Hot Winter Nights

by Jill Shalvis

  “I wasn’t. I broke five laws getting here.”

  She snorted and his hold tightened on her. “You have a power over me,” he said. “Use it wisely.”

  “I intend to.” She laid her head on his chest. “Are you going to give me what you came here for?”

  Eyes dark, he raised an eyebrow and she tried not to blush as she stared back at him. Nothing in the world was sexier than his eyes when they got like that. Except for maybe his abs when he sat up first thing in the morning. Or his shoulders when he reached above his head to stretch. Or his—

  They made it as far as the couch. She felt frantic, dragging him down on top of her, reaching for his zipper. “Condom?” she panted.

  Swearing, he dug it out of a pocket and ripped it open. He jammed himself into it and reached for her.

  It was the best, more erotic lunch break of her entire life.

  It was nearly quitting time when her phone vibrated across her desk. A text from Louise saying her elf services weren’t needed tonight. She was still looking at it wondering what that meant when a FaceTime call came in from Mrs. Berkowitz.

  Molly swiped to answer and then stared at a pair of crinkled lips painted in matte red.

  “Molly?” the lips asked. “Molly, is that you, dear?”

  “Yes, it’s me. You don’t have to hold the phone quite so close to your face,” she said. “In fact, I can see you better if you don’t.”

  The screen pulled back a little tiny bit, enough that Mrs. Berkowitz’s entire face filled the screen now, not just her lips. She smiled. “There you are, dear. Listen, there’s something rotten in Denmark.” She paused. “Do young people read anymore? That’s a Shakespeare reference, you see, and—”

  “I get it,” Molly said. “I’ve read Hamlet. You mentioned something was going down last night. I was there, and I agree, the renovation seems off—”

  “Santa just put out the word that since it’s a weeknight and it’ll be slow traffic at the crafts booths, he’s sending us elves to Reno, on him. There’s some sort of Santa convention up there and he’s rented a luxury bus to take us.”

  “I thought Santa was a cheap bastard.”

  Mrs. Berkowitz smiled. “I knew you were a smart cookie. He’s way too cheap to spend this much money on us. And plus”—she lowered her voice—“I overheard him on the phone telling someone that he was taking care of things tonight and not to worry. That’s bad, right?”

  Well, it didn’t sound like anything good.

  “Do you think he’s going to have the bus run off the narrow curvy summit on the way to Reno?” Mrs. Berkowitz asked. “So he can be rid of us pests once and for all?”

  She actually didn’t. That would be a lot of counts of murder. But just in case, she asked, “When are you all due to leave?”

  “In an hour.”

  “I’m on my way,” Molly said. “Don’t let that bus leave before I get there. Stall, distract him, whatever you have to do.”

  “Wear your elf costume, dear. He still thinks you’re just a green-capped elf. He hasn’t yet placed you as an investigator.”

  Molly blinked, a bad feeling going through her. “No one should be able to place me,” she said. “I didn’t tell anyone from the village that I was there for anything other than work.”

  “That was very smart of you.”

  Molly sighed. “Did you?”

  “Did I what?”

  “Tell anyone I was there for something other than work?” she said, trying to be patient.

  “Oh. Well, you know how people talk . . .”

  Molly rubbed her temples where she was getting a stress headache. “People like you and Mrs. White?”

  The picture on the screen suddenly went sideways and then upside down.

  “Sorry!” Mrs. Berkowitz yelled. “Dropped you!” The screen straightened out and Mrs. Berkowitz blinked owlishly at Molly. “There you are again. And your hottie boyfriend’s there too.”

  “What? I don’t have a—” Molly turned and found Lucas leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed over his chest. His biceps and chest strained the material of his black T-shirt. His cargo pants fit him like they’d been made for him and it didn’t escape her attention that he was loaded for bear.

  And not looking very pleased.

  She turned her attention back to her phone. Mrs. Berkowitz had shifted, holding the phone farther away, which allowed Molly to see more of the elf’s surroundings for the first time. They were near the offices in Santa’s Village. The office trailer was maybe twenty feet back, but the setting sun was just at the right angle to allow Molly a clear view inside the office window.

  A woman stood inside, smiling as someone came up behind her. He bent close and kissed her on the neck.

  Santa.

  Molly tried to focus in on the woman. It wasn’t Louise. It was . . . Janet, who closed her eyes in what appeared to be bliss before turning to face Santa, who pushed her up against the desk and kissed her. Arms locked around each other, they sank out of view, presumably to the floor to finish what they’d started.

  Santa and Janet? But the elf was supposedly on Mrs. Berkowitz and Mrs. White’s team, trying to catch Santa at being a criminal. “Janet?” she murmured, shocked.

  “Janet’s not here,” Mrs. Berkowitz said. “She left me a text that she’s not going with us to Reno. She got a better offer, whatever that means. At our age, we don’t get better offers than a free to trip to Reno.”

  Molly didn’t want to have this conversation until she was on the premises to protect her neighbor. “Just don’t get on that bus,” she said. “Stall if you can. I’ll be there as soon as I can get across town.” She disconnected.

  Lucas held out her jacket for her to slip her arms into. His was already on and he had his keys in his hand. “What’s going to be your reason for going in?” he asked.

  “I’ll say I didn’t get the text canceling me for tonight. Did you see inside the office window?” she asked. “Janet and Santa are doing it.”

  “Doing what?”

  “It.”

  He grimaced.

  “If those two are involved—”

  “I know,” he said grimly. And that was the thing about Lucas. He could be absolutely wild in bed and often was, but give him a mission and he turned into a super sexy bundle of focused intensity. “She’s hiding something,” he said.

  “Yeah, like maybe she was never on Mrs. Berkowitz’s side at all.”

  “Or she’s a plant to report back to Nick,” Lucas said. “She could be totally out of his loop, just a pawn.”

  “You really think so?”

  “I think I want that memory stick,” he said. “And a little chat with Janet.”

  She nodded. “That’s my plan.”

  “You mean our plan,” he said. “Partners, remember?”

  It was getting hard to forget . . .

  Lucas drove to the Christmas Village, doing his best to watch the road and not his partner as she once again managed a full costume change in his passenger seat. Only two wheels went off the road when she gave him an inadvertent peekaboo hint at a midnight blue silky thong. He was proud of himself for that.

  “Whoa,” she said, sliding up against the door.

  He grimaced and righted them, being more careful even though he got enough of a view of her breasts to know her bra was a matched set to the thong, one of those low-cut numbers that nearly revealed her nipples.

  “You know it’s laundry day when I’ve reached the thong portion of my undie drawer,” Molly muttered, making adjustments. And then she leaned forward to shuck her socks and it happened—

  Nipple-gate. Partial left nipple and full right nipple, both puckered tight, begging for his attention.

  She was most definitely trying to kill him.

  He must’ve made some inadvertent sound because she glanced over at him, followed his line of sight to her chest and rolled her eyes. “Keep your seats, ladies,” she murmured and tucked herself back into the bra. �
��Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I’ve already seen it all.” Seen, tasted, licked, nibbled . . .

  She slid around in her seat as if antsy. “That’s . . . different.”

  He glanced over curiously. “How?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, still squirming. “It just is.”

  “You’re thinking about it.” He smiled. “And getting turned on.”

  She looked down again, taking in the fact that her nipples were hard, pressing against the fabric of the dress. “Maybe I’m just cold,” she said.

  “Are you?”

  “No.”

  He laughed softly and she blew out a breath. “It’s all your fault, you know,” she said. “You’ve turned me into some kind of a sex fiend.”

  He opened his mouth to say something entirely inappropriate when her phone buzzed an incoming call.

  “It’s Mrs. Berkowitz,” she said and answered on speaker. “Are you okay?”

  “Why does Santa go down the chimney?”

  Molly blinked. “What?”

  “It’s a joke, dear. Why does Santa go down the chimney?”

  “Uh . . .” Molly looked at Lucas and then shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “Because Mrs. Claus said he could never go in the back door!” Mrs. Berkowitz yelled cheerfully.

  Lucas choked out a laugh.

  “Have you been drinking?” Molly asked Mrs. Berkowitz.

  “Yes! There’s spiked wine.”

  Molly looked pained. “Wine is already spiked.”

  “Well this is the good stuff,” Mrs. Berkowitz said. “We were going to dance, but some of the elves are worried about their hip and knee replacements going out, so we’re just drinking.”

  “Switch to water,” Molly ordered. “We’re nearly there. And don’t get on that bus!”

  “I won’t,” she said happily. “Because I’m already on it!”

  “Is it moving?” Molly asked.

  “I’ll take another!” Mrs. Berkowitz yelled to someone. “Make it a double!”

  “Mrs. Berkowitz,” Molly said. “Talk to me. Is Janet on the bus with you?”

  “Told you, she blew us off. Gotta go, dear. The male elves are going to put on a striptease for us.” Then she disconnected.

  Molly stared at her phone, looking worried. “If something happens to her—”

  “We’ll make sure it doesn’t,” Lucas said grimly. “Hang tight.” He accelerated, and five minutes later he pulled them into the lot.

  Molly was sitting forward, trying to peer through the dark, foggy night. “I don’t see a bus.”

  Neither did Lucas. He parked and they got out and found the entire village seemingly deserted. Lights off. Dark. Quiet.

  Not good.

  Molly turned in a slow circle. “I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.” She stopped short. “Whoa, wha—”

  “Shh.” Having already seen what she just saw, Lucas backed her up to the shadows.

  The north end of the lot was completely filled with cars, all parked against the very back two rows in the darkest area.

  Lucas turned to Molly. “What are the chances you’re going to go back to the car and lock yourself in and let me handle this?”

  “Zero,” she said. “But since I’m not interested in getting either of us hurt, I promise that if it gets dangerous on top of fishy-as-hell, I’ll do whatever you say.”

  He slid her a look. “For the entire night?”

  “You know what I mean!”

  Yeah, he did, but it was fun to watch her mind join his in the gutter. He took her hand and pulled her in closer to his side. “Stay close.”

  They kept to the shadows, which wasn’t hard since the whole place was dark.

  “It’s creepy,” she whispered.

  She was definitely right about that. There was something horror-movie-waiting-to-happen about the village being shut down like this. No one was taking tickets and the gate was locked.

  And the lot oddly full.

  Lucas eyed Molly’s short little dress. “I can climb that gate, do what has to be done, and be back in here five minutes.”

  “I don’t hear the ‘we’ in that statement,” she said.

  Shit. He gave her a leg up and boosted her over the fence, absolutely taking a good long look at the midnight satin thong wedged up her world-class ass.

  “Did you just peek up my costume?” she whispered, climbing down the other side of the fence so slowly that he vaulted it and landed before she did.

  “Yes.” He put his hands on her waist and lifted her down. “You can yell at me later. I really like those panties. I’m going to take them off with my teeth later.”

  She wobbled and he righted her. With a smile, he took her hand and headed toward the offices, suddenly distracted by a rhythmic sound of applause that didn’t fit in with the deserted grounds.

  “What the—” she murmured and in unison they switched directions and headed toward the bingo hall. The shades on the windows were drawn, and from the outside looking in, it appeared to be as dark as the rest of the place.

  Except for one of the five windows on the west wall where they stood showed the slightest sliver of light at the bottom where the shades weren’t quite lined up with the windowsill.

  The applause had stopped, but a minute later it came again.

  “Why are they doing bingo on the sly?” she asked.

  Lucas shook his head and then stilled as he heard someone coming, footsteps light. Unafraid.

  Two seconds later, an elf came down the path. She was at least seventy, and both smoking and coughing at the same time.

  “Shirley,” Molly said. “Hey. You’re working tonight?”

  Shirley stopped and blinked. “Yes. Why aren’t you on the bus with the others on your way to Reno?”

  “I’m working tonight too,” Molly said easily.

  “Oh,” Shirley said. “I didn’t realize. Only the . . . special elves are working tonight.”

  “That’s me,” Molly said brightly, not missing a beat. “A special elf. So the bus . . . with the other elves . . . it’s Reno bound?”

  “Yes,” Shirley said. “It’s their bonus for jobs well done.”

  Molly nodded. “Is Janet around by any chance? I needed to chat with her.”

  “She’s around,” Shirley said. “With Santa, last I saw. They’re very busy tonight, as you can imagine. I’d steer clear.”

  “Sure,” Molly said. “Steering clear. So where do you want us?”

  Lucas wasn’t surprised at how well she was handling herself, but he was hugely impressed and wished Archer and Joe could see her in action. They’d stop trying to clip her wings.

  “Well, you’re both quite late,” Shirley said, looking at Lucas. “And you’re not in costume.”

  “Yeah, sorry,” Molly said smoothly. “We had a fight.”

  “Honey, you don’t fight with a man who looks like that.”

  Molly slid Lucas a glance and he went brows up. She narrowed her eyes slightly. “We were fighting over money. I think I should be able to get a wax job whenever I want. He’s being tight with the credit card.”

  “A girl’s gotta have her wax jobs,” Shirley told Lucas. “I assume you’re the muscle the big boss has been bitching about not being at the back door. But you gotta wear the costume. He’ll freak if you don’t.”

  “He shrunk it,” Molly said, giving Lucas a sideways glance that might’ve been humor. She was enjoying this. Which meant she was every bit as nuts as him. “Don’t get me started with how he does the laundry,” she told Shirley. “Do you have a spare? In the offices, right?” She met Lucas’s gaze for a moment.

  Shirley nodded and jerked a chin for Lucas to follow her. Hating every second of this, he turned and gave Molly a don’t-you-dare-get-dead look.

  She winked at him.

  Damn. He loved her. Hard.

  Shirley led him to the offices, which were empty, and went hands on hips. “Wonder where Louise keeps the men�
�s costumes?”

  Lucas’s gaze locked in on the floor beneath Louise’s desk, and the very corner was the flash drive still thankfully resting there. “Uh, maybe in that closet?” he asked pointing toward what he hoped was a storage closet.

  Shirley shrugged and headed that way.

  Lucas bent down and scooped up the flash drive, shoving it into his pocket just as Shirley turned and looked at him.

  Lucas affected a bored look and glanced at his watch.

  Shirley tossed him two costumes. One looked to be a child size, the other possibly a man’s medium. Great.

  “Better hurry,” Shirley said. “You’re late. Boss hates that.” And then she turned her back on him.

  He stared at her. “What are you doing?”

  “Waiting for you to change. Duh . . .”

  He held up the costume but no miracles had occurred in the past thirty seconds. Shit. The male elf costume was the same color and material as the female version, but at least it was shorts instead of a minidress. Short shorts. The top was loose enough and hung just slightly past the waistband of the most ridiculous, asinine shorts he’d ever seen.

  They fit him like he was auditioning to be a 1980s wrestling celebrity, and he was not happy as he stuffed his gun in the back of them, which only made the shorts even tighter in the front. But there was no way he was walking about this Stephen King book come to life place without his gun. He was still trying to arrange his junk in the front of the shorts when Shirley turned back around, looking disappointed that he was covered up. “Hmm,” she said with an approving nod. “It works on you.”

  If by working on him she meant clinging to his every inch like Saran Wrap, then she was correct. It worked.

  “Let’s go before the boss has a coronary,” she said.

  “Where is he?”

  She gave him a funny look. “With his brother in the bingo hall, along with everyone else. Someone’s got to watch over the elves. He likes to personally check on everyone.” She left in front of him.

  But something about the way she said personally had his instincts screaming, but he nodded noncommittally and followed her out, walking like he’d been riding a horse for twelve hours, thanks to the ridiculously too-tight shorts bunching up his goods.

  He had no idea if Nick or his brother Tommy Thumbs suspected Molly of anything, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He reached down and searched his pants pockets for his phone to warn her to get the hell out of there, that he had the memory stick, but he had no phone. He’d left it in the car. He looked around. There was a phone and laptop on one of the desks. He didn’t know whose it was and didn’t care. He was just glad that whoever had left it behind didn’t have a security code and he was able to actually use it to call Molly.