Chapter 1

Evan

Mid-December - Edinburgh, Scotland

Bing Crosby crooned, ‘It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas’ and he wasn’t wrong. Standing in the atrium of Shaw’s Department store on Princes Street, it definitely couldn’t get any more Christmassy for me. Strands of gorgeous fairy lights cascaded over the balconies of the galleried floors above us. I stood at Santa’s Grotto, surrounded by fake snow and glitter, while a twinkling forty-foot Christmas tree towered above me.

Oh, and I was dressed as one of Santa’s Little Helpers.

With glitter shimmering on my cheeks and my petite figure wrapped up in a green velvet elf dress, I looked all of sixteen years old. I was sure of it.

For months now, I, Evan Munro, had been trying my hardest to make my brother’s best friend/my boss, see me as something other than his best friend’s wee sister who was not only thirteen years his junior but the woman he offered a pity job to.

Okay, so it was a little harsh to call it a pity job. Landing a well-paid PA position after graduating university with a degree that couldn’t get me a job that didn’t require stocking shelves in a supermarket, demanded more respect than that. However, it was safe to say I only got the job because my big brother, Patrick, asked his successful best friend, Reid Shaw, to give me the position on a trial period.

One would think, in this difficult economy, that I’d do anything to keep the job.

For instance, I wouldn’t be mooning over my boss with an infatuation the size of said planetary satellite. But I couldn’t help it.

Until recently I’d become obsessed with showing Reid that the thirteen-year age gap between us didn’t matter because I was a mature, wise-beyond-my-years, woman who would rock his freaking world in and out of the bedroom.

After events of the last few months, I thought I’d made progress.

And I had.

But it still didn’t matter.

Because to Reid I would always be his best friend’s untouchable little sister.

Weeks ago, wearing this costume in front of Reid would have mortified me. Now I couldn’t care less.

In fact, it was pretty damn funny.

I was sure Reid would never see me as a woman he could take seriously again but as I smiled out at the excited faces of the kids lining up to see Santa Claus, I no longer cared.

Fine.

That wasn’t entirely true.

It hurt like hell.

But I had a little something called self-respect, and if Reid was too afraid to take a chance on me because of Patrick, then he wasn’t the right man for me.

Bing’s voice trailed off and Mariah Carey flooded over the PA system of the department store.

Santa, some guy I’d only met an hour ago called Gary, gestured to me and then to the pile of presents under the Christmas tree. I stifled my chuckle as the bells attached to the pointy toes of my elf shoes jingled as I walked. A little girl with laughing brown eyes caught my attention, and we shared a giggle together just before I bent down to collect the next gift from under the spectacular tree.

A whoosh of cool air hit my backside and I straightened, blushing. The elf costume was not only roasting hot, it came with a stiff petticoat that meant the skirt didn’t fall down over my bum when I bent over. Everyone was probably getting an eyeful of my red and green striped bottom.

I was wearing elf stockings.

Seriously, I needed to learn how to say the word ‘no’.

Feet jingling, bell jingling on my green Santa hat that matched the dress that came to mid-thigh, I strolled over to Santa and gave him the present. He winked flirtatiously at me.

Charming.

I tried not to wrinkle my nose at his inappropriateness.

The young boy at Santa’s side took hold of the brightly wrapped gift, all distress at talking to a strange man disappearing as his mum came to take him away. That was my cue.

I shuffled over to the front of the line and smiled at the waiting father and his little girl. I bent toward her, knowing I was probably giving Santa an eye full of my stockinged arse. Everything about the costume was silly and childish, except for the arse revealing part. The dress was high-necked. The sleeves long. Both collar and wrists trimmed in white fur.

The costume was bought for a sixteen-year-old high school girl who hadn’t shown up to be Santa’s elf because she had the flu.

Margaret, the manager of the women’s department, had volunteered me to do the job since I was the only one who could fit into the costume. While I should have asked for Reid’s permission first, seeing the panic on Kerry, our store event coordinator’s face, I knew I had to help her.

We’d advertised Santa’s Grotto everywhere, and parents had paid tickets for their kids to visit Santa and take home a quality gift for Christmas. Determining Reid would be more annoyed if we let down customers, I reluctantly donned the costume.

And now, the object of my affection would probably never look at me the same way again if he caught me in it. Not that it would make a difference.

Pushing through my crestfallen disappointment, I smiled at Santa’s next customers as the father handed over their ticket.

“What’s your name?” I asked the little girl with her blond pigtails. She was adorable in a red velvet dress and matching shoes.

“Belle,” she murmured shyly.

“It suits you perfectly.” I beamed, drawing a smile from her. “Would you like to meet Santa?”

After glancing up at her dad for reassurance, Belle took my hand and I led her over to Santa and then stood off to the side. While Gary kept throwing me looks that would definitely put him on the naughty list, he was great with the kids. He had a joyful big booming voice and pulled off ‘Ho, ho, ho’ with grand aplomb.

My favorite Christmas song came over the PA system. Wizzard’s ‘I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday’. While the employees of the department store had to listen to the same Christmas album all day every day in December, I spent much time at my desk outside Reid’s office on the top floor. Where he’d banned all Christmas music.

Scrooge.

God, I wish I didn’t adore the brooding bastard.

Anyhoo, it was nice to listen to the Christmas music all morning and I relaxed, feeling less ridiculous (sort of) and falling more comfortably into my role.

Swaying my hips from side to side to the music, singing Wizzard under my breath, I forgot to feel moody and lovesick for the first time in months.

Toe bells jingling as I skipped toward the Christmas tree to collect Belle’s present, I bent over without thinking, singing away to myself.

It was a wonder I didn’t feel his glare singeing my arse.

Because I certainly felt it when I stood up, turned with a flourish of my petticoats and smiled just as my gaze collided with Reid’s.

He stood off to the side of Santa’s grotto, a fierce glower furrowing his brows, arms crossed over his chest as he glared at me.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ he mouthed slowly before pressing his lips into a hard line. His eyes lowered down my body and back up again. Somehow his expression grew even darker.

Damn it.

I guess it didn’t look all that professional for his personal assistant to dress in a teenager’s elf costume.

My lips widened into a sheepish grin and was followed by an equally sheepish shrug as if to say ‘What can you do?’.

In answer, he crooked his finger at me to come to him.

It was appalling the way my body reacted to the commanding gesture, as if I’d just been summoned to the bedroom.

Mortified, frustrated and irritated that he had that power over me, I gave him a slight shake of my head. Reid’s eyebrow raised at my defiance, but I ignored him. We’d decided that I needed to find a new job, and that’s exactly what I’d done. My time at Shaw’s was up after Christmas and Reid would no longer be my boss. So defying him wasn’t really an issue!

Instead, I moved toward Santa, who took the present with another lascivious wink in my direction.

The whole time I could feel my boss’s stare burning into me.

I knew he was beyond annoyed at this point.

A niggle of concern filtered through my newfound “could give zero fucks” attitude.

Maybe Reid would just ask me to leave sooner.

And even though I kept telling myself I didn’t care what he thought of me, I knew it would sting horribly if he made me pack up my things and leave him.

I wasn’t prepared for it.

Not yet.

I had two weeks of secretly pining after him and hating him in equal measure to go.

I wanted those two weeks!

They were mine.

I flicked him a look beneath my lashes.

He was still there.

Glowering at me.

Oh dear.

I was definitely on someone’s naughty list.