Secret Santa A Naughty But Nice Christmas Collection He'd Better Watch Out! / The Nights Before Christmas / Do You See What I See?

CHRISTIAN HUSTLED DOWN the corridor toward the office of Douglas Creighton, the owner and publisher ofConnoisseurmagazine. He'd been summoned by the big boss, and since there was a promotion dangling on the horizon, he wasn't about to keep him waiting any longer than necessary. Christian had spent the past eight months trying to repair his tarnished reputation after the disastrous incident with Maureen Bowen in the boardroom, and that meant dodging advances from other women in the company who believed he was an easy catch, especially Stacey Roberts, who'd made it her mission to end his oath of celibacy. He'd worked hard ever since Maureen's departure from the company, dedicating long hours at the office coming up with new and innovative sales strategies that had catapulted him to the number-one sales executive for the past six months in a row. He'd instantly turned down invitations to join his buddies at the local hot spot for a few drinks and an evening of hitting on willing women. He no longer took two-hour pleasure lunches, and the only phone calls he received at work were strictly business. Even his friends were calling him a monk because it had been months since he'd gotten laid. No doubt about it, he'd cleaned up his act and kept his focus on the job and the possibility of snagging the sales director promotion he wanted so badly. In a few weeks, after Christmas and the first of the year, he'd finally find out if his drive, dedication and respectable way of living had paid off. As he made his way through the executive floor toward Creighton's wing of offices, he passed a maze of cubicles dominating the center of the twenty-seventh floor of the Jackman Butler Building in New York City, where employees were busy at work. The outer offices flanking the cubicles had amazing views of Manhattan and were reserved for the higher-ups in the company. It was Christian's ultimate goal to earn one of those coveted offices for himself, with floor-to-ceiling windows, paneled walls to hang pictures, and a cherrywood desk large enough to spread out his work without feeling cramped. He returned his gaze back to where he was going just as Stacey stepped out from her cubicle and deliberately into his path. Her sudden appearance in front of him forced Christian to come to an abrupt halt or collide into her Double Ds, which were one breath away from spilling out of the fur-trimmed bodice of the sexy Mrs. Claus costume she'd worn for the department's holiday party that afternoon. The red velvet minidress was form-fitting, way too short and no doubt had most of the males in the office fantasizing about getting lucky with her for Christmas. Unfortunately, Stacey had her sights set onhim,and he wasn't interested. He'd thwarted her advances more times than he could count, but she gave the wordsdeterminationandpersistencenew meaning. She was just too easy, and despite his own bad-boy reputation, he realized that he'd changed over the past eight months. He'd become more particular and discriminating, and less promiscuous. Somewhere along the way, he'd developed standards and overly assertive women like Stacey no longer appealed to him. Still, he smiled at her because there was no sense in making an enemy out of the woman by outright telling her how he felt. He did, after all, have to work with her every day. "Cute outfit, Stace. I'm sure you'll be a big hit at the party today." "I'm glad you like it," she said as her fingers toyed with the white furry ball hanging from the tip of her red velvet Santa hat. "Care to jingle my bells?" She jiggled her breasts, and the two little silver bells attached to the bow barely securing the front of her dress made a light tinkling sound. He wasn't about to touch that double entendre. "Uh, sorry, but I'll have to pass. If I don't hustle, I'm going to be late for my meeting with Douglas." "You're no fun anymore, Christian," she said,Denison, Janelle is the author of 'Secret Santa A Naughty But Nice Christmas Collection He'd Better Watch Out! / The Nights Before Christmas / Do You See What I See?', published 2006 under ISBN 9780373792962 and ISBN 0373792964.