The mood was festive, with a hired band playing upbeat Christmas tunes during the cocktail hour. Being that this was Teddy’s first company Christmas party, she was highly impressed with the show Sharper Image put on.

The ballroom was elaborately decorated for the Christmas season, with garland, holly and mistletoe aplenty. Eight-foot noble firs, gaily decorated in sparkling lights and pretty ornaments, scented the room with traditional pine. Centerpieces of bright red poinsettias and tapered cream candles adorned each table, and lacy snowflakes sprayed with a shimmering incandescent powder hung from the ceiling, giving her the illusion of being in a winter wonderland. The effect was enchanting.

Teddy made sure she introduced Austin to as many people as she could, from the CEO of the company to the front-end receptionist, and watched in amazement as he effortlessly established a male camaraderie with the men, and beguiled the women, while making it apparent, with an affectionate glance, an intimate comment, that he was completely devoted to her. During the moments when they were alone, he’d touch her possessively, run his fingers over her bare back and down her spine, keeping her body in a constant state of awareness. More daring, he’d lean close and murmur bawdy comments and jokes in her ear that caused her to blush, laugh out loud, and made them look as though they shared intimate secrets.

Teddy found herself so wrapped up in his attention, even she had to struggle to keep from blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.

“Would you like something to drink, sweetheart?” Austin asked. He’d spent the past five minutes charming two women Teddy worked with, and as much as she didn’t want to be alone with the duo answering a barrage of questions, she was getting thirsty.

She gave him a warm, private smile for her co-workers’ benefit. “I’d love a wine spritzer.”

His large, hot palm casually slid over her hip to her waist, pulling her close to brush his lips across her cheek. A tremor of response rippled through her, and her breath quickened.

Striking green eyes glittered with devious pleasure when they met hers again, testimony that the rogue was relishing every minute of their performance. “I’ll be right back, so don’t go far.”

As if her weak knees would allow her to wander off!

Barb, Sharper Image’s payroll clerk, sighed wistfully, not bothering to conceal her lust as she watched Austin walk away. “What an absolute doll he is, Teddy.”

“Mmm,” Karen, an accounts rep, agreed, shaking her head in wonder and envy. “Where have you been hiding him all this time?”

“I, well, uh…” Teddy grasped a ready excuse while absently twisting the diamond and ruby band on her finger. “Austin’s work keeps him incredibly busy. It’s a wonder I get any quality time with him.”

Barb scoffed at that. “Come on, Teddy, the guy is crazy for you. From what I’ve seen tonight, not to mention the rumor circulating about a little incident in the elevator, he doesn’t come across as a man whose been too neglectful.”

Fire burned Teddy’s cheeks.

“I have to agree,” Karen said, her eyes sparkling merrily over the rim of her champagne glass as she took a sip.

Knowing there was no sense denying what both Barb and Karen wanted to believe-what she, herself, needed them to believe-she didn’t bother to correct their assumption. “Would you two stop, already?”

“We’re just jealous,” Barb admitted good-naturedly. “He’s personable, totally into you, and has a body to die for. And he’s probably rich to boot.”

Teddy didn’t think Austin wallowed in wealth, but she imagined his “Fantasy” services kept his bank account amply filled. “Oh, he does quite well for himself.”

“What does he do, anyway?” Karen asked curiously.

Panic raced through her, pumping up the beat of her heart until she could hear it drumming in her ears. Good Lord, they hadn’t discussed a respectable occupation! “He’s a…broker.” Well, he definitely qualified as such, she reasoned, considering he solicited his services, and those of his other employees.

“Oh,” Barb said, looking suitably impressed. “Like an investment broker?”

“Uh, yes,” Teddy said, going with the suggestion because nothing else sounded better. Feeling herself flounder in unfamiliar territory, she searched frantically for Austin, and found him over at the service bar talking to the vice president of the company while he waited for their drinks.

In an attempt to divert the conversation before she complicated the situation further, she turned back to Karen. “So, I hear you’re planning a surprise baby shower for Catherine Johnson in Marketing after the new year. What can I do to help?”

A few moments later, Austin finally returned. He handed her the wine spritzer, then took a sip of his own drink, which looked suspiciously like root beer. Grateful for the interruption, she told Karen and Barb that she’d get the rest of the details on the baby shower next week at work, and quickly maneuvered Austin in the opposite direction before his cover was blown. Finding a secluded, unoccupied arbor decorated in colorful twinkling lights and Christmas greenery, she finally stopped and faced him.

He waggled his dark eyebrows at her. “Eager to find a dark corner to have your way with me, eh?” His voice was low and tinged with all kinds of wicked innuendo.

Her stomach dipped, but she resolutely ignored the sensation. “No, I-”

He abruptly cut off her words with a kiss that happened so spontaneously she didn’t have a breath of a chance to stop those tantalizing lips from covering her own. Gaining her equilibrium, she jerked back, nearly spilling her wine spritzer down the front of her dress.

“Austin!” she admonished, not exactly shocked at his audacity, considering how bold he’d proven to be. But still, they’d given the employees at Sharper Image plenty to gossip about without giving them a public display, too!

“What?” He blinked at her, a picture of little-boy innocence. “You’re standing under the mistletoe, and anyone watching would expect any self-respecting boyfriend to take advantage of the situation.”

Skeptical, she glanced up at the arbor they stood under. Sure enough, a sprig of mistletoe dangled above her head.

Without permission, he came back for a second sampling, this time curling his long fingers around the nape of her neck and using his thumb to tip her chin up and keep her mouth firmly locked beneath his. He parted her lips with one silken stroke of his tongue, and she tasted heat, and the sweet flavor of root beer.

Losing all sense of time and place, she gave herself over to his soft, compelling kiss. The man stole her sanity, made her want things she’d convinced herself she didn’t need in her life and threatened her hard-won independence. He made her feel too reckless, and entirely too needy.

Desperate to pull the situation back into perspective, she placed a hand on his chest, feeling the strong, steady beat of his heart beneath her palm. To anyone watching, the gesture looked like an affectionate caress, but he immediately picked up on her cue. Or maybe it was her panic he sensed.

With a low growl that reverberated deep in his chest, Austin lifted his head, his eyes glowing with unsuppressed hunger. “I suggest we finish this later, when we don’t have an audience.”

Certain that intimate comment was meant for their viewers’ ears, she nodded, the only intelligible gesture she could manage at the moment.

“They have got to be the most romantic, in-love couple I’ve ever seen,” Teddy heard some woman say from behind Austin.

They’d certainly fooled everyone, she thought with a grimace. Hopefully, Louden would be just as convinced.

Arm in arm, they strolled away from the arbor. “You’re an investment broker,” she whispered in a low voice to Austin, and nodded sociably at an older couple who were smiling at them.

“I am?” Amusement threaded Austin’s voice.

“As of ten minutes ago, you are.”

“How about I own my landscaping business instead?”

She shook her head at him, dismissing his offbeat suggestion. “No, I was thinking more along the lines of something upscale and respectable.”

“Respectable?” he echoed, his voice losing that humorous edge of moments before.

Her face flushed. She hadn’t meant to insult him. “Well, yes,” she hedged. “Saying you’re an investment broker is more respectable than announcing you’re a fantasy for hire. You weren’t around, we hadn’t discussed an occupation, and it’s the first thing I thought of.”

He shrugged, and accepted her choice of career. “Okay. After all, this is your fantasy.”

She frowned at him, and his choice of words. “No, my fantasy was a cowboy. This is strictly business.”

Annoyance flitted across his handsome face, and just when she suspected he was going to issue an argument of some sort, the man she’d been dreading all evening finally approached them. The tension Austin had worked so hard to obliterate quickly spread through Teddy’s body, tightening muscles and tingling nerves.

Dressed in the prerequisite black tie, Louden exuded confidence and professionalism, which Teddy supposed appealed to the higher-ups in the company. Louden couldn’t have climbed the corporate ladder as high as he had without competence and some personable qualities. What the directors didn’t realize, though, was just how poorly he handled employee relations.

Pale blue eyes scrutinized Austin lazily, but Teddy wasn’t fooled by his complacent behavior. Even if he was suspicious, he certainly wasn’t going to let it show in front of her, or anyone else.

“Hello, Louden,” Teddy greeted, trying to maintain a semblance of courtesy.

“Theodora.” Louden inclined his head at her and smiled pleasantly. “You look quite lovely tonight.”