All I Want For Christmas Is You - Penelope Ward Page 0,22

made my infatuation increase to ovary exploding levels. I shifted uncomfortably, feeling the blush stain my cheeks.

All I had to do was slowly but surely prove to my brother’s best friend that I was Mrs. Right. That I was a mature twenty-two-year-old who wanted the same things as him.

“I know so.” The words came out hoarse with emotion.

Something in my voice caused Reid to stiffen and as our eyes held I felt this thick tension fall between us. I wanted to dive on him. Crush my mouth against his and show him that there was a woman out there who wanted him for his loyalty, his determination, his secret sweetness, and his understanding of what was truly important in life. I wanted to show him that for the right woman, he would loosen the reins on the store to be with her.

To be with me.

Something flared in his eyes before his expression shut down. Then he leaned forward and patted my knee. “You’re a sweet kid, Evan. Thanks.” He stood up abruptly and strolled across the office to the coat stand in the corner where his suit jacket hung. Shrugging into it, he said, “You get home okay?”

Deflated, and a little embarrassed, I stood up too at the subtle rejection and hint for me to leave. “Oh, of course. I’ll see you next week.”

“Have a good weekend.” He held the door open but wouldn’t meet my gaze.

“Yeah, you too,” I muttered, hurrying to collect my things so I could get the hell out of there.

“You’re a sweet kid, Evan.”

Ugh.

Shot to the damn heart.

However, hours later, after the mortification left me, determination returned.

I didn’t imagine that little moment on the couch between us.

And Reid’s response of, “You’re a sweet kid, Evan,” felt a little contrived. Like he was trying to put distance between us.

Maybe I was a nutter and completely wrong.

But I had hope that I wasn’t.

And I had time to prove to Reid that I was a woman. A mature woman.

The right woman.

Reid

Mid-November

I was distracted.

Evan was distracting me.

And the level of distraction was irritating.

We crowded around the small conference room table. Kerry, my events co-ordinator, my sales and marketing team, and George, my general manager.

At my side, of course, was Evan, my personal assistant.

That alone made Evan off limits.

The fact that she was my best friend’s wee sister and thirteen years my junior made her forbidden.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

It was the forbidden thing, I told myself.

That’s what was making me hot.

Not the way her skirt molded to an arse that was surprisingly round and luscious. Or the way her curvy hips accentuated how tiny her waist was. I could probably span it with my hands. I’d watched her sashay ahead of me into the conference room, mesmerized by the exaggerated feminine shape of her. I’d heard Evan complain to her mum about her hips and thighs as if they were a bad thing.

“If God was going to give me curves, why couldn’t he give me boobs?” I’d overheard her moan to Jen, Pat and Evan’s mother.

The memory had me flicking a quick look at my PA’s chest before glancing quickly away. Small but surely perfectly formed breasts strained against the tight fit of her black shirt.

Why had I never noticed how fucking gorgeously made Evan Munro was until last month?

Okay, not gonna lie, I’m a man—I noticed her arse around the year she turned eighteen.

But only in passing, as a man is wont to notice an exceptional arse.

Now her arse was an obsession.

Ever since we’d had that drink in my office, something had changed between us. This tension that needed to evaporate because it was playing havoc with me.

“Haven’t you ever met a woman who made you lose your common sense? Who made your skin hot and your blood pump and everything else but kissing her, touching her, ceased to matter?”

Not until now.

It was like her question had created a monster between us.

Evan took a sip of coffee from the mug she’d brought in from home. It had arrows pointing upward and beneath it the words, ‘This is what an Awesome Employee Looks Like.’

Fuck, she was adorable.

My eyes drifted to her mouth as she licked the coffee off her lips.

Everything about Evan, other than her hips and spectacular arse, was delicate and stunning. She had Jen’s doll-like features, large, beautiful, thickly lashed dark eyes, a button nose and a small but very kissable mouth. Evan’s chin was a little pointed, giving her a mischievous quality that only made