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.

The white noise of the falling water drowned out most of the party, but truth to tell, Sam was so caught up in the woman in front of him that he wouldn’t have noticed a train blasting through the yard.

Satisfied that they were alone, Anna continued her rant as if she hadn’t been interrupted.

“How is it you get to decide what people do and who they date?”

Irritated, he snapped, “I don’t remember filling out your social calendar. As for my brother…”

“Did you or did you not tell him to stop dating me because I was-” She stopped and tapped her chin with the tip of one finger. “Let me see if I can get this just right. She’s using you to get to my money to save her father.” She narrowed her eyes on him. “That about cover it?”

Hearing his own words tossed back at him caused him to wince. Figured that his brother would be fool enough to actually tell her what Sam had said. He should have known.

Most of his life, Sam had been taking care of Garret. He’d seen him through school, bailed him out of trouble occasionally and waited for him to grow up. Hadn’t happened yet, though.

He moved in closer to her and had the satisfaction of seeing her eyes widen slightly at his nearness. Good to know he wasn’t the only one still affected by that kiss.

“He shouldn’t have repeated that to you.”

“You shouldn’t have said it in the first place.”

“I’m looking out for my family.”

“And what? I’m a threat?”

Looking at her now, Sam thought she was only a threat to a man’s sanity. But how could he be sure she wasn’t simply an excellent actress? If she was feigning insult, though, she was doing a damn good job of it.