by Tawny Weber
This Christmas, it’s nice vs. naughty…
Lace stockings…
Hailey North has worked her butt off to make Merry Widow Lingerie a success. But if she doesn’t win the bid for Rudolph’s department store, she’s in big trouble. Her strategy? To prove that romance, playfulness and eroticism are what women want. The problem, however, is what Hailey wants…her wickedly hot, sexy competitor.
Or black leather?
Sex sells, and the Milano line is certainly all about sex. Besides, winning is the only way Gage Milano can extract himself from the family business. Unfortunately, Hailey’s romantic lingerie threatens not only his freedom, but his libido! But when their professional rivalry turns into a red-hot rendezvous, the competition really starts heating up. And Xmas is about to get a whole lot more X-rated!
“Being on top is better than being on the bottom…”
“Not always.” Hailey’s words were low and teasing. The look in her eyes was hot, sexy.
“Being on top has a few definite benefits,” Gage murmured, now having completely switched places so her back was against the wall and his toward the ballroom.
“Does it? Like what?” Her eyes were huge, so big they were lost in the curls tumbling out from the white fur brim of her hat.
Need, stronger than any he’d felt over a simple flirtation, surged through Gage. He angled his body so Hailey was trapped between him and the wall.
For a second, one delicious second, he just stared. The tempting display of luscious flesh, mounded above the tight satin binding her breasts.
The need intensified. Took on a sharp, hungry edge.
“Like this,” he said, giving in to its demand. He took her mouth, intending to be gentle.
But the kiss was carnal and raw and dancing on the edges of desperate. Tongues tangled. Lips slid, hot and wet.
And she tasted just as sweet as she looked.…
But the sounds she made were sexual nirvana.
Dear Reader,
I love the holidays, with all of the festivity they bring. But I have to admit, I’ve never actually attended a Christmas party that required costumes. Doesn’t that sound fun? Would you go like Hailey, as a cute holiday icon? Or like Gage, as a beloved story character? Me? I think I want to be the Sugarplum Fairy. Flitting from dreamer to dreamer, sprinkling happy thoughts and holiday wishes sounds pretty awesome.
I love Hailey, and was so happy to write her journey not only to love, but to finding that inner strength she always had but never seemed to trust herself to use. She was fun to spend time with, because she’s one of those girls who, even though she worries about being bad, she has no problem being naughty. Which was a great contrast to Gage, who is sure he’s bad, but discovers he’s a lot nicer inside than he’s comfortable with. Together, they figure out a way to balance their ambitions, their personalities and their future.
I hope you enjoy curling up with Naughty Christmas Nights. I also hope you have a fabulous holiday season, filled with happy wishes, sweet treats and nice surprises!
Happy reading,
Tawny Weber
USA TODAY Bestselling Author
TAWNY WEBER
Naughty Christmas Nights
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA TODAY bestselling author Tawny Weber has been writing sassy, sexy romances since her first Harlequin Blaze was published in 2007. A fan of Johnny Depp, cupcakes and color coordination, she spends a lot of her time shopping for cute shoes, scrapbooking and hanging out on Facebook.
Readers can check out Tawny’s books at her website, www.TawnyWeber.com. There, they can also join her Red Hot Readers Club for goodies like free reads, chapter excerpts, recipes, contests and much more.
Books by Tawny Weber
HARLEQUIN BLAZE
324—DOUBLE DARE
372—DOES SHE DARE?
418—RISQUÉ BUSINESS
462—COMING ON STRONG
468—GOING DOWN HARD
492—FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME
513—BLAZING BEDTIME STORIES, VOLUME III
“You Have to Kiss a Lot of Frogs...”
564—RIDING THE WAVES
579—IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE MISTLETOE...
“A Babe in Toyland”
592—BREAKING THE RULES
612—JUST FOR THE NIGHT
656—SEX, LIES AND MISTLETOE
660—SEX, LIES AND MIDNIGHT
688—BLAZING BEDTIME STORIES, VOLUME VII
“Wild Thing”
726—NICE & NAUGHTY
738—A SEAL’S SEDUCTION
739—A SEAL’S SURRENDER
750—MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
COSMO RED-HOT READS FROM HARLEQUIN
FEARLESS
To browse a current listing of all Tawny’s titles, please visit
www.Harlequin.com.
To my awesome brothers, Ron and Kevin!
I love you guys.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Excerpt
Prologue
HOLIDAYS SUCKED.
Gage Milano had no issue with the idea of a holiday. Celebrations were great. Kinda like parties, which he rocked. Or remembering and commemorating events, which showed respect. Gage was all for respect.
But holidays?
Holidays meant family.
Obligation.
That freaking heritage crap.
Gage looked up from his plate. Crystal glinted, china gleamed. Ornate flower arrangements in fall tones lined the center of the rosewood table big enough to seat two dozen people. Which was twenty-one more than were sitting here now.
Stupid.
There was a perfectly sized, comfortable table in the breakfast room. But no. Couldn’t eat Thanksgiving dinner in the breakfast room. Not because it wasn’t fancy enough. Nope. Gage figured it was because his father was still trying to drive home the fact that in the Milano dynasty, he still had the biggest...table.
Marcus Milano was all about who was biggest. Best. Holding the most control. Something he loved, probably more than his sons. He’d taught Gage and Devon to be fierce competitors. From playing T-ball to pitching deals, he’d set the bar high and dared both his sons to accept nothing but a win. Unfortunately, with two of them, that meant one of them was always losing. Something Marcus always found a way to capitalize on.
As if hearing Gage’s thoughts and ready to prove them right, Marcus looked up from his perfectly sliced turkey and portion-controlled serving of carbs to bellow down the table.
“Gage. New venture for you to take on.”
Ahh, dinnertime demands. The Milano version of conversation.
“No room.” Gage scooped up a forkful of chestnut dressing and shot his father a cool smile. “I’m in meetings with my own clients next week, then I’m on vacation.”
“Make room,” Marcus barked. “I want this account.”
Ahh, the joys of being under the cozy family umbrella. Gage might be thirty years old, have a rep as a marketing genius, be the VP of a Fort
une 500 company and own his own marketing start-up, which was quickly racking up enough success that he’d be forced to make some decisions soon.
But in his father’s mind he was still at the old man’s beck and call. There to do the guy’s bidding.
It wasn’t that Gage didn’t appreciate the opportunities Milano had afforded him. But dammit, the company’s success was as much because of him as anyone else. When he and Devon had come on board six years previous, it’d been sinking under the economic collapse. Between Devon’s restructuring and Gage’s marketing, they’d turned it around.
The old guy didn’t see it that way, though. To him, he was Milano and his sons simply adjuncts.
Gage glared down the table. Pointless, since his father was nearsighted and too far away to notice. Not that he’d care if he could. Marcus Milano had built his rep on not giving a damn. So Gage shifted his anger across the table at his brother.
Devon, his black hair and blue eyes the spitting image of their father, only grinned.
“You’re the king of the sales pitch, little brother. You know how we depend on you for these special projects.”
Devon was also the king of bullshit.
“I don’t have time,” Gage repeated, his words delivered through the teeth of his own smile. “I’ve been going full speed ahead for six quarters with no break. When I signed that multimillion-dollar deal last month for the electronics division, we all agreed I was off the books until the end of the year.”
Five weeks away from Milano. Time to chill, to relax. Hightail it to the Caribbean, where he could lie on the beach, chug the booze and check out the babes. And think.
Think about his future.
Think about leaving Milano.
Weigh the risks of going out on his own.
The old man had built a multipronged business with its fingers in various consumer pies. Milano made everything from tech to textiles. Devon was R & D, Research & Development. He came up with the ideas, put together whatever new product he thought would reel in more coin for the very full Milano coffers.
Gage was marketing. He could sell anything. Water to a drowning man. Silicone to a centerfold. Reality to the paranoid.
He knew people. What made them tick, what turned them on.
A trait that served him well, in business and in pleasure.
A trait that told him that getting away from this dinnertime trap was going to be one helluva feat.
“Off the books except in an emergency,” Marcus said around his mouthful of oyster stuffing. “This is an emergency.”
“An emergency is pictures of Devon doing a donkey being displayed on the cover of People magazine. An emergency is the accounting department being caught using our computer system to embezzle from a foreign government or your last wife showing up pregnant, claiming the baby is yours. Whatever new product you want to peddle isn’t a marketing emergency.”
“I say it is.”
Gage ground his teeth. Before he could snap, his brother caught his eye.
“Look, it’s an easy deal,” Devon said quietly, forking up a slice of turkey and swirling it through his buttery puddle of potatoes. “We’re launching that lingerie line. The merchandise is ready. We just need a platform. Marketing came up with a great idea.”
“Then why do you need me?”
“You know Rudolph department stores?”
“Dirty old man with the Midas touch and a handful of elite stores in California and New York?”
“That’s the one. His spring fashion launch is an exclusive deal guaranteed to put any line he includes on the map. He’s never missed. Whether it’s because he has a keen eye or because the fashion industry is a bunch of lemmings, waiting for him to call the next trend, I don’t know. But if we get that lingerie contract, Milano is gold in the fashion field.”
Gage shook his head. He was a marketing consultant. He specialized in consumer branding, digital management and online strategic development. Nothing in that description said anything about talking to eccentric billionaires about women’s underwear.
“Seriously, it’s not going to take up more than a few days of your time. Rudolph is announcing his choices next weekend, and the contract will be signed and delivered before Christmas. You go in, make the deal and leave.” Before Gage could point out that anyone could go in and pitch this, Devon dropped his voice even lower and added, “You can even add the time you lose on this to the New Year. You’ll still get your five weeks off.”
“This isn’t about the time off.” Even though that was a part of it. “It’s about respecting our agreement.”
“Look, I’ve had to set aside my projects to take on this new online store the old man wants to launch. It’s not going to kill you to hit the beach a few days—or even a week—later than you’d planned.”
So that was it. Lifting his pilsner glass, Gage gave his brother a dark look. Someday, one of them was going to be at the helm of Milano. The question was, which one? Marcus had made it clear that to run the company, his sons had to do three things: Be absolutely loyal. Prove they were more worthy than the other. And not piss him off.
Gage and Devon had realized a few years back that it was going to take building their own business success separate from Milano to prove their worth. The trick, of course, was doing that while not jeopardizing rules one and three. And more important, doing it faster and better than the other brother.
Or in Devon’s case, while sabotaging the other brother’s chances of doing it first.
“You’re playing dirty,” Gage said decidedly.
“I’m playing to win.”
“What’re you two muttering about down there?”
“We’re talking about our tradition of breaking the wishbone,” Gage shot back, not taking his eyes off Devon. “I’m thinking we should sweeten the pot. In addition to the 10K for the winner, I think the loser can take on this new project of yours.”
Devon’s grin slipped. He couldn’t talk his way around a wishbone bet. There were no cards to slip out of his cuffs. It was a straight-on deal with lady luck. And of the two of them, Gage always had better luck with the ladies.
“Fine. You win, I take the deal. But if I win, I get to pick your costume for the Christmas party this deal requires you to attend.”
Gage grimaced.
A Christmas costume party? What the hell kind of joke was this?
Appetite gone, he shoved his plate away.
Yeah. He hated the holidays.
1
HAILEY NORTH LOVED the holidays.
All the glitter and fun. Smiling faces glowing with joy, the secrets and excitement. And the gifts. Gifts and surprises always rocked. Especially hard-earned ones, presented at a fancy dress-up ball. Or, in this case, a ballroom packed with the rich and influential of the Northern California fashion scene all dressed up like holiday cartoons.
She should be ecstatic. Over-the-moon excited.
Tonight she’d finally be sure that her lingerie company wouldn’t be joining Father Time in waving goodbye at the end of the year.
Instead, she was afraid the past couple of months of financial worries and stress over keeping her company had sent her over the edge into Crazyville.
Here she was surrounded by male models and wealthy designers, many of the most gorgeous specimens of the opposite sex to be found in the Bay Area. And it was the six-and-a-half feet of green fur, snowshoes and a bowling-pin shaped body across the room that was making her hot.
Hailey squinted just to be sure.
Nope. There was absolutely nothing enticing about the costumed guy at the bar. But sex appeal radiated off him like a tractor beam, pulling her in. Turning her on.
Green fur, for crying out loud.
Wow. Month after month of no sex really did a number on a health
y woman’s libido.
Or maybe it was a year dedicated to the objective of making romance sexy. Of studying romantic fantasies, and finding ways to tastefully re-create them in lingerie form and show women that as long as they felt sexy, they were sexy.
Or, possibly, it might have something to do with the glass of champagne she’d knocked back for a little social courage when she’d walked into a ballroom filled with high-powered movers and shakers, most of whom had more money in their wallets than she had in her bank account. And all of them here to impress Rudy Rudolph, a department-store tycoon with a wicked sense of fun and prized openings in his new spring fashion lineup.
She glanced at her empty champagne flute, then at the bar. She should trade this in for something nonalcoholic. Something that didn’t make her go tingly over green, grouchy holiday figures.
Then the Grinch pushed back his fur to check the time. When the hairs on his fingers caught on his leather watchband, he yanked off the gloves in an impatient move, tossing them on the bar.
Thirst forgotten, Hailey stared at his hand as he reached for his own drink. Long and lean, with tapered fingers. Even from across the room, his palm looked broad. Her mind played through every hand-to-penis-size euphemism she’d ever heard and came up with the only conclusion possible.
The Grinch was hung.
The only question was, did he go for cute elves? Or was he strictly a man-and-his-dog kind of guy? Maybe she should have dressed up like a Who?
She’d taken two steps toward him, her body desperate to find out, before she caught herself.
No. She was here for business.
She peered at the baggy, saggy, furry back and grimaced. Not for fun. No matter how big the fun’s hands were.
“Hailey, darling.”
Relieved, both at the distraction from lusting after the Grinch and at there actually being someone here who knew her name, Hailey turned.
Her social smile shifted to genuine delight at the sight of the man who’d made this night possible for her. Jared Jones, assistant to the wealthiest—and most eccentric—tycoon in the department-store business.
