On the Naughty List Read online

  He began an arousing exploration, mating his tongue with hers in a prelude she couldn’t misinterpret or mistake. And obviously she didn’t. Her head tipped backward and she welcomed the onslaught of his roving tongue and hands. His fingers locked onto her petite waist and he pulled her forward, her breasts flush with his chest, her hips brushing his.

  Such close contact with his elf had him aching for more and he sucked in a startled breath, inhaling deeply. The scent of pine assaulted his senses and reminded him of their surroundings and the possibility that despite the barrier of the Christmas tree, they might have an audience of attorneys taking copious notes. With regret he raised his head and took a safe step back from temptation. Emerald eyes glazed with desire stared back, an engaging smile on her well-kissed lips.

  “Mistletoe,” she said in a husky voice, pointing upward.

  He glanced at the bare ceiling. So she had passion as well as a desperate need for an excuse. A grin tipped the edges of his mouth as he wondered what other surprises this mystery lady had in store. “Whatever you say.”

  She touched her lips with shaking fingertips. “I say you’re not him. You’re nothing like Stephan.”

  Kind of her to point out something he’d been told hundreds of times before. But she’d spoken low, more to herself than to him, and not with the well-aimed need to hurt, the way the information had been used against him in the past.

  Her gaze darted from his worn basketball sneakers, up the length of his dark denim jeans, and focused on his face. “In the dim lighting and from a distance you kind of looked like him.” He saw as well as heard her searching for answers. “The same dark hair and piercing blue eyes, though yours are somewhat warmer.” A glimmer of passion infused her voice. “Similar dimple but yours is deeper.” She reached out with the same hesitant determination he’d sensed behind the kiss.

  Her touch burned him straight to his soul.

  “And when he works weekends, he … dresses … like … you.” She jerked her hand away from the same fire consuming him.

  Max was surprised to learn Stephan ever veered away from conservative suits and ties. Maybe he and his twin had come from the same egg after all. Maybe they had more in common than either of them let on. And maybe they could be friends as well as brothers. The thought arose, not for the first time in ages, but it was the first time he considered acting on the impulse.

  He had his elf to thank for revealing the surprising similarities and possibilities. His elf. Funny how proprietary he’d become in such a short span of time. But it wouldn’t be funny if she had any kind of relationship with his twin, and based on that hell of a kiss, the odds tipped against Max.

  “Since it’s not the weekend, I should have known,” she murmured. Scrutiny complete, she settled her stare on his New York Rangers jersey, an obvious attempt to avoid his gaze. Then she folded her arms across her lush chest, chewing on her bottom lip as the enormity of her mistake obviously set in.

  He remembered the feel of those curves pressed intimately against him, recalled the sweetness of her mouth, and he struggled not to groan aloud. “Something against the Rangers?” he asked, seeking the more mundane.

  She shook her head, her button nose crinkling in answer. “I don’t have time for basketball.”

  “Hockey.”

  “Whatever. But baseball’s another story. How ’bout those Mets?” A twinkle sparkled in her glorious eyes.

  Apparently she’d been giving him a hard time and was probably as big a sports fanatic as he, something he’d never expected to find in a woman.

  “Hard to believe a Corbin would wear a jersey to an office party, though.” Her brows rose in surprise.

  On any other woman, the gesture would remind him of his judgmental federal court judge mother. But on her, the otherwise critical display indicated curiosity and interest, not disdain. “You’ve got that right. But I’m not a typical Corbin.” He felt the welcome tug of a smile.

  She inclined her head, her silky black hair brushing her shoulders much the way he’d like it caressing his skin. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  Once again, her trembling fingers touched her mouth, this time tracing the outline of her reddened lips before she caught herself and stepped around the tree, reaching for the first gift-wrapped package she could find. He allowed her escape for the moment, watching the sexy sway of her hips in retreat. And in that instant, her words immediately after that mind-blowing kiss came back to him. You’re not him. You’re nothing like Stephan.

  She’d kissed him and known instantly. And she wasn’t all that upset and she definitely wasn’t unaffected. The thought pleased him. Though Max could never compete with his twin as a Corbin son, he’d obviously made headway with … his brother’s woman? His gut clenched at the thought.

  “Hello, Max.” Stephan walked up beside him.

  “Hey, little brother.” Catching the scowl on his twin’s face, Max grinned, feeling on safe, sibling-sparring ground. “ ‘Little brother’ is a figure of speech. You know that. But you also know I got sprung first.”

  “Three minutes isn’t enough to hold it over me our entire lives,” Stephan said with characteristic grumbling. “But I’m glad you made it.” He surprised Max by slapping him on the back. Obviously his brother wasn’t threatened by his father’s summons of his wayward, prodigal son. Another reason for Max to suddenly hold out hope he’d leave this party with more than he’d walked in with.

  At the very least, a renewed connection to his twin and at best a new woman in his life? Possible, Max thought, unless—he glanced at his brother. “Who’s the elf?”

  Stephan folded his arms across his chest and glanced around the tree to where the woman who’d kissed Max senseless now tried to feign interest in her bag of toys and not the Corbin brothers. Max stifled a smile.

  “Who, Toni?” Stephan asked.

  “Toni.” Max tested the name on his tongue, liking the sound as well as the incongruity of a man’s name on such a feminine creature.

  “She’s an associate—something you’d know if you didn’t make yourself so scarce.”

  His brother was right. Other than the obligatory holidays at home, Max avoided family situations—especially family business functions like this one—if only because they were always fraught with tension between himself and his parents.

  “Any interest?” Max asked, ignoring his brother’s jibe but still needing to lay other cards on the table.

  Stephan shook his head. “Maybe when she first started working here, but that was a while ago. And once we became colleagues and friends …” He waved his hand in dismissal. “No interest.”

  It was obvious to Max that she didn’t feel the same—at least she hadn’t before kissing the wrong twin, but no point in informing his brother now. “You sure?”

  “No interest. Not that way.” Stephan glanced at him, surprised but obviously certain. “Field’s clear.”

  And so were his brother’s words. Nothing stood between Max and his elf.

  He turned, determined to stake his claim, but she was talking with a female colleague, and then without warning the conference room was overrun with scampering, chattering children. “What’s this?” Max asked over the din.

  Stephan laughed. “This is Toni’s contribution to the annual firm Christmas party. We always made a cash donation to a charity, but she insisted we do something more personal, too. Now we buy gifts for the kids at one of the local women’s shelters and Santa hands them out—with her help.”

  “Santa?”

  “Dad. But not this year. He’ll be here but the doctor’s banned him from anything too stressful like picking up the kids and putting them on his lap. At least until next year.”

  A twisting pain lanced through Max. “You sure?”

  “That he’ll be around till next year?” Stephan asked, finishing Max’s unspoken question in a way only a twin could. “I’m sure. Spend some more time with him and you will be, too.”

  Max had see
n the older man in the hospital and again when he’d been released, but they’d never been alone long enough to get into serious conversation. Yet apparently the stroke had prompted a renewal in the older man’s determination to get Max back into the family firm, because he’d been summoned here by his father, who claimed he had an offer Max couldn’t refuse.

  “He’s determined enough for four men,” Stephan said.

  “Swell.” Determined to stick around and determined to get his way with his one ornery son. Well, one out of two wouldn’t be bad. Max glanced at his twin, knowing he had to be honest about not wanting to take over in the office, or in his brother’s hard-worked-for domain. “Hey bro, you should know I have no intention of coming back—”

  Stephan cut him off with a slug to the shoulder. “I know. The only one you have to convince is Dad.”

  Max nodded. His brother was obviously secure in his place and position within the firm and the family. One potential problem taken care of.

  He looked over. His elf—Toni—was kneeling down with kids beside her, tickling one, laughing with another. Not only did she have an altruistic streak but from the looks of things she was a natural-born nurturer, too. Add that to her sexy-as-hell appearance and her knock-out kiss and Max knew he’d found a gem. Getting to know her would be a real pleasure.

  “Who’s replacing Dad as Santa this year?” Max asked.

  “Even cash couldn’t sway any of these uptight jokers to do the job and I wasn’t sure I’d make it on time, so Toni’s handing out the gifts herself,” Stephan said.

  “Really.”

  His brother chuckled aloud. “You sound awfully pleased. Aren’t you too old to be telling Santa what you want for Christmas?”

  Max grinned. “Hell, no. Especially not if it’ll let me get close to his sexy emissary.” And as soon as the children were finished, he planned to tell Santa’s helper exactly what he wanted for Christmas.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Toni was one part mortified and two parts completely turned on. She was in a sweat that owed nothing to the crowded, overheated room and everything to the man watching her out of the corner of his eye. With hindsight and the rush of adrenaline to act on impulse gone, she saw the differences in the brothers more clearly. This man had slightly longer though equally black hair, and razor stubble gave him a more rugged, less clean-cut appearance. He exuded a raw masculinity that appealed to her on a deeper, more carnal level. One she hadn’t known existed inside her until that kiss.

  That kiss. Toni hugged her arms around her chest, as if she could hold tight to the feelings he inspired. As always, she forced herself to take an honest look at herself, her actions, and the situation. She couldn’t deny the truth. At a crossroads, about to embark on a new professional life, she couldn’t afford more than a one-night stand, no matter how out of character it was. She’d thought Stephan Corbin was the perfect man on whom to test her feminine wiles, but she’d been wrong. Whatever attraction she’d felt for Stephan paled in comparison to what she’d experienced under the nonexistent mistletoe with his twin. And darned if she didn’t want an instant replay.

  But with the onslaught of children from the shelter, she had no choice but to wait. In the meantime, she continued the cat-and-mouse game of eye contact he’d begun earlier. Her heart beat frantically in her chest and anticipation flowed through her veins.

  “Only two more kids, Toni,” Annie, her secretary, whispered in her ear.

  “I don’t know whether to say thank goodness because I’m beat or thank goodness because even one child here is one too many.” She ought to know, having spent more than one night in a shelter as a child.

  “How about thank goodness so you can go play get-to-know-you with the Corbin twin?”

  Toni felt the heat rise to her cheeks. Had Annie seen that consuming kiss behind the tree?

  “He hasn’t taken his eyes off you since you sat down in this chair.”

  Toni shifted in her seat to accommodate the next little girl. “Did you know Stephan had a brother?” she asked Annie.

  “No, but I wish I had, at least before you nailed him for yourself. I’ve got to run. I have a date. Have fun tonight,” she whispered on a laugh and walked away before Toni could respond.

  The last two children and their requests for Santa went quickly. Toni kept her mental list of extra things to send over to the shelter from Santa and soon the kids, their chaperones, and the gifts were bundled up and on their way. She started to rise, knowing she still had an office to pack before the night was through.

  “Not so fast.”

  She recognized the seductive voice that rumbled from behind.

  She curled her hands around the arm of the office chair she’d appropriated, steadying herself with a firm grip. “Something I can do for you?”

  “Since you have a special relationship with the big man in the red suit I was hoping you could relay a wish.” His strong fingertips brushed her hair back from her face and around her ear, strumming across her skin with perfect precision.

  Her stomach fluttered with longing and she forced an easy laugh. “Aren’t you too old to believe in Santa?”

  “Aren’t you too young not to?”

  “I’m dressed like one of his elves. Doesn’t that tell you something about who and what I believe in?” And right now she believed in this man—and anything he said or did.

  She tipped her head to the side and found herself sharing breathing space, close enough to kiss him if she desired. And she did, badly. She’d never experienced anything as strong as her immediate attraction to this stranger.

  “It tells me some. But I know too little about you and I intend to change that.” He walked around and eased himself onto the arm of her chair, not on her lap but close enough to increase her growing awareness.

  His hip brushed her arm and her body heat shot up another ten degrees. She glanced around at the thinning group of people. Though she and her companion didn’t seem to be garnering added attention, Toni was still aware of this being a place of business.

  Even if she had temporarily forgotten once she’d gotten him behind the tree, they were in full view of the masses now. “I’m not Santa Claus so there’s no lap-sitting involved,” she warned him.

  He bent closer. “I’ll accept those barriers … for now.”

  She inhaled a shaky breath. His masculine scent, a heady mix of warm spice and pure man tempted her to throw caution aside. Before she could lose common sense she grasped onto the one thread of the conversation she could remember. “So what can I tell Santa you desire … I mean want. What can I tell Santa you want?”

  She’d caught her phrasing, an obvious extension of her thoughts and needs, and attempted a too-late retraction. But the word “desire,” once spoken, hovered in the air, teasing, arousing, and building upon the electricity arcing between them.

  “I know what you meant.” He laughed and the deep sound both eased and aroused her in ways she didn’t understand. “I also know what you want and it’s the same thing I do.”

  A tremor shook her hard. “And what would that be?”

  “To finish what we started under the so-called mistletoe.”

  A rousing round of applause erupted around them, interrupting their banter and his huskily spoken words. Despite the beat of desire thrumming inside her, she forced herself to look for the cause of the stir. She glanced up and saw Mr. Corbin, the firm’s senior partner—Stephan and his twin’s father—standing in the doorway. His twin. But beyond the obvious resemblance Toni drew a sudden blank.

  Oh, Lord. For as quickly as they’d connected, she didn’t even know his name.

  He brushed his knuckles across her cheek in a gesture more tender and caring than overtly sexual. She could have melted at his feet. And then there was the heat rushing through her body. She felt on edge, the desire inside her out of control.

  He rose to his feet. “I’ve got to go greet the old man but no way are we finished.”

  She bit the inside of
her cheek. When she’d decided to go after Stephan, the firm’s bachelor, she’d known nothing long-term could come of it. She’d just wanted to enter the new year feeling good and knowing she could get the man she thought she desired, if just for a brief time. But she’d kissed the wrong brother—or the right brother depending on her perspective—and knowing nothing about him, all bets were off.

  So she could continue her bold act and see where things led or she could run, something she’d seen her mother do too many times. Toni Larson didn’t run.

  “Oh, we’re finished all right.” She licked at her dry lips. “At least until you tell me your name.”

  “It’s Max.” Amusement mingled with desire in his blue-eyed gaze.

  She grinned. “ ’Bye, Max.”

  He shook his head. “Only until later, Toni.” His words held certainty, his voice the promise of sharing more than just an introduction. With a last glance, he reluctantly turned and walked away.

  She watched as he approached the older man and witnessed what was so obviously a reunion between a father and a son he loved deeply. A lump rose to her throat. Looking at Max, Toni saw concern and love cross his handsome features, no hint of the playful man in sight. Apparently this reunion was emotional for both men.

  But as Max broke from his father’s arms, he said something light enough to make Stephan laugh. Then he turned and, from across the room, his compelling gaze met hers and he treated her to a sexy wink. One that assured her he hadn’t forgotten her or his promise of seeing her later.

  Her stomach curled in anticipation and searing heat assaulted her senses. She shook her head, amazed. Not only had she been naughty, she’d most certainly gotten her man. Just not the man she’d expected. Fate and irony were at work tonight. She touched her fingers to her lips and imagined the feel of his mouth working magic over hers, his warm breath and his masculine scent wrapping her in seductive heat.

  She let out a breathless sigh, knowing the night she’d desired was about to get much, much hotter.