she settled her stare on his New York Rangers jersey in an obvious attempt to avoid his gaze. Then she folded her arms across her lush chest, chewing on her bottom lip as the enormity of her mistake obviously set in.

He remembered the feel of those curves pressed intimately against him, recalled the sweetness of her mouth, and he struggled not to groan aloud. “Something against the Rangers?” he asked, seeking the more mundane.

She shook her head, her button nose crinkling in answer. “I don’t have time for basketball.”

“Hockey.”

“Whatever. But baseball’s another story. How ’bout those Yankees?” A twinkle sparkled in her glorious eyes.

Apparently, she’d been giving him a hard time and was probably as big a sports fanatic as he.

“Hard to believe any Corbin would wear a jersey to an office party, though.” Her brows rose in surprise.

On any other woman, the gesture would remind him of his judgmental federal court judge mother. But on her , the otherwise critical display indicated curiosity and interest, not disdain. “You’ve got that right. But I’m not a typical Corbin.” He felt the welcome tug of a smile.

She inclined her head, her silky blonde hair brushing her shoulders much the way he’d like it caressing his skin. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”

Once again, her trembling fingers touched her mouth, this time tracing the outline of her reddened lips before she caught herself and stepped around the tree, reaching for the first gift-wrapped package she could find. He allowed her escape for the moment, watching the sexy sway of her hips in retreat. And in that instant, her words immediately after that mind-blowing kiss came back to him. You’re not him. You’re nothing like Stephan .

She’d kissed him and had known instantly. And she wasn’t all that upset and she definitely wasn’t unaffected. The thought pleased him. Though Max could never compete with his twin as a Corbin son who’d chosen the corporate world, he’d obviously made headway with... his brother’s woman? His gut clenched at the thought.

“Hello, Max.” Stephan walked up beside him.

“Hey, little brother.” Catching the scowl on his twin’s face, Max grinned, feeling on safe, sibling-sparring ground. “‘Little brother’ is a figure of speech. You know that. But you also know I got sprung first.”

“Three minutes isn’t enough to hold it over me our entire lives,” Stephan said with characteristic grumbling. “But I’m glad you made it.”

“Thanks for inviting me.” It gave Max hope he’d leave here with more than he’d arrived with.

At the very least, a renewed connection to his twin and at best, a new woman in his life? Possible, Max thought, unless—he glanced at his brother. “Who’s the elf?”

Stephan folded his arms across his chest and glanced around the tree to where the woman who’d kissed Max senseless now tried to feign interest in her bag of toys and not the Corbin brothers. Max stifled a smile.

“Who, Brandy?” Stephan asked.

“Brandy.” Max tested the name on his tongue, liking the sound.

“She’s the office manager I’m taking over for,” Stephan said.

“Any interest?” Max asked, needing to lay his cards on the table.

Stephan shook his head. “Maybe when I first started working here, but that was a while ago. And once we became colleagues…” He waved his hand in dismissal. “No interest.”

It was obvious to Max that she didn’t feel the same—at least she hadn’t before kissing the wrong twin, but no point in informing his brother now. “You sure?”

“No interest. Not that way.” Stephan glanced at him, surprised but obviously certain. “Field’s clear.”

And so were his brother’s words. Nothing stood between Max and his elf.

He turned, determined to stake his claim, but she was talking with a female colleague, and then without warning the conference room was overrun with scampering, chattering children. “What’s this?” Max asked over the din.

Stephan laughed. “ This is Brandy’s contribution to the annual firm Christmas party. We always made a cash donation to a charity, but she insists we do something more personal, too. Now we buy gifts for the kids at one of the local women’s shelters and Santa hands them out—with her help.”

“Santa?”

“Our old, other head partner.” His voice darkened at the words. “But not this year. He’s been gone awhile.” He shook his head. “Not something I want to talk about but there is something you should know.”

Max raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

Stephan drew a deep breath. “Samantha, the owner of the firm, encouraged us to invite family and since Dad’s office is around the corner… he’s stopping by.”

Shit, Max thought. He had seen his parent when he’d been in the hospital recently, and again when he’d been released. Yet apparently the stroke had prompted a renewal in the man’s determination to get Max back into the family fold because their last conversation had begun and ended there. “Does he plan to hammer home the notion of me going to law school at this late date and then taking over the firm? Because I’m not a lawyer and never will be.” Their father lost Stephan to PR and Max to the investigation side of things.

“I will say he’s determined enough for four men but hopefully you drove your point home last time,” Stephan said.

Max winced and decided to think of other, more pleasurable things.

He looked over. His elf—Brandy—was kneeling down with kids beside her, tickling one, laughing with another. Not only did she have an altruistic streak but from the looks of things she was a natural-born nurturer, too. Add that to her sexy-as-hell appearance and her knock-out kiss and Max knew he’d found a gem. Getting to know her would be a pleasure.

“Who’s replacing your old boss as Santa this year?” Max asked.

“Even cash couldn’t sway any of these uptight jokers to do the job and I wasn’t sure I’d make it on time, so Brandy’s handing out the gifts herself,” Stephan said.

“Really.”

His brother chuckled aloud. “You sound awfully pleased. Aren’t you too old to be telling Santa what you want for Christmas?”

Max grinned. “Hell, no. Especially not if it’ll let me get close to his sexy emissary.” And as soon as the children were finished, he planned to tell Santa’s helper exactly what he wanted for Christmas.