12 Stocking Stuffers

by Beverly Barton

  “Well?” Jordan persisted, following Austin into the adjoining living room where he put the Douglas fir on the corner of the brick hearth. “Where have you been?”

  “You haven’t even been home a week and already you’re starting to sound like a wife, big brother.” Setting the package on the settee that had once belonged to his great-grandmother, Austin cast an amused glance Jordan’s way. “A wife is the last thing I need in my hectic life.”

  Jordan shoved his fingers through his thick, dark brown hair and grimaced. “Sorry,” he said, releasing a deep, frustrated sigh. “It’s been a long, boring day. And you did say you’d be home at four, and it’s after five.”

  Austin’s gaze touched on the fifty-year-old grandfather clock in the corner of the room and noted the time. “Hmm, so it is.”

  Despite his brother’s annoying habit of keeping tabs on him, Austin experienced a bit of sympathy for Jordan. After giving an L.A. architectural firm eight years of loyalty, and being promised a partnership in the firm, he’d been bypassed when they’d promoted a relative instead. Jordan had been used and lied to, and if there was anything he abhorred, it was dishonesty. Two weeks ago he’d quit the firm, packed up his belongings and moved back to San Francisco to reevaluate his life.

  In Austin’s estimation, Jordan had too much idle time on his hands. And until his brother decided which direction he wanted to take with his career, Austin pretty much resigned himself, and his life, to his brother’s scrutiny.

  Jordan was still waiting for an answer. Austin liked making him suffer—goading his brother had always been a favorite pastime, one he’d missed over the past eight years. Shrugging out of his sports jacket, he draped it over the back of the settee. Then he went to work loosening his restricting tie.

  “I’m late because I had an afternoon appointment with a client that ran longer than I’d expected,” he told Jordan as he pulled the tie from around his neck and added it to the jacket. “But I got myself a signed contract for a landscaping project I bid on a few weeks ago for a new restaurant. The job came in at a little less than fifty grand.”

  “That’s great.” Jordan’s hazel eyes brightened with pride and genuine excitement for Austin’s success. “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks.” Austin was still feeling the elation of having outbid the other landscaping companies. This one project, coupled with half a dozen other smaller projects he’d been awarded recently, would keep a steady paycheck coming in. “And after that, I picked up the Christmas present I was supposed to get last night.”

  Jordan flicked his finger at the big, fat red bow topping the package wrapped in bright holly paper. “Ah, and who might this be for?”

  Austin watched Jordan pick up the box, and knew from experience what was coming next. “It’s for you, and don’t shake it—”

  The order came too late. For all Jordan’s seriousness, he had an insatiable curiosity, which included trying to guess what his gifts were. The contents of the box rattled as he gave it a brisk jostling, and his eyes lit up like a little kid’s.

  Austin’s stomach pitched as he imagined the delicate, expensive pieces belonging to the specially ordered model of the Bay Bridge breaking into minuscule segments. “Dammit, Jordan,” he growled as he grabbed the box and rescued the collector’s edition from Jordan’s abuse. “I’m serious. It’s very fragile.”

  A grin quirked Jordan’s mouth. “What did you do, get me a set of wineglasses?”

  “Very funny.” Austin put the gift next to the potted fir.

  Jordan came up beside him and cast a hand at the withering tree. “And please don’t tell me you’re going to try and pass this off as a Christmas tree. It’s pathetic, Austin.”

  “That’s why I chose it.” Austin smiled and shrugged. “It needed a home, and we couldn’t celebrate our first Christmas together in years without a tree.”

  “So you picked the scrawniest one you could find?”

  “I didn’t think we’d need anything big and elaborate, considering it’s just the two of us.”

  Jordan shook his head at the sad state of the tree. “I hope it holds up for the next week.”

  “A drink of water, a string of garland, and it’ll be fine.” Austin turned toward Jordan and cuffed him on the shoulder. “And for what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re home for the holidays.”

  Jordan returned the sentiment with a smile. “Yeah, me, too.”

  “So, any important calls today?” Austin asked as they headed into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, he snagged a can of root beer for himself and popped the top.

  “That depends on how you define ‘important.”’ Jordan’s tone turned rueful. “I overheard a message on your Fantasy for Hire line that was certainly interesting.”

  Austin was used to customers leaving odd messages and requests on that line. When you were in the business of fulfilling fantasies, you got some doozies. Though Jordan was aware of the basic operation of the business, his mind was still boggled by the appeal of Fantasy for Hire, and the outrageous requests he’d been privy to the past week.

  Jordan smirked. “You must have made quite an impression last night at your cowboy gig.”

  The can of soda stopped midway to Austin’s lips, and he lifted an eyebrow at his brother. “What makes you say that?”

  Jordan’s grin broadened. “The very personal message someone left on the Fantasy for Hire line for you.”

  Interest piqued, Austin set his soda on the counter and headed into an adjoining room that had once been a dining room. Now, it was a no-frills, makeshift office for Fantasy for Hire, consisting of an old, scarred mahogany desk and a battered metal file cabinet. The surface of the desk was cluttered with order forms, and a large appointment book opened to the month of December. Judging by all the fantasies filling it, it certainly was the month for giving.

  The phone, with an answering machine and fax attached, sat on one corner of the desk. A digital display indicated he had eight messages waiting for him. He sighed. So much for relaxing after a long day at McBride Landscaping—it looked as if he’d be spending the next hour or so returning calls and scheduling his guys.

  He rewound the tape, wondering who’d left the message Jordan seemed so amused with. The only thing he could think of was that the women who’d hired him for Teddy’s cowboy fantasy had been disappointed with his act. According to the description he’d given them when they’d placed the order, they’d been expecting a blond-haired, blue-eyed cowboy. If they’d been dissatisfied with him or his performance, he’d refund their money.

  “Oh, by the way,” Jordan added as he stepped into the office behind Austin. “You’ve got a seven o’clock appointment tonight.”

  Austin jerked his gaze to Jordan, certain his brother was joking. Seeing that he wore his serious, older-brother expression, Austin’s hopes for a peaceful evening dwindled even more. “I told you last night I wouldn’t be performing anymore, not unless I absolutely have to.”

  “You performed last night,” Jordan pointed out.

  “That was due to circumstances beyond my control. I had no choice.”

  “You don’t have much choice for tonight, either.” Jordan displayed no sympathy for Austin’s plight. “You were specifically requested.”

  Frustration coiled through Austin, and he dragged a hand along his jaw. “I thought you said you didn’t want to have anything to do with the business, including taking calls during the day.”

  “I don’t, and I didn’t.” A humorous sparkle entered Jordan’s eyes as he pushed his hands into the front pockets of his pleated trousers. “I heard the message while the caller was leaving it. Seems that filly you played cowboy for last night took a hankering to you. She requested a repeat performance for tonight.”

  “Teddy?” The name, which had invaded his thoughts all day, slipped from Austin’s lips almost involuntarily.

  “Teddy…” Jordan repeated the word as if testing it, then nodded. “Yeah, I believe that’s what she said
her name was.”

  Easing himself into the chair behind the desk, Austin frowned. Despite the chemistry that had charged between them, Teddy didn’t seem the type to brazenly pursue a man, especially when a ring on her finger indicated she was committed to another. Then again, he could have pegged her all wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been led astray.

  Punching the play button on the recorder, he listened to four requests for fantasies before her voice finally drifted out the phone’s speaker.

  “Hi, Austin,” she said, then hesitated a few moments before continuing. “I’m calling about the Christmas party this Saturday. Have you decided to go? Since you’re not home, I guess we’ll talk about it tonight. We’re still on for drinks, right? I’ll see you at seven at the Frisco Bay.”

  Though her voice was strong, he grasped another thinly veiled emotion in her tone. Desperation.

  She continued in a sexy, husky voice, “And later on tonight I’ll wear that adorable Stetson you gave me for my birthday, as long as you promise to wear your chaps.”

  The recorder beeped at the end of her message, and Austin hit the stop button before the next caller could speak. He sat there, feeling both confused and fascinated by what he’d heard.

  Jordan chuckled. “If that isn’t a line to inspire fantasies, I don’t know what is.”

  Austin silently agreed with his brother’s comment, considering the provocative images that had leaped into his mind, of Teddy wearing nothing more than the Stetson he’d given her, and a head-to-toe flush tinging her skin. Oh, yeah, he was certainly inspired. And intrigued. More than he’d been in years.

  But beyond the sexy innuendo of Teddy’s final remark, there was more to her words than a flirtatious come-on. Though she’d spoken in an enticing tone of voice, he didn’t get the impression that she was asking for a personal fantasy. On the contrary, he got the feeling that her entire message was a setup of some sort, and that last line had been her way of prompting him to remember who she was.

  As if he could forget.

  When he’d arrived home last night, he’d been keyed up from the performance and that rare, inexplicable connection he’d experienced with Teddy Spencer. And though he’d tried, he hadn’t been able to shake his mental image of her soft smile and those incredibly sensual brown eyes that had shown him glimpses of shyness, and the potential to be a little reckless. She was off limits, for so many reasons, but his mind had a hard time accepting that fact. Despite his best efforts to maintain his professionalism, she’d taken a hot shower with him, then continued to distract him while he’d attempted to concentrate on an estimate he was preparing for an upcoming landscaping bid. She’d so totally consumed his thoughts that he had no choice but to abandon the figures and call it a night. And that’s when he’d done the unthinkable—he’d taken her to bed with him and succumbed to the most erotic dreams he’d had since puberty.

  And damn if he didn’t wake up hard and aching, and wanting her.

  Suddenly, the familiar stirring started again, deep in Austin’s belly. He drew a deep breath, gradually released it and firmly focused on the present situation. He knew nothing about a Christmas party, or a date for drinks tonight. She’d left no phone number, no way of contacting her to find out what her strange message was all about.

  Remembering the silent plea he’d detected in her voice, he found he couldn’t bring himself to stand her up.

  “So, what’s this about a Christmas party this Saturday?” Jordan asked, his expression curious. “Do you think maybe she needs a guy to play Santa Claus?”

  Austin curbed the impulse to let out a hearty ho, ho, ho. As amusing as he found Jordan’s suggestion, gut instinct told him Teddy’s request had little to do with needing a Santa for hire.

  “I haven’t the slightest idea what she’s talking about,” he admitted, then allowed a slow, devilish smile to form. “But I do intend to find out.”

  3

  HE WAS LATE. Either that, or Austin McBride had no intention of meeting the woman who’d left such a brazen message on his answering machine. Despite how much Teddy was depending on Austin to help her out of her predicament, a part of her wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t show.

  Feeling anxious, Teddy glanced at her wristwatch for the fourth time in the past ten minutes and made the decision that she’d give Austin until 7:30 p.m. before she resigned her post in the Frisco Bay.

  While she waited, she sipped her sparkling water and looked over the patrons in the lounge, most of whom she knew as regular customers of the bar. Thanks to Brenda’s and Laura’s outgoing personalities, Teddy was now acquainted with many of the men on a first-name basis. She’d even politely turned down a date or two from a few of the single males present tonight. Luckily, the men who frequented the Frisco Bay were out looking for a good time, no strings attached, and didn’t seem to take rejections personally.

  As the minutes ticked by, Teddy found herself perusing the guys in the bar tonight, sizing each one up as a potential date for Saturday’s party should Austin not show. None sparked her interest. Certainly none compared to Austin McBride’s gorgeous looks and charisma. His confident appeal was precisely what she needed to convince Louden that he could never measure up.

  “Hey, Teddy,” a female acquaintance sitting at a nearby table called. “Isn’t that your cowboy?”

  Every female head in the establishment turned toward the entrance of the Frisco Bay to get a glimpse of last night’s attraction. Teddy included.

  Relief at seeing him mingled with a heady dose of awareness that prickled along the surface of her skin. “Yeah, that’s him.”

  There was no trace of the cowboy who’d come calling the previous evening, but then Austin didn’t need a western costume to accentuate that athletic body of his. A dark brown knit shirt showed off his broad shoulders and molded to a muscular chest and flat belly. The khaki pants he wore weren’t nearly as tight as the jeans he’d donned last night, but they looked just as good, in a more polished, urban sort of way.

  What the women in the place recognized, Teddy suspected, was Austin’s head-turning features, that tousled thick brown hair that made a woman want to run her fingers through the warm strands, and those striking green eyes that flirted and seduced with a simple sweep of those long, dark lashes.

  “Is he back for a repeat performance?” another woman asked hopefully.

  “Not a public one,” Teddy replied, startled by the spurt of jealousy she felt. She certainly had no claim to Austin McBride, but that thought didn’t diminish the fact that she didn’t want to share him with the dozen other women in the bar who were anxious to see him shed his clothes.

  Eyebrows rose curiously, and Teddy reached for her drink, refusing to elaborate on her comment, though it was true. Austin’s performance would be a private affair, one he’d be keeping his clothes on for.

  He found her sitting at the bar and headed in her direction, carrying himself with a relaxed self-assurance that was at once appealing and unwavering in confidence. Oh, yes, Teddy thought breathlessly. Austin was exactly what she needed to convince Louden that he was overstepping boundaries. Austin came across as the type who wouldn’t tolerate another man infringing on his territory.

  Her stomach fluttered as his gaze locked on hers, making her feel as though she was the only woman in the place—certainly the only woman he was interested in, despite the hungry looks and moist-lipped smiles being cast his way by the other women in the bar. The intensity with which he focused on her was a good indication that he could convince anyone that he was her devoted lover.

  By the time he reached her, Teddy knew she wouldn’t be able to find a better man for the job than Austin McBride. He was the one.

  “Hi,” she said, gracing him with a smile she hoped didn’t look too enthusiastic.

  She’d saved the padded stool next to her for him, and he slid into the vacant seat, his own smile adorably contrite. “I’m sorry I’m late. I had a scheduling conflict I had to resolve that
took longer than I’d anticipated.”

  “Lots of fantasies to fulfill, hmm?” she teased.

  For a moment he appeared harried, then covered up that fleeting glimpse with something resembling reluctant resignation. “More than I can handle.”

  Considering Austin epitomized a woman’s fantasy, she wasn’t at all surprised that his services were in demand. “Well, I’m just glad you showed up,” she said gratefully. “After that message I left on your answering machine, I was certain you’d think I was a nutcase.”

  “Not at all.” He braced his forearm on the bar, humor dancing in his eyes. “I was intrigued by your message, to say the least. So was my brother.”

  Her heart flipped at the thought of another McBride brother as gorgeous and charming as this one. Before she could ask Austin if his brother was in the business, too, Jack, the bartender, sidled up to their seats from across the mahogany surface of the bar, recognition glimmering in his eyes. Drying a beer glass, he grinned broadly at Austin.

  “So, what will it be, cowboy?” Jack asked in a feigned western drawl. “The regular?”

  “That would be great.” Austin tossed a five-dollar bill toward Jack with a comment to keep the change before Teddy could offer to pay for his drink. “Make it on the rocks this time.”

  “You got it, just so long as you keep your clothes on tonight.” Jack set a glass with ice in it on the pouring pad in front of him, then used a spigot to fill the glass with a dark, fizzing liquid. “It took me hours to settle the women down after you left last night. Since you’ve walked in, the crowd has gotten a little restless.”

  Austin’s gaze slid to Teddy, irresistibly warm and sexy. “My business here tonight is all pleasure.”

  She shivered at the deep, rich timbre of his voice, and that flirtatious smile that tempted and teased. He seemed totally unaware of the interest he was generating, unaware of all the eyes and ears tuned into them. Teddy, on the other hand, grew increasingly uncomfortable with everyone’s scrutiny. What she needed to ask Austin wasn’t something she wanted up for public speculation.