Secrets to Hide 2: Naughty Little Christmas Read Free Page B

this.”
    “You wouldn’t.” Oh yes, she would.
    Propping her chin on one hand, she shot him a mischievous grin that confirmed his suspicions. “I wouldn’t?”
    Shit. It wasn’t like he could say, Your hair makes me want to lick you all over. Maybe he needed to hunt down some of those suckers and keep them in his office—or get out of town as soon as possible. The latter seemed the best alternative.
    “Fine,” he said, more than aware of his surly-ass tone. “No purple.” Knowing his luck, he’d get a sudden craving for grape Tootsie Pops.
    Harley stood, satisfaction radiating off her. “No purple, I promise.” She winked—actually winked—at him, and he had to fight back a groan. The next few weeks were going to be hell; he just knew it.
    Holding out a hand, Harley waited. Remembering his refusal to shake with her earlier, Damien reached out, knowing it was a mistake, knowing he should avoid touching her at all costs, and grasped her slender hand in his. The power of the contact shocked him—and her, if the gasp that escaped was anything to go by. For a single moment, their eyes met, and he saw his own overpowering attraction reflected back at him. Then Harley blinked and the moment was gone.
    “Good night, Damien. I’ll see you Monday morning—without the purple hair.”

Chapter Two
    “He agreed to a trial run,” Harley said.
    Cassie nodded, whether in approval or encouragement to keep talking, Harley couldn’t tell. Her friend kept her eyes on the sleeping baby in her arms, swaying lightly back and forth in a graceful rhythm she’d had to teach Harley after Klio was born. God, she’d been clueless then.
    Cassie had been a godsend from the moment they met in a local bookstore’s parenting aisle. She’d taught Harley to change diapers and combat colic, how to get Klio to sleep and eat and poop when necessary. She’d babysat when the details of Sonny’s funeral had overwhelmed Harley, had kept Klio tucked away from the chaos even when she didn’t agree. And now she was signing on full-time as Klio’s nanny so that Harley could work with Damien. Harley could never repay her.
    “I start Monday, but it will probably be irregular hours for a bit. Will it be possible for you to keep a schedule like that?”
    Cassie raised her big brown eyes, seeming to sense Harley’s need for reassurance. As much as she’d disapproved of this plan from the beginning, she never left Harley hanging. “Don’t worry about the hours. You know I’d do anything for you and Klio,” Cassie said, her smile as soft as her voice.
    “I do know.” Cassie had proved those words over and over.
    Glancing down, Harley took in the picture her adopted daughter made in Cassie’s arms. Three months old. Three months since Sonny abandoned the baby in the hospital. Three months since Harley had gathered the tiny girl with the tuft of dark, downy hair into her arms and taken her home. A month later, Sonny was dead, and Harley and Klio were on their own. As she watched the baby’s bow-shaped lips suckling an imaginary bottle, the similarities between Klio and the man Harley met tonight struck her broadside.
    “So what was he like?” Cassie asked.
    Shifting her purse higher on her shoulder, Harley tried to give herself time to think. “A real dickhead at first.” She snorted at the memory of the way she’d shaken in her high-heeled boots those first few moments after meeting him. “But I wore him down.”
    Cassie laughed quietly. “I had no doubt you would.” She traced a finger along the sweet curve of Klio’s pudgy cheek. The baby would be almost four months old, holding her head up and maybe even rolling over for her first Christmas and, really, Harley’s too. It wasn’t like anyone had celebrated holidays when she was growing up.
    Cassie’s voice brought her back to the present. “So…father material or not?”
    Harley thought about her answer as she watched Cassie sway, the movement hypnotic, enticing her to