The Christmas Set-Up

by Jill Shalvis

  And from somewhere in the cabin came the sound of another cell phone going off, Jason’s. The sound reminded her that this wasn’t the real world. The real world was her family, who were probably still hoping the storm had abated enough for her to get to them. The real world was a place where she and Jason didn’t like each other all that much.

  And that real world was calling.

  * * *

  VERY AWARE OF ZOE IN the kitchen talking softly on the phone to what sounded like her mother, Jason went hunting for his own cell phone.

  He’d gotten a call from Mike, which he returned.

  “Merry Christmas,” Mike said. “I got you something that you had no idea you needed but is perfect for you—one tall, gorgeous redhead. You’re welcome.”

  “I ought to kill you, not thank you,” Jason said, looking over his shoulder to make sure Zoe couldn’t hear him. “But it’ll have to wait.”

  Mike paused then laughed in disbelief. “She’s still there? Man, you’re better than I thought.”

  “It’s a snowstorm, you dumbass. Because of you, she’s stuck here with me instead of being with her family.”

  “Huh,” Mike said.

  “Huh what?”

  “You’re emotionally involved.”

  “What?” Jason shook his head. “When have I ever been emotionally involved?”

  “You just said she was stuck with you instead of being with her family, which means you’ve had at least one conversation, and a fairly deep conversation at that. And you mentioned her family. You’re emotionally involved.”

  Shit, Jason thought. He was. He was completely and utterly emotionally involved.

  “Before you hang up on me,” Mike said, the good humor gone from his voice. “We got another letter about the house from the bank. Man, we have to let it go, it’s killing you trying to keep it.”

  He sighed. “Merry Christmas, Mike.”

  Jason hung up, his anger and annoyance at his brother’s meddling, nosy, manipulative ways drained. He no longer was certain of his own motivations for anything. Now that he’d realized he had feelings for Zoe, real feelings, how could he compete with her for the promotion, when she wanted it as badly as he did? Needed it just as much? But if he didn’t get the promotion and the raise, how could he keep up with their debt, stave off the bank’s foreclosure for one more month?

  Tired of himself, he powered the phone off and tossed it aside, turning to face Zoe as she came back into the living room.

  “Everything okay?” she asked.

  “Other than my brother owes you big-time?” He smiled, feeling surprisingly okay. “Yeah. Everything’s good. You?”

  “My mother’s upset with me for missing the driving window to get up there. She says that without me, my older sisters are turning on each other instead of ganging up on me.” She smiled. “And my dad has already locked himself in the den with the remote. Estrogen overload.”

  “I’m sorry you’re missing it.”

  She shook her head. “It’s okay.” She paused. “I also checked my messages. I just got an offer from an L.A. architectural firm. Same position as where I’m at now with Steele, but there’re better opportunities for me there.”

  He went still. “You’re moving?”

  “Maybe. If I don’t get the promotion.”

  He tried to imagine what it would be like at Steele without her, but couldn’t. He tried to imagine his life without her, but couldn’t.

  “Jason—”

  He wasn’t sure who moved first, but suddenly they met in the middle of the room and were kissing hard, bodies smashed up against each other.

  “I still don’t know what this is,” she said when they broke apart to breathe.

  Jason knew what this was. Lust, pure and simple.

  Zoe’s hands fisted in his shirt, holding him close, as if she wanted to make sure he couldn’t escape. “Yesterday I said I didn’t like you,” she said. “I didn’t mean it. I was mad and out of my comfort zone. And then after we…”

  When she trailed off, he lifted a brow, purposely not helping her out, enjoying the blush that crossed her cheeks.

  “After we had sex,” she finished unsteadily, “I planned to just forget the whole thing.”

  He let out a low laugh, and she seemed to relax a little, smiling ruefully. “Yeah, I might as well have tried to forget my own name.” She shook her head. “Being with you was…”

  “Pretty damn amazing.”

  “Yes.” She sighed with remembered pleasure, her eyes glazing over a little. “You made me feel pretty. Sexy. Wanted. And it’d been a long time since I’d felt that way with a guy.”

  It was the same for him, he realized. He’d nearly forgotten what it was like to have his heart skip a beat when a woman, the right woman, smiled at him. Or how his stomach could tighten at just the sight of her. And how the way she looked at him never failed to send lust and hunger and need surging and colliding through him. “You make me feel things, too, Zoe. More than I’d counted on.”

  She laughed and backed away, turning from him. “Let me guess—annoyed and frustrated, right?”

  His eyes were on her sweet ass as she bent to shut the laptop. “Actually, my feelings are more base than that.”

  When she straightened, her cheeks went even redder, but her eyes never left his. “Something else we have in common.”

  “Is that right?”

  She nodded. “I know that I made you promise not to discuss what happened here, but I want you to understand that I’m not ashamed of what we did. Not with our design, or…or in there.” She pointed to the bedroom. “I just—” She broke off, looking as if she could use some help out of the hole she’d just jumped into.

  Jason stepped closer to her and brought her mouth back to his. “We don’t have to do this, Zoe. We don’t have to put words to what happened here.”

  She looked at him for a moment. “Like a Christmas pass, or something?”

  “It can be anything you want,” he said. “So what do you want?”

  CHAPTER TEN

  ZOE STARED AT JASON. This could be anything she wanted? “That’s a lot of power.”

  “Do your worst,” he said, and backed her to the door, his hands on either side of her face as he leaned in, pressing her between the hard wood and his even harder body.

  It was arousing as hell. So was how his mouth was exploring the sweet spot beneath her ear, making her not care that he didn’t have the answers.

  “I don’t know what we’re doing,” she whispered. “Or where it could go.” God, his mouth. She shifted, giving him better access.

  “Me neither,” he said. “But I do know that it’s been a damn long time since I wanted to spend the holidays with anyone. I’m glad you’re here, Zoe.”

  Her bones dissolved as her fingers slid into his hair, rocking into him. “I can feel that.”

  He smiled. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. How’s your neck?”

  “Let’s find out.” Grabbing her hand, he tugged her into the bedroom. He reached for her sweater, but she was already unzipping it and peeling it away from her body.

  He let out a breath and ran a finger over the lace edging of her bra. “Pretty.” Then he flicked open the front hook and tossed it aside as her breasts spilled free. “I dreamed about you last night.” He cupped her breasts, his thumbs gliding over her nipples.

  Her eyes drifted shut as desire rolled over her. She kicked off her boots and pushed down her leggings, backing up to the bed. “What did you dream about?”

  “How you taste.” He nudged her flat on her back so that her legs were still hanging off the bed, and dropped to his knees. When he winced, some of the erotic haze cleared and she came up on her elbows, concerned.

  “I’m fine.” Then he proved it by hooking his long fingers into her panties, drawing them down her legs.

  This left her in quite the vulnerable position, but before she could give that too much thought, he pressed his mouth to first one inner thig
h, then the other, and then…God, and then…in between.

  “This,” he murmured against her wet flesh. “I dreamed about doing this.”

  She was so primed and ready, she came in minutes under his tongue and fingers, shuddering as he held her down and made her come yet again. When he dropped at her side on the bed, she crawled up his still fully clothed body, straddling him. “This is new,” she said, still breathless. “Usually it’s you who’s naked.”

  “I couldn’t take off my shirt,” he said, voice rough and tight. Beneath her, she could feel him vibrating with tension. Sexual tension, not pain.

  “I’ve got it,” she said, and pushed his shirt off his shoulders, kissing everything she exposed: his collarbone, a pec. When she ran her tongue over his nipple, he hissed in a breath. “You’re okay, right?” she asked.

  Instead of answering, he reached down and unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, then thrust up into her. The moan escaped before she could stop herself.

  “Come here,” he said—demanded—and then without waiting for her, he tugged so that she fell over him, her hair falling around them like a curtain.

  “Careful,” she gasped as his lips nestled along her throat, her jaw, his hands going to her ass to rock into her, burying himself so deep inside her she could nearly taste him. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You’re killing me,” he murmured, tightening his grip. “Don’t stop now.”

  Her eyes fell closed as his warm, strong hands slid up her back into her hair, holding her for a deliciously slow, deep kiss.

  “I can feel you tighten on me,” he said, his voice low and serrated.

  She opened her eyes to find his face only inches below her. Deep, dark hungry orbs stared back at her, and if she hadn’t known it was impossible, she’d have sworn that there was real emotion in them, not just lust.

  Need. Hunger. Even affection. And maybe even more. But she wouldn’t be fooled by that—this was sex, nothing more than sex. She closed her eyes again.

  “Zoe.” His voice was rough. “Zoe, look at me.”

  Not wanting to because she wouldn’t be able to hold back, she shook her head. “Please.”

  She’d already proven that she couldn’t resist a “please” from him. So she opened her eyes. He smiled, and taking her hands in his, locked their fingers together.

  Slowly he pulled them up over his head so that she was stretched taut over his entire length, their mouths a breath apart. Even though he was beneath her and she had all the power, she felt pinned by him. Pinned by his hands, his body, his gaze, and the feeling was like falling into a chasm. Her breath lodged in her throat because the expression on his face and in his eyes had none of the cool detachment she’d come to expect from him. There was nothing guarded, shielded or protected about him. He was showing her everything.

  All of him.

  It terrified her because she knew he’d want the same from her. Proving it, he let his lips graze her forehead, her eyes, her cheeks, her nose, her jaw. He dipped his tongue into the hollow at the base of her throat and smiled at the shiver that racked her frame. He was playing havoc with her senses, with her heart. “Jason—”

  “Give me all you have, Zoe. Give me all of you.”

  Done, she thought as they began to move, as she arched into his touch, and she did give him everything she had.

  “God, Zoe,” he murmured, voice rough and shaky. “You feel so good. Don’t stop.”

  She didn’t. She kept the pace, and in spite of his neck and shoulder, he kept up with her, the muscles in his arms chording with the effort. He was filling her up, her body and her senses, and the wave crashed over her. Lost in it, drowning in the wondrous sensuousness of it, of him, she fell forward. He caught her, pulling her in even as he was still shuddering with his own release.

  * * *

  JASON SAT UP VERY CAREFULLY. Zoe was curled at his side, fast asleep. In her sleep she reached out for him. He ran a finger over her shoulder, across her collarbone, and then, because she was soft and warm and his, he cupped her breast. Her nipple hardened for him and stirred his blood.

  He’d just had her and it still wasn’t enough.

  He was afraid it never would be. He wanted to unwrap her like an exquisitely wrapped gift, one layer at a time, until he had every single inch of her.

  For keeps.

  He knew that if this weekend hadn’t happened, he’d have missed out on this, on her, the best thing to happen to him in…ever. And as surely as he knew that, he also knew that he had to make certain she got the Weller project. She damn well deserved it. She needed it.

  And he needed her. Even though he’d be giving up the promotion, no amount of money was equal to what Zoe was worth to him. He could sell his parents’ house. He’d force Mike to kick up his own game and help with the debts. Whatever he had to do, because he wanted Zoe in his life.

  “You okay?” she murmured, and opened her eyes, her mouth curving at the sight of him.

  “I don’t know.”

  Her smile faded and she sat up, reaching to him. “Your neck or shoulder—”

  He caught her hands. “I want to partner with you.”

  “I believe we just did that.”

  “I meant us,” he said. “I want to see where this goes.”

  “We know where we go. Straight to bed.” She flashed an unsure smile. “Twice now.”

  He laughed softly. “Yeah, and that’s nice. But it’s more than that.”

  A light came in her eyes that he read as hope. It gave him a surge of that very same emotion. “I feel things for you, Zoe. I know I promised that we wouldn’t tell anyone, and we don’t have to. I don’t give a shit about the office or what anyone thinks, but this is real, this thing between us. I want it to be real.”

  She was quiet so long he was certain he’d blown it. When she got up to her knees he thought she was going to leave the bed, and he was sure he’d blown it. But she didn’t go anywhere. She crawled into his lap and pressed her lips to his jaw, then one corner of his mouth, and then the other.

  “I have to be honest with you, Jason.”

  Oh, Christ. His hands tightened on her hips, his mind already formulating a plan on how to talk her out of walking away from him.

  “I could really fall for you,” she said softly. “So I need you to be careful what you tell me.”

  His head came up and he met her eyes, which were shimmering brilliantly. Warmth and emotion, so much emotion, rushed his chest so that he couldn’t draw air back in. “I’ve been falling for you for a damn long time, Zoe. Being with you here made me feel…alive. You make me feel alive, Zoe. You always have.”

  “You never let on,” she whispered. “Not a single word.”

  “Well, you weren’t exactly an open book, either,” he reminded her with a smile. “I never knew how you felt about me. I’m still not sure.”

  “Should I tell you?” She let her hands slide down his chest, over his abs, and then lower, making him suck in a breath. “Or maybe I should show you…”

  He slid his fingers into her hair, stopping her from sliding down his body to show him with her mouth. Which he wanted. Bad. But first he needed to say it. “We’re going to do this,” he said. “We’re going to make this work.”

  “Do you want a contract?”

  Hell, yes. He wanted her to promise not to go to L.A., but he wasn’t that big a bastard to ask that of her. He’d take whatever she could give him. He ran his thumb over her lower lip. “A verbal agreement,” he said. “Sealed with a kiss.”

  She wrapped her arms around him. “We’re going to give this a shot,” she said. “You and me. Together. In the office, and out of the office. In bed, and out of it. Wherever you’ll have me, I’ll be there.”

  “Everywhere,” he said fiercely. “I want you everywhere.”

  “Done. Now shut up and kiss me, Jason.”

  He did, and her answering kiss, given with her entire heart and soul, was the ultimate Christmas gift and everything he
ever wanted. He had no idea how he’d gotten so damn lucky, but he knew one thing for sure. He wasn’t going to let it get away from him.

  EPILOGUE

  TWO WEEKS LATER the entire office was seated around the huge conference table. Steele was standing at the head. “The Weller project has been awarded,” he said.

  Everyone straightened and waited.

  Zoe glanced across the table and met Jason’s eyes. After their stay at the Tahoe cabin, Zoe had finally gotten up to visit her family for a few days. The following Friday night, when they’d both been back in the city, Jason had taken her out. They’d ended up at his place and she hadn’t gone home until Sunday night.

  The week had been busy—too busy to get together—but the following weekend they’d changed things up and spent it at her place.

  Now it was Monday and she was still glowing from the two orgasms she’d had that morning, courtesy of the sexiest man she’d ever been with.

  A week ago Jason had submitted their design, and she knew they’d given it their best shot. Steele hadn’t said one word about the two of them collaborating, or what it would mean for the promotion. She’d taken another call from the L.A. firm, but she’d put them off, suddenly not in a huge hurry to go anywhere.

  “The design picked was one of ours,” Steele said.

  All eyes swiveled first to Jason, and then to Zoe. Zoe was good under pressure. She smiled evenly, even as her heart kicked hard. No one knew about them. Yet.

  They’d agreed they wanted to keep their relationship to themselves until they knew exactly what they were doing. But she now knew what she was doing—she was falling in love. In fact, she’d fallen, hard.

  Jason’s mouth was serious, his eyes lit with the same emotion that had been making her life heaven on earth for two weeks now.

  “The winning design was done by…” Steele paused for dramatic effect. Then he smiled. “Zoe Anders. The Weller people called it—and I quote—‘groundbreaking, amazing, perfect.’ So let me also announce our newest principal architect, Zoe Anders.”