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YULE BE MINEbyCharlene TegliaCopyright 2004 Charlene TegliaScheherazade Tales R
omance E-Novelsscheherazadetales.comAll rights reserved. No part of this book ma
y be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means,electronic or mechanical
, including photocopying, recording, or by any information and storage retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner. This is a work o
f fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author
'simagination, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events
, or locales, is entirelycoincidental. 2004 Scheherazade Tales Romance E-Novels
scheherazadetales.com YULE BE MINEPrologueSeymour Walters was the last straw. Jo
rdan had put up with a lot from her brothers. She knew they meant well. She knew
they loved her.She knew that deep down in their little misguided and deranged b
rains, they only wanted her to behappy. But looking at Seymour's sober face, ben
eath a thatch of hair no artist could give style to, set off byglasses that were
definitely, actually taped together over the nose, Jordan realized with a chill
of horrorthat it was never going to end. They would never stop trying to fix he
r up with the perfect man." And their version of theperfect man was Jordan's vers
ion ofperfect hell . First of all, if Seymour had ever laughed in his life, she
was certain he would have apologizedimmediately. She made it a firm rule that an
y man she dated had to laugh at her jokes. Then there was hisappearance. Jordan
eyed him in sober silence and was unable to even comment internally. It was that

bad. No, actually, it wasworse because if Jordan didn't do something, and fast, s
he'd be thrown togetherwith Seymour or some other equally bad Disaster Date on e
very single hayride, skating party, dinner anddance of the holiday season. She p
ictured herself seated by Seymour through an endless meal. Even in her imaginati
on, she couldn'teat. A mortician just didn't contribute sparkling small talk to
dinner. And his complimentsshe could hear them now. You're looking lovely this eve
ning. So lifelike. Sonatural." You're a creative person, Jordan,she screamed at
herself.Last year you wrote two hundreddifferent ways to say Happy Birthday. You n
eed a plan. And make it good. Or Seymour will beby your side from Thanksgiving t
hrough New Year's Eve, and you'll have to kisshim. The greeting card writer shiv
ered at the very thought, and Seymour noticed. "Got a chill? He heaved a morose s
igh. Leona Watkins went like that. Pneumonia. That's how it starts.Before you kno
w it, death comes knocking." Death was already knocking, Jordan thought wildly.
Death was closing in and choking the life out of her. Well, not this year! It ha
d to stop. And it was going to stopright now . Jordan was going to give herbroth
ers exactly what they wanted, and gain a reprieve from the Grim Reaper. She was
going to get engaged to the perfect man." Chapter OneSingle man! Are you haunted
by the ghost of Christmas pastterrifying attempts at holidaymatchmaking? Frighten
ed by the ghost of Christmas futuremore yuletide yahoos? Then whatthe dickens are
you waiting for? Give us both a Christmas present. Single woman seeks phonyfian
c for family functions; will pose as yours in return. Jordan Christian reread her
singles ad with a critical eye. Was it short, snappy and to the point? Did itcom
municate her needs clearly, but with a humorous tone that would make it appealin
g to a decenthuman being? She pushed her notepad back and dropped her pen on the
lacquered surface of her antique roll topdesk. Wanting some reassurance, she le

t her gaze wander over the wall. It held award certificates, theframed copy of h
er first check as a professional writer and an extremely flattering letter from
an editorpraising her skills. Jordan found the physical proof of her success and
ability as a writer comfortingwhenever doubt crept in on a project. This was a
project she really couldn t afford to mess up. If this ad didn t snare a sane, s
ingle and at leastsemi-attractive male between the ages of twenty-five and thirt
y-five, Jordan was going to be in a lot oftrouble. She was going to be toasting
the New Year with Seymour the Undertaker under the watchfuleyes of her four olde
r brothers.

It wasn t easy being the baby of the family. At twenty-six, she still wasn t fr
ee of fraternal harassment.True, her brothersall considerably olderhad shared in r
aising her after their parents were killed in acar accident, making them conside
rably more involved than most brothers. They d been there for herthrough high sc
hool and sent her to college. They d watched her graduate and taken her picture.
They dcelebrated with her when she immediately got taken on as a writer for a g
reeting card company. And they d shoved countless stuffed shirts at her, every s
ingle year. Christmas seemed to bring out theworst in them. They couldn t seem t
o stand seeing her without a man at her side through all the traditionalfamily e
vents. Jordan had tried reasoning with them. That didn t work. So she d tried te
ars, tantrums and had evengone to the Bahamas one year to evade the matchmakers.
She d gotten sunburn and gained ten poundseating all day on the cruise ship, an
d all for nothing, because they d managed to get Mitchell onto thesame ship and
he d followed her relentlessly. Mitchell was a dentist, and she was fairly certa
in he d been Gary s idea. Gary was the oldest brother andthe most determined to
settle his baby sister down with a respectable, secure husband. But as annoying
and self-centerednot to mention depressingas Mitchell was, Seymour had himbeat. He
could drive a right-to-lifer to suicide. Especially if they had to listen to hi
m talk through dinner. Jordan shuddered again and reread her ad. Well, it wasn t
perfect, but she didn t have much time. If shegot it in today, it would run in
the weekend edition of the Singles Page, and with any kind of luck at all,she d g
et some answers the following week. It stood to reason that somewhere some man w
as enduring the same difficulties she was, and all becausehe just hadn t met the
right person yet. So they d help each other out. It was a perfect plan. After t
heNew Year, they d simply drift apart and eventually end their mock engagement."
Jordan bounced to her feet and stretched, rolling her neck and shoulders to loos
en the kinks producedby hunching over her desk. Maybe she should have requested
a man who liked to give massages. No, she couldn t be that picky. She wasn t sho
pping for a real fianc, just a good fake to fool herbrothers with. As long as he
didn t tape his eyewear together or talk about dentures, she d take him. She ruf
fled her short blond spiky hair and picked up her ad. She d already rented an an
onymous postalbox for replies. Now all she had to do was drop off her copy and p
ay for her ad to run. And sincerely hope for a good man. A good single man". * *
* *"Luke, I want you to meet Candy, his sister Wendy gushed. She shoved the sacch
arine pink fluff-ball ofruffles towards Luke. He knew there had to be an eligibl
e female in there somewhere. Why else wouldWendy push her on him? The ruffles sp
oke in a sickening, simpering sweet voice. I mso pleased to meet you. I ve heards
o muchabout you. Then she definitelydistinctlytittered. "Have you? Luke Foster s bla
nd, merely rhetorical question was more a statement, neatly providing aresponse
to Cotton Candy s verbal overture without encouraging further communication.

Luke glared at his oldest sister Wendy, but she didn t seem to noticeprobably be
cause, having doneher duty", she d artfully retreated and was now busily occupied
serving canaps to another guest. These endless excuses to eat and drink and shov
e unwanted women at him that went on every year fromNovember to Januaryhe hated t
hem. Wendy s little pre-holiday cocktail party was only the beginning.The Foster
clan included two more siblings, parents, uncles, cousins and all their spouses
and offspring,and they celebrated the holidays with a vengeance. And all those
relatives couldn t bear to see their Luke peacefully alone, peacefully single. T
hey sufferedsome sort of genetic compulsion to match up and marry off every memb
er of the family. Luke eyed the pink ruffles in dread. It was already starting.
He was a patient man, actually. Aneasy-going, even-tempered man. But even he cou
ld be pushed too far. He stared, steadily and silently, down at the pink ruffled
confection with chilling disinterest. Lukesquelched the chiding sound of his mo
ther s voice in his head that urged him to be a gentleman in anysituation. Damne
d if he d encourage this unwelcome piece of fluff. Cotton Candy was Wendy s gues
t. LetWendy entertain her. The ruffles twitched, twittered, and then seemed to w
ilt under his stolid indifference that bordered on thethin line of rudeness. A s
hrill sound emerged from the frothy dress. She squeaked out, N-n-nice to meetyou,
I have to go, and pulled back. Luke didn t even nod. His eyes silently encourage
d her to do so, and quickly. Candy let out a faint soundof mingled offense and f
right and melted into the crowd. Luke smiled, a smile of triumph and satisfactio
n which transformed his rough features into a warm,approachable face and lit his
cold blue eyes with humor. He went from looking like a man to avoid in adark, l
onely place to looking like a man to seek out a dark, lonely place with. Luke Fo
ster didn t have anything resembling classical features or Hollywood handsomenes
s. But he didhave a rough, rugged appeal and chiseled muscles that declared him
to be aman with a capital M. He dfound that the intimidating edge of danger he c
ould affect at will produced results in the sometimes roughworld of business. It
was an illusion, actually. He was gentle by nature. But he had the face and bui
ld of a born fighter; andthat, combined with his height and an air of reserve as
a natural result of his quiet, reflective personality,added to the illusion of
watchful readiness for trouble and the ability to handle any that was foolisheno
ugh to turn up. Luke was too prosaic not to use whatever natural advantages he h
ad. His successfulconsulting business spoke for the wisdom of not fighting natur
e. Wendy frowned at him and Luke realized that she was going to come over and de
mand that heapologize to Cotton Candy. A wise man knew when to retreat. He blend
ed into the crowd and made his way towards the door and freedom with a sense ofd
esperation that was sheathed in outward calm and confidence. In truth, he knew h
e was in over hishead. Every year the matchmaking went on, and every year it gre
w more insistent and more unpleasant. His family simply failed to understand tha
t he had other concerns, other priorities. It had taken time to

gain the experience to start his own business, and more years to firmly establis
h it. That kind ofcommitment meant long hours and short weekends and didn t leav
e the time, the energy or even theinclination to pursue a serious relationship.
In time, he intended to select a suitable wife. But there was nohurry. "Leaving
already? Heading back to the office?" The question made Luke pause. He recognize
d that voice. "It s what I would have been doing, too, twenty years ago, the voic
e continued. "Jake Marlow, said Luke, turning around. If it hadn t been for the v
oice, he wouldn t have recognizedhis old mentor. "Don t bother to tell me how I
look, Jake said. I know how I look. I m old, I m tired, and I mscheduled for anoth
er triple bypass." "I didn t know you had heart problems." "Heartproblems. Jake g
ave a wheezing laugh that held no trace of amusement. You could say that. Letthis
be a warning to you, Luke. I put my heart into my business. Turns out it was a

bad investment. Youmight think there s plenty of time for a personal life later,
but later might turn out to be too late." The words, combined with the sight of
what had become of the man who d taught Luke everything heknew about succeeding
in business, were distinctly unsettling. Jake shook his head and waved him on. G
o on. Go back to your businessbut if I were you, I d gofind a life instead. And s
omebody to live it with. It isn t too late for you. Yet." Even old Bottom Line J
ake Marlow had matchmaking on the brain? The holidays caused mass insanity.Yes.
That was the only rational explanation. Luke reached the door. Freedom and sanit
y lay just beyond. He shrugged on his heavy wool overcoatbut instead of his offi
ce he headed towards a nearby caf. He d get some coffee in peace and quiet.Wash a
way the sugary taste that just looking at Cotton Candy had left in his mouth. Wi
th grim sarcasm,he pitied the man who ended up with that bit of fluff. He hoped
it would be a dentist. The college student waiting tables waved to him and told
him to sit anywhere. Luke nodded brusquely,sat in a corner booth and asked for c
offee. Somebody had left a newspaper on the table. Idly, Lukeopened it and flipp
ed through. It wasn t exactly a newspaper, he realized after a moment. It was a
listingof singles ads. Here it wassolid evidence that he wasn t the only person w
ho hadn t succumbed to marriage mania.Thirty-two wasn t too old to be single. So
me of the ads were from people in their forties and fifties who dnever been marr
ied. Luke felt quietly gratified by that fact. He barely noticed when his coffee
came. The ads were enthralling. Why hadn t he ever read thembefore? There was a
big woman seeking big man for a whale of a good time . AndDaisy seekinggardener
with stamen-a . Then something different caught his eye.

Single man! Are you haunted by the ghost of Christmas pastterrifying attempts at
holidaymatchmaking? Frightened by the ghost of Christmas futuremore yuletide yah
oos? Then whatthe dickens are you waiting for? Give us both a Christmas present.
Single woman seeks phonyfianc for family functions; will pose as yours in return
. Whoever had left that newspaper lying at his booth had circled that one in red
, Luke noticed. The wordsreverberated in his head as he stirred his coffee and s
ipped the dark brew. Sounded like some poorwoman was enduring the same fate. He
wondered what the male equivalent of Cotton Candy was like.Something must have p
ushed her over the edge to resort to an ad like that. An intelligent woman, too.
She knew Dickens, and probably not just from watching a Christmas movie.And she
had a quirky sense of humor. She d compared blind dates and surprise fix-ups to
being hauntedby phantoms. That revealed something else about her, Luke realized
. She didn t mind being a single woman. She didn twant a ring. She wanted a co-c
onspirator to weather the holiday madness. Will pose as yours in return... Luke
thought about it, and the more he did, the more it intrigued him. If he d had he
r with him tonight, forinstance, Candy wouldn t have gotten within a mile of him
. Wendy wouldn t be perusing her guest list rightnow looking for another candida
te to foist on him. Luke imagined the forthcoming round of manic holidayevents,
and the inevitable parade of pink-ruffled piranhas. He shuddered. Then he pictur
ed himself with a poised, intelligent companion. She d impress his siblings, par
ents andassorted partner-pushers. She d drive away not only the sniveling sweet
types but also the militantequal-partner business types who only wanted to use a
ring to further their careers or to get a foothold inhis own company. The myste
ry woman was intelligent enough to out-do the former and devious enough, from he
r blatantproposal to perpetrate fraud, to deal with the latter. Luke drank his c
offee and pondered. She intrigued him, whoever she was. He thought she would lik
ely be able to handle the thankless task offending off his family. The waiter re
turned with a full coffee pot, and Luke caught his eye. Do you have a pen and som
e paperI could borrow?" The waiter looked at the singles ads and smirked knowing
ly. Certainly. He left a pad and pen for Lukeafter refilling his coffee cup. Now .
.. how to respond to something like that? It would take some thought. He wanted

his message tostand out amongst the replies she d get to her ad. If she didn t a
gree to be his fake fiance, some otherman would get a free ride through the holid
ays with no pressure to settle down. And Luke would be upagainst the wallalone. O
kay. Presumably, she d be impressed by a literary reply. Luke continued to think
, wrote briefly,scratched out and rewrote. Finally satisfied, he read back over
the result and nodded to himself. He tore

the ad out and folded it with his answer. He d mail it to her post office box to
morrow. And hope that there really was a Santa Claus after all. * * * *After wav
ing to the postman out front, Jordan fitted the key into her box. She hoped it w
asn t too soon toexpect a response to her ad. Thanksgiving was only a few days a
way and the holiday madness wasunderway. She didn t have much time. Fretting whe
n the key stuck, she practically danced around the box until she had it open and
peeredinside hopefully. The slot bulged with envelopes. Bonanza! She d struck i
tbig! With a quick glance to make sure she wasn t noticed, Jordan scooped the ma
il into her oversized bagand zoomed back home. The bag was upended on her desk a
nd Jordan rummaged through the clutter of pens, lipsticks, businesscards and oth
er odds and ends for the all-important envelopes. An hour later, as she reached
the last letter, her enthusiasm had dimmed considerably. So much forattracting a
decent human being. A man in the same boat. A man with a sense of humor. She d
attractedmen who thought it was a clever hook and wanted to date her. Men who wa
nted to unwrap her forChristmas. Men who wanted to show her theirDickens . Not o
ne single reasonable rational reply in the whole batch. She couldn t believe it.
Even in the mail, nobody took her seriously. Well, she might as well read the l
ast one, she thought in disgust. What did she have to lose? Maybe thisone could
even spell. She pulled the single sheet of paper free of the envelope and starte
d to read. Her brows shot up. Well, well, she murmured. It seems we have a winner."
T was the month before Christmas and all through the house Were relatives tryi
ng to find me a spouse. I got talked half to death by sickly-sweet chatter And f
led for my life from her sugary patter. Then what to my weary eyes should appear
But a singles ad asking for my help this year! Together we d fend off the broth
ers and sisters, The dreadful mismatches of misses and misters. Together we woul
d escape our sad plight

And find Christmas Eve, for once, a good night. The mystery respondent had sign
ed Single Man to his spoof and enclosed his address, inviting ananswer. Amazing. S
he d sifted through an awful lot of pebbles, but she d struck gold at last. He c
ould spell. Hehad a sense of humor. And he needed her as much as she needed him.
So as long as he wasn t a felon on parole, Jordan thought she just might have f
ound the solution to herdilemma. Now she just had to find out a little more abou
t him. Maybe she should send him a survey, a questionnaire. The kind of thing th
at would reveal all sorts oflittle quirks. Likedid he prefer Larry or Moe? If he
couldn t answer, he didn t like the Three Stooges. Jordan pinned the letter from
Single Man to her corkboard. The rest of the letters went directly intothe round
filethe wicker garbage basket. Her notebook ready, she chewed thoughtfully on the
cap of apen and debated possibilities. For instance, did he like tactile experi
ences like using paper and pen or did he do everything oncomputer? The typed let
ter on a blank piece of regular paper told her very little. Or did that matter?
Shecouldn t get off-track. She really needed to know if she could stand his comp
any better than the dentistor the undertaker or any of the other past holiday ho

rrors her brothers had come up with. Did he have an ego the size of a mountain?
Did he consider commercial artists like herself hacks orsell-outs? Did he have t
he ability to think on his feet and, most important, the ability to play a prete
nd roleconvincingly? Her brothers knew her well enough to spot an obvious fake.
He had to look enough like someone she dactually consider marrying to make it wo
rk. So what would she consider marrying? Jordan pondered that, to the pen cap s
detriment. A man who d appreciate her creative abilities and personality. A man
who found her little eccentricitiesamusing, instead of recommending a good thera
pist. A fun-loving, patient, sensitive, understanding manwith a good sense of hu
mor. A man who was successful enough not to mind her success. Sexy anddevastatin
gly attractive. A man who could get along with her four impossible brothers. In
short, a man who didn t exist, except in her vivid imagination. Fortunately Jord
an was free to create her fianc in her own dream image. Why not? If he could play
arole, he could play the one she defined for him. Although, she conceded, it wo
uld be better if he were asclose as possible to her fantasy man. Now she just ha
d the problem of trying to roughly determine how close her Single Man came to hers
pecifications, and whether or not she could tolerate hours of his company throug
h the holidays. It took some time, and a great deal of thought, but Jordan got h
er reply finished and addressed toSingle Man. She d drop it in the mail along with
the new concepts for her greeting card company.Fortunately she had the sort of
job that wouldn t cause any of her brothers to question her frequent tripsto the
post office or rabid interest in the mail. She did most of her work by mail, an
d occasionally via the

fax function on her computer if it was urgent. She might actually get away with
it, Jordan thought in delight. She whirled around in a burst of sheer joy. Randa
ll caught her giddy arabesque as he came out of the kitchen wiping his hands. Jor
dan, what areyou doing? he inquired. She held her pose and smiled innocently at h
er second to oldest brother. I have a new batch of cardsready to go and they re r
eally good. Cheer radiated from her voice. What are you doing here? I didn teven h
ear you come in." "You didn t hear me because you were writing when I came in. I
stood in your doorway and called, butyou didn t answer, so I just put your dinn
er in the refrigerator. Randall gave her a faintly accusing look. Had she missed
a dinner appointment? She didn t remember having one, but she usually took turns
eating with one of her brothers families. Between the four of them, they kept her
fed and also kept herfrom being reclusive", as they called it. Honestly. Just be
cause a person liked to live alone. Jordan shook her head. There was no reasonin
gwith her brothers. But they meant well and she loved them. "Thanks! She dropped
her improvised joyful dance pose and skipped over to kiss him on the cheek.You re
a dear, and so is Teresa for sending you over to feed me. Did I forget to show
up or something?Were you expecting me?" "No, I told you we d be going out tonigh
t. I just wanted to make sure you wouldn t skip a meal." Randall s faintly repro
ving look censured her for having a sylphlike slenderness. The gray eyes and lig
hthair that added to her otherworldly air made the rugged brothers feel like the
y had a fragile hold onsomeone who might slip out of their grasp at any time. Jo
rdan hugged him reassuringly. Come on, you know I m as healthy as a horse. Strong
as an ox. I alsoeat like a linebacker. When do I ever miss a meal?" He responde
d to her teasing with typical seriousness. Randall was a serious guy. But then h
e was aCPA, so what did she expect? Last Thursday. You missed a meal last Thursda
y because you didn tshow." The literal reply made Jordan want to laugh again, bu
t she resisted the impulse with an effort. He d behurt and he was too kind and c
onsiderate to deserve that. You re right, she agreed solemnly. I had asudden attack
of ... of something. Jordan grasped at anything to explain her flight from Seymo
ur themortician. Something that didn t agree with me. I couldn t eat." Her shudde
r was entirely unfeigned. With Seymour, who could eat? Even a cast-iron constitu

tion likehers had its limits. "Listen, I have to drop these at the post office.
I want them to go out first thing in the morning, Jordansaid with deliberate chee
rfulness. She figured if she suddenly turned up engaged, it would look a lot les
ssuspicious if Randall remembered her being excited and sparkly-eyed over someth
ing. And she was. Justthe prospect of putting one over on the bunch of matchmake
rsalong with the possibility of actuallyrelaxing and enjoying the seasonwas enough
to have her doing cartwheels. Can I walk you to your

car?" He indicated for her to precede him and they walked outside together. You w
on t forget next Sunday?Randall insisted. Evidently shewasn t forgiven for not sh
owing up on Thursday. Jordan leaned companionably against her brother s side. I w
on t forget, she assured him. How could Iforget dinner at your place with my favor
ite nephews?" "You say that about all your nephews. And all your nieces, too, Ran
dall pointed out. But he smiled,even if it was somewhat stiffly. She could usual
ly get a little smile out of him, Jordan thought in satisfaction. Unlike Gary, t
he oldest. Hewas a tough nut. Lawrence, the next in age, was probably born laugh
ing. Then there was Theodore, theyoungest of her brothers. He was fairly laid-ba
ck in contrast to the rest, and could usually be counted onto appreciate her ant
ics. He d probably been the one to set her up with Seymour, now that she thought
about it. Either Theodoreor Lawrence. It was the sort of prank they d pull. She
really didn t think Randall was responsible for thatone. Seymour would have giv
en him the willies. "They re all my favorites, Jordan answered his remark with a
mischievous grin. Give my love to yourfamily, and I ll see you on Sunday. She stoo
d on tiptoe to kiss him good-bye and waved as he droveaway. Then she broke her p
revious land speed record for getting to the post office. She was one step close
r topeace on earth. She could even spare some good will towards Single Man." This
year, with any luck at all, Christmas wasn t going to be a humbug. Chapter TwoM
onday Luke was on pins and needles. It was too soon to expect a reply, he told h
imself. She probablyhadn t even got his letter yet. He couldn t expect to hear f
rom her before Wednesday at the earliest. Butthat didn t stop him from waiting i
mpatiently for the mail and digging through it eagerly when it arrived. Even tho
ugh he d told himself not to expect anything, the sudden disappointment when no
replyappeared in the stack of business correspondence was surprisingly sharp. He
was counting on her help,that was all. He wasn t obsessed with a woman he hadn
t even met. Above all, the voice of Jake Marlowwas not ringing in his head with
dire warnings about leaving things too late. He simply dreaded the coming onslau
ght of parties with the inevitable questions about his still being abachelor and
being seated next to women whose only potential suitability as a future mate co
nsisted oftheir having been born with the proper chromosomes. Luke reflected gri
mly that even that could change ifhe stayed single much longer. He d be fending
off advances from men named Maurice or Gavin, who dwink at him and encourage him
toembrace his sexual identity. Luke shuddered. His family was more than capable
of it, too, if they decided he d never married because he wasn tinterested in h
eterosexual monogamy. He hoped again that the mystery woman got his letter. He h
oped

she d found it amusing. Witty. At least intriguing enough to warrant an answer.

He d hoped she d answer it. And soon. By Wednesday morning, he wasn t even prete
nding to be working anymore. He d stared at the samereport for so long he should
have had it memorized, yet he couldn t even concentrate on work, the onething g

uaranteed to absorb his attention and divert his morbid thoughts. When a knock i
nterrupted his musings, his only thought was that Abby, his secretary, was bring
ing in hismail. Luke shot out of his chair and took a step towards the door. It
wasn t Abby. Disappointment drove him to speak without thinking. Oh. It s you." W
endy raised a fair brow at his surly tone. My, what a charming welcome! No wonder
you get somany visitors. Dare I come in?" Luke retreated to his desk and waved
at the chair in front of it in a grudging, silent invitation. "Expecting someone
? She arched an inquiring look at her brother and took in the unusual sight of th
enormally intense, focused, all-business man staring blankly at the report in fr
ont of him as if wonderingwhere it had come from. He looked up at her with the s
ame unseeing expression. What?" She was suspicious, Luke realized. He was acting
strangely. With an effort, he snapped his attentionback to the present and pushe
d the mystery woman and Jake Marlow to the back of his mind. "Yes, he agreed, sin
ce obviously it was the truth. Only he was expecting her to write, not appear in
person. Besides, he figured this could work to his advantage. If he suddenly tur
ned up engaged, hewanted Wendy to be able to remember his distraction. His famil
y knew him too well to buy the charadewithout laying some groundwork. Abby chose
that moment to appear with his morning mail, and Luke shot out of his chair aga
in. "Expecting a letter from Ed McMahon? Abby teased. He gave her a disgruntled l
ook and all but snatched the mail from her. Thank you, Abby. Iam expectingan impo
rtant letter." "That would be the lavender envelope with all the perfume on it..
." That startled him. Perfume? It had to be her. He smiled and the abrupt transfor
mation didn t gounnoticed by either woman. They exchanged thoughtful glances as
he turned back to his desk, and botheagerly waited for an explanation. Uh ... tha
nks, Abby ... that will be all." Abby s smile looked a bit disappointed, but she
acquiesced and left his office. No such luck withWendy, who just crossed her le
gs and settled back comfortably. A sister s special prerogative, hesupposed.

Luke dropped the stack and sorted through until he found the envelope that was
obviously not business.It clearly had no purpose but pleasure, from the feminine
stationary to the musky fragrance it exuded.Fine handwriting graced the outside
. She d written by hand. Personally. That had to be a good sign. Encouraged, Luk
e swiftly tucked the envelope inside the pocket of his discreet gray suit and sq
uared hisshoulders to face Wendy s curiosity. He planted both hands on the cherr
y desk, leaned forward andasked with studied casualness, Is there something I can
do for you?" Wendy smiled winningly back at him. Who s that from?" He put on his
coldest business persona and stared back. Who is what from? His tone dared her to
question him further. Unfortunately, Wendy was fond of dares. The chic blonde le
aned back in her seat and swung one footidly. The letter, she drawled. The perfumed
one. The one you re keeping so romantically over yourheart." Luke dealt with th
at the only way he could think of. He ignored it. He repeated, Is there something
Ican do for you?" Wendy smiled triumphantly. As a matter of fact, there is. You
can bring her along Friday." "Friday? Luke frowned and tried to remember what was
happening Friday. He hoped she didn t meanthis coming Friday. That was a little
soon. He d only just heard from his mysterious single woman. Heneeded time. "Ne
xt Friday, Wendy expounded, but Luke was still in the dark. You remembera little th
ing atAaron s. Your only brother. The day after Thanksgiving." "Right, Luke agree
d, although he didn t remember any such thing. There were always far too many of
these little things scheduled from November to January. He had high hopes that he
and his fabulousfake fiance could manage to avoid several of them, using each oth
er s families as an excuse. A truly cheerful thought. Luke managed to weather th
e rest of the low-level debriefing before Wendy finally accepted that shewasn t
going to get anything more out of him and mercifully left. Alone at last, he hea
ved a sigh of reliefand pulled out his letter. Single Man: Poetry? I m impressed
! As my number-one contender for the position of temporary fianc, I m sendingyou,

absolutely free of obligation, the enclosed questionnaire. There is absolutely

no cost to you (otherthan postage) and all answers will be held in strict confid
ence. Really. (Although I have to remind you thatyou re trusting a person who wa
s desperate enough to place a singles ad in the first place.) Please complete an
d return the questionnaire, and feel free to ask any questions of your own. With
inreason. Although I reserve the right to plead the Fifth. Question One: I m unm
arried because...

a. I hate women b. I have no social graces whatsoever and bathe only as an annu
al ritual c. I just got outon parole d. I have a commitment issue. Also a depend
ency issue. Also a trust/intimacy issue. e. I haven t yet met Ms. So Right I Can
t Believe It. Or even Ms. Close Enough. Question Two: I m willing to lie to my
family because... a. I hate them all and they deserve it b. my neighbor s dog to
ld me to c. why not? d. it sounds like fun e. I don t know of any other way to s
ave my sanity and survive the holidays. Question Three: I m willing to spend my
time filling out this ridiculous questionnaire because... a. my therapist recomm
ended that I stay busy, especially during the holiday season b. I don t have a j
obc. I don t have a life d. I don t know e. Single Woman, you fascinate me and I
d do a lot more than fill outa silly questionnaire for you Question Four: What
I really like to do for fun is... a. go bowling b. play the accordion c. attend
Star Trek conventions dressed as my favorite character d.wax my car e. shower si
ngle women with flowers and poetry I ll bet you ve noticed a distinct pattern he
re, haven t you? I eagerly await your reply. Yours Most Untruly, Single Woman Lu
ke smiled more than once reading her pert answers that revealed as much about he
r as she claimed toask about him. Thee s definitely had it, in this case. The o
bviously slanted responses disqualified the firstfour and left the last as her l
ess than subtle preference. She didn t like bowling, women haters or psychobabbl
ers. She all but admitted to preferring bribery andflattery. Too bad her post of
fice box wouldn t accommodate a floral delivery. Otherwise he could earnsome ext
ra points with her and speed up the process that way. Thanksgiving was coming. A
nd that little thing at his brother s. If he didn t have someone to fend off hisfa
mily by then, Candy would start to look like a real candidate for Ms. Right. The
re had to be a way to get through the letter-writing stage and meet her in perso
n. Maybe, Lukemused, he should be as blatant in his preferences as she was. Mayb
e he should come right out and askher to cut to the chase. Single Woman: I would
have sent flowers, but the florist wouldn t deliver to a post office box. I don
t talk to myneighbor s dog, hate my family, or use the wrong fork at dinner. I
m convinced I m the right one for you,but how can I convince you only through an
onymous letters? Since you might have some real concerns about meeting me for th
e first time, I suggest that you choosethe time and a public place you d feel co
mfortable in. Also, I m revealing my identity so you can

investigate me for any criminal history I might potentially be hiding. I m Luke

Foster, 32, never married. I own a consulting business called Solid Solutions. Y
ou may haveheard of it. I need you because I have an extended family with an unw
arranted and disturbing interest inseeing me paired off, and apparently anything
female qualifies. Make me your stand-in and I ll send you flowers every day. Me
et me. The sooner the better. I m waiting to hear from you. Luke * * * *His bold
, slashing signature told Jordan that here was a man who left his mark. Luke Fos
ter? The localfinancial expert featured in magazines and newspapers?The Luke Fos

ter neededher? Well, it just went to show that money didn t solve everything. He
had family problems, too. Jordan glanced back over the letter and grinned. She
might have heard of his business? He did have asense of humor. She d have to liv
e in a cave not to have heard of it. No matter what opinion her brothersheld, sh
e did not live in a cave. Apparently, he was willing to resort to bribery to per
suade her. He d given her the advantage of retaininganonymity while he revealed
himself, and of choosing the time and place if she even chose to meet him.Only a
very confident man would give her the upper hand like that. Or a very chivalrou
s one. Maybe her Single Man was the last rescuing knight in existence. Whatever, h
e was certainly worth meeting. There were plenty of respectable cafes and coffee
shops.Any one of those would have people there at all hours. As good a meeting
place as any, Jordan figured. She really didn t have anything to lose by showing
up to check him out. He could hardly be worse thanSeymour. And if, by some frea
k of chance, he was a total write-off, she wouldn t be any worse off fortrying.
Her mind made up, Jordan glanced at the clock. She could get a reply to the post
office by five, andthere was a good chance he d get it the next day. Saturday a
t the latest. So she should arrange to meethim on Sunday. If nothing else, she d
have an excuse to escape from Randall s get-together in case her dementedbrothe
rs had another surprise waiting for her. Luke: I suppose if we re engaged, I can
t call you Mr. Foster, can I? I appreciate your willingness to meet meat my con
venience. Meet me at the cafe on Battery Street, Sunday afternoon at four. You w
on t be able to miss me. Jordan * * * *

"You won t be able to miss me. Luke found himself wondering what she meant by tha
t. It sounded ominous. There were many ways he could think of that would make a
person impossible to miss, and few of themwere good. He doubted she d be stunnin
gly beautiful. Beautiful women collected men as a hobby. She dhave a hundred vol
unteers without having to place an ad. But then, she might say the same of him.
His problem wasn t lack of feminine attention, but in fact theopposite. For the
first time, Luke wondered if that was her problem, too. For some reason the thou
ght disturbed him and repeatedly intruded as he attempted to focus on amarketing
analysis for a new client. It was simply the natural desire to solve a puzzle,
he told himself. Jordan represented a mystery. Sundayhe d meet her and the myste
ry would be solved. He d have his holiday conspirator secured. If he ran intoJak
e Marlow again, he d be safe from that quarter, too. Sunday couldn t come soon e
nough. When it finally did, Luke settled at a small table that offered a clear v
iew of the door and waited. She dsaid he couldn t miss her. A woman came in, bru
shing stray snowflakes from her hair and he eyed hercarefully. Nothing distincti
ve about her. Still he wondereduntil she joined a group of friends at anothertabl
e. Well, he was early. She had another fifteen minutes. Luke sipped meditatively
at his hazelnut coffee andcontinued to keep watch on the comings and goings at
the popular cafe. At least she d chosen a placewith an interesting view. Lake Ch
amplain was a beautiful sight in the large window as snowflakes swirled. Caught
up in the scenery, the traffic through the cafe door and his private musings con
cerning the identityand appearance of the mysterious Jordan, he still couldn t f
ail to notice the next person who came in. She was dressed in black from head to
toe. A long black scarf covered her hair and the ends trailedcarelessly down he
r back. She wore a heavy black cape that came to her knees, under which blackjea
ns were visible down to where they tucked into black leather half-boots. The wom
an paused inside the door and her clear gray eyes, visible to Luke even at this
distance,wandered over the cafe patrons for a moment. She casually unwound her s
carf and draped the ends overher shoulders, revealing white-blond hair cut spiky
short. Her cool gaze continued over the tables andpatrons and came to rest on L
uke. He held his breath. She smiledan elfin expression that lit her composed feat
ures with mischiefand strolled confidentlytowards him. He stood politely as she r
eached his table. He towered over her and wondered if maybe he should havestayed
seated. He didn t want to intimidate her. But apparently the woman in black was

n t easilyintimidated. She tilted her head back to meet him eye to eye and grinn
ed again.

"Luke?" She had a husky contralto voice, he noted with approval. If I wasn t, I
d change my name, Lukeanswered. She laughed and he thought she looked more sprite
-like than ever. Maybe it was her pale coloring. Orthe charming slightly pointed
chin, pale pink Cupid s bow mouth and deep dimples. Or her diminutivesize. She
looked very much like one of the little people come to charm him. "Flattery will
get you everywhere, she assured him and seated herself before he could move to a
ssisther. Hello, Luke. I m Jordan Christian." Airily she waved one slender hand t
o indicate the seat across from her as if she thought he was waitingfor her perm
ission to sit in her presence. Come to think of it, maybe he had been. Something
about hercarriage made Luke think of the queen of the fairies. She continued bl
ithely, Your fiance. As he seated himself across from her, Jordan considered Lukewi
th a sense of ever-growing jubilation. He was absolutely perfect. Big and macholooking. Just the type to impress her brothers with his manlyability to defend h
er delicate person, since they imagined she needed alot of defending ... merely
becauseshe managed to get herself into the occasional scrape. Nothing she couldn
t handle herself. But of coursebig brothers never saw it that way. He was also
very appealing in a way totally atypical of stereotyped movie-star good looks. H
is broadchest and wide shoulders would appeal to most women with a pulse and he
had the face of a ratherbattered knight. Definitely, he scored high on sex appea
l, if not pure aesthetics. He had nice eyes, too. Jordan firmly believed that ey
es revealed a great deal about a person s character.His were light blue and stea
dy. It made her feel she could depend on him, in spite of his ruggedappearance t
hat might otherwise be alarming. And even Randall, the accountant, couldn t comp
lain about his secure, solid financial prospects. Yes, in every way he was just
the kind of man her brothers would love to have her bring home for theirinspecti
on. She d just known it was going to work out perfectly. Their waiter appeared a
nd Jordan dropped her eyes to the cup and saucer in front of Luke. What sthat?" "
Hazelnut. He had a low, rumbling voice that went well with his battle-worn face.
Jordan wondered ifhe d ever been a cowboy, or a fighter. Something about him rem
inded her of John Wayne in The QuietMan." She turned her smile on the waiter. I ll
have the same. Turning back to Luke, she added, I lovehazelnut." He gifted her wi
th a slow smile that lit his blue eyes with warmth. Something else we have in com
mon." She nodded and felt a bone-deep conviction that this was absolutelyright .
He was the man to protecther from the dentists, undertakers and lawyers of her
nightmares.

Nothing about him was off-putting or abrasive. She could envision spending the
next two months in hiscompany without suffering the agonies of the damned. And b
est of all, as the man who d been namedBurlington s most eligible bachelor, she
didn t have to worry about him getting serious on her or takingadvantage of the
enforced intimacy due to their unusual circumstances. He wasn t desperate for fe
malecompanionship. Which made her wonder why he didn t have a line of volunteers
to aid and abet him if he wanted to keephis family off his back. "So tell me, L
uke, she began lightly, what s a nice guy like you doing in a place like this?" He
gazed back at her steadily. I might ask you the same question." She grinned, und
eterred. I asked you first." He squared his wide shoulders and braced his hands a
gainst the table top. I believe I told you theanswer to that. I have a business t

hat takes most of my time and energy. I also have a large family whothink their
sole purpose here on earth is to find me a wife. That might not be so bad except
for theshallwe sayunusualcandidates they come up with." Wry amusement in his eyes
told Jordan what an understatement that was. At least you ve never beenstuck wit
h an undertaker, have you? Jordan challenged. She was still indignant over that o
ne and itshowed. He looked surprised. Therewere worse things than Cotton Candy,
he decided. No, I can t say I veever suffered that. No wonder the poor woman had r
esorted to running an ad. "And before that was the sadistic, depressing and egot
istical dentist who followed me on a cruise to theBahamas. Then there was the di
vorce attorney who wanted me to sign a prenuptial agreement on our firstdate." J
ordan recited her list of grievances moodily and drank some hazelnut coffee to e
ase the pain. Theundertaker was the last straw. I was supposed to have dinner wit
h him. Just imagine itdinner with anundertaker, talking about death and dying." L
uke tried not to laugh at her melodramatic recounting. And failed. She frowned a
t him. It s unkind to laugh at another person s misery. Anyway, now you see why I
needyou. She reached forward and took one of his broad hands to emphasize her po
int. I do need you,Luke. I m at the end of my rope. If you can t pull off this ch
arade with me, I m going to change my nameand move to Mexico." There was nothing
sadder than a depressed pixie, Luke decided as he took in the defeated slump of
herfragile shoulders. He felt a sudden surge of resentment for the thoughtless,
cruel people responsible forher misery. He wanted to find them and flag their b
ookkeeping systems for an IRS audit. He turned his hand palm side up to hold her
small one comfortingly. That s what fiancs are for, heassured her. She brightened
magically at his words and Luke felt rewarded. Oh, Luke, that s wonderful. I can
t tell

you how much this means. I love my brothers, but really, sometimes I wonder if t
hey re firing on allcylinders." So her brothers were the villains. Luke filed th
at information away for future reference. "They have this fixation about getting
me married off, she continued. They think I need a keeper." There Luke thought he
might see eye to eye with them. She was so small. So easily hurt. She looked as
if a good gust of wind coming in off the lake would sweep her away, never to be
seen again. Maybe shedidn t need a keeper, but she certainly needed a fianc. She
needed him. Luke drew her out with the ease of a man accustomed to getting infor
mation from even unwilling sourcesas he questioned her about herself. She seemed
blithely content to answer. He learned that she livedalone. That she was an orp
han and that her four older brothers had taken on the job of raising her. Thatsh
e earned a living writing greeting cards. That piece of information surprised hi
m, and she saw his unguarded reaction. She laughed merrily. "I always wondered w
ho wrote those, he admitted. "Now you know. Her gray eyes sparkled. People like me,
hunched over desks and computerkeyboards, yelling out punch lines to the walls
to find out how they sound." "Do you actually do that?" "Talk out loud? Sure, so
metimes. Cards usually get read out loud and things that look good don t alwayss
ound right. And constantly coming up with new and different ways to say the same
thing is enough tomake anybody talk to themselves. Cheerful candor and a careles
s shrug finished that admission. Jordan slid comfortably low in the booth and su
mmed up her abbreviated life story. So that s about it.I m a decent, law-abiding,
productive member of society. I don t have anything against marriage, but I mco
ntent to wait for the right person and I m tired of fending off the wrong ones.
I want a rest. And that swhere you come in. She gave him another beatific grin. "
I m glad, Luke answered soberly. Are you free on Friday? My brother Aaron is havin
g this thing ." She nodded. And what about Thursday? She pondered the possibilities
. You know, this could workto our advantage. If we time it right, we can eat twic
e and miss all the dish-washing. The more shethought about it, the more advantage
s Jordan could see. And we can duck out of both places if theinterrogation gets t

oo hot, using the other family as an excuse. A light of fanatical glee lit her gr
ay eyes. Luke could see her point. It was beautiful. No doubt Wendy would have a
number of awkwardquestions lined up and waiting. She d had time to prepare. And
Aaron and Cassiehis othersisterwould be right behind her, if his parents didn t c
laim seniority. He hadn t even considered theuncles and cousins and assorted oth
ers, yet, either. A prearranged escape route seemed prudent, indeed. He nodded h
is agreement with her assessment of the situation. I ll need your number and dire
ctions to

your house, he reminded her. You might also make some notes for me. Your birthday.
Your brothersnames. That sort of thing." Jordan rummaged through her shoulder ba
g. As a matter of fact, I did write down a few things for you.Also I came up with
a pretty good story to explain our whirlwind courtship." "You did? She was thoro
ugh, Luke thought in approval. "Uh huh. How about thiswe met at the post office.
I m always running in there to send my submissionsoff, and you had a priority le
tter to pick up. Your secretary had the flu. The best fictions are the mostbelie
vable. The closest to the truth, Jordan added in explanation. We did meet through
the post office... in a way. "Then we ran into each other a few other times, sta
rted exchanging small talk, and then one thing led toanother. We started meeting
purposely and lingering." Luke could almost believe it had happened just like t
hat. He could just imagine it, her elfin face catchinghis attention as he stood
in the mail line, her fey eyes catching his and exchanging a telling look. Hergr
aceful, light walk would draw his eyes after her as she left and he d be intrigu
ed by the petite pixie. He d come back, purposely hoping to catch her again. Som
ething about her seemed so elusive. She wasjust out of reach, tantalizingly near
. He d wait for her, and hope to catch one of her innocent smiles thathe already
could tell meant trouble. He wouldn t be able to resist persuading her to linge
r and exchange more than a casualhello . He d drawher into a conversation that w
ould capture her agile mind and lure her into his offer to continue overcappucci
no. Eventually she would agree. With that one, slim thread, he d draw her closer
and weave her into thefabric of his life. He d have to work quickly, or she d e
scape his silken snare. He d propose before shecould brace for it. He d offer he
r any terms she wanted. She wouldn t be able to resist. And if she did,he d wear
her down in the sweetest way. He wouldn t rest from the first fleeting contact
until his ring rested on her slender finger. Mentally, Luke cleared his head. Th
is imagination stuff was dangerous. He blamed Jake for plantingideas about rearr
anging his priorities, and putting the energy he d funneled into his business in
to an equallysatisfying personal life. But the mental lapse had reminded him of
something vital. I need to know your ring size. Without anengagement ring, they l
l see through us in a heartbeat." She looked impressed. A man with a mind for det
ail. Wonderful. And you re absolutely right. But don tworry, I should be able to
find something in a pawn shop." Luke braced his hands flat on the table and lea
ned forward, set for a fight. No fiance of mine is goingto buy her own ring, much
less from a pawn shop. I ll get the ring. You just tell me your size. His hard,fl
at voice warned her not to argue. Jordan s charming face took on a decidedly stu
bborn, mutinous expression. Size fivebut don t youthink that s going a little over
board?"

He d overreacted, of course. Luke drew a slow breath and searched for an explan
ation. I haveappearances to maintain. It wouldn t look right. Don t worry, the mo

ney isn t a problem and I won t loseanything on the deal." "Oh. She brightened ag
ain. Right. I forgot. Itwould look funny if your fiance didn t have the Rock ofGib
raltar on her finger, wouldn t it? Sorry, Luke. And I see your point; it s not l
ike it s going anywhere.Of course you ll get it back. Then she frowned. Maybe you
should insure it, though. I might lose it. Andthen I d feel terrible." Luke star
ed steadily back, outwardly calm while inwardly he reeled from her words. She ha
dn t even puthis ring on and already she was giving it back. She wouldn t even t
hink enough about it to keep fromlosing it. It shouldn t have bothered him. It s
houldn t have hit him where it hurtin his masculine pride. It shouldn thave made
him worry that this was proof that he d already left matters of the heart too la
te. It shouldn thave ... but it did. He decided he was on thin ice and it was be
st to stick to the facts for now. Fine. I ll get the ring. I llpick you up at you
r place on Thursday. What time are you expected for dinner?" "Around two." Luke
nodded brusquely. Then I ll be there at one-thirty to go over anything last minut
e we might needto cover. He slid a business card over to her. If you have any ques
tions or need anything, call me. Afterwe get through your family, we ll go deal
with mine. Probably from around six to ten." He didn t miss her look of dismay.
"We might be able to duck out sooner, both ways, he placated. "We should have a s
ignal. A code word, to tell each other we re drowning and need to be rescued,Jord
an mused out loud. She tapped one fingertip on the tabletop for a moment. Then s
he beamed. Ihave it. Dickens. What do you think?" He wondered where the dickens h
e d lost control of this entire crazy situation. However, it was oddlyfitting. Pe
rfect." Jordan unwound herself from the booth and stood. Until Thursday, then. Gra
y eyes twinkled at him.The black scarf swathed her head again, making her look l
ike a movie star incognito, only without thesunglasses. With a final conspirator
ial wink, the black fairy vanished into the gathering twilight. Luke stood, star
ing numbly after her for secondsor possibly hours. When he looked back down at th
echeck, he saw that she d had the effrontery to pay the tab. It didn t bode well
, as the starting point of their unconventional relationship. For a man who reli
ed onsolid facts and carefully kept records, it was particularly disturbing. He
didn t think she d translate to anykind of graph or chart. None of his reliable
methods could predict what she might do next. For a man who was always solidly i
n control and securely entrenched, it definitely carried disquietingimplications
.

Still, Luke was actually looking forward to Thanksgiving. With quiet satisfacti
on he decided that hisfamily deserved everything Jordan would give them. Chapter
ThreeBright and early Monday morning, Jordan tapped out the number from the car
d Luke had given her. Itwas only when the phone started to ring that she realize
d she should know his secretary s name, anddidn t. Oops. One small detail overlo
oked. She could only hope that the woman would follow standardbusiness phone eti
quette and identify herself when she answered. "Good morning. Solid Solutions. T
his is Abby. May I help you?" Yes!Jordan did a little victory dance that her smo
oth speaking voice didn t betray. Yes, Abby, I hopeso. This is Jordan. I need to
speak with Luke; is he in?" A slight pause followed, as the unknown Abby no doub
t tried to figure out who Jordan was and if shewas supposed to recognize the name.
Luke probably hadn t informed his secretary yet. They were goingto drop the bom
b on Thursday. "Oh, yes, Abby replied with a distinctly warmer tone to her voice.
Ilove your perfume. Luke s onanother line, but I ll buzz him for you." "Okay, th
anks. Jordan waited, slowly stretching her arms over her head and leaning to the
far side bothways, with the phone cradled between her shoulder and cheek. "Jorda
n?" Was it her active imagination, or did he sound pleased to hear from her? She
couldn t resist vamping alittle. Hello, handsome. Are we alone?" He made a faint
sound, as if he d started to choke on something. No. We re not." "Darling, tell
me we aren t on a speaker phone. I hate them." "We aren t, he assured her in a st

rangled voice. "Oh. Party line?" "No." Jordan thought. Then your secretary s in t
he room?" "No." Hmm, a tough one. Someone s in your office... Inspiration struck o
nce, then twice. Some familymember who just happened to drop in to grill you."

"I admire your intuitiveness. Humor sounded dryly through the line. "Never fear,
your fiance will ride to your rescue at the drop of a hat. Only it occurred to m
e that youwouldn t knowwhere to drop your hat because I neglected to leave the i
nformation with you. Jordanfigured circumstances being what they were, he d be to
o relieved at the present time to hold a grudge. "There is that." Whew. He evens
ounded like John Wayne in The Quiet Man." "I can t fax it to you right now, can I
? It would look suspicious." "No. Luke hesitated only a second. But I have a bette
r idea. Can you meet me for lunch?" "For the man who s saving me from Seymour th
e undertaker, no price is too high, no sacrifice too great,Jordan swore fervently
. Where do you want to meet?" Then he actually topped her for bold moves. Not eas
y to do. "No, darling. Meet me at my office. We ll go shopping for the ring toge
ther. After you left last night, Irealized you were right about that, and I was
being a bit high-handed." "I don t believe for a minute that you actually mean t
hat. Jordan sniffed in mock derision. Youwerebeing high-handed. But considering my
options, I m willing to overlook it. Nice touch, thoughshe sprobably bought it h
ook, line and sinker, whoever she is." "Darling, of course I mean it." Oh, sure.
Jordan rolled her eyes, but unfortunately he couldn t personally appreciate the
effect. "At twelve-thirty? he continued smoothlysomewhat like a steamroller movin
g steadily ahead. I lookforward to it. Then he added the clincher. I m glad you cal
led. I didn t like the way we left things lastnight. I sent you flowers. Did you
get them?" "Never tease a woman about something really important like flowers, J
ordan huffed. Of course I didn tget them, because you didn t send them. You were
too busy being high-handed. And even if you weren t,you wouldn t know where to s
end them to, remember?" Luke laughed. A very enjoyable sound. Jordan didn t thin
k she d heard him laugh before. I have myways, darling. I ll see you at twelve-th
irty." Then he hung up. Jordan stared in disbelief at the receiver in her hand.
How dare he hang up on her? Was that any way totreat a fiance? The doorbell inter
rupted her fit of pique and she banged the phone down to answer it. Moments late
r,she was smiling again. He hadn t been teasing about the flowers. And hedid hav
e his ways." Jordan eyed the bouquet of calla lilies and wondered where he d gott
en them from. The graceful whiteflowers were her favorite, a fact she was certai
n she hadn t mentioned. Maybe he had a healthy dash of

intuitiveness himself. Her fianc was a man of many talents. It took an unusual ma
n to surprise Jordan. The thought was unsettling. The man who could out-do her f
or unpredictability was a man to bereckoned with. It occurred to Jordan that she
might have simply traded one problem for another. No, she was being ridiculous.
He was far preferable to Seymour, Mitchell, Gaston, Winston, Nortonand company.
If for no other reason than his name. Her brothers seemed to share a bizarre pe
nchant forchoosing ludicrously inappropriate men with names no loving mother wou
ld choose. She hoped it wouldn t put them off Luke. Maybe he had a really dreadf
ul middle name he could use, orLuke was short for something else. That distracted
her from her flash of trepidation and Jordan started paging through a book of na
mes.That led to an idea for a series of cards, and she was soon scribbling away,
Luke and the origins of hisname forgotten entirely. When she put down her pen t
o stretch her aching shoulders, Jordan caught sight of the clock and let outa sh

riek of horror. Fortunately, she was a pro at the art of the quick change. As sh
e hurled her sweats to the floor, hersweater was already sliding down over her h
ead. Knit leggings barely preceded baggy socks andhalf-boots. She wet her hands
and fluffed up her hair, grabbed pink lipstick to touch up with on the wayand co
llected cape, pocketbook with notes still inside, and car keys in a miniature wh
irlwind. She d make it. Just barely ... but she d make it. She flew out the door
and her faithful little car came alive on command. Ten minutes later a composed
,serene Jordan stood outside the impressive office door. A surreptitious glance
revealed no forgottenitems of clothing, no seams declaring an item donned inside
-out, although she d done it before andpretended it was a fashion statement. Get
ting away with almost anything depended on a shameless ability to lie on command
and, better still,believe it. Also it helped that she seemed to lack the abilit
y to blush. But she did owe it to Luke to at leastappear normal. Her stylish boo
ts were laced and on the proper feet. Her white leggings and matching long sweat
er in aslightly flared tunic style made a nice contrast to the black cape that h
ung open on her shoulders.Deciding a dramatic cape might be a bit much for busin
ess types, she removed it and slung it over onearm. There. All in white now, she
looked as innocent and pure as the driven snow. Jordan took a breath, donned a
smile and swept inside the quietly plush office as if she had alwaysbelonged the
re. She would do what she always did when in a tight spotcharm the socks off ofev
erybody. Starting with the woman behind the front desk who must be Abby. Unless
it was a much larger officethan she d realized. "Hello, Jordan said and turned up
the wattage on her smile. A friendly smile in return from the perfectlymade-up
face beneath the sleek chestnut bob at the front desk convinced her she was off
to a good start.

Following her instincts, Jordan continued brightly, You must be Abby. You know,
Luke made yousound like such a paragon, I ve been half afraid to meet you." The
sweet confession was just the right touch. Abby was looking more like a person a
nd less like apolished executive assistant with every word. "Luke is very impres
sed by things like color-coded files, Abby responded cheekily, dismissing the lab
elofparagon even as she warmed to the compliment. You must be Jordan. It s nice t
o meet you." "Thank you. Jordan dimpled charmingly. Is Luke with someone right now
?" "Yes, a masculine voice replied from somewhere off to her left. Jordan turned
to see her newly acquired fake fianc moving towards her in a straight-arrow fashi
on thatshe thought was probably typical of him. His blue eyes focused solidly on
her and as he reached her andtook her hands in his, his eyes steadily continued
to penetrate into hers as if he was trying to telegraphsome silent message to h
er. Whatever it was, Jordan wasn t getting it. He wasn t using the right mental
wave-length, evidently. Or,possibly, he simply wanted her to stand and gaze long
ingly into his eyes for the benefit of whoever mightbe present. Simple enough. J
ordan gave it her all, a performance worthy of an Oscar at the very least as she
lookedup adoringly at Luke. All it took was the shuddering thought of spending
the holidays with Seymour themortician to focus her energies on adoring Luke. Th
is was her rescuer from truly deadly conversationalgambits. Thanks to him, she w
ouldn t spend the holidays composing her own epitaph under the dreary,morbid tut
elage of a mortician suitor. Luke wondered how she managed to look so fascinatin
g in black and equally captivating in white. Shewas a vision in soft angora that
nearly matched her white-blond hair. She d gone from the black fairy tothe Snow
Queen overnight. He wondered how many other looks she had. He wondered if he d
ever see all the sides of her mercurialpersonality. He wondered, eventually, wha
t she must be thinking when he just kept looking at her. Heshould say something.
"You look beautiful in white." At his compliment, Jordan did her best to look d
emurely bridal. I hope I will, she teased, referring tothe fictitious upcoming nup
tials. She thought that was a good touch on his part. He looked and sounded just

like a smitten groom-to-be,fantasizing about his bride. Now for whose benefit w
ere they putting on this little show? She could play the role better if she hads
ome inkling as to the nature of the audience. Jordan tried to telegraph the ques
tion back to him, butagain the wave-length didn t seem to be working. They reall
y needed to work out some more signals, shedecided. A faintly amused ahem was Jord
an s first audience response. She turned her head in the direction of

the sound, and didn t have to fake her consternation. The woman waiting to be in
troduced to her had tobe his mother. The age, the family resemblance, and the ma
ternal stance of inspection gave it clearlyaway. Jordan turned horrified gray ey
es on her silent conspirator. Tell me this isn t your mother, she hissed,not even
trying to avoid being overheard. "I m afraid I can t, Luke replied. He didn t eve
n have the grace to look abashed. Instead he looked sortof harried, Jordan reali
zed. Sort of in need of rescue. Maybe contending with four brothersplus spouseswas
a piece of cake compared to a whole clan.He had her sympathy. Also her marvelou
s acting talents, which she hoped he appreciated. She let out a faint moan of de
spair and buried her face in his suit jacket. I can t believe it. How couldyou do
this to me? The accusing question ended with her wounded face lifted to his. Jor
dan turnedstricken eyes to his mother. I can t believe he let me meet you looking
like this. Oh, dear. This isn t howI wanted it to go. I was going to be all dig
nified so you d be impressed." She managed to stop short of wringing her hands.
That would have been going too far, and although sheplayed it right up to the ed
ge, she resisted the temptation to step over. Luke s mother, meanwhile, visibly
went from reserved inspection to motherly sympathy. No doubt shewas recalling he
r own trepidation about meeting her future mother-in-law and feeling Jordan s pa
in. If they really were engaged, Jordan thought in satisfaction, Luke would be i
n trouble now. She d have hismother on her side. In fact, the woman proceeded to
turn an accusing look on Luke. "Oh, Luke, you ve embarrassed this sweet little
thing. Really, I thought I raised you to have bettermanners." Luke was dumbfound
ed. How had the wicked fairy done it? His mother had insisted on lingering andan
noying him, thanks to Wendy s rumor mongering about perfumed love letters. He d
thought Jordan stimely phone call would get him off the hook. Instead, his mothe
r had decided she had to get a look atthe mysterious fiance before the rest of th
e family met her on Thanksgiving. And now he was the bad guy?Unfair , he protest
ed silently. His mother was now looking at him as if he d inflicted terrible suf
fering on Jordan s frail, fragile shoulders.Somewhat, he realized in dawning hor
ror, like his reaction to her description of her fraternal tormentors.The obviou
s conclusion floored him. She d given him a snow job fit to open a ski season. A
nd he d fallen for it. She might be small, Luke thought, but she certainly wasn
t helpless. In fact, if she wasn t his ally, shewould be downright frightening.
Devious wasn t the word for her. No, it fell far short of describing her slipper
y, wily ways. If she everturned to a life of crime, Luke was certain she d make
a fortune pulling off con games and never beingcaught. Although if she was caugh
t, no officer would have the heart to arrest her and no judge or jurywould ever
convict her.

He was impressed. He d had no idea he was getting a true professional for his h
oliday hoax. Judging byhis normally reserved mother s reaction, Jordan would be
firmly embraced by the family. A cheerfulwarmth rose slowly and settled somewher
e in the vicinity of his heart. He was really going to get awaywith it. The leas

t he could do, he supposed in resignation, was to take the fall and look more or
less contrite forsubjecting Jordan to his mother unprepared. What would a real
fianc do? He drew her into his embrace and wrapped one arm securely around her sl
ight form. Now, darling,don t worry. How could she help falling for you as fast a
s I did? Luke teased the shameless little liar. Jordan looked pensive. But that s
just it, Luke. It all happened so suddenly. What are they going tothink?" "They
ll think you re an angel sent from heaven, Margaret Foster interjected. Truly. We
had nearlygiven up hope that Luke would ever settle down. She came closer to hug
Jordan. Welcome to thefamily, dear. I m so pleased. She kissed Luke s cheek in a c
ongratulatory salute. Now I have to begoing. I ll look forward to seeing you both
on Thursday. With a final approving smile, she exited Luke soffices. "And we sho
uld go, too. Luke neatly sealed their escape as he led a very willing Jordan towa
rds thedoor. If anyone calls for me, Abby, I ll be back around two." With a parti
ng wave and smile to Abby, Jordan let Luke pull her along. Once they were safely
out ofsight and hearing, she let out a long gasp of relief and sagged against h
is convenient support. "Whew. That was a close one. Yourmother , of all people!
Still, for having to improvise, I think we didpretty well. What do you think? Jor
dan went from consternation to exhilaration in a single conversationalbound and
waited patiently for Luke to catch up with her. He glanced down at her and gave
her a rueful look. I don t know if I should spank you or thank you." Jordan s eye
s twinkled. Thank me. It s much more fun. Besides, I think you should be grateful
. Didn t Ijust rescue you from nagging and haranguing, not to mention any furthe
r potential matchmaking she mighthave had up her sleeve?" Airily, she pointed ou
t her justification for lying to a dear woman whose only crime lay in wanting to
seeher son happily married. After all, she was only keeping her side of their b
argain. And they wouldn t havebeen driven to it in the first place if their fami
lies would simply listen to reason. Jordan might sympathize,but she and Luke wer
e only acting out of a sense of self-preservation. "True, he agreed, shortening h
is stride to accommodate hers, since she was nearly running along besidehim. You
did rescue me, and in return I m not only rescuing you but keeping my promise to
send youflowers every day." "Hey, how did youdo that? Jordan demanded, rememberi
ng his unexpected maneuver. "I didn t think there could be many Jordan Christian
s in Burlington. I found you in the directory. Then Icalled a florist and asked
if they d ever delivered to that address. They had, and I just took a chance tha
tyou liked calla lilies. His explanation sounded businesslike, but actually Luke
was rather proud of hisdetective work. He thought he d scored a few points for p
erseverance as well as delivering superior

fianc service. He silently dared her to find a real fianc who could compete. And h
e was about to buy her a ring to diefor. He hadn t met the pixie he couldn t imp
ress. She d like the ring and she wouldn t talk about losing it,either. And she
wouldn t be giving it back before she even put it on. Once she saw it, she d cry
beforeshe d be willing to give it up. Luke didn t think the minx cried oftenunle
ss she was in danger of not getting her way. Then he had nodoubt that she could
turn on a stream of tears to compete with Niagara Falls, complete with charmingl
ittle hiccups. She d be one of those women who didn t look blotchy in a fit of t
ears. No, Jordan cryingwould be a sight of feminine distress that would cut to t
he heart of any right-thinking male. Then Jordan would twist her victim around h
er little finger as she accepted a hankie and dabbed at thecrystal drops sparkli
ng like dew on her pink cheeks and adding luminescence to her gray eyes. He coul
dalmost see it. In fact, he made a mental note to keep a handkerchief on hand fo
r the day she tried thatstunt on him. He wasn t an easy man to fool. She d done
it once, but she wouldn t do it twice. He was onto her littlebag of fairy tricks
. "Why do you do it? Luke inquired as he directed her to his sedan. She gave him
a look of startled innocence that he probably would have fallen for a day earlie

r. Dowhat?" "You not only had my mother believing you were my fiance, you had her
so fooled with your helplessact that she jumped on me for upsetting you. Come to
think of it, his mother wasn t easy to pull one overon, either. He d never manag
ed to get away with it as a child. She looked hurt. I was doing what I agreed to
do. Under very difficult circumstances, I might add. Iwas supposed to have three
more days to prepare. I had to just wing it." Luke was beginning to suspect she
did it because she couldn t help herself. Perhaps his temporary fauxfiance was a
compulsive liar. As if reading his thoughts, she sighed and threw her hands up.
All right, you want to know why? I ll tellyou why. Four big brothers, that s why
. How else am I supposed to compete? Look at me, Luke. Doyou really think I can
negotiate from an equal position with four hulking brutes? No, of course I can t
. I mreduced to humiliating myself by pleading helplessness." Her dejection at b
eing forced to play a demeaning role looked entirely convincing. So much so that
Lukewas forced to reconsider his harsh judgment of her. He had to concede that
he didn t know what it waslike to be in her small shoes. He used his size to int
imidate his competition. Could he really blame her forusing hers to gain sympath
y? It seemed uncomfortably hypocritical put that way. And she was correct. She d
done it for his benefit, and he wasn t exactly showering her with gratitude.Luk
e mentally added another carat to the ring they were shopping for. He patted her
hand comfortingly. Well, whatever your reasons, you do it very well. You won t h
ave anyproblem meeting the rest of my family."

She brightened at his praise. I did do a good job, didn t I? The stage lost a re
al star when I went intothe greeting card business instead. Hollywood, eat your
heart out!" Her moods changed faster than her ever-shifting appearance. Whatever
else the coming holidays had instore, Luke was smugly confident thatboredom was
one problem he wouldn t be struggling with. Jordan was deceitful, infuriating,
and always one step ahead on her nimble feet, but she wasn t sugary,grasping or
dull. Besides, Luke thought he was one man she d find it hard to dance her way a
round. Notonly was he on to her tricks, he had her using them for his benefit. Y
es, he had an advantage over all the other poor males she d had at her mercy. In
fact, he wonderedhow she d failed to deal with the divorce attorney, the dentis
t and the undertaker, considering her talents. He decided to ask. For an answer,
he got a disgusted look. "I know how to turn on the charm, Luke, but not how to
drive away the un-suitables. Think about it. If Icharmed them into wanting to d
o anything I asked, they d hardly agree when I asked them to leave, nowwould the
y? Jordan asked reasonably. No, they wouldn t. Just the opposite, in fact. They d
be certainthat deep down inside my frivolous head lurked an undying devotion to
the big lunks. I knowbecause Iwas foolish enough to try it with Norton." "Norton?
" "The insurance broker. I didn t mention Norton? Maybe my subconscious was tryi
ng to block out thehorror. Jordan shuddered. Anyway, Luke, trust mebeing charming a
nd helpless makes a man likeNorton believe that I will eventually break down and
marry him because I m too fluff-headed to know myown mind. He still shows up fr
om time to time to laugh in my face when I tell him to go away. It s enoughto ma
ke a woman of steel crack wide open." Luke laughed at her melodramatic expressio
n of despair. Well, as of now, Norton will have to take youseriously. He ll find
himself dealing with me if he doesn t, he assured her. Now let s go pick out anapp
ropriate rock." Jordan gave him a look that would have melted granite. My hero. I
ll gladly leave Norton in your bigand capable hands." Her playful act didn t di
minish the warm feeling Luke got from her words. He knew she was sincere. Hereal
ly was acting the hero on her behalf. And Jordan feeling grateful was enough to
make a man want toslay dragons, much less buy a diamond ring. Chapter FourThanks
giving Day found Jordan pacing in a circle, chanting names. There were somany of
them. And somany tricky little details. Fortunately, she could probably fluff a
few without giving anything away. Shefigured any real fiance would be nervous an

d prone to forget things when meeting the whole family forthe first time. Still,
she wanted to keep it straight as much as humanly possible. She held the threeby-five card that contained her notes behind her back as she tried to remember

Luke s parents names. Margaret and ... and ... Jordan sighed and took a peek at t
he card. That broughtthe rock into view. Honestly. It was a wonder she could lif
t her hand at allit was that big. She did have to admit that itwas beautiful, tho
ugh. Luke had good taste. Hisreal fiance wouldn t have any complaints on that sco
re.The lovely pear shape of the huge diamond was set off by an unusual platinum
setting, an antique stylethat Luke had insisted on. Jordan had to wonder why he
d even pretended to consult her. The man truly was high-handed, and in abig way.
He d hauled her around in search of the Hope Diamond, evidently, seemingly diss
atisfied witheverything they looked at. When she d questioned his fussiness, he
d insisted that none of the rings so farmeasured up to the high standard his fia
nce deserved. Thinking about that, Jordan had to laugh. She sincerely hoped he kn
ew better by now than to expect anykind ofhigh standard out of her. That their s
hopping expedition had ended in a rip-roaring fight insteadof the traditional so
rt of romantic moment should put any silly ideas like that clearly out of his mi
nd. Then she put the ring out of her thoughts and continued to pace and chant. Aa
ron, younger brother,wife Tess. No children. Cassie, younger sister, husband Mit
ch, baby daughter Audrey. Wendy, oldestsister, husband Tom, son Keith, four, and
Tommy Jr., six. Parents, Margaret and ... Ben! Yes!" * * * *Luke knocked, but n
obody answered. A disturbing sensation settled somewhere around his vitals. Hads
he changed her mind? Run away? Left him for another single man? Luke frowned, re
membering she hadn t seemed all that pleased with the ring. He d thought it wasp
erfect, as unique and exquisite as she wasalthough certainly not comparable in si
ze. But instead of thefeminine admiration and gratitude he d imagined, she d pro
tested and pouted. He d ended by shoving iton her finger and shouting that she d
wear it and he didn t want to hear one more word. Yelling at her in public was
a big mistake. He d regretted it instantly. Especially when every singleshopper
in the jeweler s had turned to glare at him as if he were a child-beater. A woma
n in a somberbusiness suit had handed Jordan a card and announced loudly that sh
e was a divorce attorney. Lukereflected morosely that at least Jordan had an ave
rsion to lawyers. That was something, anyway. He hadn t known it when he d acqui
red her, butgaining a fiance was nothing compared tokeeping one.He d imagined his
troubles were over. He should have known better. A miniature tornado of trouble
named Jordan had moved into his life instead. And he was finding that, surprisin
gly, he liked her brand of trouble. The idea kept crossing his mind thatmaybe Ma
rlow was onto something and that maybe Jordan would make an interesting permanen
taddition to his world. After knocking again and waiting a few minutes, Luke dec
ided that she was being perverse and trying toavoid him. He tried the knob, and
it turned in his hand. Stepping in, he closed the door behind himselfand looked
for signs of life. The sound of a muttering feminine voice drew his attention. F
ollowing it, Luke turned a corner andstopped at the sight of her. She was dresse
d in fitted black slacks and a white blouse that made her look like a pilgrim. S
he even

had black shoes with square buckles. A smile tugged at his mouth. That kind of f
lair for costume waspure Jordan. She was moving in a fairy circle, chanting soft
ly. For a moment, there was something so fey andother-worldly about her he was a

lmost afraid to speak for fear of frightening her away. Then she stoppedand swor
e loudly, shattering the illusion, and Luke laughed out loud. Jordan spun around
and saw her fake fianc watching her in open amusement. A brilliant smile lit her
pale features. "Hi Luke! She waved her cheat-sheet at him. Just practicing. I ve g
ot the immediate family down cold,but don t be surprised if I mess up on some of
the aunts and uncles. How about you? Are you ready?" He studied her for a minut
e. Ready as I ll ever be. I wasn t sure you were here. You didn t answer thedoor.
" "Oh. I don t always hear when I m concentrating on something. Sorry. Her airy e
xplanation delivered,she turned to search for her shoulder bag. She turned back
to find Luke still looking at her with a sort ofwatchful, serious expression. He
reminded her of Randall when she forgot to show up for dinner. What swrong?" He
hesitated before answering carefully, I thought you might still be upset with me.
" "What about? Oh, the ring thing. Jordan grinned, then laughed. Luke, come on, yo
u call that a fight?She shook her head, humor twinkling in her gray eyes. What wil
l you do when we have a realargument?" He didn t seem to know how to take that.
Jordan gave him an exasperated look and linked her arm through his. I hope you do
n t come from afamily that never raises their voices, or you re going to think y
ou ve stepped into a madhouse when youmeet my brothers. For the record, I m not
upset with you, but if Iwas , the cloisonn lily you sent mewould have gone a long
way towards smoothing things over." "It would?" "It would, Jordan assured him in
a conspiratorial whisper. He smiled and Jordan felt as good as if she d gotten
a smile from Randall on a bad day. He d actuallythought she d run out on him ove
r a little disagreement? Amazing. "You know, Luke, I think I should tell you tha
t in order to get me to back out on our holiday deal, youwould have to prove you
rself worse company than Seymour. Even shouting at the top of your voice andforc
ing oversized diamonds on me, you ve got Seymour beat, hands down." He gave her
a look of blatant disbelief. She had to laugh. What, are you fishing for complime
nts? All right, big guy, you got it. She stood onher tiptoes, clutched his lapels
, swooned and sighed. Oh, Luke, I find you irresistible. Especially whenyou shout
. I find it so ... manly. She fluttered pale lashes at him. I adore a shouting man
. It s soexciting."

He plucked her off her feet effortlessly, spanning her small waist with his big
hands and lifting her to eyelevel. Minx. Behave yourself." Jordan couldn t resis
t cooing, Or what? You ll make me wear the matching earrings?" Laughter shook Luk
e s shoulders and nearly made him drop her. Worse, he threatened. I ll get theFoste
r family jewels out and make you wear those, too." She gave him a look of feigne
d terror. No! Not the family jewels! Have mercy on me, please." He pretended to c
onsider her case. Well, all right. I ll let you off this time. But next time I wo
n t be soforgiving." She gave him a look of sweet innocence. I ll behave. I promi
se." "You ll behave like you always do, he answered knowingly. I think I should ha
ve a talk with yourbrothers about the lack of discipline they raised you with. Y
ou re incorrigible." He set her back on her feet and she groaned at his last thr
eat. Oh, please. Don t say anything like that,you ll get Gary started. He wanted
to send me away to Catholic school." Luke started to laugh again. Why? Does he ha
te nuns?" Jordan shot him a nasty look that didn t discourage his laughter in th
e least. When he sobered enough to talk, Luke added, It s nice to know one of you
r brothers knew what youwere up to." Jordan grinned. Well, actually he didn tnot i
n the way you mean. He wanted to keep me away fromall the deadly sins. For some
reason he thought I might be too frail to resist temptation." Luke nodded. Yes, I
can see his point. But I m afraid sending you to a convent wouldn t do any good
.You d find a way to get into trouble there, too. Drink too much communion wine
and pass out on thealtar at the very least." Jordan sniffed in injured pride. I w
ouldnot . Then she added, Pass out in the confessional, maybe, butnever on the alt
ar. Tacky." Luke shook his head sadly. You see? There s no keeping you from a lif

e of wickedness. Get your coat,wicked one, we ve got family to snow." As she got
her cape and threw it over her shoulders, Jordan replied saucily, You ll be than
king me athousand times for my wicked ways before the year is over. All the snow
in Vermont doesn t compare tothe amount I can produce for our mutual benefit."
"Yes, I ve seen you in action. You are the undisputed Snow Queen, Luke agreed as
he guided hertowards the door. The drive to Gary s house didn t take long. Jorda
n quizzed Luke on the way, but once they steppedthrough the door into the reigni
ng pandemonium, he shot her a horrified look. Who are all these

people?" Jordan tried to view the usual three-ring circus from the perspective o
f an outsider. She supposed itcould be a little overwhelming. The teenagers were
banging their heads in the den to whatever was thelatest grunge rock CD. The yo
unger children were running up and down halls yelling, and she spottedTheodore s
youngest, Amy, sitting on the floor in tears over a lost toy. She gave Luke an
encouraging smile. Don t worry. You ll get used to it." He didn t look convinced.
Jordan swung Amy up into her arms and gasped, Good grief, you weigh a ton. I can
t take it. Oooff!She pretended to stagger and collapse under the crushing load,
sinking to the floor with Amy on herstomach. The toddler forgot about the toy an
d started to laugh. Jordan gave Luke a grin of victory. They re so easy to distra
ct at this age. I love it." Luke grinned back at her. You look like you re about
the same age, sitting on the floor like that. Hereached down to collect the child
and lifted Jordan back up. When he straightened, he found himself faceto face w
ith three men who matched him for height and width and he barely resisted the ur
ge to pushJordan protectively behind his back. Instead he kept a firm hold on he
r hand. The three strangers looked him over and it slowly dawned on him that the
y must be her brothers. Still, hedidn t back down from his protective stance. Th
ey were the ones who d driven her to concoct this wildscheme in the first place.
Instead of a nice guy like Luke, she could have ended up with a dangerous nutin
her panicked flight from their matrimonial mismatches. Jordan looked from her b
rothers to Luke.Oh boy . It looked like there was going to be a showdown atsundo
wn. Luke really did look like a gun-slinging cowboy about to draw. And the broth
ers were just asbad. She felt like the lone cat in the middle of a gang of dogs.
Any minute now war was going to breakout. She glared at Gary, Randall and Theod
ore in turn. Just her luckthe one brother who could be reliedon for comic relief
was conspicuously absent. Behave! All of you! Jordan yelled at the top of her lung
s.Then she turned to Luke. You, too. If there was any more testosterone flowing h
ere, I d be drowning." He had the grace to look slightly abashed, but she could
tell he still wasn t about to back down first. Shesighed gustily. Just as well.
If he had, her brothers wouldn t respect him in the morning. It was up to herto
smooth this over. Jordan gestured at Luke to set the toddler down. When he did,
she kept hold of his hand as shemarched up to Gary to stand toe to toe with him.
He s mine and I m keeping him! she shouted at fullvolume, defiance in every line
of her small body. That was too much for Luke. He easily lifted her off her feet
to dangle her above the floor. You are?" "Yes. She grinned back at him, not in th
e least perturbed at the unsubtle suggestion that she wasn t theone in charge. Lu
ke, I want you to meet my brothers. Most of them, anyway. One is missing. This i
sGary, Randall and Theodore. Jordan pointed to each as she named them. Guys, this
is Luke Foster.My fianc. She handled the introductions with the smooth dignity of
a society matron, instead of animpish pixie being held two feet off the floor.

"Glad to meet you, Luke murmured blandly, as if he wasn t toying with their sist
er before their veryeyes. He could tell they didn t like it. Too bad. She was hi
s now. He ignored the fact that it was onlytemporary. Two of them continued to l
ook suspicious, but the middle one relaxed and held out a hand. LukeFoster? Of So
lid Solutions? I m Randall Christian. Nice to meet you." Luke continued to hold
Jordan easily with one hand and shook Randall s hand with the other. Yes,that s m
y company. You re a CPA, isn t that right? I remember Jordan mentioning it." Jor
dan gave a peremptory ahem for attention. He turned to her in response. Yes?" "Put
me down." "Only if you admitI m keepingyou , not the other way around, he agreed
willingly. She waved a tiny fist. I admit nothing! A Christian never says die!" "
But you aren t going to be a Christian much longer. You d better get used to doi
ng things the Fosterway, he countered. "Iknew it. I knew I should never have let
you get your way with the ring. Now you ll expect to get yourway all the time, Jo
rdan fumed. "Ring? Gary asked mildly. Jordan beamed at him and displayed the rock
for his perusal. The older brother hesitated a moment longer, then reached out
to clasp Luke s hand. I guess you re thelucky man. Congratulations." "Thank you. L
uke relented enough to set Jordan back on her feet as he shook Gary s hand, but
hemade sure he kept a firm grip on her. It gave him chills to think of the troub
le she could stir up withouteven trying. And it gave him an inner sense of deep
satisfaction to think of her wreaking havoc on hisunwitting family later. It ser
ved them right for all their heavy-handed attempts to see him paired off. His sm
ug reflections were disturbed when another bear-like male let out a roar and cha
rged, swoopinghis fiance off her feet. There you are! I ve got you now. The strange
r let out a chilling cackle andbegan stomping off with her down the hall. You can
t escape your fate. Youwill ... peel the potatoes!" The pronouncement of her se
ntence had Jordan moaning and pleading for a lesser one. Then sheseemed to recal
l that she d forgotten someone and tugged at one handy ear. Stop! Wait!" The bear
lumbered to a halt. Don t try to weasel out of it. It s your turn." "No, no, I l
l peel the potatoes, Jordan assured him. I want you to meet someone. Luke, this is

Lawrence, my other brother. Lawrence, meet Luke Foster, your future brother-in-l
aw." The bear turned and subjected him to a leisurely head to toe survey. Him? Yo
u want to marry him?What s wrong with Seymour?" Jordan gave a half sigh, half gr
oan in answer to that. What sright with Seymour would be a betterquestion. Anyway
he came along too late. Luke had already captured my hand. And my heart, shethre
w in for good measure. The bear growled. Then he rumbled, What kind of a name is
Luke? I can t let you marry a man with aname like that.Luke . One syllable. It s
ridiculous. No. I m sorry, he ll have to go." "His full name is Lucius, Jordan s
tated serenely. Luke shot her a look of pure venom. Apparently she d given that
one a great deal of thought ahead oftime. The bear rumbled, considering. All righ
t. You can marry him. But you d better think of the childrenwhen it s time to co
me up with names. Don t let him help." "I won t. I ve already thought of Desdemo
na, Drucilla and Lucretia for girls, Jordan replied withapparent sincerity. The b
ear nodded. Nice to meet you, Lucius. Welcome to the family. Come and stir the gr
avy, wouldyou?" "Glad to, Luke murmured. He followed the stomping bear-like Lawre
nce carrying Jordan off to thekitchen if not to the dungeonsand he had the distin
ct feeling that he d stepped into a strange worldinhabited by mysterious beings.
He really should have known. A person like Jordan didn t come from an average,
normal Americanfamily. It was rather amusing, actually. The Christians were a fa
mily of heathens. He couldn t wait for his family to meet them all. It was exact
ly what they deserved. He could barely contain a grin, thinking of his mother s
expression as she anticipated wedding plans thatwould accommodate the preference
s of both sides. He wondered if Lawrence would bellow that awoman with an unwort
hy name likeMargaret couldn t be allowed to have anything to do with theceremony
. Or maybe he d be moved to accept her on the basis of her name consisting of th

ree syllables. Jordan grinned at him over her brother s shoulder and Luke smiled
back at her, content to stir gravy if itmeant he had the unprecedented pleasure
of watching her be made to peel the spuds. She d make acharming scullery slave.
An enticing urchin with dirt streaking her face. For the first time, Luke could
appreciate the sentiment of keeping a woman in the kitchen. Barefoot, she d be e
ven more adorable. Hewas sure she d have tiny, perfect pink toes with miniature
pearly nails. He had a sudden desire to see hernaked feet. Then he realized the
direction his thoughts were taking. She was driving him insane. And he had a lon
gway to go before New Year s Day. Luke began to wonder if he wouldn t have been
better off withCotton Candy after all.

Then Jordan winked and blew him a kiss and he knew he wouldn t trade her for an
ything. For better orworse, she was his ... at least for the time being. Lawrenc
e elbowed past a crowd of women to deposit Jordan in front of a mountain of pota
toes. Hehanded her a peeler, pointed to a pan for the peels and plunked down an
enormous bowl to contain thereadied potatoes. Then he placed a paw between Luke
s shoulders and aimed him at the stove, where apot of gravy bubbled to the side
of a cauldron of boiling water, presumably in readiness for the spudsJordan bega
n dutifully peeling. "Here, he boomed, nearly deafening Luke. Keep stirring until
it thickens. I ll turn it down to simmer foryou. Lawrence adjusted the temperatur
e, handed him a wire whisk and then made a megaphone fromhis hands, as if that w
as necessary. Everyone, listen up!" A hush fell over the kitchen and all eyes tur
ned to the bear. Jordan s getting hitched, he announced.This is Luke, the hitch-ee.
It s a terrible name, but Jordan promises not to let him name the children, sow
e ll let her keep him anyway. Introduce yourselves and don t let him burn the gr
avy. Then the bearlumbered away, oblivious to the shocked female faces left in th
e wake of his announcement. Luke decided he could well understand Jordan s pench
ant for charm. It could come in handy around thisgroup. He wished he had some of
it himself. He summoned up his best smile and made eye contact all theway aroun
d. Nice to meet you. Then his eyes bulged in horror as he saw Jordan pick up an en
ormouscarving knife to cut out a potato eye. Stop!" She jumped at his unexpected
shout and Luke nearly died inside until he saw that she hadn t lost her gripon t
he knife handle. He moved quickly to take it away from her and heaved a sigh of
relief. Then he glared at her. Don tever do that again. You use a paring knife fo
r that, Jordan." She glared back. This was handy." Suddenly he didn t trust her w
ith a paring knife, either. Go stir the gravy. I ll do these." "No." "Yes." She o
pened her pink Cupid s bow lips to argue and Luke clapped a hand over them in ca
llous disregard.Stir or wear the matching earrings. Your choice, he threatened. Sp
arks flew from her gray eyes. It was a good thing she couldn t speak, he decided
. She wouldn t soundvery loving just at that moment. Maybe he should make it eas
ier for her to back down. He did an impromptu Dirty Harry impersonation.What s it
going to be, huh? Do you feel lucky?" She started to laugh in surprise and deli
ght at his talent. Luke grinned back at her. Come on, wench, stir the gravy or we
ll have some explaining to do toLawrence when it burns. He removed his hand and
handed her the whisk with a flourish.

Jordan took it and headed for the stove. Then she threw him a melting, impish l
ook over her shoulderand blew him another kissand it hit him. By golly, she d don
e it again. He d beenhad . Tom Sawyer hadn t been half as clever, getting his fe
ncewhitewashed. The Snow Queen had just struck, and nowhe was stuck peelingher p

otatoes. Luke did a slow burn as she saw the realization in his eyes and giggled
in helpless delight at hispredicament. He certainly couldn t announce to the wh
ole kitchen that he was an idiot who d beenthoroughly snowed. But he would get h
er later. The dark promise burned in his light blue eyes and theincorrigible imp
just laughed harder. She shrugged when the group of sisters-in-law turned their
questioning eyes on her. Private joke." As one, they nodded thoughtfully. A moth
erly-looking brunette pulled up a chair and started to assist Luke in peeling th
rough the mountain.I m Vicky, she said with a friendly smile. Theodore s wife. He s
the youngest brother, she added inexplanation. The quiet one." Luke raised a dubi
ous brow. Are any of them quiet?" She grinned back. Well, things are never dull ar
ound here. Let s just leave it at that." Luke nodded. He thought he could unders
tand Jordan s preference for living alone. Without some peaceand quiet, insanity
would strike quickly. In fact meeting her family was providing all kinds of lit
tlerevelations. He was growing in his understanding of her every minute. "I ve k
nown Jordan for years, Vicky continued. You know that her brothers raised her from
the timeshe was twelve, don t you? She was a late gift. The boys were all grown
so when their parents died, weall sort of helped mother her when we married int
o the family. So in a manner of speaking, you ll soonhave four mothers-in-law."
Luke digested that piece of information with some dismay. Vicky laughed at his o
bvious consternation. Don t worry; we re all so happy to see her finally settling
down that you ll probably be nominated for sainthood." Luke wondered how to resp
ond to that. A saint would never be able to handle Jordan. Only a moredevilish a
nd determined man stood a chance. A man like himself, he mused. It was a pleasan
tly headythought. The mothers-in-lawor sisterswhicheverooh-ed and ah-ed gratifyingl
y over the engagement ring.Luke shot Jordan a look of smug satisfaction. Unmoved
, she actually stuck her tongue out at him whennobody was looking. He wasdefinit
ely going to get her later. In a flurry of banging dishes, arguments over the pr
oper way to carve the bird, and assorted othermoments of madness, dinner was fin
ally served and the whole family gathered to give thanks. As the eldest, Gary ga
ve the blessing. Luke felt the first hint of unease when he was included in the

prayer of thanksgiving for the family s blessings. Then he decided that no thund
erbolt from the heavenswould be striking. He had his hands full fighting for the
side of good, trying to keep a wicked, waywardwench out of trouble. It was poet
ic justice, reallyhe d started off wanting a fraud for his family. Now hewas risi
ng to the challenge of straightening out a woman with more twists than a wire cl
othes hanger. The more he thought about it, the more certain he felt that if any
one needed the hand of divineprovidence, he did. An angelic Jordan was looking s
oulfully at him, her palms together in prayerfuldevotion. Her sweet mouth shaped
the words thank you at him. The very image of an imp from thenetherworld. He gaze
d steadily back at her and mouthed, I m going to get you." She didn t look at all
concerned. Instead, she cheekily dropped one lid in a naughty wink. Chapter Fiv
e"Who are all thesepeople? Jordan whispered as Luke hung her cape in his parents
hall closet. He smirked knowingly at her. Now you know how it feels to be on the
receiving end." She was practically dancing in an agony of anxiety. There s too m
any of them. This isn t fair. Thereshould be some kind of limit." When he settle
d one big hand on her shoulder, she relaxed slightly. If all else failed, Jordan
reasoned,she could easily hide behind Luke. He was certainly big enough. Luke g
ently but firmly turned her in the direction of the genteel crowd in the large o
pen foyer andpropelled her forward. Jordan went with dragging feet. He stopped t
o whisper in her ear. Relax. I mright behind you." That was a good touch on his p
art, she noted admiringly. To all appearances, it was a very loving,intimate sor
t of gesture. She summoned up a smile and prepared to be her most irresistibly c
harming.Show time . His mother already liked her, she reminded herself to bolste
r her confidence. She d probably even put ina good word with his father. And had

n t she said they d think she was an angel? That the family wouldlove her? Jorda
n concentrated on seeming sweetly angelic. Visions of harps, wings and haloes da
nced in her head.She d be as charming as a cherub, as pure as the pearly gates.
For practice, she tried an especiallyheavenly smile on Luke and was rewarded wit
h one of his warm smiles in return. Amazing. His smilemade her feel positively b
uoyant. Warm, too. She suddenly felt as high and giddy as Icarus flying into the
sun, unable to resist the heat. But if she lost her wings, she could count on Lu
ke to catch her before she plummeted to oblivion. Hehad steady eyes. Trustworthy
. Dependable. He wouldn t let her down. And she wouldn t lethim down,Jordan prom
ised silently. She charmed. She smiled. Made polite conversation, told amusing a
necdotes, was warm and witty. Anddidn t forget a single name, thanks to diligent
study beforehand.

Margaret Foster was demonstrably glad to see her again and took her in hand to
make the introductions.Luke s father Ben presented an impromptu toast to their f
uture happiness. His sister Wendy admired herperfume and asked Jordan the name o
f the fragrance. To Jordan s delight, they were glad to accept her. She felt a s
haft of envy for whoever Luke ended upmarrying for real ... the lucky lady would
have wonderful in-laws. That is, she reflected with a flash ofunease, if she di
dn t embitter them for life by perpetrating a hoax like this on them. It was one
thing to fool her impossible brothers. She d exhausted all other avenues first.
They had itcoming for ruining her cruise with Mitchell, if nothing else. But ly
ing to people who hadn t done anythingto her was different. It would have been e
asier if they d hated her. But as predicted, they loved her. Jordan couldn t eve
r remember feeling worse. Not even the time she dgiven Randall s long suffering
retriever a punk haircut. The dog hadn t held it against her. She wasn t sosure
Luke s family would be as forgiving. A warm arm hugged her to a solid side and s
he leaned into Luke s support readily. "All right? The low question spoken agains
t her cheek looked to anyone watching like a kiss and anendearment. She leaned u
p to answer, No." A brow quirked at her. I didn t think so. You were drooping. The
re is nothing sadder than the sight of aforlorn fairy. Luke tugged her into an al
cove and smoothed back her white shock of hair in a comfortinggesture. What s the
matter? Running out of trouble to stir up? His teasing grin didn t draw the expe
ctedsmile. "I don t like lying to your family, Luke. She told him the truth baldl
y and leaned her cheek against thesmooth fabric of his jacket. "Hmm. Luke drew he
r closer and cupped the back of her head with one palm. The other stroked herspi
ne. I see." She was glad he did. She cuddled trustingly in his arms, feeling bett
er by the minute. She felt aninstinctive certainty that he d know how to straigh
ten everything out without causing a family feud of epicproportions. "Jordan?" "
Yes?" "Look up." She did. And her eyes widened. They were directly under a sprig
of mistletoe. Her startled eyes met hisamused ones. "Providence, Luke informed h
er in a solemn voice. Then he tipped her chin up with one warm finger and slowly
lowered his mouth to brush lightly against

hers. Time stopped. Her heart stopped. She was kissing her fianc. What kind of wo
man was she? Not a dead one, she answered herself. Only a dead woman could be un
moved by a kiss from Luke.Feather light, as soft as a sigh, as sweet and warm as
mulled wine, Luke s lips teased hers for an endlessmoment. Then he lifted his h
ead to smile at her. "Everything s going to be all right, he assured her gently.
"It is? The hopeful, plaintive note in her voice spoke volumes. "It is." Jordan s

agged against him in relief. He meant it. He d fix it somehow. In fact, he d pro
bably just meant for the kiss to reassure her. And he d probably thought that it
wouldlook really funny if they were spottednot kissing under the mistletoe. "Tr
ust me. He gave her a gentle squeeze. "I do. She did. She had from the very first.
She d known she could trust him. Jordan trusted herinstincts. The same instinct
s that screamed a warning around all the mismatched men had cheered at thefirst
sight of her battered rescuer. "Now show me a smile, or I might have to go open
the safe and start looking for a really heavynecklace, Luke teased. Jordan tipped
her head back and grinned up at him, happy again. "Hey, let someone else have a
turn, Wendy s husband urged them, his wife in tow as he gesturedtowards the mist
letoe. Smiling, Jordan and Luke retreated from the alcove and rejoined the party
. Her spirits lifted once more, Jordan set about enjoying herself, flitting arou
nd the room from group togroup, confident that she d been worried about nothing.
It would all work out perfectly. This really was aperfect plan. She and Luke we
re safe from holiday horror dates. They could enjoy the season secure ineach oth
er s company. A little side-stepping around questionslike when was the actual dat
e of theweddingshe could handle artfully. At least, until Aunt Cora cornered her
about the wedding dress. Jordan ran through her mentalfamily-tree check. Cora, o
ldest sister of Margaret, widowed, no children. Maybe the fact that she dnever h
ad the opportunity to plan a wedding for her own daughter sparked her rabid inte
rest in Jordan swedding. Whatever the reason, the old lady was unshakable on the
subject. Jordan tried every ploy sheknew. Nothing worked.

Finally, in desperation, she said loudly, I don t know what I ll do about a dres
s, Aunt Cora. I have adickens of a time finding clothes to fit properly. Maybe t
here s a petite line of bridal wear." Immediately, Luke appeared at her elbow. Go
od things come in small packages, he informed Jordan,competing with her for the t
itle of most charming. She gave him a melting smile. You think so?" "Definitely. T
hen he turned his charm on Aunt Cora. Excuse us, won t you? I want to show Jordan
something." "Oh, of course. She smiled and waved them off. "Whew. Another close c
all. I couldn t get her off the subject of our approaching wedding withdynamite,
Jordan moaned. Then she danced around Luke in effervescent glee. You dashed to my
rescue. My hero! You werewonderful . She heaped praise on his head as she flashed
him a dimpledgamine grin. "Yes, remember that, will you?" "Oh, I will, she swore
solemnly. Then she looked around curiously. Where are you taking me?" Luke just
held up one finger against his lips and pulled her along. He drew her into a roo
m with heavydouble doors and closed them. From the comfortable chairs and rows o
f bookshelves, Jordan surmisedthat this must be the library. Several paintings g
raced the walls and one painting in particular seemed tobe their goal. Luke guid
ed her over to it and pointed. "Wendy did this. What do you think?" Jordan looke
d. The painting he d pointed out featured a rough gunslinger dressed in black, r
iding a blackhorse with the conformation of a steed with endurance. Something ab
out the rough rider looked familiar.Jordan stepped closer to inspect itand then s
he realized. It was Luke. She gave a delighted laugh. Ilove it!" "I thought you m
ight. Luke smiled at her, enjoying her response. This is the family gallery. She s
donemost of us in character. My father as a Green Mountain man with Ethan Allen
. My mother as the MonaLisa, but frowning. He led her through the pictures and in
dicated them one by one. "I ll do you as the fairy queen with Thomas the Rhymer,
Wendy announced from behind, startling themboth. Jordan turned to her. These are
wonderful, she said sincerely. I didn t know you painted. Have yousold any?" "Oh,
please, this is my form of fun and relaxation, the chic blond replied. Don t try t
o turn it intowork .I d have to take up skiing or something. Then she prodded, Wha
t do you say, Jordan? Will you posefor me?" Jordan grinned at Luke as she answer
ed Wendy. I can t be the fairy queen unless Luke gets to beThomas, she teased. It w
ouldn t be right. Or maybe I could be rescued by the man in black as a

damsel in distress, wearing a long gown strategically ripped at the bodice." Luk
e s lips twitched at that description. As the man in black,I would certainly stop
to rescue any damselwith a ripped bodice, he assured her. How ripped are we talki
ng? Would there be cleavage?" "You ll have to take that up with the artist, Jorda
n answered gravely. They both turned to Wendyexpectantly. "Ithink there should b
e cleavage, Luke suggested helpfully. Wendy shook her head in mock dismay at thei
r lack of serious appreciation for art and romance. Andthey say chivalry is dead.
If Jordan agrees, you can have cleavage. I don t know if I can do you as theman
in black again, though. It s hard to repeat a character. Jordan?" "I d love it.
And nobody was born to wear a black hat like Luke, Jordan answered with an impis
htwinkle in her eyes. Then she added, Does the cleavage have to be true to life,
or is the artist allowed toembellish?" Wendy threw her hands up in the air. Phili
stines!" Luke tugged Jordan up against his side and traced her dimples with a te
asing finger. You don t needembellishing. Bigger is not necessarily better. The m
an in black will be sufficiently titillated by even apopped button, he vowed. Jor
dan looked disappointed. I wanted a ripped bodice. I wanted to spill voluptuously
over the top andout the sides." "The man in black would be paralyzed. He d stan
d there with his jaw hanging instead of dashing to yourrescue." Jordan considere
d that. Oh. Okay. Ripped, cleavage, but no embellishing, she decided. "Perfect, Luk
e agreed. Wendy sighed. This is going to be some picture. Maybe I should just tak
e up skiing." "Oh, no. Please. It ll be so much fun. The man in black will ride
off into the sunset on his horse, with mein his arms. Jordan sighed at the fantas
y image. Luke frowned. The man in black willnot be dictated to. The damselwill be
happy enough that she wasrescued andwill shut up and go along for the ride, he s
aid with an edge of threat. Jordan frowned back. Or what? she sneered in open disd
ain. Luke gave a low, chilling laugh. Or you know what. The menace in his voicecomb
ined with hissizedidn t disturb Jordan in the least. She knew his bark was worse
than his bite. And she wasbeginning to feel a certain fondness for his bark... W
endy cleared her throat distinctly. Well, I can see three s a crowd here." Jordan
and Luke exchanged sheepish looks. Then Luke took Jordan s hand and led her tow
ard the

door. I d say it s time we rejoined the group, he announced diplomatically. "Ah. Y

es, Jordan agreed. Feeling like a child caught misbehaving, she trailed along bes
ide him. But shecouldn t refrain from cheering inwardly. The fantasy painting wo
uld be fun, and she liked the idea thatshe d leave Luke something to remember he
r bywith or without embellishments. Although maybe itwould be as much fun to para
lyze the man in black with her attributes as it would beto get rescued and carri
ed off on his black horse. Jordan fleetingly debated the finer points of both si
des. She tugged on Luke s arm, and when he leaned down she whispered, Paralyzed?
Hanging jaw?" His nostrils actually flared. Jordan giggled delightedly. Be good, h
e warned her. "I don t know how, she answered cheekily. "I ll be happy to give yo
u lessons." Jordan widened her eyes dramatically. You meanyou know how?" He stopp
ed and turned to her. That does it." Suddenly wary, she backed up a step, but it
was too late. The man in black lunged, grabbed her andthrew her over his shoulde
r in a terribly undignified fireman s carry. Unconcerned, he strolled through th
esuddenly hushed living room and snarled, Say good-night, Jordan." The George Bur
ns take-off undid her. She burst into peals of laughter. Good-night, Jordan, shesw
eetly echoed. Dead silence followed their unorthodox exit as he collected her ca

pe and bag and carried her off into thenight. "I m looking forward to sitting fo
r you, she called back to a stupefied Wendy as they headed out thedoor. "You don
t know when to quit, do you? Luke barked. "No, can t say that I do, Jordan agreed
with him cheerfully while she took the opportunity to check outhis buns from her
new vantage point. Not bad for a financial expert who probably did a lot of sit
ting. Then she realized she was checking out her fianc s buns. First she kissed h
im, now she ogled him?What kind of woman would do a thing likethat? Actually,any
woman who found herself this close to Luke Foster s attractive backside would p
robablytake at least one quick peek, she consoled herself. She wasn t dead, afte
r all. "Now what? he demanded, evidently suspicious of her silence. He didn t rea
lly expect her to admit what she d been doing, did he? Although maybe she should
. He d beproperly shocked that his fiance was eyeing him lasciviously and he d pu
t her down promptly.

Then Jordan saw it. Luke! Luke, look! She wiggled in excitement, squirming to get
down. He stopped and looked around as if wondering what she was talking about.
She took advantage of his distraction to slip free and whirl around in the moonl
ight. It s snowing! Shetipped her head back and laughed as the flakes kissed her e
yelids, nose and cheeks. She opened hermouth to taste winter and let a snowflake
melt on her tongue. Luke stood beside her for a long moment, a strong silent pr
esence in the night. Then he came behind herand wrapped her in a hug. His chin r
ested on top of her head, warming her. "Jordan, you don t have your cape on. You
ll freeze." "No, I won t, she answered dreamily, eyes still closed to feel the w
inter night. You won t let me." He silently folded her into the wool garment and
lifted her again, but this time in the cradle of his arms.She rested her head ag
ainst his shoulder and spread her fingers to catch the falling snow. "You re rig
ht, he agreed gently. I won t." They stood together in an awed hush and watched th
e snow fall. Streetlights cast a silvery glow, bringingout a thousand diamond re
flections in every snowflake. Luke could almost believe that the snow wassomethi
ng magical. In a sense, maybe it was. A miracle of life. The kind of thing he ha
dn t had time for. Hadn t noticed. UntilJordan. She was starting to shiver in hi
s arms, and Luke started for his car with her. "Oh, no, I don t want to go yet, s
he protested. He smiled at her dismay. There ll be more snow. It s just beginning
." He was talking about more than a storybook Vermont winter. Something else was
beginning. Somethingas hushed and beautiful as an untouched fall of snow. Somet
hing that could make a man of numbers setaside his ledgers and reflect that, lik
e Dickens Scrooge, he d been on a dangerous path of outwardsuccess and inner pove
rty. Something, Luke admitted silently, called love. Chapter Six"Caroling?" "Car
oling." Silence. Then, You ve got to be kidding." "Would I kid? No, don t answer
that, Jordan laughed, shooting Luke a look full of mischief. As your

very own genuine fraud, I ve sworn not to kid you. Well, not much anyway, honesty
forced her to admit. The truth was it was simply too much fun for her to resist
pushing Luke s buttons. Pulling one over onhim and watching him do a slow burn
as he figured it out was providing her with a source of vastamusement and entert
ainment. Much more fun than she would have had with a dreary mortician. "Come on
, Luke, you ll like it, she coaxed as he continued to look stubbornly opposed, si
tting backwith his arms folded across his chest in a firm position of refusal. We
do it every year. It sfun ." He definitely did not look convinced. He certainly
didn t look like a man on the verge of having fun.Well, a man accustomed to hav

ing fun wouldn t be in his office the day after Thanksgiving when all therest of
the world was celebrating a long weekend, she realized. This called for drastic
measures. Jordan casually lowered herself onto his wide desk like a blues singe
r draping herself over a piano. Shereached out to tease the end of Luke s no-non
sense navy pin-striped silk tie. "Fun, she breathed. It is not a four-letter word.
Only three letters. Count em, she invited as anafterthought, shooting him another
teasing look from beneath pale lashes. I know you know how tocount..." He wasn t
bending. She looked down at the reports littering his desk and tugged one from
beneath herhip to flip through it. "Luke, do you have too much to do? I could he
lp you catch up, she offered seriously. He looked horrified at the suggestion. No.
Never. We ll go caroling." Jordan straightened to consider him mutinously. I thi
nk I ve just been insulted. I ll have you know thatI m not the sister of a CPA f
or nothing. I helped Randall study and I fill in during tax season when he getss
wamped. She struck a vamp-y pose and continued wickedly, And I do know that one an
d one makeone..." Luke gave up and scooped her off his desk to dump her on his l
ap. I think I m on dangerous groundhere. Please tell me how a fianc can get out of
this without a fight." "Ha. Did it ever occur to you that avoiding a fight is n
ot necessarily a positive course of action?" "What are you saying, you want to f
ightmore? Luke looked alarmed at the possibility. She shook her head sadly. Oh, y
ou just don t get it, do you? Then in an abrupt shift of mood, she saidcheerfully
, I like you. I m so glad. I d hate being engaged to someone I didn t like. Even
temporarily.While he tried to digest that, looking even more confused, Jordan wen
t on. Fighting is one way ofnegotiating, you know. Getting what you want. Avoidin
g a fight sometimes means losing by default, whichis why I said it isn t necessa
rily a positive action. But let s get back to the subject." "Whatis the subject?
" "You d know if you paid attention, she answered cheekily, well aware that her z
igzagging conversationwas driving the by-the-book man quietly berserk. In her op
inion, that could only be a good thing.

Caroling." "Caroling, Luke repeated, looking as if he wanted desperately to know h

ow he d gotten himself into thisso he could possibly get himself out. Jordan bar
ely restrained her laughter. Oh, he was fun to tease. Right. We were discussing t
he calendarof social events. Coordinating, she reminded him, hoping the businessl
ike terms would comfort him andhelp him come to terms with the concept of having
fun. He nodded. "Good, you re with me." He slanted a look of amazement at her. W
e re in the same chair. Where else would I be?" "See, that s exactly what I mean
, she pounced on the opening. You re so literal. So serious. Don t getme wrong, th
at s wonderful, but notall the time. She sat up straighter on his lap and lecture
d, If youkeep this up, Luke, you ll be one of those guys who wakes up one day and
suddenly finds that he sforgotten how to make a snow angel." His lips twitched
suspiciously. Then an unwilling smile emerged. How terrible!" "Yes, shocking, isn
t it? I m so glad you agree with me on these things. She curled happily in the c
urveof his arm, reflecting that it was certainly convenient that he had such an
accommodating chair. Also thathe liked her, too. If he didn t, he wouldn t be so
comfortable with her. And if they weren t friends, thisengagement would be terr
ibly awkward. As it was, she was finding it a maze of unexpected complications.
Aunt Cora. Wendy ... What wouldWendy say when Jordan allowed her to paint a fami
ly picture for a family she wasn t really joining? And then there was the rather
alarming fact that she was definitely attracted to her own fianc. It wasterribly
inconvenient. But it was his fault for kissing her. She wasn t made of steel, a
fter all. Jordan reflected serenely that the only solution was to avoid kissing
him again. Well, she d make anexception for New Year s Eve, of course. That was
different. And if they should find themselves under amistletoe again, with witne
sses, of course they d have to behave as expected. A couple of kisses at most.Wh
at could that hurt? She certainly wasn t going to let a little thing like swooni

ng over a kiss ruin herengagement, when she was getting to enjoy the holiday sea
son for the first time in years. She d been silent for too long, apparently. Luk
e prompted her gently. Snow angels? Are those on thecalendar?" "You don t schedul
e something like making snow angels. That would ruin the whole point. Snow angel
sare spontaneous and unpremeditated. You do them in an uncontrollable, wild mome
nt of recklessabandon. Jordan should know. She was an expert on snow angels. And
reckless abandon. "Oh." She smiled at that telling sound. One little word could
convey so much. He was definitely confused, butbending more every minute.

"Caroling, however, is on the calendar for the second week of December. Plenty
of time for you tobrush up on your skills, however rusty they may be, Jordan assu
red him. Tonight we have that thing atyour brother s, and we re scheduling time t
o pose for Wendy, and we ll have to figure out aboutChristmas Day, too. In my fa
mily we open presents in the morning. Does your family do it the nightbefore or
what?" "The night before, he supplied. "Good, no conflict there, but we are going
to be kind of busy, aren t we?" "We are, Luke agreed. Maybe I ll take you up on y
our offer. I ll be too busy to come to work." "The offer stands, Jordan informed
him magnanimously. But it won t be that bad. A little full, but notthat bad. If y
ou want, we can limit it to two things a week." "No, I don t want to limit it. W
e ll do it all. I agreed to it, he reminded her. Hmm. Jordan considered that answ
er, then the stack of files on his desk. Do you do everything by therules? By the
numbers?" Funny she should ask about numbers, Luke thought. He knew the numbers
of the weeks he had withher. The days. The hours. He was thinking of calculatin
g it in minutes to make it seem like more. As for the rules, he was ready to bre
ak them all. Come January second, he wouldn t go quietly. Andwhile he d planned
originally to evade family functions, now every commitment meant more time withJ
ordan. If she thought he d give any of his precious minutes up, she could think
again, he vowed silently. Thispixie would rue the day she tangled with the man i
n black. All the cleavage and embellishments in theknown art world couldn t stop
him from holding tight to each and every one of those minutes. And he wouldn t
stop until he had all the days and all the years. All the reckless, wild abandon
. All themoonlight and miracles. After that kiss under the mistletoe, he thought
they were off to a good start. She d melted like sugar onhis lips. But unlike a
too-sweet confection, she d moved on to race like fine brandy through his veins
. Itwarmed him considerably just remembering. Yes, it was a good start. And it w
as just beginning. But she was waiting for an answer. "I make the rules, he infor
med her positively. She tipped her head back to grin at him. I break them." "Some
one has to, he agreed blandly. She laughed. So you want to do it all, then? Caroli
ng, sledding parties, cheese-and-cracker things, theworks?" "I don t know. What
s a cheese-and-cracker thing? He pretended suspicion.

"You know, those excuses to dress up and mingle where you eat little cheese and
cracker appetizersdesigned to crumble on your clothes." Luke laughed at her des
cription. I have a good dry cleaner. We ll risk it." "Oh, youare prepared for any
emergency, she sighed admiringly. "I try, he stated modestly. "And you succeed. O
kay, then, we say yes to it all. Now I should probably let you get some work don
ebefore tonight. Jordan hated the thought of abandoning her present comfortable p
erch, but a man couldget very surly if kept from his work for too long. Even she
knew where to draw the lineappearances aside. She pushed it right up to the limi
t, but shewasn t a fool. Any woman raised by four men knew where the line was, f

or certain. She slid to the floor and stood with her hand dramatically over her
heart. Until I see you again, my hero,farewell. Then she speedily made her exit be
fore he could catch her and make her pay for herimpertinent antics. She was goin
g to have to do some fancy footwork herself to stay on schedule. Fortunately she
couldwork in whatever odd hours she had free. And even an hour could be very pr
oductive if she wasorganized. It might take some thought, but she would have ple
nty of time to enjoy every wonderful minuteof holiday festivities. She would eve
n find an opportunity to throw Luke Foster to the ground and make wild, reckless
,abandoned snow angels with him ... or her name wasn t Jordan Christian. Jordan
grinned at the thought as she bounded through the dusting of snow to her car. So
on the incheswould add up. Snowmen, sleigh rides, snowball fights ... she could
hardly wait. Thinking of snow, she was pretty sure her brothers were both convin
ced Luke was for real and asimpressed as they were likely to get with someone th
ey didn t hand-pick for her themselves. Somethingto be thankful for. Appropriate
for Thanksgiving weekend. The uproar hadn t driven Luke away, either. He was ro
ugh and tough enough to take even a gang ofChristians. Yes, she d made the perfe
ct choice, Jordan thought again contentedly. And then she laughed out loud as sh
e remembered his face as he peeled that endless mountain ofpotatoes. She had wea
seled out of it, after all. Lawrence would hear about it, she was sure. Instead
of carrying out his threat to get her, though, Luke had watched the snow with he
r. Then he drubbed her icy hands to warm them while the heater in his sedan chas
ed away the chill. Luke, she decided as she drove home, was a very nice man. She
couldn t ask for a better fianc. As long as he didn t kiss her. That, she though
t sorrowfully, could ruin everything. Too bad, really, because his kisses were a
terrible temptation to risk ruining everything for. Think of Seymour, Jordan,sh
e told herself sternly.Remember what s at stake. Did she want to find

herself under the mistletoe with Seymour? Did she? She shuddered violently at th
e thought, then parked neatly in her driveway and headed inside. No, she didn t
want to end up under the mistletoe with Seymour, and if she had to resist tempta
tion toavoid thatwell, even a professional sinner could learn to resist. Couldn t
she? Tossing her cape and shoulder bag on a chair, Jordan paused to admire her
blooming Christmas cactus.Luke really had kept his promise. Every day something
that could be considered a flower arrived. Lilies.A cloisonn pin. The cactus. Ros
e oil in a glass decanter. It was wonderfully unpredictable, but all stilllegiti
mately within the floral boundaries. Ha. Luke might claim to follow the rules, b
ut he really did make them, first. His choices were largelyunorthodox, pushing t
he description of flowers to the limit. He just might be a bit lawless himself.
A bit ofa reckless rebel. A heady thought. And he was all hers ... at least for
the holidays. Now she just needed to decide what to wear to Aaron sget-together
and find a dress for the fantasy picture. She had a collection of costumes from
previousHalloweens and she occasionally picked up vintage clothing. She just mig
ht already have something. Jordan rummaged through her closets in a happy tangle
of fabric, shoes and odds and ends. She found amermaid costume a shell away fro
m wearable. It had had an unfortunate accident, if she rememberedright. Gave new
meaning tomaking a clean breast of a situation . A ridiculous turn-of-the-centu
ry bathing suit. Jordan shook her head, wondering if that would ever seethe ligh
t of day again. Back in those days, they d had serious UV protection. Then she f
ound it. A pale yellow silk vintage gown from the late 1800 s. The tightly fitte
d jacket-stylebodice cut wonderfully low was boned and padded and would make eve
n Jordan spill voluptuously outwithout need of embellishing or ripping. It faste
ned up the back with a thousand tiny hooks. Below thefitted waist, a padded bust
le draped over the skirt in the rear. Jordan held it up and smiled at the sight.
If the man in black wouldn t stop for this, his hat was riding toolow and block
ing out the scenery. She dug deeper, but didn t find vintage boots or undergarme

nts. Well, she d have to improvise. Or haveWendy leave her feet out of the pictu
re, or paint in the appropriate footwear. She d just pose barefoot.As for undern
eath... Jordan gazed at the dress and felt a wicked thrill. For something like t
his, only her scantiest pantieswould work. Actually, she thought she had a pair
of lace tap pants. Completely see-through, designed todisplay, not cover. She du
g through a drawer and produced the scandalous wisp of black. "Eureka! Jordan cro
wed, and tossed the naughty undies on top of the dress. Now that would put the m
an in black in shock, she thought in satisfaction. Paralysis guaranteed. Peep at
your own risk. It really was going to be some painting.

Jordan stuffed everything back into the closet except for the items she needed
to pose in for the painting.The mermaid costume she set on top of the shelf so s
he could easily find it again. Some time when shewanted to come out of her shell
. Then she flipped through her normal clothes in search of something thatwasn t
overly holiday-ish. There would be plenty of other occasions for sequined and be
aded sweatersand such. On a whim, she decided to wear black in case an opportuni
ty to steal Luke s imaginary hat presenteditself. Or, for all she knew, he reall
y did have the hat he d worn in the first painting. Still, it was the spiritof t
he thing. Black silk trousers with a matching camisole. A black velvet jacket, s
hort and fitted at the waist, with thelapels crossed in a deep vee to make it ap
pear as if there just might be cleavage to be glimpsed. A pair ofblack satin hig
h heels, as if it made a difference in her height. A great outfit, Jordan decide
d as she lookedover the pieces. Then she took her time getting ready, lingering
in a tub of hot water into which she had added a generoussplash of rose oil, sin
ging carols in a lilting voice. By the time Luke arrived to collect her, she was
revvedup to party and looking forward to moreand she d just artfully dodge any s
tray mistletoe that mightinterfere with her plans. Jordan opened the door with a
flourish in her satin and velvet. Luke struck a gratifying pose of paralysis.Th
at it wasn t a pose became clear when he recovered enough to start shouting. It
was an astonishing sight. His eyes became stabbing blue beams of sudden death. H
is tensed musclesappeared to swell in size. He took two strides to confront her,
grabbed her shoulders and roared out,Go put on some clothes!" Really. As if she
wasn t dressed. Jordan glared back in instant fury. There s nothing wrong with wh
at I m wearing." "You aren t wearing anything!" "Yes, I am, Luke, she answered pa
tiently. Look. A jacket, shoes, pants, a" He interrupted to shout, I don t want to
know! Don t say it! Whatever it is, it isn t enough to keep youin. You re half n
aked." Now she was offended. Oh. And if I was half naked, that would be a bad thi
ng? I m a Medusalook-alike? Jordan demanded in outrage. He opened his mouth to be
llow some more, but stopped. He closed his eyes, breathed deeply andhauled her u
p against his chest. She waited. Finally he said, in a rough, strained voice, Jor
dan. You rebeautiful. It s a beautiful jacket. Then he roared at full volume, And
if you don t put something under it,it s going to become permanently un-wearable
!" It was too coincidental that this conversation was taking place the day she d
come across the unfortunatemermaid costume. The very same conversation had occu
rred the night she d worn that, only Gary hadbeen the one roaring in her face.

"But, Luke, I have something under it, she tried to explain. He groaned as if sh
e were putting him on the rack and turning the screws. No, Jordan, no, you don t.
There is nothing under that jacket but you and we aren t leaving until you chang
e." "But, Luke" "Jordan! His shout was enough to give her a permanent headache, sh

e thought irritably. Since he wouldn t listen, she ripped open the jacket to dem
onstrate. Or tried to. He grabbed the lapels,hauled them shut and started sweari
ng in ways she didn t know had been invented. It was impressive.She was a writer
, and she didn t know those words could be used in that combination. She wanted
totake notes, but was afraid to, under the circumstances. He was really very ups
et. "Get in there, Jordan, and put something else on, and do itnow , Luke said in
a voice that threateneddeath and dismemberment at the very least if she failed
to comply. She guessed he didn t like camisoles. Charm wouldn t cover this occas
ion. Stubbornness would have to do. Mutinously Jordan dug in her tinyheels, cros
sed her arms, glared and announced, If you don t like it,you change it. I m not g
oing to." She d shocked him, she saw in satisfaction. He stared. She glared. The
n he picked her up by herelbows, carried her into her bedroom and started to ran
sack her closet. He grabbed the biggest,heaviest, bulkiest sweater she owned, a
Shetland wool knit at least an inch thick that didn t even remotelygo with her p
ants and started towards her with it. That did it. Jordan yanked off the jacket
before he could stop her and stood there with her hands on herhips, the perfectl
y properin her opinioncamisole bared to his sight. "I am not wearing that sweater!
She barked the words at him in a blinding rage. He pinned her in place and haule
d the sweater over her head without saying a word, then pulled eachhand through
the bulky sleeves while she silently resisted and struggled like a three-year-ol
d having atantrum. Then he picked her up by the waist as if she was an awkward p
ackage and carried her bodily tothe car and dumped her in. At Aaron s she refuse
d to speak or get out, so he picked her up again and carted her to the door. The
door was opened by Aaron s wife, Tess. "Luke, Jordan, come in, she invited with a
wide smile. The smile dimmed and died as she saw thesimmering, silent rebellion
on Jordan s face and the implacable expression on Luke s. She cleared herthroat
faintly and stepped away to let them pass. Jordan waited a minute, then gave Lu
ke a killing look before she said, Hi, Tess. We would have beenhere sooner but Lu
ke thinks I don t know how to dress myself." She saw Tess eye her unusual fashio
n statement in some amazement. Jordan s fury ebbed as quickly as ithad risen, an
d her normal sense of mischief began to stir. There would be retribution, she vo
wed. He wanted to drag his family into their little spat? Fine. He d get

just that. In spades. She slowly, haltingly, walked in and allowed the merest qu
iver to touch her lips. As if she were fightingtears. Actually, she was fighting
laughter, but there would be time for that later. She fully intended to laughla
st tonight. There was no doubt that Luke was on to her. It didn t stop her. In f
act, he played right into her hands.As she drooped with dejection, he vibrated w
ith ever more tangible rage. Her pitiful outfit spokevolumes. Without saying a w
ord, she denounced Luke as a fashion criminal to the whole clan. Andworse, a cha
uvinistic autocrat. In sympathy, wives glared at husbands. Then every feminine e
ye in the room turned accusingly on poor,helpless Luke. Followed by every accusi
ng male eye, as they silently blamed him for getting them all introuble by assoc
iation. Wendy came up to put a glass of wine in Jordan s hand and put a protecti
ve arm around her slightshoulders, now considerably bulked up by the enormous sw
eater that appeared to be swallowing herwhole. Jordan took the glass with a pale
, shaking hand and sniffed, Thanks. She gave Wendy a look ofgratitude that proport
ionately increased the look of rage Wendy was giving Luke. Jordan sipped the win
e as if bolstering her spirits in the time honored way. As she did, she reflecte
d thatthis might very well prove to be her finest hour as an actress. "What happ
ened, Jordan? Wendy inquired sympathetically as she continued to glare daggers at
herbrother. Jordan shivered, sniffed and brushed at one eye with the back of he
r hand. Nothing, she said in a smallvoice. "Jordan... Luke growled in warning. She
raised pitifully brimming eyes to his, lips trembling. Don t yell at me again. She
sniffed audibly. "Jordan. The warning increased. Ignoring him, she turned to Wen

dy with a watery smile. That s a really lovely outfit." Wendy accepted the compli
ment and started to return it, then checked herself as she took in the woolenhor
ror overwhelming the dressy pants and heels. There wasn t a single nice thing an
yone could say aboutwhat Jordan was wearing, and everyone knew it. "You look, ah
, Wendy hesitated and searched for something diplomatic to say. Warm, she finallyco
ncluded. Jordan gave her an angelic smile. I am, she agreed sweetly. Luke was too
far away to stop her, but he saw it coming. She pulled off the sweater just as h
e let loosewith a bellow that could start an avalanche and the sweater hit the f
loor a bare moment before he slappedhis suit jacket over her bare shoulders.

But not before her scandalous silk camisole made its party debut, after all. Pa
ndemonium broke out. Luke started shouting at her again, at full volume and in g
raphic, gory detail ashe described her coming retribution. Reactions ranging fro
m gasps to dropped dishes presaged thefull-scale riot that ensued. Half of the m
embers in the group tried to protect Jordan from Luke and the other half started
to throwtheir jackets in as reinforcements. Everyone was shouting, including Au
nt Cora, and in the midst of it all, Jordan started to laugh. Andlaugh. And laug
h. By her standards, the party was a raging success. A triumph. A moment to savo
r andcherish. Her legs gave out and she fell into Luke s arms, helpless with mir
th. He caught her and never missed abeat, shouting all the while. Laughing until
she cried, Jordan threw her arms around his neck and tried tohold on. The more
she laughed, the louder he yelled, until finally he stopped as if realizing how
futile itwas. She brushed one small hand against his cheek to turn his face towa
rds hers, giggling irresistibly,merriment alive in her sparkling eyes. He sighed
. She continued to laugh. "You re shameless, hopeless and uncontrollable, he anno
unced. "You forgot incorrigible, she offered helpfully. "No, I didn t. I wasn t d
one yet." "Oh. Sorry. Do go on, she encouraged, still giggling. "You re an imp. A
fiend. Irreclaimable, intractable and utterly beyond redemption." "Those are ve
ry big words, she informed him approvingly. Luke gave up. He hugged her, buried h
is face in her shock of white hair and laughed, while the familyexchanged looks
of incredulity. It served him right, he admitted silently. He d wanted her to wr
eak havoc on his family. He d evenlooked forward to it. And she d done just that
. This night would live on in infamy. The night Jordan worea see-through camisole
and started a riot would never be forgotten. Luke looked down at the terribly pl
eased troublemaker clinging to him, looking nearly as ridiculous in hissuit jack
et as she had in her absurd sweater. Ridiculous and utterly charming. He smiled
at her and set her back from him just far enough to be able to button the jacket
. I can seeyou meant it when you said you wouldn t wear the sweater, he conceded.
Then he frowned as he sawthat the size of his jacket on her, even buttoned, left
far too much of her still bare. She was too tiny forthere to be that much of he
r in the first place, he thought. Luke settled for wrapping the suit jacket arou
nd her twice and looked for something to fasten it with. Henoticed that none of
his supposedly loyal and concerned family members offered to help. All of them

were on her side. Jordan was still grinning from ear to ear, her dimples showing
deeply. He sighed. Can we make adeal?" "I m always willing to be reasonable, she
answered. "You don t know the meaning of the word. Will you please, for my sake,
keep this on for the rest of thenight?" "Do you admit you were wrong?" He frown
ed at her. Don t push it, Jordan. Just wear the jacket." She sighed dramatically.
Since you ask so charmingly, I suppose I can t refuse. She cooperated,folding her

arms over the fabric to keep it firmly in place and smiled sweetly at him. Luke
tucked her just as firmly against his side. He wasn t about to turn her loose a
gain. There was notelling what she might do next. The punch bowl was still stand
ing upright and he intended to see that itstayed that way. He gave Wendy a frown
, since she was still standing there looking both pleased and entertained. If th
ereever was a situation to bull his way through, this was it. As if nothing unto
ward had occurred, he said,Good evening, Wendy." Wendy fought laughter and lost.
Aunt Cora announced loudly, Things are certainly more interesting nowthat you ve
gotten engaged, Luke." Luke privately agreed. Whatever else you could call it,in
teresting certainly described the situation well.First he d planned to foist a f
ake fiance on his family, then he found himself falling prey to the temptationto
turn the lie into truth. And neither plan took Jordan into account. He found him
self wondering what plansshe was concocting. Chapter SevenJordan was still smili
ng as Luke drove her home. She saw him glance her way as they passed under astre
et light and took advantage of the illumination to grin widely at him. "Still pr
oud of yourself, are you, imp? Luke asked wryly. "Definitely, she agreed. I origina
lly planned to swipe your hat tonight, and instead I got your jacket. I ma trium
ph. I amaze myself." "You are amazing, I ll give you that, he stated. You single-h
andedly turned a formal Foster affair into abarroom brawl without getting a hair
out of place." "More praise. She beamed and pretended to swoon. I did tell you th
at flattery would get youeverywhere. She settled more comfortably into her corner
and put her feet on the space between themas she faced him.

"Are you cold? He glanced over at her again in inquiry. "No, I m fine. She curled
into his jacket with a contented sigh. What an evening. She d had a wonderfulti
me, brawl or no brawl. Luke had a great family. Wendy was fast becoming a friend
and she sincerelyhoped the relationship could survive once she and Luke either
came clean or announced abreak-upwhatever he had planned. Maybe a break-up would
be best. She d certainly given him enough reason. They d had enough quarrelsto c
onvince any rational person that the match was made in hell. Too bad she d never
been especially rational. The thing about a match made in a fiery place was tha
t itreally warmed a person, Jordan thought wistfully. Heat glowed, like embers b
anked to last the night,whenever Luke was around. And whenever something happene
d to stoke the blaze, it went fromwonderfully warm to scorching hot. It certainl
y made things exciting. She suspected glumly that a match made in heaven would b
e terribly pale and boring in comparison.Luke wasn t boring and, for Jordan, tha
t was a universal first. Well, whatever the outcome, she hadplenty of excitement
guaranteed for the rest of the holidays. She suspected that Luke was enjoying t
heexcitement himself. Her outrageous antics might infuriate him, but he was also
demonstrably entertained. A good thing, because even if he gave her an ultimatu
m such as behave or lose her fake fianc, she dnever be able to keep it. A leopard
couldn t change its spots and she would never be able to stay out oftrouble. Jo
rdan yawned and curled more deeply into her corner. Lulled by the motion of the
car, she dozed. Shebarely stirred when the motion stopped and someone called her
name. "Jordan. We re here. Luke looked over at her face in the moonlight and saw
the face of a sleepingangel. White blond hair above soft lashes laying against
the curve of an innocent cheek. Pink lips partedin sleep. How in the world could
someone who looked so utterly peaceful in sleep be the same restless sprite out
to destroy all peace while awake? It was as wonderfully incongruous as everythin
g else about her. She looked too peaceful to disturb and he didn t have the hear
t to wake her. Even wicked fairies neededtheir rest for another day s work makin
g trouble for mortals, Luke decided. Even knowing he was themortal who d suffer
for it tomorrow, he was going to let her sleep. Luke scooped up a cuddly, fragra
nt armful of trouble and carried her inside, after a brief skirmish withthe door
. He now knew where to find her bedroom, so he made for it in easy strides. She

was as light asa child. Unfortunately, she didn t have the body of a childa fact
he was confronted with when he removed hisjacket from her and considered how to
put her to bed. That cursed camisole. It didn t hide nearly enough. It clung lik
e a second skin and revealed the lack ofany other undergarment. He might have kn
own that a confirmed rebel would refuse to wear a bra. She d probably burned her
s inprotest. He had a sinking sense of horror that underneath the silky pants th
ere d be nothing but an endless

expanse of silky skin, too. While he debated, Jordan shifted and the camisole we
nt from bad to worse. It was twisted on her smallframe and one small globe lay r
evealed to his hungry eyes, complete with pert, pink nipple. "Lord, Luke breathed
in a pained whisper, I do expect to be nominated for sainthood. I am a damnedsai
nt." He closed his eyes and reminded himself that for all her free-spirited, fre
e-thinking lifestyle, she waspossibly the most innocent and untouched creature h
e d ever encountered. He suspected that only a pureheart allowed the sprite to d
ance through life unharmed and able to abandon herself so completely to joy.It w
as her innocence that charmed everyone around her. For all her wicked ways, Jord
an was all that was good. He doubted that she d ever deliberately hurtanyone in
her life. She couldn t even bring herself to deceive his Aunt Cora, whom she did
n t even know.She was going on with the masquerade only because he d promised to
take care of everything, and shetrusted him to keep his word. She trusted him.
That was the important thing to remember right now. He d put the little minx saf
ely tobed and then he d go lie in the snow until he recovered from the experienc
e. He slipped off her shoes and then decided that only moving very quickly was g
oing to get him throughthis torture. The pants slipped easily over her small hip
s and he hung them over a chair so they wouldn twrinkle. On impulse, he picked u
p the velvet jacket still lying on the floor, smoothed it and laid it over thech
air, too. To his vast relief, she wasn t completely bare beneath the silk. Still
, sweat beaded on his forehead whenhe picked her up, clad in the briefest briefs
he d ever seen and the camisole which revealed her lack ofneed for embellishing
. He pulled the covers back and placed her under them. For a moment his armsrefu
sed to release her. He reminded himself sternly that he was a saint. Then he pul
led the covers up toher pointy little chin. Jordan made up for in sheer trouble
what she lacked in size and that was the truth. Even in sleep shetormented him w
ith the ingenuity of an experienced imp in a special chamber of hell. But Luke w
assmiling when he brushed a light kiss on her rosebud lips. As the saying went,
some did like it hot. He d roast over her coals any day. She tormented himmercil
essly but he found it oddly exciting. Being on pins and needles let him know wit
h certainty that hewas alive. Alive and suffering, maybe, but aliveand he found t
he awareness exhilarating. So much so that he d already determined to turn her l
ittle plot back on her and trap her in her own snare.She couldn t bear to disapp
oint his family or hers. By the time Christmas rolled around, there would be awh
ite wedding, one way or another. And by then he hoped to have convinced her that
, however itstarted out, their engagement was very real. As real as the powerful
attraction between them and theeven rarer bond of friendship and trust. This wa
s one time when she wouldn t go dancing on her merry way, Luke vowed. He d make
her facethe music. The wedding march, to be specific. He smiled just thinking ab
out it. He didn t care if she woreblack and went barefoot and braless ... and, k
nowing her, she probably would. It was too much toexpect any kind of conventiona
l behavior from her, especially on a solemn occasion.

In fact, he suspected that the more solemn the occasion, the more outrageous he
could depend on herbehavior to be. He thought it just might be her way of copin
g with stress. As a coping mechanism, it wasmore interesting than watching tropi
cal fish or playing new age musictwo things he couldn t imagine herbeing still lo
ng enough to enjoy. Thinking of Jordan trying to be still led to thinking about
the fun of posing with her for Wendy toimmortalize in a painting. Another good r
eason for her to follow through. She was joining the familygallery and by golly
she d have to join the family, too. His gaze fell on the vintage dress then. Luk
e walked over to it and held it up to take a closer look. OnlyJordan would have
something like this, he thought with a smile. She d probably ransacked somebody
sattic to find it. Then he scowled as he considered the almost absent bodice and
hoped she didn t plan tomake it worse by ripping it, too. As it was, the man in
black was going to need rescuing more than thesupposedly distressed damsel. Als
o, it looked like she was going to get her wish. She couldn t help spilling volu
ptuously over the top.Luke sighed in resignation. No doubt Wendy would happily p
aint in the sweat beads on his brow and thelook of torture on his face at the si
ght. But what a sight it would be. He put the dress back down and saw that somet
hing had fallen loose. When he bent to investigate, anunwilling smile tugged at
the corners of his mouth. The little scamp. She d planned to wear thosepractical
ly nonexistent bloomers? Luke was sorely tempted to foil her plans by stealing t
hem, but if he didshe d probably go one worse and wear nothing at all underneath
. If she did that, the man in black would just keel over in a dead faint at the
very thought. There was noway he could sit in front of his sister knowing the te
mptation in front of him was wearing nothing underher voluminous skirt. He would
n t rescue her to ride off with her on his horse. He d capture her and steal her
away to becomehis pleasure slave instead; and no matter how many times she batt
ed her eyes at him and called himherhero , it wouldn t save her too-tempting hid
e. Luke let out a wicked laugh. I m going to have my way with you, he threatened h
er sleeping form, butmy way includes a few little formalities which you ll have t
o accommodate. You re going to have to dothis the Foster way." It was a very goo
d thing that he outweighed her by at least three times her slight mass. He d nee
d everyadvantage in the fight to make an honest woman of the world s biggest lia
r. * * * *My dear damsel, If you dare rip this bodice and try to wear it in fron
t of me, you will find yourself in real distress. I ll besufficiently paralyzed
knowing what your bloomers look like. And you d better keep your skirt down. The
Man in Black Jordan laughed out loud at the outrageous note he d left her. As i
f she d flash him a look at herpeek-a-boo underwear. Well, okay, so the thought
had occurred to herbut she wasn t sure his heartcould take it and that was theonl
y thing stopping her, not his macho threats.

Her fianc was so much fun to tease. He reacted so beautifully, so violently to h

er pushing his buttons.How was she supposed to resist that kind of temptation? I
f he merely yawned, she d be able to pass upan opportunity now and then. As it w
as, he ought to be glad she was resisting the temptation to kiss himbreathless.
For that alone she was bound to get on Santa s Nice list. It was a Herculean feat
ofgoodness and it certainly ought to outweigh quite a bit of minor little naught
iness. Feeling distinctly self-righteous at the thought, Jordan put the note dow
n and vowed to leave the bodiceun-ripped and her skirt down. But she would go ba
refoot and shimmy and wiggle as the mood struckher. She wasn t a saint, after al
l. And it wasn t as if Luke was completely unacquainted with her body, after und
ressing her and putting herto bed last night. She smiled dreamily at the thought
. He was so nice. So thoughtful and concerned. Well,at least he was when he wasn
t being high-handed and passing down edicts, such as telling her what towear an
d dragging her to parties when she didn t want to go and from them when she didn

t want toleave. She started to laugh again at the sweet memory of his comeuppan
ce last night. Try to make her wearwhathe wanted, would he? Force a big, hairy s
weater on her unwilling person? He d seen wherethatwould get him. Worse off than
before, that was where. Instead of the jacket she d planned to wear modestly ov
er it, thecamisole had appeared in all its glory. Or all her glory. Whatever. It
certainly had been a glorious moment, any way she looked at it. The sounds of g
asps, shouts andbreaking glass were music to her ears, but the sweetest music of
all was Luke s raging, roaring voice. Ormaybe his laugh. He hadn t been able to
stay mad for long ... proof of his overall niceness. He d actually put her to b
ed and tucked her in. Jordan found that almost unbearably sweet. It sent littlew
arm shivers down her spine and happy tingles from head to toe. It made her smile
. It made her sigh. Itmade her curse the sneaky, deceitful subterfuge that preve
nted her from enjoying all the privileges of anengaged person. Well, she couldn
t have everything, and she certainly did have a lotspecifically, Luke s delightfu
lcompanionship and the security of knowing no awful Mr. Never Never Never In a M
illion Years wouldshow up on her doorstep. Imagine the freedom to walk out her d
oor instead of fleeing through a window! And she owed it all to Luke. She d be n
ice to him from now on, she vowed. Well, as nice as she couldstand. No, come to
think of it, she wouldn t bother. Luke didn t likenice. Nice bored him to tears,
luckilyfor her. Instead, she d be herself and make him sing carols, which he wo
uld do while scowling so enticingly ather that she d have to resist with all her
strength. He had a scowl to die for. A frown to faint at. A yell tomake her shi
ver and sigh. Fighting with Luke was her Christmas bonus, no doubt about it. She
wondered what to give her favorite fianc for Christmas. A gun sprang to mindbut h
e might betempted to use it on her, so she dismissed that idea. Cowboy boots? A
tin star to go on his black hat,symbolizing the disorderly lawman? It was defini
tely going to take some thought. Fortunately, finding the perfect gift was a tal
ent of hers.She d come up with something guaranteed to make him shout with rage
first and then laughter.

Since Wendy wanted to give the new addition to the family gallery to her parent
s for Christmas, she andLuke would be posing for her, starting tonight, which di
d complicate Jordan s already complicatedschedule. Which meant, Jordan concluded
with a wince, that she d better quit gloating over past triumphsand anticipatin
g future debacles and get to work. She had jokes to tell. Endings to twist. Word
s to play on. She picked up her notebook and went at itwith a will. * * * *"Jord
an, hold still." "I can t. Iam in distress, she replied indignantly. It was hard
to be distressed and indignant whileswooning in the arms of the lethal man in bl
ack, but she managed it. It was too much to also expect her tobe still. "Well, i
f you move your hip again, I may never be able to have children, Luke retorted. J
ordan added laughing to her repertoire and ruined the distress with deep dimples
and the sparkle ofhumor in her eyes. "If you two can t behave, I ll send you bo
th into different corners, Wendy threatened. She waved avicious-looking palette k
nife at them for emphasis and Jordan quailed. "She s going to get me, Luke. Help
. Save me!" "I ve already saved you. Shut up and look grateful before I shove yo
u off my saddle, Luke answeredwith a stern look. Jordan rolled her eyes at that. O
h, a fall ofwhat, three feet? It might do permanent damage. It mightmake my skirt
fly up. She said the last in a dramatic whisper designed to remind Luke of who w
ould getdamaged in that event. That earned her a killing look. It should rightfu
lly have singed her eyebrows, at the very least. Lukesecured his hold on her and
balanced them both in the saddle that was perched atop a prop horse. Thereal bl
ack steed would be painted in later. Good thing, too, because a real horse would
have reared upto unseat and trample the twitching, fidgeting Jordan a dozen tim
es by now. Luke was perilously close to it himself. She was killing him by inche
s, wiggling around on his lap in thatoutfit designed to inspire ravishment in ev

en the mildest male heart. If she spilled out any further from the inadequate bo
dice, he d be able to see her belly button. Herdangerous curves surged up and ou
t as if trying to escape the confining boned corset. Knowing Jordan,they probabl
y were. Her tiny waist rose above the padded bustle and draping skirt that were
all thatprotected him from the curvy hips that lay across his lap and nestled in
to his groin. And her bare feet peeking out from beneath the hem of the skirt ma
de him want to run his hands overthat tempting arch, then keep right on going ..
. up, up satin limbs that beckoned, warm and curving,begging to be touched. Up t
o diabolical black lace. Up to heaven worth the hell she was putting himthrough.
He was sweating, and it wasn t from the heat of Wendy s lights that created the
illusion of midday sun

against the painted backdrop. What they needed was a distraction. Whathe needed
was a distraction. "How about if I tell you a story? he offered hopefully. Jordan
brightened. I didn t know you could tell stories. What kind of story?" Wendy int
errupted archly. How about the story about the painter who killed her models so r
igor mortiswould set in and they d have to stay in position?" Jordan gave her a
pitiful look. I mtrying, Wendy. These whalebones are pinching and poking me and I
can t breathe. I am in real distress. Tell me a story, Luke, she finished pleadin
gly. Anything to take mymind off this ancient torture device." Luke was un-chival
rously glad that the dress was torturing her, too. It seemed only fair. Still, t
he sight ofJordan in that dress was definitely worth a little torture. And she w
as looking uncomfortable. Luke shiftedher a little more to relieve the pressure
on her ribs and she looked grateful enough to make up forWendy s strident remark
that he d just ruined the angle. He smiled at Jordan and wondered what kind of
story would please her. There were hundreds of locallegends involving Ethan Alle
n and his Green Mountain boys, the alleged sea monster in Lake Champlain,and his
torical tales weird enough to qualify as fiction of the wildest kind. But he tho
ught he could come upwith something original just for her. "You know that Vermon
t produces most of the nation s marble, don t you? A lot of it is visible in the
rock throughout the Champlain valley." Jordan nodded and earned another frown fr
om Wendy. She looked apologetic. Sorry, I forgot. I llkeep still. Yes, she added i
n answer to Luke s question. "Well, do you know how the marble got there?" "Sure
, heat and pressure from the fault lines under the mountain ranges, Jordan answer
ed readily. Luke sighed. You have no romance in your soul, do you? I m telling yo
u a legend. A romantic legend.Start swooning." "Oh. Okay. She swooned and waited
eagerly. Wendy growled. "Long ago, an Algonquin Indian princess lived in the val
ley. She was beautiful. So beautiful that it wassaid that her eyes were made fro
m the stars of heaven and her hair from moonbeams. The tribe knewwhen she was bo
rn with the white hair of the moon that it was a signbut what the sign meant they
didn tknow. They loved the princess, but they feared her, too, and so the princ
ess grew more beautiful everyyear, and more alone." Luke paused and Jordan held
her breath until he continued. "She was always one of the tribe and yet a person
apart. Then one day, over the lake came a strangeboat of a kind they had never
seen before. It was a long boat with a sea serpent s head and a sail, whichthe A
lgonquin had never seen. The white sail moving across the lake concerned the peo
ple. Theywatched to see what would happen."

Jordan interrupted excitedly, The Viking colony led by Leif the Lucky!" Luke fro
wned at her. Doyou want to tell this story?" "Sorry." "You should be. Ow! Jordan,

don t wiggle like thatour future children are at stake." She giggled. "Will you
just get on with it? Wendy demanded, mixing another color in the middle of her pa
lette. "Everyone s a critic. All right, where was I? Oh yes. The Algonquin peopl
e watched the strangers. Thewhite sail and the white skins of the newcomers remi
nded them of their princess with her white hair.Perhaps, they said, it was an om
ennew people were coming to their land and perhaps this was a signthat the two pe
oples should join together. Perhaps, they said, their princess with her white ha
ir was bornto bring this about. Perhaps they should give the princess to a man o
f the new tribe and it would bringluck to all the people." "Right, Jordan fumed. I
bet nobody asked the princess." "Princesses have to do what their told. Nobless
e oblige, Luke reminded her. So a great warrior of theAlgonquin went to test the s
trength of the white people, and when he found the man he could not defeatin a w
restling match, he knew this was the man that the princess should marry. To be a
bsolutely certain,they looked for the sign of the moon and found it in a crescen
t mark over the Viking s heart. So theprincess and the Viking were married and t
he Vikings and the Algonquians were as one people. Buttrouble soon came." "It al
ways does, Jordan sighed. "You should know, Luke snickered. The princess and her hu
sband loved each other deeply; but therewere still many men of her tribe who wer
e jealous and who secretly wished to have the beautiful princessas their own mat
e. One terrible night, a jealous rival came and killed the Viking man while he s
lept. In themorning the princess was found with the knife that killed him and hi
s blood on her hands. Because sheloved her own people too well, she wouldn t say
who had done the terrible deed, and grief stole hervoice and she never spoke ag
ain. But bad feelings on both sides grew until war broke out and thestrangers fl
ed in their boat." Jordan waited impatiently, but he didn t continue. What happen
ed then? What about the princess? shedemanded, nudging Luke where it was most lik
ely to prod him to action. "Ah. The princess grieved, not only for her lost love
but also for the jealous rage in the heart of one ofher own people. She sat on
a rock in the moonlight and wept white tears. In the morning, when the suncame u
p, she was gone and was never seen again. But her white tears seeped into the gr
ound andbecame the marble you see in the valley." Jordan sniffled. Luke, that s t
errible. It s sosad ." He moved a hand to brush her cheek at the risk of incurri
ng Wendy s wrath. Well, it took your mind offof being pinched and poked, didn t i
t?"

She considered that. Well, yes. But still ... couldn t you have come up with a h
appy ending?" He smiled at her. Happy endings are for real life. But if it makes
you feel better, after their deaths, theywere reunited as stars in the sky, he im
provised. Jordan sighed happily. That s much better." "I m glad you approve, he re
plied dryly. "You re a really good storyteller, Luke. I can t believe you just m
ade that up. Wendy, did he always tellstories? Jordan asked. Wendy tossed a long
strand of hair back and eyed them both, considering the picture they made. Onlysi
nce he met you. You ve made a romantic out of him. Something I would have said w
as impossible, sheadded with a lift of her eyebrow. Jordan leaned closer into Luk
e. Well, it was wonderful, Luke. You should do it more often." He smiled at her,
then frowned when he saw her bite her lip. That s enough for now, he informedWendy
. Without waiting for permission, he swung down and lowered Jordan carefully to
her feet. Canyou stand? he asked, supporting her in case she couldn t. She flexed
and stretched her legs one at a time, and grimaced until the cramps slowly eased
. Ouch.Yes, I can now, thanks. I didn t know sitting still was so hard. She sounde
d surprised and forlorn. Luke couldn t help laughing. That s because you ve never
done it before in your life." She stuck her tongue out at him. "All right, you
two, Wendy warned them both, if you re going to start up again, leave. I don t wan
t anybrawls distracting me while I m working." "We don tbrawl , Jordan protested
indignantly. Luke laughed again and swung her off her feet and into his arms. Of

course we don t, he agreed. Youjust can t help starting trouble everywhere you go.
That dress alone is enough to incite a riot." Jordan looked both fascinated and
ridiculously pleased. Really?" "No, not really." "Oh. She visibly drooped with di
sappointment. "Just with you in it." "Get out, now, while everything is still st
anding, Wendy ordered them both sternly. Jordan smiled sweetly at him. We d better
run for it. Only I don t have my running shoes." "I noticed."

"Carry me? she requested unnecessarily, since he was holding her already. "Certa
inly. I always carry off damsels in distress." Jordan sighed happily and looped
her arms around her hero s neck as he carried her off and silentlyvowed never ag
ain to wear running shoes when he was around. If she couldn t kiss him, at least
she couldenjoy being carried off by him. "Thanks, Jordan, Wendy added over her s
houlder. I won t need you in costume again, either of you. Igot enough from today
and from the snapshots for the composition. I will need your faces again, thoug
h,for the final details." "Okay, Jordan agreed. Let us know when. Then she heaved a
dramatic sigh of relief and dropped herhead on Luke s ample shoulder. Take me aw
ay. Get me out of this iron maiden." He slanted a wry look at her. Iron maiden?"
"Well, what wouldyou call it? I m being stabbed from all directions. She moaned i
n misery. How didwomen survive this through the centuries? Thank God for lycra an
d spandex." He laughed at her dramatics. Come on, I ll get you out. Luke set her d
own and tapped on thebathroom door. Empty. He swung it open and ushered an eager
Jordan inside and closed it behind them. She bounced up and down in eagerness. F
ree at last! Free at last!" "Stop that or some parts of you will be free before
other parts, Luke warned her, eyeing the strainedbodice in trepidation. And maybe
a little anticipation. "Then undo me, please, Luke. Hurry. Jordan turned and pre
sented her row of miniature fastenings andtried to stand still so he could unfas
ten her. He obligingly fumbled at the little hooks and wondered how he d gotten
himself into this. This was notthe way he d envisioned undressing Jordan. He was
in fact undressing her for the second time, andneither one went remotely like t
he scenarios in his fantasies. In his fantasies, she wasn t asleep. Well, maybe
in one or two. But she woke up eagerly early on in theshort drama instead of sno
ring peacefully through the whole thing. And in his fantasies involving Jordanan
d this dress, two small boys weren t running loose in the same house who might p
ossibly burst inunexpectedly. Jordan sighed in blessed relief as one by one the
fastenings came open and relieved the vise-likepressure. Oh, Luke, that feels sog
ood , she groaned, without realizing how it sounded. The dress was open from neck
to waist and his warm hands stroked her bared back soothingly. Sheclosed her ey
es and enjoyed the massage. Amazing. She hadn t even specifically requested a fa
ntasymassage-giving fianc and she got a bonus anyway. Strong fingers kneaded achi
ng muscles and rubbed away the irritation produced by confining whalebone,moving
down her spine, then spreading out to move up her sides and continue the massag
e along heraching ribcage. Jordan sighed blissfully and leaned back against Luke
, feeling her aches dissipate andevaporate under his hands. When they continued
up and slid around to cup her abused cleavage, she was

suddenly very glad he was holding her up. "Luke. His name burst from the depths o
f her soul at the intimate touch. "Shh. He released her breasts and slid one hand
down to her waist to press her back against him, theother moving safely up to r
est below her throat as he held her tightly. Her bones were turning to water, bu
t everything else had caught fire. Oh dear, Jordan thought weakly.This wasn t in

the plan. Neither was his jaw scraping against her cheek, or his warm breath fe
athering her bared neck andsending shivers down her spine. And when he turned he
r to him and kissed her fiercely, that wasdefinitely not in the plan. Luke relea
sed her lips and she stared stupidly at him. What had she just done? Ruined ever
ything, ofcourse. He d hate her. He d call off their phony engagement, leaving h
er to Seymour s tender mercies.Well, at least she d get a good burial plot, she
thought wildly. Luke hugged her gently against his chest. Don t look like that, he
murmured. I m sorry. It won thappen again." Great. She didn t know whether to pr
otest or cheer. She wanted it to happen again. And again andagain. No she didn t
. Yes she did. Confused, she settled for staying put and staying still and stayi
ng quiet for possibly the first and only timein her life. "It s going to be all
right, Jordan, I promise, Luke said quietly. Would John Wayne lie to her? He was
the man in black, after all. Her hero. Steady. She could trust him.Jordan relaxe
d. Okay." "Okay." They stayed together in a few minutes of silence. Then Luke loo
sed his hold and smiled down at her.Get dressed, imp. I ll take you home." Chapte
r Eight"Earth to Jordan. Come in, Jordan." Her head snapped up and she looked ba
ck and forth from Randall to Teresa. Huh?" Teresa shook her head. She s been like
that all day.This is what being engaged does to a person? Inever thought I d see
Jordan like thisquiet and worried." Randall looked suspiciously at Jordan. Jorda
n tried to look innocent and searched for the fork she deither lost or forgotten
she was holding ... she wasn t sure which. She was holding it. Good. She stabbe
dat a Brussels sprout and attempted to redirect the conversation.

"Great sprouts, Teresa. Did you cook these in garlic butter?" Teresa just sighe
d. Now she s showing an interest incooking , for goodness sake. It s even worse t
hanI thought." Jordan couldn t spare any sympathy just then for Teresa s concern
. She was worried enough herself.She d spent a restless, emotional nightafter bei
ng unexpectedly kissed and caressed by a dangerousgunslinger in his sister s bat
hroom. And so far, Sunday hadn t been much more peaceful. But she admittedto her
self that she was being lousy company and she ought to at least contribute to th
e dinnerconversation. The reason for her distraction wasn t Randall s fault, or
Teresa s, or either of their boys. She had nobodybut herself to blame for her pr
edicament. As usual. She had managed to get herself engaged to a man she ... there
were no words to describe how shefelt.Attraction fell short.Obession? Well, tha
t was closer. Nohow aboutderanged, delusional,lunatic andirrational ? That was be
tter. She was insanely driven, compelled, coerced by her brute and base instinct
s anddeeply depraved urges. She was lusting after Luke and fantasizing about him
in his black hat and nothingelse. Well, maybe cowboy boots, too... She was pini
ng for his presence, which was equally disgusting. She hadn t seen him since he
d droppedher off the previous evening and she missed him all the way down to her
toes. Sad. Pathetic. Pitiful. Just thinking about Luke and the fact that he was
n t there had Jordan wilting anddrooping over her Brussels sprouts again, her fo
rk once more forgotten in her limp hand. She missed him. She wanted to see him s
mile and hear him roar in outrage and feel him throw her up inthe air as if she
was Theodore s little toddler. Buthe was disgusted with her. She knew it. For the
first time, he hadn t sent her flowers or anythingremotely along the floral the
me. Jordan realized in horror that she was inches away from weeping intoTeresa s
Sunday pot roast. She had to get a grip. "Good sprouts, she offered inanely with
a weak smile in Teresa s direction. Teresa shook her head. You already said that
." "I did?" "Randall, she s your sister. Do something, his wife demanded. "She s
my fiance. I ll do something." At the sound of the familiar voice, Jordan snapped
to attention again. Her eyes swung to his. Ahumiliatingly happy smile broke ove
r her face, but she was too glad to see him to care how disgustingly

besotted she was acting. Besides, with any luck, that was exactly what he d attr
ibute it toacting. Hadn t she alreadydemonstrated considerable talent in that dir
ection? Yes, she had. He d buy it. She d snowed him before. "What has she done n
ow? Luke asked Randall in commiseration. Burned something? Broken thedishes? Fille
d the dishwasher with liquid dish soap instead of automatic detergent?" "I only
did thatonce , Jordan defended herself huffily. It was an honest mistake. How was
I supposedto know it was the wrong kind of soap?" Randall cracked a smile at the
memory. We had soap suds all over the kitchen floor up to our knees.Gary wouldn
t allow her in the kitchen again for a month." Luke laughed, and Jordan was dist
racted by the sound. He sounded so good laughing. Almost as goodas he did shouti
ng. And he was here. That struck her as odd and she asked, Why are you here?" He
whipped a bouquet of white carnations from behind his back and offered them to h
er. To give youthese." "Oh!" "Take them, Jordan, and say thank you , Teresa prompte
d her. Jordan accepted the flowers with numb fingers and smiled her horribly bes
otted smile. Thank you." Luke smiled back. He didn tlook disgusted, Jordan though
t. He looked a little relieved, actually. You rewelcome." She smiled some more. "
Go put them in water, Teresa added as if to a child, trying very hard not to laug
h. "Oh. Water. Right. Fork still in hand, Jordan abruptly rose from the table and
headed for the kitchenwith the flowers. Once there, she leaned against the coun
ter and sniffed the spicy fragrance of thecarnations and smiled dreamily. He d b
rought her flowers again. Himself. Personally, instead of through George the del
ivery man, whoshe was rapidly getting to know as well as she knew her mailman. L
uke wasn t disgusted with her after all. Maybe he planned to put the whole halfnaked kissing thingbehind him and forget about it. The fact that he d shown up u
nannounced at Randall s to surprise hershowed her that he was still planning on
holding up his end of their bargain. If he wasn t, she reasoned, hewouldn t have
bothered with flowers. It was a subtle reminder of his first promise to her. He
d kept every one he d made since then, too. Reliefsang through her. He wouldn t
leave her to the likes of Seymour and company. Then, as swiftly as the relief c
ame, it went, leaving her slumped and despondent. Hewould leave her,though ... J
anuary second. She looked down at the flowers and tried not to cry.

"You don t like carnations? Luke asked. She lifted wide eyes to his unreadable g
aze. "They didn t have any calla lilies, he said apologetically. He took the flow
ers from her unresisting graspand put them in a vase with water. I took a chance.
" Jordan didn t respond. For once she was without words. Luke set the flowers as
ide and turned to pull her into his embrace. I thought carnations would suit you.
Spicy. Sweet. Colorful." "Oh, Jordan managed to say. Thank you." He might have bee
n talking about fractions or demographics or tabulated statistics for all she kn
ew. Allshe knew for sure was that it wasn t January yet, and Luke was holding he
r in his arms. She never wanted it to end. She laid her cheek on his chest and b
reathed in his warm musky scentthescent of a businessman who didn t quite manage
to look like he belonged behind a deskand felt sheerbliss from head to toe. "It s
snowing again, Jordan, he continued. Do you want to make a snowman?" Hope ran thr
ough her and erased every trace of unhappiness. She lifted her head to smile at
him and hesmiled warmly back. Yes. I do. It was what she wanted to do more than an
ything at that moment.Well,almost anything. Some things were off limits. But not
this. She wanted to play in the snow withLuke. "Do you have mittens? A scarf? A
coat? He prodded. With something like her old verve, Jordan gave him a deeply of
fended look. I am a native of Vermont.Of course I do. I m always prepared for sno
w from October to April." "You don t know the meaning of prepared, he snickered. Y

ou run outside in your shirt and turn blueand have to be thawed out." She grinne
d at him saucily. So? I thaw well." "Yes, you do, he agreed. But I d rather not hav
e a Popsicle to dance with on Friday, so why risk it?Get your coat and mittens o
n." She shot him a questioning look. Friday? I don t remember Friday. What are we
doing?" "A boring business cheese and cracker thing. If it s too hopelessly dre
ary, I m counting on you to startanother riot. Then in all the confusion, we ll
make our escape unnoticed." Jordan gave him an impish smile and her dimples deep
ened. You can count on me. How about a codeword for riot? I ve got itcamisole. Wha
t do you think?" He smiled at her and traced the dimples in her cheeks with a fi
nger. I think I can use that in a sentence."

"Then camisole it is, She gave him a wicked look. Dickens for escape, camisole fo
r riot. What a code.We should be a spy team." "Oh no. Luke shook his head, horrif
ied. You d start world war three within a week." She frowned in offense. I wouldno
t . I d save the world!" Luke couldn t resist kissing her again, quickly and lig
htly, at that bold statement. Settle for savingme .Friday and every other day. No
w hurry and get bundled up or I ll cheat and get a head start instead ofwaiting
for you." "You re on! I make a mean snowman. Even with a head start, Luke Foster
, you d never outdo me, shesmirked and then raced for her mittens and jacket. "Oh
yes I will, he promised the empty air behind her. While you re busy running, I m
setting you up.Luke gave a diabolical laugh at the thought. She d just agreed to
be introduced to his business associates, professionally, as his future wife. Th
eannouncement had already been sent to the paper, using one of Wendy s handy pho
tographs of the twoof them. Soon he d have her registering for crystal and picki
ng a china pattern andand she d be lost.Hopelessly trapped in an endless snare of
formalities that tied her tightly to him. By the time she realizedthe hoax had
grown and overwhelmed her, the invitations would be in the mail and the flowers
ordered. She didn t have a chance. And no one was going to ride to her rescue to
save her from the man in black,either. But he didn t think she d be too distres
sed. At least not for long. She d been happy to see him,hadn t she? She d smiled
and looked pleased when he teased her. She d glowed when he offered to builda s
nowman with her. She had to be falling in love with him. And if she wasn t, he i
ntended to lure her out to the edge of thatprecipitous leap, because Luke Foster
did not fall alone. He had a reputation to uphold as a desirableand eligible ba
chelor. Not to mention as the dark and dangerous man in black. No self-respectin
g outlawrider would let a damsel in distress charm his horse out from under him
and his hat off his head. Nomatter what she wore ... or didn t wear. Thinking of
that, he frowned and started after her. He wouldn t put it past Jordan to run o
utside just theway she was to get a jump on him, and she could be outside turnin
g blue right now. She might need to bethawed. Instead, she needed to be muffled,
which Luke did while she zipped her jacket despite her squirmingand protesting.
I don t need something on my head. I ll be fine. Come on, Luke, hurry up." "You
do, too, need something on your head. He wound the scarf over the top of her hair
, thenwrapped it under her chin. Heat loss. Body heat gets lost through the top o
f the head faster thananywhere else." "You re making that up. You re trying to d
istract me, Jordan accused. You re afraid of the competition.My snowman will be be
tter than yours anyway. I m creative." "You re insane and I m not going to let y
ou freeze. Luke arranged the covering to his satisfaction thenled her outside. Br
ight sun reflected off the new snow but the air held the cold bite of winter in
spite of thesunshine. Besides, he continued, we could just make one together."

"Aha! I knew it! Jordan whirled to laugh in his face. You re afraid of a challeng
e. You re trying to conme into lending you my talents again. Her breath made puff
s of steamy condensed moisture as thewarmer air met and mixed with cold. His lig
ht blue eyes met hers steadily as he drawled, You want a challenge? You re on. Bu
t you shouldknow they call me the Snowball Kid." She laughed in delight. The Snow
ball Kid?" "That s right, he boasted quietly, settling his hands on his hips and
swaggering towards her in his bestJohn Wayne mode. Then without warning, he grab
bed her hand and pulled her with him to the ground.They fell into wet snow that
clung and packed when Jordan brushed a mittened hand across the whitesurface. Th
en, to her amazement, he rolled onto his back beside her, still holding her hand
and moved arms andlegs in a definite snow angel. She sat up. What are you doing?
" He smiled at her. Being spontaneous. Wild and unpremeditated. Try it." She hesi
tated, then grinned and fell back into the snow and made an angel of her own. He
eyed it critically. Not bad, but I expected better from the Snow Queen." Careful
ly he rose from the packed outline without disturbing the pattern made by his bo
dy in the snowand stood, then extended a hand to help her up. Jordan let him pul
l her up and kept from disturbing herown design. Together they looked at the out
lines in the snow. His was huge and hers was tiny, and the two formswere visibly
holding hands. "Oh, that sgreat , she gasped. She hugged her arms around his wai
st and grinned at him. What a goodidea. I ve never made hand-holding angels befor
e." Luke brushed snow from her cheek and tucked white-blond hair back under her
scarf. I m the first guyyou ve made an angel with in the snow, huh? he asked lazil
y, careful to keep the desire in his voice undercontrol. He wanted to do things
with her that wouldmelt the snow, but now was not the time. He d made amistake l
ast night, coming on too strong. It was the influence of that dress, of course.
How could any manresist a temptation like that? Even a man sworn to saintliness
wouldn t be oblivious. But, for now, he d becontent to see Jordan smile at him a
nd feel comfortable in his presence again. Her dimples deepened. Yes. And now I t
hink we should make snow monsters." Without another word, she slipped from his a
rms and threw herself into packing and rolling thebeginnings of a snowman. Luke
couldn t stop himself from smiling at the picture she made. An animatedsnow ange
l. The kind that moved and laughed, not the kind that lay quiet and frozen on th
e ground. Thatwas what she looked likea snow angel.

Whenever Jordan lookedthat innocent, trouble was brewing. Luke braced himself f
or it with a tantalizingmixture of trepidation and anticipation and went to star
t his own snow creation. A half hour later, Jordan tapped on his broad shoulder.
Ahem." He turned and quirked a brow at her. Yes?" She smiled sweetly, her gray ey
es dancing. I m done. How about you?" He considered her impish face. I m done, too
. He stepped back and let her see his snowman. Hethought he d done well. The figu
re had a hat, nose, mouth and scarf sculpted from the snow and hethought it woul
d impress even her. She eyed it politely and nodded at last. Not bad ... for a be
ginner." He frowned. Not bad? It s great. It s better than great. I think you re
jealous." She smirked. Oh yeah? She waved a mittened hand in the direction of her
own creation. Luke followed the line of her hand and started to laugh. The snow
angel had indeed made a snowmonster. A hideous snow demon, suspended in the act
of lurching across the yard. "That s going to terrify your nephews, he choked out
, still laughing. We d better warn Randall to keepthem away." She gave him an ind
ignant look. It will not. It s great! It s beautiful." It washideous . There was
no other word to describe the monstrosity. Jordan, it ll give themnightmares. It
might giveme nightmares. It s macabre. Horrific. Not to mention bizarre." She sc
owled at him. I love it." He grinned at her and cupped her cheeks, pink with cold
. I do, too." She stopped scowling and charmed him with her dimples again. He sho
uld have known then. Her grayeyes were melting pools of innocence, her soft lips

curved in the sweetest of smiles. She radiated purity.He should have known, but
all he could think about was the memory of those soft lips moving against his.U
ntil an icy shock jolted him from his fantasies to the reality of a wicked fairy
who d just dropped snowdown the inside of his shirt. Luke gave a roar of outrag
e and Jordan slipped free to run for her life across the snowy yard. I ll getyou!
As God is my witness, I ll get you! He bellowed as he gave chase. He caught her
with a flyingtackle and wrestled her down. She just laughed at him, unrepentant.
"You re a criminal, he accused. "I d do it again, she vowed, looking very pleased
with herself.

He nodded, resigned. Yes, you would. He sighed. Then he ruthlessly retaliated. Sn

ow went down herthin sweater and more covered her face. He unzipped her and fill
ed the jacket with cold wet snow untilshe shrieked and begged for mercy. "Stop!
Stop, Luke, it scold! Jordan gasped and laughed at the sensation of snow melting
on her bareskin under her clothes. Oh, I m cold." He smeared another handful ove
r her face. I don t think you re sorry yet. He gathered another handfulof snow in
preparation. Jordan eyed the snow, then him. You wouldn t. You beat me. I m helpl
ess. You wouldn t keep freezinga helpless woman, would you?" Luke sighed in mock
regret and gave her a sorrowful look. Repent, sinner. He lifted her sweater anddr
opped the icy mass onto her bare chest and she wailed in reaction. "I repent. I
do, I really do. Oh, Luke, that sso cold! She protested and squirmed under him, t
rying toescape the trap but he wouldn t let up. "Oh, Jordan. Too late. His loins
burned at the sight of her nipples, puckered with cold and clearlyoutlined under
the thin wet knit. She saw the line of his gaze and stopped struggling. She cau
ght her breath and waited. He slowlylowered his mouth to hers and she melted int
o him. She was hot and cold and shivering, all at once. Hekissed her in the snow
, fire and ice, and Jordan clung to him mindlessly. She protested when he drew a
way and reached for him. The regret in his eyes was genuine this time ashe shook
his head at her. We re in your brother s yard, Jordan." She d forgotten, actuall
y. She d forgotten where they were. She d forgotten their bargain. She d forgott
enabout everything but Luke and the wild delight of kissing him. "Oh. The shock i
n her voice was audible. "Yesoh , Luke teased her gently, coaxing a slight smile
in return. Come on, you ll freeze. I ll take youhome and thaw you out before you
turn into an icicle." He scooped her up and brushed the snow from her jacket. Wh
en he felt her shivering, he frowned. Shereally was cold. He unzipped his own co
at and spread it wide to wrap her in the edges and grimaced atthe cold, wet shoc
k. Nothing with Jordan went according to his fantasies. Sharing a coat with her
in a daydream wouldn tinvolve dripping, melting snow and blue lips. Luke private
ly mourned the inadequacies of reality as hetucked her against his heat and went
around to the kitchen door for her flowers. He eyed the puddleforming at their
feet and knocked. Teresa opened the door and looked at the two of them, covered
in snow. You renot coming in here,she said sternly. Jordan looked up at Luke and g
rinned. I think we re in trouble."

Luke nodded. That seems to happen whenever you re around." Teresa handed them th
e flowers and waved them away. Go get warmed up, you two! Go drip wateron your ow
n floors!" Jordan snuggled into his warmth and tried unsuccessfully to chase awa
y the chill. I m going to dripeverywhere, she groaned. "I ll mop it up, Luke offere
d. A warm glint of humor in his eyes made her smile again. "You should, you re r
esponsible for getting me soaked. And frozen. Now you will have to thaw me or I

llbe a Popsicle for sure. Jordan winked saucily. You wouldn t want to dance with a
Popsicle, wouldyou?" He swung her in a giddy waltz. I don t know, he mused. I thin
k it s kind of fun. It might grow on me." She laughed at him and then shivered i
n earnest. All laughter gone, Luke swept her up and hurried to hiscar. Don t worr
y, I m an experienced rescuer of damsels in distress. Would you like to see my r
esume?he inquired smoothly as he dumped her in and shut the door. She eyed him in
interest as he joined her, started the engine and turned the heater on. You have
aresume as a rescuer? Oh, this I have to see." He gave her an arch look. I keep
it at home." She considered that. You do?" "Yes, he assured her warmly. Right by th
e indoor hot tub, he added. Jordan debated briefly. She d never been much for res
isting temptation. The lure of Luke and his kissesand his searing heat were bad
enough. The added persuasion of the promise of a hot tub made anoverwhelmingly i
rresistible combination. She scooted across the seat to burrow against him. Sound
s like the perfect spot to keep a resume.Rescue me, she commanded. He wrapped an
arm around her. I m thinking of making it my sole professional focus." Thatsounde
d interesting. You are?" "Mm-hmm. It looks like a full-time proposition. I ve nev
er seen anyone who needed more rescuing thanyou." "You can t have it both ways,
Luke, she retorted. I m either a threat to the entire planet, or harmlessand no th
reat to anyone. I can t be both." Luke dropped a kiss on top of her head. That s
what I used to think. Then I metyou ." Chapter Nine

It wasn t far from Randall s house to Luke s. Jordan curled on the seat and conc
entrated on thinkingwarm thoughts. Hot tubs, for instance. Hot water and hotter
kisses. Fire, flames, a conflagration racingthrough her veins and burning her fr
om the inside out. She was still cold, but it couldn t hurt to pretend. At that
thought, she paused.It couldn t hurt to pretend? She hadn t thought so before. N
ow ... shewasn t so sure. The problem with creative fiction, Jordan realized, wa
s that it was all too easy to believe.It was so believable, it could almost be r
eal. And it wasn t. Luke wasn t hers. He was only temporary, and pretending woul
dn t change anything. He was a carefreebachelor, sought after and desired by hor
des of admiring women. He d been willing to con his family, afamily he loved and
respected, as insurance against pressure to marry. The inescapable truth, Jorda
n told herself sternly, was that Luke didn t want to marry her. Luke didn twant
to get married at all, but probably especially not to her. She was nothing but t
rouble and he d evensaid so. Great. Now she was cold, wet, and depressed, too. J
ordan shivered and tried to curl more of his coataround her. Luke hugged her in
sympathy. We re almost there, Jordan. You ll be warm in no time. Think about hotw
aterlots and lots of nice, hot, steamy water." Shehad been, and look where it had
gotten herup to her little metaphorical neck in it. She huddledcloser and didn t
say anything. She didn t even notice the neighborhood until the car stopped, an
d thenthe rapidly falling twilight made it difficult to see. Not that she had mu
ch time to see anything as Luke, inhis enthusiasm to heroically rescue her, carr
ied her to his house and even over the threshold. More evidence of his incredibl
e niceness. She d never met a nicer man, and it was absolutely horriblethat she
couldn t have him. Determination stirred and she realized how idiotic she was be
ing. So it was temporary. Was she stupid?At least she had him now, and if that w
as all she d have, it was all the more reason not to waste a singleminute of it.
Wasn t she the bane of his existence? A threat to world peace? A riot looking f
or a place to happen?The day Jordan Christian went quietly would be the day she
went six feet under. She was here and bygolly she d leave her mark on his hot tu
b. He d never use it again without thinking of her, Jordan vowedsilently. She pi
ctured Luke in the hot tub in his black hat and felt instantly much warmer. This
would be a night toremember, all right. She sincerely hoped the hat was here in
stead of at Wendy s with the rest of the propsfor the painting. While she though
t and plotted, she was completely oblivious to anything else. He carried her to

a hugemaster bath and set her down on the tiled floor, closing the door behind t
hem. Then he locked it andleaned against it. Alone at last, he teased. "Are we?" H
e took her by the shoulders and drew her close. Yes, we are. No brothers, no sist
ers, no in-laws, nosmall children, no aunts and no uncles. No family of any kind
anywhere. Just us. He slowly trailed

blazing kisses across her upturned face, then teased the corner of her mouth bef
ore claiming it in a kissthat stole her breath away. He smiled at her dazed expr
ession. I can t believe it. You re speechless." Jordan smiled back at him. You see
m to have that effect on me. Enjoy it while it lasts." "I intend to. The lazy dra
wl accompanied by the warm glint in his eyes promised just that. Luke turned the
hot tub cover back and Jordan saw steam rising from it. Wow. Quite the bathroomy
ou have here, she remarked. It was impressive. Above the sunken wooden hot tub, a
skylight offered a tantalizing view of the starlitsky. Beautifully polished woo
den decking surrounded the tub. An adjoining room contained dual marblesinks and
counters beneath a long beveled mirror; another room housed a standard bathtub
withwhirlpool jets, and a glassed-in shower stall; all laid out in roomy comfort
that made an inviting suite. Tilecovered the floor in this room and the other b
athing room, with deep plush carpet in the sink area anddown the center of the t
iled area. Jordan could happily imagine spending the entire day in there without
ever unlocking the door. "I m glad you like it, Luke answered. He began to remov
e her dripping clothing. The sodden scarf wasunwound and dropped, followed by he
r coat. Jordan tried to step out of her snow boots and wassurprised when his gri
p tightened on her arms, arresting the motion. "Let me. The low request sent shiv
ers through her that had nothing to do with cold. Jordan gazed backat him, hypno
tized by the sound of his voice and the desire in his eyes. She held still and w
aited. He knelt and peeled off her wet socks, then cupped her feet in his hands
to chafe and warm them, one ata time. She closed her eyes and concentrated on th
e feeling returning to numb toes. "You re soaked and frozen, he informed her. "I
know. The penance for my sins, remember?" Luke laughed. I m not sure whose penanc
e it is now. He stood and swiftly and impersonally removedher wet jeans, teasing
her when they stuck. Too much fudge, Jordan?" "There is no such thing, she informe
d him loftily. Leaving her in her wet knit sweater and panties, he removed his o
wn clothes down to cotton jockeysand took her hand. Come on, let s get you warm."
Jordan readily plunged into the hot water and sank in up to her chin. Ah-h-h. Wa
rmth. I love it." Luke joined her and pulled her onto the ledge to sit, then sli
d one arm behind her to support her head.Better?" "Better than better. This is th
e greatest, she said happily. He arranged her legs across his lap and turned her
sideways against his chest. Maybe it was better this

way, Jordan thought in mingled regret and relief. Half of her wanted to rip off
the rest of her clothes andwrap herself around him, while the other half didn t
want to take the risk. Just what were her feelings for Luke? Was she actually th
inking of keeping him? With so muchundecided, staying neutral for the time being
seemed prudent. Which was too bad, because beingprudent wasn t her strong point
. She didn t have much practice at it. Jordan sighed and snuggled closer,torn be
tween passion and prudence. "Jordan?" "Hmm?" Luke tugged her more fully onto his
lap and she turned to face him, slipping her legs over his thighs. Idon t want t
o do anything to make you look at me the way you did last night. He spoke quietly
andsoberly against her hair. What way, Jordan wondered. Lust-crazed? Dazed with

desire? He continued. You looked so shocked. I don t want to scare you." Jordan
eyed his bare, beautiful chest and wondered ifhe d be scared if he knew what she
wanted to doto it. Certainly he d be shocked. "Jordan, I want you to spend the
night." Now there was an idea. She warmed to it immediately. "Just stay with me.
I promise not to touch you." Now there was a verybad idea. She didn t think she
could promise not to touchhim . Luke tugged her chin up. Say something, he urged,
searching her eyes with his. What did one say in a situation like this? When on
e found oneself attracted to one s fiancwho wasn treallyand was asked to spend the
nightbut only platonically? Jordan struggled with confusion. Do you snore? she inqu
ired. Luke smiled slowly until his blue eyes lit and glowed with enough warmth t
o chase away the chillpermanently. No, he assured her. "Okay. She dropped her head
to his chest again and wondered if she should be certified. He wasdriving her in
sane, and there was a long way to go before the New Year. They sat in companiona
ble silence, absorbing the heat until Luke declared that their time was up.Appar
ently a person could only stay in hot water for so long. Jordan ruefully wondere
d if she d ever get herself out of the amount of hot water she d managed to geti
nto. If only it was as easy as climbing out of a hot tub. She stepped out and st
arted to dry off, then realized she was still in her wet clothes. Do you have

something I can wear?" "Of course. Rescuing includes dry clothes. Wait right the
re. Luke rummaged around and came backwith boxer shorts and a tee shirt that woul
d probably double as a dress on her. He handed them to herthen left her to chang
e in privacy. The wet sweater and panties clung as she yanked them off, and pudd
les of water swiftly formed on thetile. She toweled quickly, pulled on the short
s and tee shirt, then wrung out her wet clothes and hungthem over the shower doo
r to dry. Barefoot, she padded out to join Luke and found him pouring brandyinto
two snifters. "What a brilliant idea. We ll be warm inside and out, she said che
erfully. "That s the plan. Luke handed a snifter to her then picked up an afghan
and gestured for her to follow.He led the way to an enclosed gas fireplace which
flickered invitingly and spread the cover on the carpet.Come here and watch the
fire with me." Now there was an offer she couldn t refuse. Jordan joined him on
the floor and he pulled her into hisembrace for another kiss. As warm and sweet
as the brandy, it was a wonderful kiss, but it ended muchtoo soon for Jordan s s
atisfaction. Still, settled in Luke s arms drinking brandy in front of a fire wa
s no bad place to be, with or withoutkisses. She decided to count her blessings.
Luke teased her blond shock of hair with long fingers and she sighed in bliss. A
h, you do scalpmassages, too? You re too good to be true." He tugged her down an
d took away her glass before leaning over her on one elbow. I have to put myhands
somewhere. Your head seemed like the safest place." She gave him a regretful lo
ok. Do you always do the safe thing?" His fingers moved down to feather over her
eyebrows. It depends on how much is at stake." She tipped her face up to bite his
fingers. Sounds serious." He gave her a warning look. Behave..." "Me? She blinked
innocently. "You." She gazed up at him seriously. Shut up and kiss me, Luke." He
quirked a brow at her demand. That s a very ungrateful, unladylike remark from a
damsel who s justbeen rescued." She smiled sweetly. I never claimed to be ladylik
e." "Thereis that, he agreed and lowered his mouth to hers again.

She relished the kiss and never wanted it to end, but he still broke it off in
the end. Jordan almostwondered aloud exactly what a fiance had to do around there
to get ravished. She settled for looking him straight in the eye and announcing

baldly, Luke, I want you. He didn t seemsurprised. He just looked back at her in
his steady, quiet, thoughtful way. Maybe she hadn t been clear enough for his de
tailed, analytical brain. I want to make love with you,she clarified. Here. Now. To
night." Then he absolutely maddened her by smiling until his blue eyes crinkled
in the corners. You can t alwaysget what you want, he replied teasingly. She frown
ed. Is that a joke?" He shook his head. No, but there is definitely a joke here of
epic proportions because I am not going tomake love to you tonight." If that wa
s a joke, it wasn t funny. Luke lowered his weight onto her, careful to keep par
t of it balanced on both arms propped on eitherside of her. His hands cupped her
face. When I make love to you, Jordan, I will do it so slowly, sothoroughly and
so completely that you will forget anyone else who s ever touched you." Jordan t
rembled at his words.This was supposed to help her adjust to not getting what sh
e wantedtonight? Maybe it was worth another try. Why not tonight?" "Because, he an
swered seriously, tomorrow you would have regrets. And then I might find myselfda
teless on Friday." Jordan raised her head the fraction of an inch required to br
ing her lips into contact with his for afeathery caress. What makes you so sure I
d have regrets? At that moment, the only thing she regrettedwas the fact that th
ey were still talking. Luke groaned and nearly crushed her underneath him. Stop t
empting me, Jordan, I can only take somuch. You ll have regrets because you aren
t sure. I can see it in your eyes. And you have to be sure." It was the awful t
ruth. How did he know her divided mindwhen she didn t even know herself? Thatwas
a mystery. But she wasn t sure about him and she could understand his hesitation
when she looked atit from his point of view. He stood to gain a one-night stand
, but it would cost him a fiance. And thepressure from his family would probably
quadruple now that they d seen him with her. Realization dawned as she lay there
in the firelight with him. There was only one possible solution to thewhole sor
ry mess. Only one answer that would resolve everything to everyone s satisfactio
n. She was going to have to keep Luke. And it was for his own good, she thought.
He needed to laugh more. He had fun with her, even he dadmitted it. And he d ma
de snow angels with her, proof positive that he was seeing things her way. Hisfa
mily would just start in on him again if she walked out of his life and he d be
worse off than he d beenbefore. What kind of cruel, unfeeling fiance could leave
him under those circumstances?

And he worked too hard. She at least got him to come out and enjoy himself afte
r hours. Without her,he d probably forget how to make snow angels and all the wo
rds to every Christmas carol and he dnever again have a riot at a boring functio
n. He needed her. She stretched against his wonderful body and delighted in the
feel of him as she curledcloser. She d just have to do what she always did when
the chips were down. She d charm the socks offof him. Followed by every other it
em of clothing, including his symbolic black hat. She d wrap himaround her littl
e finger and get him to say I do." His mother would help. So would the whole fami
ly, if it came to that. Jordan smiled in gleeful anticipationand prepared to beg
in his ultimate torment. "You re right, Luke, she agreed sweetly, letting her han
ds roam over his magnificent back in tantalizingcaresses. We can t forget everyth
ing else and make wild, passionate, unforgettable love right here onyour floor i
n front of the fire. It s a good thing we left some clothes on in the hot tub, t
oo, or we wouldn thave even made it this far." She was getting to him. She had u
nmistakable proof. His eyelids even drooped sexily as she imaginedthe fantasies
running through his mind. She went on innocently, You know ... I wanted to see yo
u in yourhot tub in nothing but your black hat. I was going to climb onto your l
ap, all naked, wet and slippery, andride you. She thought that imaginative confes
sion would be particularly effective. She was right. He was breaking out in a sw
eat, and it wasn t from the brandy or the heat from the fire. "I also have fanta
sies about you and me and that dress on your horse. You could lift up my skirt,

unzipyour pants, and we could ride together, rocking and rocking in the saddle u
ntil" Luke let out a tortured groan and clamped a hand over her mouth. Shut up. Sh
utup , Jordan, or I won tbe responsible for the consequences." She had the man i
n black shaking in his boots and ready to fall out of his saddle, Jordan thought
insatisfaction.Perfect . She started to suck on one of his fingertips, since he
d so thoughtfully put a handover her mouth. He yanked his hand away as if burne
d and she immediately took the opportunity to goon. "Or you could stand behind m
e, like you were in the bathroom, and unfasten my dress. I d be nakedunderneath.
You d run your hands under the dress and find me all wet and ready for you. You
d lift theskirt from behind and lift me onto you and take me, right there." He
was breathing as hard as if he d just raced his black horse at breakneck speed,
Jordan notedgleefully. He was so much fun to tease. And he d asked for it. "Stop
, Jordan, he begged. But she noticed he wasn t running away. She sighed in mock r
egret for all the fantasies they couldn t bring to life tonight. But I see your p
oint. Ofcourse, you re right. It would be terribly irresponsible to throw cautio
n to the wind and tear off my shortsright now and give me a rug burn to remember
." Luke closed his eyes in agony and wondered if she had any idea how close she
was to just that fate. Inthe state he was in, he didn t doubt that he would hurt
her. She was so small and fragile. He had to be incontrol of himself when he ma
de love to her. He couldn t jump on her like a maddened, raging beast. He

outweighed her by three times her small body mass and he was far stronger. He co
ncentrated on taking slow, deep breaths. And he prayed. By inches, he got a shak
y grip on himself and proceeded to get a death grip on her. He shook her untilhe
r teeth rattled. Not one more word. Do you hear me, Jordan? Not one more word out
of you untilmorning." She gave him awho, me? look that made him want to shake h
er harder. Luke stood with theirrepressible imp in his arms and strode off to be
d. He dumped her unceremoniously on the mattress soabruptly that she bounced twi
ce. He hauled back the covers and pointed. Get in." Then the wretched, wicked wen
ch had the audacity to inform him, I can t sleep in clothes. I have tosleep naked
." "Then you won t get any sleep tonight. Get in." Did she listen? No. When did
she ever listen? He suffered the torments of the damned as he watchedJordan peel
off the inadequate tee shirt and reveal small, perfect, firm breasts. Then she
stood on the bedand let the shorts fall and he wanted to cry for the first time
since sometime in childhood. There wasJordan, naked and beautiful in his bed ...
and he couldn t touch her. When she moved to obey his directive, he wanted very
badly to contradict himself and take away thecovers so he could keep looking. I
nstead he turned away and got in on the other side and shut off thelight. If he
was lucky, she d stay away and stay quiet. It wasn t his lucky night, however. "
Luke, I m cold." "Good. Put your clothes back on, he snarled in the darkness. He
heard the covers rustle as she slithered over the mattress until she found him.
Then she wrappedherself around him and he laid there, stiff and unmoving, while
her musky scent filled his nostrils and herpert nipples teased his chest and her
slender legs tangled through his. She kissed his shoulder and sighed. That s so
much better." It was so much worse. "Good night, Luke. I m so glad you talked me
out of being impulsive tonight." Then she went to sleep; but he lay awake, star
ing at the ceiling and wondering what were his odds ofbeing convicted or acquitt
ed if he strangled her. He decided finally that it would depend on whether theju
ry was composed of men or women. The men would acquit him, hands down. They d pr
obablycommend him for not brutally ravishing her, too. The women, on the other h
and, would probably say hedeserved it for rejecting her. Maybe he did, he conced
ed. She d offered herself to him and he d turned her down. That had to sting.But
couldn t she understand why? He wanted her so badly he couldn t see straight, b
ut she didn t lovehim. He was almost certain of that. If she did, why hadn t she
said so tonight?

Of course, he hadn t told her he loved her, either, but that was different. If
he told her he loved her, shemight back off and he d lose her before he had her
in too deep to escape. He had to bide his time. He also had to stay away from he
r until Friday. A man could only endure so much temptation. Even asaint. Still,
he admitted to himself, it was a wonderful torture to have her in his arms. He t
ucked her closeragainst his side and stroked her from hip to shoulder in a linge
ring caress. Good night, Jordan, he saidsoftly. He continued to hold and caress he
r until sleep finally came and put him out of his blissful misery. Hedreamed of
a gray-eyed sprite who came to him out of the snow, naked and innocent and unafr
aid,caught by a mortal and held by desire until love bound them together in an u
nbreakable bond. Chapter TenMonday, Luke was conspicuously absent. Tuesday, the
silence continued. By Wednesday, Jordan was deliriously certain that she d stuck
in the knife and twisted it hard enough toturn him inside out. She had him runn
ing scared. Ebullient, she fell into a creative fit and wrote some ofher best ma
terial ever. By Thursday, she was laughing out loud in jubilation. Four days. He
was shaking in his shoes, all right.The miserable coward. But George kept comin
g, day after day, with one floral offering after another. So it was obvious heco
uldn t avoid thinking about her, no matter how hard he tried to run or how deepl
y he tried to buryhimself in work. She hoped he wasn t sleeping. She hoped he la
id awake at night and remembered her in bed beside him.And she hoped he cried. S
he hoped he had to close his eyes every time he walked past his fireplace toavoi
d images of naked bodies entwined in an ancient dance. She hoped he couldn t bri
ng himself to use the hot tub. She hoped he was suffering so terribly that he da
gree to anything and everything, including marriage, to end the torture. Wendy n
eeded them one more time for the finishing details of the painting. Jordan could
n t wait to gethim in a pose again, where he couldn t get away from her. She pla
nned to squirm on his lap until he wasready to commit a crime. She also had plan
s for Friday. Camisole or no camisole, he d be feeling real pain all evening and
he d beforced to smile and make polite conversation to his business associates
all the while. She had never ever in all her life had more fun. * * * *"Please.
I m begging you.Call her ."

Luke looked up at Abby and blinked blood-shot eyes. What?" "Call her. Look at yo
uyou re a wreck. Whatever you two fought about, is it worth it? Apologize, forthe
love of heaven! she snapped in exasperation. Luke considered his efficient, pati
ent secretary and wondered what he d said to drive her to attack him.Have I been
that bad? he asked cautiously. Abby snorted derisively. Worse! You re a bear. If y
ou d talked to any of your clients this week, you dbe out of business." So she d
been screening his calls? He wondered why it had been so quiet, but he d put it
down toholiday madness. People went on vacation, had parties and family activit
ies to attend. Businesssometimes got put on hold. It was frequently quiet during
December. Luke sighed and rubbed tiredly at his eyes. Sorry, Abby. I haven t bee
n sleeping much lately. That wasan understatement. He d barely slept at all since
the night he d had heaven in his arms and endured thefires of hell. She was eve
rywhere he looked. Naked in his hot tub, holding out pale arms to draw him in. N
aked bythe fire, the flames turning her white skin to shadowed ruby as she waite
d for him. In his bed, it was evenworse. There, she whispered in his ear all the
delights that were just out of his grasp and laughed when hecouldn t catch her.
Or maybe he was starting to hallucinate. He d heard that sleep deprivation did

that. If Jordan had reallybeen there last night, he would have given her worse t
han a rug burn in his desperation. He definitelywouldn t have left her in any co
ndition to walk away, much less skip gaily out of reach. He would haveleft her b
ruised and exhausted and too sore to walk for a week, at least. He considered th
at idea withsome interest and was startled when the pencil he was holding snappe
d loudly in half. Abby thrust her hands in the air and stalked away. Call her, or
I m quitting, she threatened andslammed his office door behind her. "You can t q
uit! Luke roared after her. You d be unemployed for Christmas. You d have to expla
in toyour son why Santa can t bring that train set. Then he added furiously, Bah!
Humbug!" It was all Jordan s fault, of course. Everything was her fault. His mis
ery. His lack of sleep. Even Abbythreatening to walk out. All of it was Jordan s
fault. Jordan. At the thought of her, a cold fury grew inside him to match the
winter storm outside. Jordan.Laughing, elusive little imp, sweet little temptres
s, maddening deceitful little liar. But he d get the best of her, he promised hi
mself. Oh, yes. He would. Tonight. Tonight was Friday andhe had a date with his
dear little devoted fiance, didn t he? He did. He was certain he remembered adate
. In fact, he realized, he might even be late. He searched for his watch and fou
nd it on his wrist. Right.That was where it belonged. Of course. He checked the
time through bleary eyes. Late. He d been working late again and it was after se
ven. Why was Abby still here? He got up to check

and found that she wasn t. She d left after slamming out of his office, probably
, but how long ago had thatbeen? Well, it didn t matter. What mattered now was t
he fact that he had to go and get his little lying love andhe still couldn t tou
ch her. Although how he was going to keep from doing that he couldn t begin toim
agine. He glanced down at the suit he wore and decided it was good enough for to
night. It wasn t ablack tie affair, after all. Just a business holiday social. A
breeze ... as long as Jordan played the role ofsweet fiance instead of trouble o
n two legs. What he needed, Luke decided firmly, was a good stiff drink. Then he
d be able to stand the sight ofJordan, no matter what she wasor wasn twearing. He
popped into the first bar he found. The extra dry martini was wonderful, but pr
obably not nearlyenough to numb him sufficiently for the optical assault of what
ever almost-naked outfit she d be wearingtonight. So he had another and felt ins
tantly better. A third ... and he felt confident that he could getthrough the ni
ght without committing murder, at least. By the time he rang her doorbell, he wa
s even looking forward to the sight of her. Only he wasn texpecting two of her.
Luke frowned and stared until the images stopped wavering and melded into one.Th
at was a relief. One Jordan was bad enough. Two was too much for any man to deal
with. And then his eyes managed to focus on what she apparentlyand mistakenlythou
ght was anappropriate dress for the occasion. Hello, Jordan, he sneered. You look l
ike you always do, ofcourse. I hope you don t plan on bending over, or everyone
in the room will see your nipples." Jordan eyed him suspiciously. Rudeness wasn
t completely out of character for Luke, but still that was arather nasty crack.
She stepped closer and sniffed.Whoa . He smelled like a distillery. She didn t k
nowhow much he d had to drink, but he definitely wasn t driving anywhere else, t
hat was for sure. "You look terrible, she informed him politely. "Thank you. I fe
el terrible. Are you ready?" "Yes, but we have to take a taxi. Come in and wait.
" "No. He frowned at her. You ll tear off what s left of your clothes and attack m
e." Jordan considered telling him that in his present condition it wasn t likely
to do her any good ... but forthe sake of his male ego she held her tongue. Sad
ly, she didn t think Luke was quite functional any more.Too bad, really; attacki
ng him had definitely been in her plans. She guided him to the sofa then called
a cab. Then she made him some coffee and pushed the cup intohis hand. Here, Luke,
I think you need this." "Stop telling me what I need. He took the cup and scowle
d at her ferociously. It made her want to kiss him. He was adorable when he scow

led. He did it so very well. Of course,she responded in a placating tone. "And don
t humor me. I m not a child."

"No, of course you aren t. Jordan looked suitably shocked at the very idea. Luke
glared at her over the rim of the coffee cup and sipped. Jordan, why do you insi
st on dressing insuch a provocative manner? This is a business social. You re su
pposed to be my fiance, not someonefrom an escort service. Don t you have anythin
g you can put over ... that? He waved his hand in thedirection of her flagrant cl
eavage. She smiled winningly. I could always wear the camisole again." He closed
his eyes and moaned. Never mind. Where s that taxi?" She got up to check the wind
ow. Right here. Come on, I m ready for you to introduce me to yourbuddies." There
was something funny about that, Luke thought. Wasn t there...? Yes. He remember
ed. It was partof the plan. "That s my plan, he informed Jordan proudly. Then he
laughed. I m going to introduce you toeveryone." He really seemed to be looking f
orward to it, Jordan thought in amusement. And she was, too. LukeFoster, the eve
r practical, ever calm, ever controlled, was bombed out of his skull and in a st
ate to start ariot all on his own. She wouldn t miss it for the world. "Well, th
en, let s go, she suggested as she collected her cape and keys. "Right. He led the
way, then stopped abruptly and she plowed into his broad back. Then he turned t
oface her again. Just don t bend over. Got that?" "I won t bend over, Jordan agree
d soberly, but inwardly she was bursting with laughter. She d figuredthe low-cut
dress would get to him. She d been right. He continued to stare down at her and
she realized he was looking down at her revealing cleavage.Don t you ever wear a
bra, Jordan? Luke inquired in the same impersonal way he might ask the time. "No
." He let out a pained sigh. I didn t think so. Remind me to buy you a bra. A who
le bunch of bras, in fact.Hundreds of them, all of them going from your waist to
your neck." Jordan giggled at that description. I really don t think that s nece
ssary, Luke." "You don t reallythink , Jordan, Luke informed her heavily. He clim
bed into the cab with her and gavethe address. Then he noticed the driver s gaze
in the rearview mirror was on Jordan s bosom and hefrowned. That s my fiance, bud
dy, he growled at the man. Keep your eyes off her or they re going toturn black an
d swell shut after a close encounter with my fist." The cabbie hastily averted h
is gaze and drove them in silence to their destination.

Jordan laughed at Luke s fierce expression. Luke, you re going a little overboar
d, aren t you?" He turned his scowl on her. No. And you d better remember to stan
d up straight." She fought a smile successfully. But just barely. Yes, Luke, she a
greed calmly. It was certainly going to be a night to remember, one way or anoth
er. He continued to scowl at her untilthey arrived. Then he turned the scowl on
the cab driver and fumbled for the fare. He handed it over withanother glare for
good measure. Jordan tried not to laugh and he swung around to face her. I m gla
d you re amused. Maybe some dayyou ll actually look in a mirror and realize that
your breasts are bare for the world to see and the sight willmotivate you to st
art covering them on rare occasions." "But Luke, think of all the fun I d miss, s
he pointed out reasonably. She reached up to straighten his tiesince at some poi
nt he d yanked at the knot to loosen it. "Think of all the misery you d prevent,
he countered. "I didn t think the cabbie looked miserable." His hands shot out t
o grip her shoulders and he shook her hard enough to nearly make her burst out o
fher dress. Some day, Jordan, you ll be sorry, he threatened. Then he eyed the str
aining fabric andgroaned before he reached down in a vain effort to try to pull

it up higher. "Luke, it s as high as it goes. And I won t bend overyou have my so

lemn oath." He sneered at that. As if your solemn oath means anything, you profes
sional liar. Then he gave up andpushed her along towards the door. Come on. I thin
k I need another drink. I can see you far tooclearly." Jordan would have been in
sulted if he hadn t produced such a marvelous exhibition of masculine jealousyan
d raging possessiveness. He wasn t offended at the sight of her. On the contrary
. He was enjoying thesight all too much and being unable to do anything but look
was evidently beginning to get to him. About time, too. She d had enough of the
don t touch policy long ago. Tonight she intended to see to itthat he d had enou
gh of it too. Even if he wasn t functioning fully by the end of the evening, the
re wasalways tomorrow, she thought with serene assurance. She smiled and made po
lite conversation with all of Luke s business acquaintances, who seemed tosense
his dangerous mood and kept a wary and safe distance. Luke continued to make fre
quent trips tothe wassail bowl whenever he gazed overly long at her revealing ne
ckline. In between trips, he stayedprotectively by her side, glaring like a madm
an at anyone he thought might be deliberately ogling her. Jordan finally decided
it was time for a distraction. Why don t we dance? she suggested pleasantly tothe
glaring madman. "Sure. Why didn t I think of that? Then you can wrap your arms
around me and slither all over me." "Yes, exactly, Jordan agreed cheerfully. Come
on."

She led him to the dance floor and proceeded to wrap her arms around him, but d
rew the line atslithering. It did sound like fun, but he really was in such an u
gly mood he was not likely to take it well. Luke sighed and tightened his hold o
n her until she was pressed firmly against him. I can t take thisanymore, Jordan,
he informed her in tortured tones. "Good. Me either." "Good. Luke was silent for
a while as they danced. Then you agree it s time we ended this farce of anengagem
ent." "Yes, Luke, I do." He didn t seem to expect that. In fact he came to a rat
her abrupt halt and glared at her suspiciously.What do you mean by that?" She smi
led innocently at him. I mean you re right." He frowned darkly. What do you mean,
I m right? You re not getting out of this, Jordan. You re notthrowing that ring
back in my face. You already tried to do that before I even got it on you." "I j
ust agreed with you, she pointed out calmly. That seemed to enrage him. He grippe
d her shoulders and bellowed, Don t you talk to me like that!How dare you stand t
here and agree with me?" It was too ridiculous. She tried, she really triedbut co
uldn t stop the laughter from bubbling upbetween her lips. He started shouting e
ven louder. Oh, you think it s funny, do you? Well, laugh away, sweetheart,becaus
e you won t be laughing tomorrow. You re not leaving me, Jordan. You will marry
me and you llsmile when you sayI do or you won t be able to sit down for a week!
Then he grabbed her and draggedher towards the door. We re leaving, Jordan, so ge
t your things." "Yes, Luke." The mild response didn t appease him. Jordan, just s
hut up and do it." "Yes, Luke." He stopped and lifted her to eye levelthe better
to scowl at her, she assumed. Not one more wordout of you, imp. Not a peep. Not a
sound." She started to open her mouth to agree, then thought better of it and n
odded instead. "Good. I ll get a cab. She had to smile at that. And keep your cape
on this time, he added darkly.I m not going to sit there quietly while some man l
ooks down your dress." "Yes, Luke." "Shut up, Jordan."

He was grimly silent on the way to his place but Jordan was gloating inwardly.
She d gotten to him, allright. He d had it with thedon t touch nonsense and he d

had it with the phony engagement, too. He dactually roared at her that she wasn
t getting out of it. That she dhave to marry him and evensmile whiledoing it. N
ot exactly the most romantic proposal in all of human history, but she d take it
. More to the point,she d take him. She was madly, wildly, passionately in love
with Luke Foster and it was time to tell himso. She tried to do just that, but h
e clamped a hand over her mouth and glared a warning, so she guessed itwould jus
t have to wait. And that was too bad, because she had a feeling that the news wo
uld go a longway towards improving his mood. Although there was definitely somet
hing to be said for his present scowling state. It did things to her. Itwas exci
ting. It was really too bad that Luke had consumed so much alcohol that he was p
robably in nocondition to consummate their relationship. Chapter Eleven"Come on,
Luke, we re almost there. Just a little further, Jordan encouraged. She had him
nearly to thebedroom now, which was miraculous, considering his condition. He wa
s draped heavily over her and shestaggered under the weightbut he wouldn t have e
ven made it through his front door without hersupport. The after-effects of over
indulgence. And she had a feeling it was only the beginning of his suffering for
the drinking binge he d decided to indulge in. He wouldn t be in much better sha
pe in the morning. She managed to heave, shove and cajole him onto the bed. Luke
immediately slumped over, leaving herfree to undress him without interference.
Jordan quickly removed his shoes, socks and tie and thenwrestled him upright to
get him out of the jacket and vest before tackling the buttons on his shirt. She
dmanaged to tug the shirt free and was preparing to slide it off when he starte
d to struggle and slap at herhands. "Cut it out, Jordan, he muttered. Stop undress
ing me." "You can t sleep like that, Luke, be reasonable. She got his shirt free
and searched for the fastening atthe waistband of his pants. "Jordan. Jordan, Go
d,don t , he groaned and grabbed at her hands to still them. "Luke, I have to tak
e your pants off, she stated firmly. If you won t let me, then do it yourself." "N
o. He opened his eyes to stare bleakly at her. I know what you re trying to do. Yo
u want to attackme and have your way with me." Well, shedid , but not just then.
Although hewas awfully cute, defending his honor against her imaginedlusty adva
nces. "Why not? she asked sweetly, running her fingers under the waistband in a t
easing gesture.

He frowned at her. I am not that kind of man." "That s too bad, Jordan sighed. Th
en she proceeded to undo his pants and tug them down. "I mean it, Jordan, he grou
nd out, fighting for possession of the pants. Keep your hands to yourself.You are
n t getting my body." She won the fight easily and hung his pants over a conveni
ent chair with the rest of his suit. But Luke,it s such a great body, she informed
him. It was. All of it. Even in his present muddled state, he wasdevastating. "
Well, you can t have it. His hands went protectively to his jockeys as if he thou
ght she meant to takethose next. Not without marrying me." She bit back a smile a
nd just to be contrary took his underwear while he protested and struggled. ButLu
ke, I will marry you, Jordan promised as she removed his last piece of clothing.
"You re lying. He glared at her ferociously. You ll say anything to get your way.
You don t mean it." "Yes, I do. Jordan smiled at him and kissed away his frown. No
w be good and get into bed." "No. I m not getting into bed with you again. You l
l take off the few clothes you ever bother to put on inthe first place and I won
t be able to defend myself. Luke glared some more and pushed her handsaway. Jord
an smiled even wider and unzipped her dress. His eyes bulged gratifyingly as the
dress fell to thefloor and she stepped out of it, wearing nothing but panties a
nd shoes. Then she got rid of those, too,figuring she was properly dressed for t
he occasion wearing nothing but a smile. Luke groaned and closed his eyes. Go awa
y, he demanded. "No." "Please, Jordan." "That s what you ll be saying, she murmure
d throatily. Please, Jordan,more . She climbed onto thebed and wrestled him under
the covers. He was heavy and very uncooperative, but she managedeventually. "You

re naked, he accused, giving her a wounded look. Why are you always naked?" She s
miled sweetly at him. It makes it easier to ravish helpless men." He clamped his
hands onto her arms in a vise-like grip at that remark. You d better not ravish a
ny otherhelpless men, he declared threateningly. It s bad enough that you flaunt y
our body at me the way youdo. No other men, Jordan, do you understand? I won t p
ut up with it." "Yes, Luke, I understand. But then who am I going to ravish? Jord
an inquired in sweetly reasonabletones. You won t let me ravish you."

He frowned in confusion at that question, and she took advantage of his distrac
tion to get him the rest ofthe way into bed and joined him before he could come
up with another complaint about her presence. It was a good thing Luke had a hot
tub. She had a feeling he was really going to need it in the morning.Between th
at, coffee, aspirin and orange juice, she thought he just might survive the sunr
ise. Luke rolled over and without warning hauled her into his embrace. You can ra
vish me, he offered in asomewhat slurred declaration. But you have to marry me and
you can t leave me in the morning." "Well, now, there s an offer that would stu
n any woman, Jordan murmured teasingly. I accept. But Idon t think you re up to an
y ravishing right now. Maybe you should just go to sleep." "I can t sleep and it
s all your fault, he accused bitterly. You lie there naked and taunt me all night
long,telling me what you re going to do to me, but then you never do." Jordan s
eyebrows shot up at that admission. So she was haunting his nights, was she? Sh
e liked thatidea. Some ghost of Christmas present that would make. She d always
wanted to be an incubus. Or wasit a succubus? She wasn t certain which one was f
emale. "Succubus, she decided out loud. That was the proper term. A wicked spirit
that descended on ahelpless man in the night and ravished him relentlessly. "Su
ccubus, Luke agreed. That s what you are. You tease and torment me and I can t tak
e it anymore.I want you, Jordan. I want you and I want you now. I want to be ins
ide you. I want to take you so hardand so fast that you won t be able to get awa
y." It dawned on her that it wasn t his knee that was pressing into her. The hap
py realization gradually sankin. Luke wasn t incapacitated after all, although b
y all rights he should have been. "That sounds wonderful, she informed him, slith
ering sexily against him. I think I d like you inside me,hard and fast and deep."
He made a low, rough sound deep in his throat and jerked her underneath him. On
e knee nudged herlegs apart and then he was pressing against her, all of him. "J
ordan, he whispered against her hair. I need you, Jordan. Don t run away this time
." "I won t. I m here, Luke. She rubbed her breasts against his chest in a teasin
g caress. She d never been so ready in all her life. She wanted him with an urge
ncy she d never experienced.Jordan wrapped her legs around his hips and silently
urged him to hurry. His breathing quickened and his lips closed over hers in a
nearly brutal possession as he drove insideand buried himself in her welcoming s
oftness. She saw stars. She saw fireworks. She saw heaven open up and swallow th
em both. The universe tiltedand the only solid reality left was Luke, hard and d
eep inside her, where he belonged. "Luke, she gasped out. Luke." "Oh, Jordan, I ca
n t stop, he muttered roughly as he took her with driving fury.

"I don t want you to. Not ever, Jordan vowed and clung to him with all her stren
gth. She shuddered andyielded to him and the desire driving them both as he took
her to a violent climax that left her weak anddrained, clinging limply to him.
He stayed with her, a welcome weight pinning her to reality, his breathing slowl
y calming. Then hereached for her face, tracing her features in the dark. Jordan?

" "Mm, she responded dreamily from the depths of the warm, golden haze enveloping
her. "I m sorry." She heard the regret in his voice and it slowly sank in that
he actually meant it. She shook her head at thedenseness of the man and burrowed
deeper into his embrace. Shut up and kiss me, Luke." He didn t move for a minute
. Then he slowly leaned down to kiss her, tasting the curve of her lips in aslow
exploration before deepening the caress to seek out her tongue with his and twi
ne them sweetlytogether. Jordan sighed happily and wound her arms tighter around
his neck, glad she still held him deep inside.She arched against him to welcome
his weight and tightened her legs to hug his hips, loving the feeling ofhaving
all of him against all of herself. When he raised his head she snuggled into the
curve of his neck and fell asleep, feeling alive andincredibly good in every ce
ll of her body. She didn t realize she d forgotten to tell him she loved him. *
* * *Someone had turned up the wattage on the sun. That was the only explanation
that occurred to Lukewhen the blinding light stabbed painfully into his eyes. H
e closed them to prevent permanent damage, and then he heard the hammering and r
aised achinghands to cover his ears. "Luke?" He frowned, hearing the voice. It d
idn t belong there. Nobody should be there. He should be at home, inbed, alone.
There must be construction going on in the neighborhood, with all that pounding.
He hopedwhoever it was had nothing but cost overruns and permit difficulties fo
r their trouble. It was terriblyinconsiderate to have that kind of noise going o
n so early in the morning. "Luke, I brought you some aspirin, the voice continued
. He appreciated the phantom s consideration. The voice was thoughtfully lowered
. Although he didn tknow why an apparition would bring him aspirin. "Just get ri
d of the sun, he muttered around a tongue that seemed to have swollen to twice it
s normalsize. "Oh! The phantom gasped in dismay and tiptoed to the window to draw
the drapes. Sorry."

Luke decided that if he had to be haunted, it was a good thing that his private
delusion was quiet andapologetic. He must still be hallucinating, he realized.
The effects of sleep deprivation. All Jordan s fault,he remembered fuzzily. Jord
an. He remembered the dream, and smiled in spite of the pain in his head. Last n
ight he d dreamedthat she d come to him. She d slid into his bed, naked, and he
d brutally ravished her in punishment for allher sweet torment. And for once, sh
e hadn t vanished in the mist. She d held him and stayed with himthrough the nig
ht. Too bad the real Jordan wasn t so accommodating. Thinking of her, he frowned
. Last night. Jordan. He thought he remembered a dress that, as usual, therewasn
t enough of. He thought he remembered a fight. He thought he remembered her pro
mising to marryhim if he d let her have her way with him and he knew that had to
be part of the dream. It was too much effort to think with his pounding head. H
e groaned and then winced when the noiseincreased the pain. He risked opening an
eye, in case his hallucination had actually managed to get rid ofthe sun, and f
ound the room blissfully darkened. Orange juice and aspirin sat conveniently on
the bedsidetable. He eyed them and wondered where they d come from. Gradually he
remembered that he d stopped for one drink on the way to Jordan s and had had m
orethan one. Way more than one. The inescapable conclusion hit home. He d had al
ot more than one, andhe was paying for it now. SomebodyWendy, possiblyhad come by
and found him sleeping it off and decided to play angel ofmercy. A good thing, b
ecause he didn t think he could have made his way to the kitchen to get his owna
spirin if his life depended on it. Thankful for them, however they d gotten ther
e, he swallowed the aspirinand groaned as the orange juice stirred a wave of diz
ziness and settled uneasily in his stomach. "Oh, good, you took the aspirin. Soft
footsteps approached and set something else beside him. Here,take this and get i
nto the hot tub when you feel like you can. If you need help, I ll be right back
." By the time he felt it was safe to open his eyes, his angel of mercy had vani
shed, this time leaving coffeebehind. It looked good. Steaming hot. Gingerly he

reached for the cup and brought it to his mouth.Strong, very strong. He sipped c
arefully and slowly, as the room swung and settled into a steady rhythmbefore le
veling out. Finally the floor actually looked flat enough to walk on. He finishe
d the coffee before attempting it,however. Then he made his cautious way to the
bathroom. The hot tub. That did sound good, althoughhe wasn t sure he could get
the lid off. His hands didn t seem to be gripping very well. But hisbenefactress
had anticipated his difficulties and opened it for him. Luke climbed in, stiffl
y and carefully,easing into the hot water by inches. "Luke? The soft voice reache
d into the dimly lit room. Oh. There you are. He heard the rustle offabric and the
n a liquid sound as she joined him in the hot tub and he realized in horror that
it really wasJordan. "No, he muttered thickly. No. Jordan, tell me you aren t rea
l." If she was real, that meant everything else was real, tooand that was a thoug
ht too awful to

contemplate. It meant he d attacked her in a violent, lustful fit. It meant he d

been out of control and toorough. It meant he d probably hurt her. But then why
was she giggling? "Sorry. Sorry, she gasped in a whisper. I m trying to be quiet.
I know your head hurts. You justlooked so funny. So horrified. She slid up again
st him in the water and wrapped around him, naked asusual. I m afraid I am real.
You re just going to have to deal with it. She kissed his shoulder and rubbedhis
throbbing temples with gentle hands. I did promise not to go away. Don t you reme
mber?" He groaned. I remember. I remember assaulting you. You hate me, don t you?
" She laughed some more and rubbed against him in delight. Luke, you are so funny
. First you wouldn tlet me assault you, then you re upset because you assaulted
me. You see? You should have let me assaultyou, after all. Then you could sit th
ere looking accusing and scowling adorably at me instead of lookinglike a guilty
fugitive from the foreplay police." He considered that answer. She didn t sound
like she hated him. She sounded like she was enjoyingherself, and at his expens
e. As usual. "Why are you here? Luke inquired cautiously. "Because, she answered p
atiently, I promised I wouldn t leave, remember? You were very insistent.You didn
t want me to use you to slake my animal passions and then abandon you the morni
ng after.Besides, after driving you to drink, I thought I owed it to you to nurs
e you through your hangover." He absorbed that silently. Did you agree to marry m
e last night?" "Oh, yes, she answered cheerfully, but in a thoughtfully soft voic
e. That was the deal. You told me youweren t that kind of man. That I couldn t ha
ve your body without marriage. I had to marry you or therewouldn t be any ravish
ing, regardless of who was the ravish-er and who was the ravish-ee. She slithered
over him suggestively. If you want, I can take a turn as the ravisher now and you
can decide which youlike better. She made the offer in a generous tone that made
Luke smile. "I don t think I m ready to be ravished by you yet, he answered pain
fully. Let me recover first." She sighed in mock dismay and curled closer. Oh, all
right. But let this be a lesson to you the next time Idrive you to drink. You m
ight want to stop sooner." He brushed back her shock of white-blond hair in an a
ffectionate caress. The next time? Hope stirredat the thought. She nodded. I m afra
id it s all too likely. I can t help being the way I am. What did you call me la
stnight? Let me see. Oh, yes, a professional liar whose word means nothing ... a
succubus ... what else? Ithink you called me an exhibitionist, too, but I m not
sure. Thoughtfully, she frowned in concentration.You also threatened to buy me se
veral very large bras." He hugged her closer and sighed at that. It wouldn t do a
ny good. You wouldn t wear them. You dprobably take them off in public and throw
them at me. And he had to admit her preferred state ofundress appealed to him to
o much to want to change it.

Although he would have preferred to be the only witness to her state of undress
. For once, he could fullyappreciate the idea of keeping a woman covered from he
ad to toe and shut awayalthough shuttingaway a woman like Jordan would be some ki
nd of crime against nature. He supposed he d just have toget used to standing ov
er her and scowling. Resigned, he gently stroked her from hip to shoulder, explo
ring all of her in slow, thorough care. Jordanshivered in delight and moved to a
llow him better access. When he found her breasts and teased theminto tautness,
she moaned in pleasure. Then she abruptly cut off the sound. "Oh, Luke, I ll try
to be quiet, but it s hard when you do that, she whispered apologetically. He co
ntinued with a generous lack of concern for his ears. I should have done this las
t night." "Last night was wonderful." "Last night I was an animal. I must have h
urt you." She moved under his hands restlessly, wanting more already. You were an
animal. I loved it." He paused. You did?" "I did. Did Iever . Feel free to ravis
h me at will. You have my permission in advance, in case you can tstop to ask ne
xt time, she vowed earnestly. Speaking of which, please don t stop now." He turned
her to face him and tugged her chin up to look her right in the eyes. Jordan, we
have to talk." "Later. Can t we talk later? she pleaded huskily. I want you, Luke
." Her words were like a bucket of cold water in his face. She wanted him. She w
anted his body, shemeant. What about love? He swore under his breath. This was a
n unbelievable situation. Here he was, fighting off the lustfuladvances of the w
oman he loved, who d started out as his phony fiance but had now agreed to gothro
ugh with the wedding. No, he snarled, holding her away from him before the temptat
ion overcamehim. We ll talk now. And for once, why don t you put some clothes on?
" "Because it s no fun. If I m not wearing pants, it s so much easier for you to
get into them, she pointedout with practical insight. "I don t want in them." "Y
es you do. To prove it, she closed her hands around the evidence and stroked the
painfully hardlength. "Stop that, he hissed, grabbing at her hands. "No. You don
t really want me to; you re just cranky because you have a hangover. But this wi
ll makeyou feel better. Jordan smiled sweetly at him and continued her pleasant t
orture. Isn t that better? sheasked as she fondled and stroked him beyond speech. Y
es, I thought so, she concluded when heremained silent. Then she slipped onto his
lap and lowered herself over him. Ride em, cowboy, shewhispered wickedly, and proc
eeded to slip his aching need inside her, all the way in, in a velvety rush.

She paused to adjust to the feel of him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Oh
, Luke, shewhispered, awed at the powerful sensations. Oh, Luke, hold me. Words fai
led her as she clung to hisstrength and moved against him in restless need. I nee
d you. I need you, Luke." She needed to feel the storm of sensation he brought t
o life and carried her safely through. She neededto feel the sense of oneness, t
he unity that bound them together. She needed to belong to him in the mostbasic,
primitive way. "Luke, she whispered against his throat as he remained still. Luke
, I love you." A shudder ran through him, and then he took her in a fierce, furi
ous spending that left her trembling andshaken and totally at peace. He carried
her out of the tub and back to bed, where he sprawled over her, possibly to inti
midate her orimpress her with his superior strength. You re mine, Jordan, he stern
ly informed her. "Yes, she agreed quietly. "Then don t ever lie to me again. He pu
shed her into the mattress and gripped her chin in one hardhand. Do you understan
d? Not ever again." "I won t." He studied her face for endless minutes. Then he
nodded, satisfied. All right." She curled in his arms, happy and sated, and sprea
d kisses all along the exposed column of his throat,then everywhere else she cou
ld reach. "Luke, she sighed, loving even the sound of his name. Sad how completel
y besotted she was. She dprobably even worship the ground he walked on after thi

s. "What?" "Nothing. I just wanted to say your name. It sounds wonderful, doesn
t it? she answered dreamily. He stifled a laugh. Not to your brothers.Lucius . Whe
re did you come up with that?" She grinned impishly at him, displaying deep dimp
les. I have a book of names. It was either that orLucifer. My choices were severe
ly limited." He considered that gravely. Well, then, under the circumstances, I s
uppose Lucius was the best youcould do." She nodded. I m glad you appreciate that
. Then she reached up to brush his cheek. Is your headfeeling better now?" "Yes, i
t is. Your hangover remedy is incredible, Luke answered with a smile. "Glad you l
ike it. She grinned and stretched under him.

"Am I too heavy? he asked in sudden concern. "No. I like it. She closed her eyes
and lazed with him in complete contentment. Luke drew the covers over them and s
ettled her into the curve of his body. I m still catching up on asleepless week, h
e informed her with a yawn. Stay right here and maybe I ll be in a better mood th
enext time we wake up." Jordan tugged his hands up to pillow them under her head
. Deal, she agreed readily. But when Luke opened his eyes again, the bed was empty
and Jordan was gone. Chapter TwelveHe couldn t believe it. She wasn t there. Lu
ke searched the room to be sure, but her clothes were gone, too. He swung to his
feet and peeredinto the bathroom suite, but that was also empty. She d put the
cover back on the hot tub, he noticed. He struggled for understanding, and settl
ed for finding a pair of pants before wandering through the restof the empty hou
se. Jordan?" No answer. Not that he d really expected one. He d thought he d caug
ht a fairy. He should have known better. She d flown away without a word andhe k
new with a sinking certainty that she wouldn t be back. Well, what had he expect
ed? That she d fallen in love with him? She hadn t even been able to say it,exce
pt at the height of passion, and then only to manipulate him into cooperating wi
th her sensual assault.He d been angry about that, but he d settled for getting
her promise not to lie anymore. As if a promise like that could be trusted. As i
f a woman like her could be trusted. Well, he had onlyhimself to blame. She d be
en honest from the beginning, in her own twisted, convoluted way. She d evenadmi
tted that she couldn t change, that she couldn t help what she was. And heaven h
elp him, he didn t care anymore. He d give his soul to have her lying lips press
ed against hisright now. Instead, he d lost her forever and the looming emptines
s that was his future without herstaggered him. "Jordan, come back, he whispered.
But it was an empty hope and he knew it. She didn t come back. And she wasn t g
oing to. * * * *Jordan bounded through her living room, singing Deck the Halls at
the top of her lungs. She d neverbeen so happy. So alive. So excited. She d trie
d to keep quiet and let Luke sleep, but she couldn t staystill. Every nerve in h
er body was singing and energy pulsed and beat through her. Afraid she d disturb
him, she d finally slipped out of his embrace, kissed his sleeping face, and sto
len away. Wow. Sothis was what it felt like after really truly incredible sex. W
hat a rush! Jordan wondered if some

particular chemical reaction was responsible, and if so could it be synthesized

and packaged? Somebodywould make afortune . She d never felt so good in her life
. Making love with Luke was an experience of epic proportions, anevent that coul
d only be measured on a cosmic scale. She felt reborn. She was in love with life
andeveryone living. Until Norton rang her doorbell. She groaned and closed her
eyes, hoping she d imagined it. She peeked through the peephole again. No,he was
still there. Unbelievable. Well, today she thought she could stomach even him,

thanks to Luke swonderful supply of goodwill. Get it over with, Jordan, she told
herself sternly. Then you can get the rest of your clothes in Luke s carand get
back where you belong. The sooner the better. She brightened at the thought. Lu
ke could even make her forget the horror of Norton, she was sure of it.Certainly
he d be grateful to her for returning his car after he d abandoned it at her pl
ace last night in hisblitzed state. She grinned at the memory. Hehad to be in lo
ve with her if he couldn t stand the sight of her. She threw open the door and b
eamed at Norton. Norton! Hello! Nice to see you." Norton pushed back his wavy bro
wn hair, straightened his fur-lined collar and generally gave newmeaning to the
word poser. That was what she d always hated about him, she suddenly remembered. I
twas so irritating. "Hello, Jordan, he answered finally, as if he thought she d h
ang around indefinitely and wait for aresponse. I just want to tell you that you
didn t have to go that far. You could have simply called." Now what was he talki
ng about? Jordan peered at his pupils and checked for suspicious dilation, just
incase Norton was on drugs. Then she saw the newspaper in his hands. "What s thi
s?" He smirked at her. Jordan, Jordan. You don t need to be coy with me. I know y
ou want me." She wanted him, all right. She wanted himgone . She grabbed the pap
er, since that seemed to be heronly hope of an explanation. "Oh, how sweet! She b
eamed at the picture of her and Luke, fighting at the party last night. With a l
ittlewrite-up in the gossip column. He was scowling and dragging her out the doo
r. She sighed and melted. "Notthat , Norton interrupted. He flipped to another se
ction and handed it back to her. "Oh. Oh! Jordan stared, amazed. Then she had to
sit down. With a thud, on the floor. Her legs justwouldn t hold her up another s
econd. A picture of her in Luke s arms, the two of them gazing into each other s
eyes. She recognized it as oneWendy had taken for the painting. It accompanied
an engagement announcement.

An engagement announcement. Jordan sat there, shocked, clutching the paper. He

loved her, all right. He really did. He d sent this inbefore last night. Before
she d told him she loved him. Then a smile broke over her face. Why, thesneaky r
at, he d done this on purpose, without telling her. He d planned to make the eng
agement a realone all along. She d just known he had latent criminal tendencies.
All he d needed was a little encouragement. A littlepush in the right direction
. She d just known he could be an outlaw if he just had the chance. Abruptly, sh
e bounded to her feet again. Thanks, Norton, I wanted a copy for our scrapbook. I
mgetting married, by the way. To Luke. Isn t he handsome? She held up the pictur
e, forgetting thatNorton had already seen it. "Now, Jordan, you know it sme you
want to marry, the unbelievably thick-skinned cover boysimpered. An insurance bro
ker, of all things. Imagine.As if , she mocked inwardly. Jordan shook her head i
n disbelief. No, Norton, never in a million years. Then she shut the door in hisfa
ce and searched out the rest of her things. She didn t want to spend the rest of
her life in Luke s teeshirtsalthough she could imagine worse fates. A quick peek
through the peephole showed Norton taking up what appeared to be permanent resi
denceon her doorstep. Great. She grabbed her canvas tote and hopped out the side
window, a tacticalmaneuver she had considerable experience with. She then ran f
or Luke s car. "And where were you when I needed you, huh, Luke? Jordan muttered
under her breath. You told meyou d deal with Norton. It was his job, after all. He
swore to protect her from her brothers horrordates. Well, she d escaped anyway,
and she had the car, which was what she d come for. Missionaccomplished, more or
less. She headed for homefiguring that from now onhome would be whereverLuke wass
inging I ll Be Home For Christmas." Back at his place, she had a sudden uncontrol
lable urge to make a snow angel. Or two. She did, insweeping movements that cove
red her with a frosty dusting from head to toe and left her breathless andlaughi
ng. Then she ran along the snow, making letters around the angels to spell out a
message with herfootprints. "Jordan loves Luke, she chanted, laughing. Jordan lo

ved Luke, and Luke loved Jordan. She burst into the house and shook the snow off
, then dropped her coat and boots on the foyer floorand ran to the bedroom. Luke!
She called out, forgetting that she d left in the first place because heneeded h
is sleep. She skidded to a halt at the sight of the empty bed. Oh. He was awake.
Luke?" No answer. She frowned. Where was he? She checked the hot tub, but he was
n t there, either. The restof the house was just as empty. "Luke? Her voice sound
ed uncertain and small. As small as she felt all of a sudden. Where could he

have gone, without his car? A note. Get a brain, Jordan, he must have left a not
e, she lectured herself and promptly searched forone. But he hadn t left a note.
Okay, so he d gone out for something. A paper, a Danish, a smaller black hat so
they would match fromnow on. He d be back. He must have just stepped out for a
minute, because otherwise of course hewould have left her a note. A horrible tho
ught struck her. Maybe something had happened. A family emergency, for instance.
AuntCora wasn t well. Jordan hesitated, then grabbed for the rolodex by the pho
ne. She searched out Wendy s number andpunched the buttons in a fever of anxiety
. Wendy? she inquired when a woman picked up on the otherend. This is Jordan." "Jor
dan, hello! What a surprise. I didn t expect to hear from you. I need you and Lu
ke today, if youhave time. I m almost done with the picture." Well, that didn t
sound much like a family emergency. Jordan frowned. Actually, I m calling because
Ican t find Luke. Is he there?" "No, Wendy replied, sounding surprised. I haven t
seen him." "Oh. Crushing disappointment hit. Well, it s probably nothing. I m sur
e he ll be right back. Thanksanyway, and I ll let you know if we can come to fin
ish the picture." "All right, I ll expect a call." Well, at least Wendy had soun
ded warm and welcoming. Suddenly Jordan felt distinctlyun welcome. Anew sensatio
n for her. Maybe love made a person unexpectedly sensitive. Maybe Luke didn t wa
nt herthere after all. No, that was ridiculous. Of course he did, he d said so.
Luke always said what he meant. She justwasn t used to being in love yet, but sh
e d adjust. Meanwhile, she could dig out her mermaid costume, break the other sh
ell off and give Luke somethingto think about the next time he made snide remark
s about her topless dress. She d just threaten him withreal topless-ness and he
d cave in to anything else. Laughing at the thought, she bounded off to play mer
maid and lay in wait for an unsuspecting gunslinger.She d give new meaning to th
e phrasewet dreams , she thought wickedly. She couldn t wait. Half an hour later
, she d waited long enough. Incredible as it seemed, Luke really had disappeared
. Shepeeled out of the rubber tail section and left it in the bathroom, then dre
ssed and got back in his car.Maybe he d had a business call. Maybe he had to go
in to the office. On impulse, she drove to his officeand tried the door. Ah, suc
cess at last. It was open. Grinning in delighted anticipation at surprising him,
she pushed hisprivate door open and peered around the corner.

What she saw wiped the smile right off her face. Luke lay with his head down on
the desk and for a horrible moment she thought he was dead. "Luke! She dropped t
he keys and ran to his side, but stopped when he raised his head and staredthrou
gh her in a way she d never seen him look before. "Luke? Uncertain now, she hesit
ated, biting her lip. I didn t know where you d gone, she offeredlamely. I thought
you might be here. I came to see... Her voice trailed off in confusion. He was st
aring at her as if he hated her, she realized with a chill. Why are you looking a
t me like that?To her horror, her voice actually quavered. "Get out, he said in a
flat, cold voice that didn t sound like Luke at all. She must have heard wrong,

Jordan thought, stunned. What?" "Get out. He turned away and started sorting throu
gh a pile of papers on his desk. She d stumbled into a B-rated horror movie, she
thought wildly. That was it. That was the only possibleexplanation. Aliens from
another planet had invaded and taken over Luke s body. The real Luke wouldnever
do this. Never. "No. She stalked over to him and pushed back his chair, making h
im look at her, even though it didgive her the willies. He could give a person p
neumonia, just looking at someone that icily. She refused tobe intimidated. Luke
loved her. There was a rational explanation for this temporary insanity. She pu
t her nose to his and demanded, Who are you and what have you done with my fianc?"
Ha,that surprised the alien being. It hesitated, and the hesitation proved fata
l. Jordan leaped onto the chair and threw her arms around Luke s neck. Luke! Oh,
I m so relieved. Sherained kisses over his face and then ripped open his shirt to
continue on his wonderful bared chest.What a nightmare, she continued, in between
kisses. It was just like the pod people. I thought a podhad gotten you." Luke si
ghed heavily. Jordan, whatare you talking about?" She sat upright and blinked at
him. You know, like Invasion of the Body Snatchers". The pod people." He considere
d her thoughtfully. That s fiction." "Yes, well, sometimes the line between ficti
on and reality gets a little thin. You should know that betterthan anyone. Look
what happened in our case. She laid her head on his shoulder and cuddledcontented
ly with him, thankful once more for his accommodating chair. Luke slowly raised
one hand to the shock of white hair that stuck out in all directions. What exactl
y didhappen in our case, Jordan? he inquired cautiously. "Don t be ridiculous. Yo
u said it yourselfhappy endings are for real life, not stories, Jordan remindedhim
pointedly. In our case, what happened was we came up with a brilliant idea that
didn t take reality

into consideration. That s the usual problem with brilliant ideas, you know. It
happens to me all the time.Anyway, instead of pretending to be engaged, we reall
y did get engaged. I know it s real, because I sawthe picture in the paper, and
if you can t believe the newspapers, well, what can you believe?" Luke absorbed
her disjointed explanation in silence. So you saw it in the paper and now you re
here?" "No, Norton saw it in the paper. Luke, don t you ever pay attention when
I m talking?" "You didn t mention Norton." "Oh. Right. My subconscious must have
tried to block out the horror of the experience. Happens all thetime with Norto
n. Well, I couldn t sleep and I didn t want to wake you up, so I went to get you
r car.Jordan stopped short. You do remember about your car, don t you? From last n
ight?" Luke eyed her guardedly. Not really, no. Did you wreck it?" She smiled bri
lliantly at him. Would you still love me if I did?" He nodded slowly. I think, Jor
dan, I would still love you no matter what you did." "Oh, good, because I do an
awful lot of things that will probably drive you nuts a lot of the time, sheconfi
ded. But I didn t wreck your car. I took it away from you because you really shou
ldn t have beendriving last night. You were pickled, Luke, Jordan informed him so
lemnly. "Yes, I do remember that much, he agreed. "So I made you take a taxi with
me and we cabbed it the rest of the night, so your car was still at myplace, wh
ich is how Norton caught me. Jordan stopped there to glare fiercely at him. You we
resupposed to defend me from Norton, she informed him, stabbing him in the chest
with one pointedfinger as she delivered the accusation. You weren t there. I had
to jump out the window and run for mylife. But I stole his newspaper first, and
that s how I saw the picture." Luke took that in and tried to make sense of it a
ll, but failed to form the bits and pieces into a coherentwhole. "And I knew you
loved me already, because you couldn t stand the sight of me and you said so."
That made absolutely no sense, and Luke didn t even try to understand it. "When
I saw that you d sent an announcement to the paper with one of Wendy s pictures,
then I knewyou were a sneaky, lowdown rat and the only man I could ever love, Jo
rdan continued blithely. That didn t make any sense, either. Luke was beginning

to think that with her, nothing ever would. "Anyway, I got some clothes and the
car. Then I went back home, but you weren t there. I waited foryou in the tub, b
ut I was starting to turn into a raisin, so I left my tail on the floor for late
r and calledWendy." This was amazingabsolutely the most bizarre and baffling excu
se for an explanation he d ever heard.Atail? No, he didn t even want to know. He
really didn t. He wouldn t even ask.

"Wendy needs us, by the way. To finish the picture. She said she s almost done
and we re supposed tocall her. But nothing was wrong with Aunt Cora and she didn
t know where you were, so I came here." "Aunt Cora didn t know where I was?" "W
ell, I assume she didn t, but I didn t ask her, I asked Wendy. Luke, really, wou
ld you try to payattention? Jordan sat up to give him a disgusted look. And why ar
e you working? she went on, with asharp gesture at the files on his desk. Look at
you, you never let up. You need a vacation. I think weshould go to the Bahamas.
I didn t get to have any fun the last time I was there because of Mitchell thesa
distic dentist. You remember Mitchell, right?" Luke nodded. Yes, I remember Mitch
ell the sadistic dentist." "Well, he ruined my trip to the Bahamas. I got a sunb
urn, she informed Luke with a sorrowful face atthe memory. But I m getting off the
point." Luke was very relieved to hear that there was a point to this. "You nee
d me, Luke, Jordan informed him in earnest. Without me, you d just dry up and turn
into a filefolder one day." "I thought I was going to turn into a pod person, he
offered hesitantly. "No, I only thought that because of the way you looked at m
e. Remembering that, she stopped shortand shuddered. Luke, please don t ever look
at me like that again. It was horrible. I got frostbite from it.It scared me. I
might be traumatized by the experience. She experimentally huddled into his chest
in atraumatized ball. A slow warmth began building somewhere inside him and exp
anded to spread through his whole being.Jordan was here. Back with him ... where
she belonged. And he wasn t ever going to let her get awayagain. Luke s arms cl
osed around her in an endless, bone-crushing hug. "I m sorry, he murmured against
her wild hair. How can we cure your trauma?" She considered that for a moment. We
ll, since you ask ... I ve been having this fantasy involving yourchair. She tipp
ed her face up to grin at him, dimples curving sweetly. "Oh?" "Yes. Jordan touche
d her lips to his in a butterfly caress as she finished pushing his shirt away t
o barehis chest for her turn at ravishment. When she was done with him, she vowe
d, he d never doubt her loveagain. She slid down, trailing her teeth against his
chest and heard satisfying gasps and groans as Lukeresponded to her as he alway
s didviolently. She kissed his hard belly as she slipped down to kneel by the cha
ir and reached for his pants. Don t tryto stop me, she warned him teasingly. "Jord
an, I couldn t stop you to save my soul, he groaned, and buried his fingers in he
r hair to tug hercloser. Jordan took that as a sign that she wasn t going to get
much more time to play with him. She undressed

him quickly, then assaulted his hardness with soft lips. "Jordan. Jordan. Her nam
e was both plea and shout as Luke hauled her up and tore at her clothing.She lau
ghed against his lips as she helped, and then he yanked her onto his lap again.
Everything about him was intoxicatingthe crinkly texture of his hair, the smoothn
ess of his skin. Theexhilarating male scent that was uniquely Luke filled her se
nses and fired her soul. She wanted to be partof him. She wanted him to be part
of her. She wanted to be so close that she d forget what separatenessfelt like,
forget the momentary fear that she d be split apart from him forever. They melde

d two bodies into one, two hearts and minds meshed, hands clasped. They came tog
ether inan ancient joining and knew the wild, sweet bond of mutual love. After a
while, she stirred and kissed his chest again. We should get dressed, she murmure
d. What ifsomebody caught us naked in your chair?" Luke tipped her pointed chin u
p to kiss her with lingering thoroughness. They d think I was the luckiestman ali
ve, he answered quietly. And they d be right." Now there was an answer guaranteed
to chase away the evil pod being s chill. Jordan hugged himfiercely, feeling war
m all the way through again, and thoroughly loved. Then she smiled up at him, fl
ashingdeep dimples. Let s go home." Luke traced the dents with his fingertip. That
sounds like a very good idea to me." Jordan lingered for just another long mome
nt in his lap, then leaped up to dress in record time, even forher. It was downr
ight chilly in December to run around in the buff. She paused to mention to Luke
that hemight keep his office a little warmer in the future, in case they sudden
ly needed the chair again, but gotdistracted by the magnificent sight of a naked
Luke standing beside her in all his male glory. She droppedback into the chair
to watch him dress. His body was so wonderful to look at. Raw and rugged, big an
d bold, all long slashing lines and moldedmuscular curves. Looking at him made h
er long to be a sculptor, to capture the wonder and beautyforever. Luke saw her
staring at him and stopped in the middle of buttoning his shirt. Jordan? He waved
a handin front of her face as if testing her eyes for motion response. She gave
him an innocent gamine grin. Yes?" "What are you doing?" "It s my new hobby. Luke
-watching. I think I should get some binoculars so I can do it better. Luke,you
re absolutely beautiful, she informed him seriously. He blinked at that. I m what?
" "Beautiful. Jordan got up to run appreciative hands over his shirt, smoothing i
t down and finishing thebuttons. Then she slipped her arms around his waist and
leaned against his solid bulk. His arms wrapped around her and tugged her closer
. You think so, huh?"

Jordan nodded silently. Luke slipped his hands around her waist and easily lift
ed her to eye level. And you are exquisite, heanswered, just as seriously. Fragile
and perfect. Like precious porcelain. He cradled her gently andbrushed his lips a
gainst hers in a tender salute. I can t believe I don t break you with my big clu
msyhands." She smiled sweetly. I love your big clumsy hands. They re very careful
hands. I noticed that about youright away." He frowned. You did not. You promise
d not to lie anymore, Jordan, he reminded her. "This isn t a lie, Jordan answered
indignantly. I can prove it. You were holding a coffee cup and it wastoo small fo
r your hands. You had a spoon and sugar and you never even spilled a drop when y
oustirred. I can never do thatI leave splashes on the saucer and the table. But n
ot you." Now that she mentioned it, he remembered the cafe and how he d waited f
or her, wondering who she dbe and why he wouldn t be able to miss her. You notice
d all that?" She smiled and curled against him happily. I noticed all kinds of th
ings. I noticed what great buns youhave, too, but I didn t tell you because I di
dn t want you to be shocked that your own fiance wouldnotice such a thing." He di
gested that piece of information. It went down well. I m very glad my fiance notic
es such things.In the future, I hope she mentions them, too." Jordan stirred at
that. There is one thing I do have to mention." "What s that?" She looped her arm
s around his neck and met his eyes directly. You thought I ran out on you, didn t
you?" He returned her level gaze. Yes." She held his gaze for a minute longer, th
en nodded. Don t do it again. I told you beforeI won t runout on you, even if we h
ave a huge fight. Especially if we have a fight. A Christian never runs from afi
ght, she stated self-righteously. A slow, unwilling smile tugged at his lips at t
hat. Never? What if the Christian meets a lion?" She winked saucily at him. Lion t
aming, of course. Give me a lion and I ll make it roar and purr andfollow me lik
e a pussycat." "Grr. Roar. Luke nuzzled her neck and her delighted laughter at hi
s playfulness rang in the office,echoing off the walls. Come on, lion tamer. We r

e going home." "About time. Oh, I almost forgot. I made you a snow angel, she mur
mured as she nipped his earlobe.And I wrote Jordan loves Luke in huge letters on
your lawn. Now all the neighbors know."

"They do, huh? He gave her a wry look. "Yes. You re mine, and all the neighbor w
omen had better beware. Jordan gave him a naughty smileand looked terribly please
d with herself. "I m sure they wouldn t dare tangle with a wild Christian, Luke t
eased. Then, cautiously, You didn tmake another, ah, snow sculpture, did you, Jor
dan?" She just laughed. You ll have to find out for yourself, Luke." EpilogueTheo
dore, Randall, Lawrence and Gary stood shoulder to shoulder and eyed the newest
addition to theFoster family gallery in silence. Against a western sunset backdr
op, a black horse galloped, with straining muscles and tendons, in arocking moti
on that a keen observer could almost feel. Aboard the magnificent stallion, a bo
ld outlawrider all in black, six-guns tied down, held a beautiful captive before
him in the saddle. Closer inspection revealed the outlaw s captive to be a smal
l blond woman with short, punk hair in aflowing nineteenth-century gown, with a
neckline cut down nearly to the desert tundra and revealingcopious amounts of cl
eavage. Even closer inspection revealed a lustful look on the rider s face, clea
rly visible beneath the brim of ablack hat, as he eyed the most fascinating scen
ery in the picture. The man was easily identifiable as theirnew brother-to-be. T
he captive was busy stealing the rider s gun while he gaped down the front of he
r gown, mischief clearlysparkling in her gray eyes. It was a perfect portrait of
Jordan. "She s not wearing a bra, Gary muttered. "She looks cold, Randall offered
. Lawrence just laughed. Theodore said softly, She looks happy." The four men wer
e silent for a minute. She did look happy; there was no denying that. At long la
st theywere done with the job they d started fourteen years before. Jordan was g
rown up, educated, healthy ...and now happy. They d finally got her paired off a
nd settled down with a man who d keep her tied to earth. Even in thefantasy port
rait, she was solid and grounded now. She wouldn t slip out of their grasp and l
eave them, theway their parents had slipped away. If she did, they felt reasonab
ly certain that the man in black wouldgo after her and drag her back. The brothe
rs exchanged sober looks and nodded as one. Jordan was Luke s problem now. * * *
*

Luke s problem was lying under the raided Christmas tree in a bed of fir needles
, wrapping paper andribbon, looking up at the lights. "Jordan? Luke prodded her f
oot with his. "What? Her voice was slightly muffled by the tree. "What are you do
ing down there?" "Looking at the lights. It s beautiful, Luke. You should see."
Her soft, dreamy answer made him smile. He lowered his large frame to the floor
and poked his headunder the spreading fir branches to join her. "Lie on your bac
k, it s more comfortable, Jordan instructed, patting the spot beside her. He comp
liedand took her hand in his. She was right, as usual. It was beautiful. The whi
te lights reflected off of red, green and gold glassornaments and created a spar
kling display in the soft evergreen. With Jordan, he saw everything with new eye
s. To her the world was beautiful and full of wonder andshe d shown him how to s
ee it that way, too. She d made him go caroling, and to his surprise, he d enjoy
ed it, walking with her in the new snow thatreflected the starlight and moonligh
t and made the night brilliant. A night of wonder and miracles, like thenight he
d stood with her watching snow fall like sparkly silver fairy dust and he d fel
t love pierce his heartfor the first time. They d gone to the tree farm to selec
t an appropriate masterpiece for their first Christmas together.She d driven him
insane with her insistence on the perfect tree, but she d been right about that

, too. Shehad found the perfect tree, perfectly shaped, beautifully full, exactl
y the right height for his living room.Then, like a snow-covered winter sprite,
she d danced around it until he acquiesced and cut it to herspecifications. She
d shown him the Church Street Marketplace holiday window displays, a sight he wa
lked past yearafter year but never stopped to examine with a child s sense of wo
nder until now. Jordan had draggedhim on a tour of every single display, applaud
ing the innovative or touching while sneering at the blatantlycommercial. Thinki
ng of shopping led to thinking of his Christmas present. Luke turned and tugged
her into hisembrace to kiss her. Did I say thank you for my present? he asked agai
nst her lips. She d given him a tin star for his black hat and a pair of very se
xy black leather cowboy boots. He dgiven her the matching earrings to her engage
ment ring with the threat to make her wear them if shemisbehaved. He had a feeli
ng she d be wearing them often. And while he d definitely thought about it,he d
known better than to buy her a truckload of bras. "Hmm. Let me think. I don t th
ink mushy looks count, so ... no. Jordan teased him playfully as shedisplayed cha
rming dimples that never failed to tempt him. He slid a hand along her hip and c
upped her against his sudden arousal. Let me thank you properly, he

murmured suggestively. Then he kissed her in fierce abandon and growled with con
tentment. Jordan nibbled his lips until the growl became a definite purr. Ha. Tam
ed you again. Christian ten, lionzero, she smirked. She had a feeling, though, th
at he loved being tamed. The feeling was confirmed when he smoothedback her shoc
k of spiky white-blond hair and kissed her again, softly. I love you, Jordan." "I
love you, Luke, she whispered back, happiness glowing in her impish features. "M
erry Christmas, Snow Queen, he murmured as his lips claimed hers again. She was d
isgraceful, disreputable, deceptive and double-dealing. She was a wicked fairy w
ho hauntedhis days and nights. She was the best Christmas present he d ever had.
She d buried the lonely past and given him the bright promise of a love-filled
future. And some day, Lukevowed, he d finally get the best of her in a quarrel.
But even if he didn t, he would be forever thankful that his Jordan insisted on
happy endings. "Luke?" "Yes?" "I have this fantasy about you and me. On a tropic
al island. In the sand. Want me to tell you about it?" Luke laughed. I do." She d
id. He gave her a stern look. Jordan, I m not that kind of man." "Afterthe weddin
g, Luke, Jordan promised, with a sweetly innocent smile. A smile that meant troub
le. Luke could hardly wait. The EndScheherazade Tales Romance E-NovelsQuality, n
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