Until it dawned on her what she was doing. She was kissing her boss less than five miles from work, in the middle of a mall crowded with Christmas shoppers where four of their co-workers could see them any second.

Pulling back, she let go of him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

But Adrian didn’t let her get away. He caught her in his arms and pressed her against the store window behind her. Then, he kissed her so fiercely that she thought she might faint from it.

It was raw, demanding, and it made her so hot that she couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think as she felt his heart pounding rapidly in time with hers.

Good Lord, the man knew how to give a kiss. Every part of her throbbed and ached for him. And when he ran his hands down her back to press her closer to his hips, she felt his hard erection against her stomach.

He wanted her.

In that instant, she felt she could fly.

“Neither should I,” he whispered against her lips. “But the bad thing is, I want to do it again.”

So did she.

He took a step back and put his hands in his jacket pockets.

“What are we going to do about this?” she asked tentatively.

“I don’t know.” He looked around them. “You probably should get back to the guys before someone sees us.”

She took a step toward the food court, then noticed he hadn’t budged. “Are you coming?”

He shook his head. “I’m not hungry. I’ll go play at Radio Shack while you guys eat. Just pick me up on the way out.”

“I’ll stay with you.”

He smiled. “I appreciate the thought, but Ms. Hypoglycemic can’t go without lunch.”

It was so like him to think of her, and that was one of the things she loved best about him. “All right.”

He caught her hand before she left him, then kissed the back of her knuckles. “Thanks for coming after me.”

“You’re very welcome.”

He let go and she felt a strange vacant hole in her stomach. Glancing back at him and the striking image he made smiling at her, she headed to the food court.

Sam waved at the guys as she went over to Chik-Fil-A and ordered a value meal.

“Is Adrian okay?” Heather asked.

“No. You embarrassed him.”

“Well, you know, it’s not my fault. He always has to act like he’s Mr. Macho out to defend my honor all the time. It gets really old.”

“He loves you, Heather. What’s he supposed to do? Sit around and let you get hurt? Jeez, I’d kill for one of my brothers to do the things for me he does for you. I mean damn, girl, you let him go to work, knowing he’s the boss, in ruined clothes while he pays you to embarrass him. I just don’t understand you.”

Heather looked away guiltily. “I do love him, you know. I just wish he’d quit trying to parent me all the time.”

“Well, from what I’ve heard, he was pretty much the only parent you had growing up.”

“I know,” Heather said. “I remember when he was twelve and I was six, Mom couldn’t afford a Christmas tree. I was crying on Christmas Eve because I didn’t think Santa would come without one, so Adrian rode his bicycle down to the supermarket and talked the tree dealer into letting him work for one.”

Heather sighed. “He’s always doing really sweet things like that for me. I guess I really do take him for granted.”

“Personally, I think a whole lot of people do.”

Heather handed Sam her food.

“Wait,” Heather whispered as Sam started to leave. She quickly bagged a sandwich, fries, and brownie. “Would you take this to him and tell him I’m really sorry?”

“Sure.”

Sam made her way over to the guys who were eating. They were back to their usual bantering, but as she ate, she couldn’t get the taste of Adrian’s kiss out of her mind. That kiss had really done something to her.

Worse, she kept imagining him as a kid working on a cold Nashville parking lot so his baby sister would have a Christmas tree. It was such an Adrian thing to do.

And she wondered if anyone had ever done such a thing for him. But in her heart, she knew they hadn’t.

Adrian took care of the world while no one took care of him.

Sam cracked open Adrian’s office door. “Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I was leaving.”

He turned around in his chair to face her. “Is it five already?”

“Five-thirty, actually.”

“Oh.” He rose from his chair and shrugged on his leather jacket. “I’ll walk you out.”

“Okay,” she said, her heart pounding as every hormone in her body instantly fired.

There was an awkward silence between them as they walked down the hallway toward the side door where she parked.

“I, um… I had something I wanted to ask you,” he said as he opened the door for her.

“Sure,” she said in dread as she led the way across the lot to her car. “If you’re worried about what happened this afternoon, don’t be. I’m not going to tell anyone.”

“Oh, I don’t care about that. I mean, I care about that, but… shit,” he breathed. “I never was any good at this. So, I’ll just do what I do best, and blurt it out. Would you like to go to the Christmas party with me?”

Sam smiled as her heart raced even faster. “Yes, I would. But only if you bring the mistletoe.”

His gaze dropped to her lips and she wondered if he was imaging the feel of their kiss like she was.

“Great,” he said. “Pick you up at three?”

“Sounds good. I’ll give you the directions to my house tomorrow.”

“Okay.” He bent his head down like he was going to kiss her again, then he quickly shot back upright. “We’re still at work.”

Adrian watched as she got in her car, and a chill went up his spine that had nothing to do with the cold winter wind and everything to do with her.

She was something else. And he liked it.

She rolled her car window down.

Adrian leaned down to where he could speak to her without someone overhearing them. “You know, I really want to kiss you right now.”

“Me, too.”

Ask her back to your place. It was on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t dare.

“You better get back in,” she said. “It’s cold out here.”

No, it wasn’t. Not when he was standing so close to her. “Yeah,” he breathed, “You’re probably freezing.”

She reached out and touched his hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Adrian gave a light squeeze to her hand even though what he wanted to do was hold it tight.

Letting go, he walked away from her, and with every step he took, he cursed himself for the stupidity. Why hadn’t he asked her back to his apartment?

But then, he knew. If he had her alone in his place, his hands would be all over her. It was too soon, and the last thing he wanted was to drive her away from him.

He’d never wanted anything in his life the way he wanted Samantha Parker.

Closing his eyes, he did his best to banish the image in his mind of her naked in his arms. The imagined feel of her breath falling across his neck as he lost himself inside her body.

“I want you, Sam,” he breathed as he watched her pull out of the lot. “And one way or another, I’m going to have you.”

3

“Sam?”

Sam looked up to see Adrian’s head poking out of his office door. “Yeah?”

“In my office. Now.”

She swallowed at his low, even tone. It sounded strangely like the one he used to crawl all over Scott when Scott did something stupid.

Worse, he’d been avoiding her all day. He hadn’t even gone to lunch with them.

Had she done something wrong?

Nervous, she got up and took the five steps that separated her cube from his office.

As soon as she was inside, he closed the door.

Sam’s heart pounded. This wasn’t good. Adrian never closed his door unless it was time for a major performance talk.

Eyes dark and features grim, he turned toward her.

Sam expected him to tell her to sit, so when he cupped her face in his hands, and pressed her back against his wall, she was stunned.

His breathing ragged, he lowered his head down and captured her lips with his.

And it wasn’t just any kiss. It was scorching and demanding. Every hormone in her body jumped to attention. Closing her eyes, she relished the warm scent of him. The masterful feel of his tongue dancing with hers as his hands roamed over her shoulders and back, down to her hips. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and moaned softly as her desire for him tripled.

He separated her legs with his thigh and cupped her buttocks as he set her down on that taut muscle. Sam groaned at the feeling of him between her legs. Her feet barely touched the floor as he surrounded her with warmth.

Her head light, she throbbed and ached for more of him.

Adrian knew he shouldn’t be doing this, but he hadn’t been able to stand it any longer. All day long, he’d been unable to think about anything other than the fact that she was only five feet away.

She was so intelligent, so much fun.

He wanted to devour her.

Adrian pulled back from the kiss to where he could nibble her lips as he buried his hand in her thick, dark hair. He laved a trail from her lips to her neck where he inhaled her.

He skimmed his hand up from her waist to the side of her breast. At the sound of her murmured pleasure, he felt his control slipping.

He ached for her. Burned for her in a way he’d never burned before and all he could think of was being inside her.

“I want you, Sam,” he whispered.

Sam gave him a chiding stare. “I thought I was in trouble.”

Adrian shook his head as he lost himself in those light eyes of hers. “I think I’m the one in trouble. Serious trouble.”

He dipped his head to kiss her again.