A Yowling Yuletide Read Free Page A

stop him.
Instead, she moaned and raised her arms to wrap them around his
neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss.
    Her eagerness awakened a blaze of heat and
lust that ripped through his body like a fiery tornado. It burned
away all of his inhibitions and made him forget all of the reasons
why he should simple put her down and walk away while he still
could.
    He crushed her to him, wrapping her legs
around his waist as he carried her across the floor to the desk. He
seated her there, freeing his hands to fist them in all of that
incredible red hair. It was every bit as silky soft as he’d
imagined, drawing a ragged sigh from his chest.
    She was eager and supple in his arms,
sending tidal waves of desire racing through every nerve in his
body. He was drowning in need, rendered breathless and shuddering
beneath the crushing weight of that need.
    Then she was wiggling away from him. Her
hands were pushing at his chest, confusing him, forcing him to
break that searing connection to her lips.
    His brows knit with confusion and a touch of
anger, until he heard what it was that had her scurrying backward
across the desk to climb off onto the floor and straighten her
blouse and skirt.
    Her hair was a wild tumble of curls where
his hands and played, and there was a rosy glow of guilty pleasure
in her face that nobody could mistake. But there was no time for
him to point out those details, as the harsh knocking came again
and Brian abruptly opened the door to peek inside.
    “ Oh,” the senior law
partner gaped, looking from Matt to Miranda, and then back to Matt.
“Sorry, I just figured you were on the phone, I was going to drop
these on your desk for you to read later.”
    He made a halfhearted gesture using the
bundle of papers and files in his hands.
    “ Sorry.” He started to
close the door, but Matt quickly stepped forward to stop
him.
    Brian’s shocked expression was enough to
shatter the fantasy that he’d momentarily fallen into.
    “ Actually, I was just on
my way out,” Matt growled. “I’ll take them with me.”
    He didn’t dare look at Miranda as he quickly
shouldered past the older man and escaped into the hall, grabbing
the paperwork from Brian’s grasp and hurrying towards the exit.
    “ I’m not feeling all that
well,” he shot back over his shoulder. “It looks like it’s going to
be a slow evening anyway, with all this snow, so I’m going to
finish up my work from home. I’ll see you Monday.”
    Yanking open the front door, he was struck
by a blast of snow laden wind, reminding him that he’d left his
coat hanging on the peg in his office. But he wasn’t going back for
it now, not with that seductress waiting for him.
    By the time he reached his car, he was half
frozen, but it helped to clear the last of the lust from his
body.
    On Monday, he’d call the temp agency and
have them replace Miranda with a new receptionist. Preferably an
old, ugly man.

It Came Upon a Midnight
Clear
     
    "I'm sorry, but we're currently experiencing
blizzard conditions in most of northern New York." The woman on the
other end of the phone call did not actually sound sorry at all. It
might be because she'd already told Matt the same thing half a
dozen times.
    He'd called the temp agency early Monday
morning, hoping to find someone less attractive to work the front
desk, but he was being told that was impossible.
    "We were lucky that Miranda lives in Aspire,
nobody else is willing to make the drive out there until the
weather clears," the woman explained yet again.
    Matt considered using tears or bribery, but
he suspected he'd get the same results either way. He'd have to
survive another week working with Miranda, or go back to managing
the front desk himself.
    That latter option sounded really good,
until he considered the need to explain the switch to the senior
partners Brian and Greg. They would definitely not understand and
he couldn't risk jeopardizing his position at the firm.
    A good attorney needed strong people