Under the Millionaire's Mistletoe(2)

With Clarissa hot on her heels, Anna sprinted toward him, moving in and  out of the ever-shifting crowd like a race car driver on a complicated  course. When she was right behind him, she tapped him on the shoulder  and shouted to be heard over the pounding music.

"Kiss me and save my life!"





Two




He spun around, his lake-blue eyes fixed on her. Then he smiled, reached for her and said, "My pleasure."

She barely had time to take a breath before his mouth came down on hers.  He wrapped his arms around her, held her tight and kissed her as she'd  never been kissed before. Long and hard and deep, he sent sparks of  something wonderful shooting through her system. His tongue tangled with  hers as he tasted her completely and Anna found herself melting into  him, giving herself up to the incredible glory of what he was making her  feel.

The magic she used to dream about was here. Finally here. In the arms of a man she'd never met before.

Who was her newfound hero anyway?

"Oh, Anna!"

Clarissa's voice penetrated the lovely glow surrounding her and Anna  reluctantly broke the kiss, pulling back just enough to stare up into  her rescuer's blue eyes.

Really, the man was drop-dead gorgeous. No, better. He was  bring-the-dead-back-to-life gorgeous. Lake-blue eyes, night-black hair, a  strong jaw and shoulders wide enough to belong to a professional  football player.

The music was playing, the steady roar of conversations continued to  roll on, but she felt as though she and her mystery man were all alone  in the world. Until Clarissa piped up again.

"You should have told me!"

"What?" she asked, still looking into those deep blue eyes. "Told you what?"

Clarissa moved in close, gave Anna a tight hug and said, "You should  have told me that the reason you stopped seeing Garret was because you  were involved with his brother!" Brother?

"You're Anna Cameron?"

"You're Sam Hale?"

"This is wonderful," Clarissa said on a satisfied sigh.



This was a nightmare, Sam Hale told himself, looking down at the pretty woman who had just knocked his socks off.

He didn't belong there and he knew it. Didn't matter that he'd been  invited to the Cameron Christmas party. Hell, it looked as if half of  Crystal Bay, California, was crammed into the ballroom of Dave Cameron's  big house on the sea.

But he wasn't there for the warm holiday celebration, he'd come to get  an up close look at Dave's daughter. Of course he'd seen pictures of  her, but he hadn't had the time to recognize her before that  mind-numbing kiss. The woman he'd heard so much about from his brother,  Garret. The same woman who was now looking at him as if he'd just  crawled out from under a rock.

He was here to find out if maybe he'd been wrong about the woman. It was  no secret that Cameron Leather was in trouble. And the fact that Dave  Cameron's daughter had been dating his brother had just seemed too  coincidental to Sam. He'd figured that some wily, sneaky, money-hungry  woman had latched on to Garret for one reason only.

Cash.

But Garret was still pissed about this, so Sam had decided to see for  himself if his suspicions were true. If he was wrong about her, he could  try to smooth things over between this woman and his brother.

He was off to a hell of a start.

"I can't believe you kissed me!" she accused.

"You asked me to," he reminded her. And there was nothing he'd like  better at the moment than to kiss her again. As soon as that thought hit  his brain, his blood started humming. He was ready and willing and all  too damn eager to give in to his desires. So, he clung to the threads of  his anger and used them to fight back the growing rush of want.

She pointed to the arched doorjamb above his head. "You're standing  under mistletoe. And I didn't know it was you, now, did I?" the redhead  with the beautiful eyes argued.                       
       
           



       

"Anna, you two shouldn't bicker," Clarissa lowered her voice and leaned in to make sure she was heard. "It's a party."

"This isn't what you think it is," Anna said, still glaring at him.

What he should do is leave. Distance himself from this whole mess. But  he couldn't quite make himself walk away from her. At least, not yet.

"Lovers' quarrels," the older woman said, "happens to everyone, dear."

"Oh, God," Anna whispered.

Then she licked her lips and Sam's insides tightened. His focus was  narrowed on her. This woman was nothing like what he'd expected. The  kind of woman his brother usually went for was-less than this one. This  woman had fire inside her and a mind of her own. She clearly wasn't an  empty-headed party girl looking for a good time. The question was, was  she a mercenary woman looking for a fat wallet?

"I can't believe this," she muttered.

Damned if he'd stand there and be accused of being a lecher or  something. "You know, I was just standing there minding my own  business … "

"Have you met my husband?" Clarissa asked.

"You should have introduced yourself," Anna told him.

"Before or after you propositioned me?" he countered.

She gasped, outraged. "I did not!"

"You said, 'Kiss me and save my life,'" he reminded her with a grin. "What did you expect a man to do?"

"Okay, yes, I did. But I didn't know it was you."

"We covered that already," he said.

"I'll just find Dave," Clarissa said, tipsily oblivious. "He'll be so happy to know about the two of you!"

"Don't!" Anna spoke up quickly, but it was too late, the older woman was  already disappearing into the crowd. "Oh, for heaven's sake."

"Now that we're alone, want to move back under the mistletoe?"

"No!" She flushed, though, and he knew she was lying. She stared  helplessly after her stepmother for a long minute. Then whipping back  around to glare at him again, she said, "You have to leave."

He'd been thinking the same damn thing a second ago. But now that she  was practically ordering him out, Sam wasn't about to leave. "Hey, I was  invited. Why should I leave just because you're suddenly regretting  trying to seduce me?"

She hissed in a breath and her cheeks flamed with hot color. Amazing. He  hadn't thought there were still women around who actually blushed. Sam  was more intrigued by the minute-and even less inclined to leave than he  had been.

"I did not try to seduce you," she said through gritted teeth. "It was a blip. An emergency situation."

He was starting to enjoy himself. "An emergency make out session?"

"We didn't-" She stopped, took a deep breath and closed her eyes  briefly. "You know what? I'm not doing this anymore. If you're not going  to leave, I will."

She turned around so fast that her long, auburn hair swung out behind  her like a flag. She was wearing a sleeveless silver top that clung to  her breasts and a short, black silk skirt that hugged her behind and  defined every curve. Her long, lean legs looked as smooth and pale as  fresh cream and the three-inch black heels she wore had a cutout at the  toes that spotlighted dark red nails.

His gaze dropped to her behind as she hurried away from him and he had  to admire the indignant sway of her hips. But damned if he was going to  let her walk off and leave him standing there still buzzed from that  kiss.

Sam caught up to her in a few long strides. Grabbing her arm, he stopped her, then swung her around to face him.

She looked pointedly at his hand on her arm. "Excuse me?"

He laughed but let her go. "Does that snotty queen-to-peasant tone usually work on men?"

Her eyes widened. "I'm not the one who tells people how to live their  lives," she told him flatly. "That would be your specialty, remember?"

A couple of guests wandered through the hallway and before he could  suggest it, Anna pointed down the hall and he followed her. She was  clearly looking for some privacy to finish this conversation. She led  him to a pair of French doors that opened into a garden with a stone  pathway laid out between the flower beds. She started off down the path  and Sam was right behind her.                       
       
           



       

A glance to his left showed him bright lights spilling from the ballroom  to lay across a wide, brick patio. The music was muted at a distance  and the rush of people talking sounded like the sea, rising and falling  in rhythm.

Only twenty or so feet away, it was as if he and Anna were alone in the  world. There were no lights decorating this tidy garden, just the  moonlight covering everything in a pale glow. She kept walking and Sam  stayed close, until she stopped beside a stone bench encircling a small  fountain in the shape of a dolphin.