Just One Kiss: A heartwarming Christmas romance (Whisper Lake Book 4)

by Barbara Freethy

  "Well, you never know. I can't wait to hear how it goes. Call me tonight. Or if it's too late, first thing in the morning, and don't forget brunch on Sunday. If you're not there, I will come and find you."

  "I honestly can't promise I'll be there. It depends on where this story goes."

  "Fine. If you're in bed with Alexander Donovan, you get a pass. Otherwise, you better be there."

  She rolled her eyes. "I'm not dating him; I'm interviewing him."

  "We'll see."

  "You have love on the brain."

  Kate laughed. "I do. How can I help it? I'm surrounded every day with joyous brides. I want us all to have that same feeling one day."

  "Well, Laurel has it," Andrea said, thinking of how happy her sister was to be in love and engaged. She couldn't even imagine getting to that point. Right now, a great date would be a welcome surprise. Her track record with men the last few years was not impressive. "I'll talk to you later. I have to get ready."

  "Wear something sexy."

  "Goodbye, Kate," she said with laugh. As she set down her phone, she picked up the photo of Alexander Donovan again. His sexy, laughing gaze made butterflies dance through her stomach. "Just an assignment," she told herself again. A story she needed to do well if she wanted to keep her job.

  "You cannot escape the Raven's deadly shot." Alexander Donovan said the words with greedy intensity as he skillfully outmaneuvered the approaching monstrous villain known as Gaya.

  "Gaya can outjump Raven." Thirteen-year-old Tyler Parker sent his warrior jumping into space with a quick maneuver.

  "Not bad, but you made one mistake."

  Tyler groaned as Alex's character turned the carpet into a missile that destroyed Gaya into a shattering kaleidoscope of color. "That's not fair."

  "It's fair. I introduced the missile two levels ago," Alex said, sitting back in his chair as he watched the game calculate his award points on the sixty-inch flat screen television that hung on the wall of his office.

  While he made video games and apps, he still loved computer games the best. He could add so many more complications, so many more opportunities to change plays with a variety of keystrokes. He pushed the keyboard away and smiled at the frustrated kid next to him. Tyler's competitive spirit would reemerge within seconds. He just needed a second to regroup.

  As he studied Tyler's face, he realized that the boy was starting to change into a man. He'd grown two inches in the last month and he now seemed all arms and legs, with teeth a little too big for his face. Soon his voice would change, and he'd grow into his size eleven shoes. With those changes would probably come more attitude, but Alex could handle it. He'd never forgotten how hard the teen years could be, especially for a kid like Tyler, a kid who was growing up in the same harsh system Alex had lived through—foster care.

  He'd met Tyler two years earlier when he'd volunteered to be a Big Brother. At the time, Tyler had been living with his mother, but she'd died of cancer a year later and with no other relatives available to take care of him, Tyler had gone into the system.

  "Let's play again," Tyler said.

  "Sorry, I can't," he said, checking his watch. "I have a meeting in a few minutes."

  "On Friday night? Shouldn't you have a date or something?"

  He grinned. "As a matter of fact, I do have a date. So you need to go home."

  Tyler let out a heavy sigh. "I guess."

  Alex frowned. "Is everything okay with the Monroes? Are they treating you right?"

  Tyler shrugged his shoulders as he stood up and dug his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "They make me go to church on Sunday."

  "It's good to be exposed to religion."

  "And they want to see my report cards," Tyler said with another heavy sigh.

  "Imagine that."

  "I'll be happy when I'm done with school," Tyler added.

  "School is important."

  "You didn't go to college."

  "No, but I wish I'd had the chance," he said, getting to his feet. "I told you that if you make it through four years of college, you have a job waiting for you here."

  "That's in a million years," Tyler said with a roll of his eyes.

  Alex laughed. "Time goes faster when you get older."

  "Do you want me to come by tomorrow and help you with more game research?"

  "On Saturday? Don't you have something better to do?"

  "The Monroes are going to visit some old lady. They don't need me around."

  Alex sat down behind his desk and sent Tyler a thoughtful look, worried by the undercurrents in his tone. "Did they tell you that?"

  "No, but it's not like I'm their real kid." He kicked at a spot on the carpet. "It's okay. I don't really care. They're better than some of the people I've lived with."

  Alex nodded in agreement, wishing he could tell Tyler that everything would be fine. But would it? He knew firsthand how tough life could be, especially for a kid on his own. "I've got some things to do this weekend. Why don't you come by Monday after school? I'm going to test a new game that's still in early development. I could use your opinion." He liked to involve Tyler in the games for two reasons: one, to keep the kid engaged in life, and, two, because teenage boys were his target demographic.

  Tyler's face lit up. "Awesome. Can I run the train once before I go?"

  Alex smiled. In addition to his game business, his company constructed some of the most sophisticated model trains in the world, and one of those trains wound its way around his office on sleek silver tracks.

  Alex pushed the controller over to Tyler. "Go ahead."

  While Tyler started the train, Alex checked his calendar to see what he had scheduled for the weekend: dinner tonight, sailing on the bay tomorrow and another party tomorrow night. It should be enough to keep a reporter from World News Today happy. He could show her the wonderful, exciting life he led. She would be dazzled, and he would be Man of the Year.

  His smile turned into a sigh. Press was a necessary evil, but he didn't enjoy interviews, especially in-depth profiles. Hopefully, he would not have to answer too many questions.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the train begin its path around the office, through the tunnel, under the chair, and over the file cabinet. He'd always loved trains. And while they were only a small part of his business, they were probably his favorite part.

  Tyler looked over at him in delight, his smile turning mischievous as they heard his assistant's voice outside the door. Alex gave a negative shake of his head, but as Ellen pushed the door open, Tyler hit the whistle. The shrill noise caused Ellen to take an abrupt step backward.

  Tyler laughed, and Alex bit back a smile.

  Ellen was a fifty-eight-year-old woman who'd been with him for the last five years, and while she was usually a good sport, she'd never been a big fan of all the games in his office.

  "Very funny," Ellen said dryly. "Do I need to remind both of you that this is a place of business?"

  "I better go," Tyler said quickly.

  "Good idea," Alex said. "And get your homework done before Sunday night. I don't want to have the Monroes on my case about letting you hang around here."

  "I will," Tyler promised, bolting out the door.

  As Tyler left, Ellen handed him an envelope. "Baseball tickets for the Cougars game next Friday night, courtesy of superstar Matt Kingsley."

  "Nice," he said with a smile. "If the reporter is still around then, that will give me something else to take her to."

  "Having this woman around for a week is going to be a lot different than granting a one-hour interview. I don't understand why you agreed to it," Ellen said, bewilderment in her eyes.

  "They caught me in a weak moment," he admitted. "And a cover story with a lot of free press just before the launch of my next game was impossible to resist."

  "She's going to be digging into your life, Alex."

  "She's not going to find out anything about me that I don't want her to find out. I'm an expert at thi
s. Trust me.

  "I did some research on Andrea Blain. She covers politics and wars. She's not going to be a pushover. She's a serious journalist."

  "How serious could she be if she got this story?" He stood up. "I'm not worried. I can handle her. If she starts digging in too deep, I'll just turn her in the other direction."

  "That would be easy if she were a dog on a leash, but I don't think she is," Ellen replied.

  "You never know. Neither of us has actually seen this woman. If she's as hard as nails, she probably has a face like my aunt's old bulldog, a big pudgy nose and a fat pink tongue. In fact..." He stopped abruptly, realizing that he and Ellen were no longer alone. A slender, blonde woman stood in the doorway, her snapping blue eyes filled with outrage.

  "Please go on," she said.

  "Who are you?" he asked, even though he already knew.

  She gave him a grim smile. "I'm the bulldog."

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  About the Author

  Barbara Freethy is a #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of 70 novels ranging from contemporary romance to romantic suspense and women's fiction. With over 13 million copies sold, twenty-three of Barbara’s books have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Lists, including SUMMER SECRETS which hit #1 on the New York Times!

  Known for her emotional and compelling stories of love, family, mystery and romance, Barbara enjoys writing about ordinary people caught up in extraordinary adventures.

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