Merry, Merry Mischief

MERRY, MERRY MISCHIEF

by

Lisa Plumley

Smashwords Edition

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previously published by Kensington Publishing

in the anthology Santa Baby

Flirty Katie Moore is the ultimate good-time girl. Too bad she's held up at the office, helping architect Jack Brennan with a very special project: emergency babysitting for the boss's tiny daughter. Now, the party girl and the workaholic are joining forces to give the bundle of joy a Christmas she'll never forget...

A touching, fun-filled romance that will keep you entertained until the very last satisfied sigh! —The Romance Reader's Connection

Plumley infuses her usual humor into 'Merry, Merry Mischief,' when two exes reunite. —The Philadelphia Inquirer

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Copyright © 2017 by Lisa Plumley

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, then please respect the hard work of this author by purchasing your own copy. Thank you!

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USA TODAY best-selling author Lisa Plumley has delighted readers worldwide with more than three dozen popular novels. Her work has been translated into multiple languages and editions, and includes contemporary romances, western historical romances, paranormal romances, and a variety of stories in romance anthologies. Her fresh, funny style has been likened to such reader favorites as Rachel Gibson, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, LaVyrle Spencer, and Jennifer Crusie, but her unique characterization is all her own.

To sign up for new-book reminder e-mails, read first-chapter excerpts, catch sneak previews of upcoming books, and more, visit www.lisaplumley.com today.

Lisa also writes cozy mysteries as Colette London. Her Chocolate Whisperer series (featuring chocolate expert—and amateur sleuth!—Hayden Mundy Moore) kicked off with Criminal Confections and now includes Dangerously Dark, The Semisweet Hereafter, and Dead and Ganache, all from Kensington Books.

Visit www.colettelondon.com today to find fantastic chocolate recipes, sign up for new-book reminder e-mails, and catch sneak previews of upcoming books in the Chocolate Whisperer series.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter One

Note from the Author

Email Reminders

What People Are Saying...

Series Books by Lisa Plumley

Complete Book List: Lisa Plumley

Cozy Mysteries by Lisa Plumley (writing as Colette London)

Complete Book List: Colette London

MERRY, MERRY MISCHIEF

by

Lisa Plumley

Chapter One

When Katie Moore returned to her office at Brennan Homes late on the Monday before Christmas weekend, all she wanted to do was grab the pair of red stilettos she kept in her bottom desk drawer for cocktail-hour emergencies and scoot out the door. She didn't have time to waste.

The holiday party that was her ultimate destination was already in progress at her favorite downtown Phoenix hangout, and Katie didn't want to be late for the karaoke Christmas caroling. Or the peppermint martinis with candy canes on the rims. Or the dancing beneath strings of flashing multicolored lights. Christmas was Katie's favorite time of year, and this December she had every intention of making the most of it.

Starting with those stilettos. Snatching them from their protective nest of shredded, outdated Your New Home brochures, Katie smiled. Equipped with these, and minus the sensible suit jacket that had covered her close-fitting, spaghetti-strapped red sheath all day, she'd be sure to take the party by storm.

She clutched the shoes and her new red-sequined-Santa purse (a fondness for cute handbags was her only real weakness), and careened down the short passageway between the vacated cubicles, wriggling out of her suit jacket as she went.

Halfway to the reception area, she glimpsed movement from the corner of her eye. A co-worker who hadn't noticed it was already past quitting time and moving toward party time, probably.

Thinking she'd pop in with an invitation to the karaoke caroling, Katie headed toward him. After only a few steps, though, she recognized him. She stopped. The off-key interpretation of Frosty The Snowman she'd been humming died in her throat.

It was him. Jack Brennan.

Her heart knew it, and so did her body. Instantly.

Why him? Why now? Why here?

Well, the why here part was easy enough—Jack was the heir apparent to Brennan Homes, destined to assume leadership of the company when his uncle stepped down. And on second thought, the why now part was a slam dunk, too, since Jack pretty much defined workaholic these days. And now that she considered it, Katie realized the why him part was pretty obvious, too.

It had always been him, for her.

And now, just when she least expected it, here he was. Alone. With her. In exactly the circumstances they'd spent the past several months striving to avoid.

Even though his back was facing her, she'd have recognized him anywhere. His concentrated movements at his architect's drafting board were uniquely his own. So was his take-charge stance. And his aura of general authority...and his absolute, one of a kind, drop-dead hunkiness.

Had she mentioned the hunkiness? Jack Brennan personified yummy bachelor male—which was probably why Katie had thrown all caution to the wind seven months ago (an occasional impulsiveness was her only real weakness), and broken her ultimate rule: no flirty office flings.

Well, that had come back to bite her, now hadn't it?

All the same, she couldn't resist lingering. Jack couldn't see her, didn't appear to have heard her, and seemed to be deeply engrossed in whatever architectural plans he was working on. Drawn by a compulsion even more irresistible than the craving for eggnog latte and Christmas cookies that had required a desk-to-Starbucks hike at three-thirty that afternoon, Katie took a step nearer. She absently hugged her belongings closer. And then, even though she knew she shouldn't, she let go and allowed the longing she always felt for Jack Brennan to wash over her.

A rueful smile tugged at her Scarlet Surprise lipsticked mouth. They'd had some good times together. Happy times. Sexy times. If not for—

Jack suddenly stilled. He glanced over his shoulder, his dark-eyed gaze going straight for Katie. The intensity of his regard shrank the thirty-odd feet between them to mere inches. Curious, heated inches.

Busted. Feeling her heartbeat kick into high gear, Katie lifted her chin. She looked back at him. They were supposed to be avoiding each other, and she knew it. So did he.

For the space of several scattered breaths, neither she nor Jack spoke. A connection spun between them all the same, though, a connection that was heady and spicy and meaningful, and laden with a sense that, if only things had been different....

Did you lose your magic slipper, Cinderella? he asked.

On that confusing note, Jack came toward her. Unable to move, even though she ought to, Katie unwisely savored the power of his strides, the width of his shoulders. She held her breath as he crouched a few feet to her right then retrieved one of her prized stilettos.

When he straightened and held it toward her, his height called to mind the way she used to tuck her head cozily beneath his chin, as though she'd been made to possess that niche. Katie blinked to dispel the memory. Christmas was a time for department store Santas and artificial snow in the Tiffany's windows—not regrets. Never regrets.

Her fingers closed on the strappy shoe. It must have fallen from her arms while she watched him, she realized. She'd been too engrossed to