Chapter One

Lyric

Dear Santa...

I haven't asked for anything for Christmas since I was younger and wanted boobs. Thanks for coming through with those, by the way. But I have a favor to ask. Can you please bring this curvy girl a daddy for Christmas this year? Preferably my older brother's best friend, Sinclair Evans. I'll never ask for anything else ever again.

xoxo,

Lyric

I skim my letter to Santa, drumming my finger against my bottom lip. I'm probably asking too much from a jolly old guy in a red suit two days before Christmas, but it's the time for miracles, right? Maybe he'll come through with one for me.

That's what it's going to take to make Sinclair Evans notice me. I should know. I've only been trying to get his attention since I moved in with my brother, Lachlan, a year ago.

My big college adventure didn't go so well during my sophomore year. My roommate liked to bring strange men over at random hours. When I woke up with one standing over my bed, I started sleeping in my car. I accidentally let that slip to Lachlan on the phone one day.

Less than twenty-four hours later, he was in California, and we were packing my stuff. I didn't mind. I took a semester off and then enrolled in college here in Seattle. Now, I get to spend my time daydreaming about Sinclair.

I'm ready to stop daydreaming. I'm obsessed with him to an unhealthy degree. He's all I think about some days.

But no matter what I do to get his attention, he refuses to budge. Some days, I think the only time he pays any attention to me at all is when he's growling at me.

Your dress is too fucking short, Lyric.

You need to focus on school, Lyric.

Why aren't you wearing a coat, Lyric?

Argh! He's worse than my brother. As if the fact that he's thirteen years older than I am makes him the boss of me.

Newsflash: it doesn't.

But, God, I ache when he growls at me. I want to crawl into his lap and grind against him until the throb between my thighs fades. I want to feel his rough hands on my body and his teeth in my skin.

I want him, period.

I have since the day my brother dragged him home right after I moved in.

Writing a letter to Santa is my last resort. If it doesn't work, well, I don't want to think about that.

I sign my letter with a sparkly pink pen.

"Lyric!" Lachlan shouts, stomping up the stairs.

I quickly shove my letter into an envelope, sealing it just before he pops his dark head into my bedroom.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing," I lie.

He narrows his jade eyes on me. "Then why are you blushing?"

"I'm not blushing. It's nine million degrees in here." I fan myself for emphasis. "I think the heat is broken."

He eyes me suspiciously, not buying my crap. Then again, he never does. I'm way too easy to read, and he's known me my entire life.

"I need a favor," he says after a moment, seemingly deciding to let me keep my secrets. Probably because he has a million of his own. Weird and secretive is his default setting these days. He's been acting weird for weeks.

"What?"

"I need you to run some paperwork over to Sinclair's place. I have a last-minute meeting before we close down for the holidays." A scowl crosses his face. I think he'd work right through Christmas if it were up to him. He works too much. "The paperwork is on the counter downstairs."

"What kind of paperwork?"

"The kind that'll make us both a lot of money." He smirks at me, flashing me his dimple. He and Sinclair run a successful marketing firm. They're worth millions, though Sinclair still lives in a small cabin in the mountains. Money doesn't matter much to him.

Not much seems to matter to him, to be honest. He's closed off and grumpy. Sometimes, I think maybe he cares about me. The way he looks at me sometimes makes me feel like the only woman in the world. But then he gets all growly and bossy again, and I figure I'm just seeing what I want to see.

"Can you run it out to him?" Lachlan asks.

"I guess so," I sigh, trying not to seem too excited. The last thing I need is for my brother to find out that I'm in love with his best friend and business partner. I doubt he'd love knowing that.

"You're my favorite sister."

"I'm your only sister."

"Then it's a good thing you're my favorite." He winks at me and taps the edge of the doorframe. "Tell Sinclair that I expect him to be here for Christmas."

"He's coming for Christmas?" I squeak.

Lachlan shoots me a look that says I'm being ridiculous. "Where else would he go, Lyric?"

Good question. Sinclair doesn't have any family. Aside from Lachlan, I'm not even sure if he has any friends. Okay. So maybe my brother isn't the only one with secrets. Sinclair Evans has plenty of his own. And I'm dying to learn every single one of them.

He's all I think about. I can't stand it anymore.

Please, I pray to whatever spirit oversees granting Christmas wishes. Please, let him fall in love with me before I shatter into pieces.