LITMIR.BIZ

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note to Dominick on her company letterhead, informing him that she was still pursuing other avenues of research, and stuffed it all into an envelope. When her mind started creeping back to the letter she’d written in college and to the way Dominick’s backside looked in those holey jeans, she gave herself a stern lecture.

      The letter was nothing more than the naive ramblings of a sheltered coed in an all-girls school, whose teacher had made her feel daring for a short while. Sex had gotten better after college….

      Some.

      At least it wasn’t over as quickly. But the journey from point A to point O was still a little…ho-hum. Or, at least it had been, the last time she checked.

      Violet frowned. She hadn’t had a serious date in months, she suddenly realized. She’d been so busy at work, and now with her parents back in town…

      Not that she saw them that often, she thought with a pang.

      They had an active social life, she reminded herself. Much more active than hers.

      Unable to ignore her empty stomach any longer, Violet glanced at her watch and decided that if she left now, she could get ahead of rush-hour traffic, grab a bite at the food court in the Lenox Square mall and return Ms. Kingsbury’s packages. Plus she could get a head start on Dominick’s gift list. And the holiday atmosphere would help to put her in the spirit to celebrate Christmas with her parents.

      She grabbed the stack of phone messages to return on the way. As she was leaving, she handed the bulging envelope to Lillian. “I’m taking off for the day. Could you please get this package ready for a courier, arrange for a pickup and have it delivered to Mr. Burns’s home address?”

      “Absolutely. Is there anything else I can do?”

      Violet hesitated, then spied her cluttered desk through the open door to her office. “You can toss all the papers on my desk that aren’t in a folder.”

      “Okay, great,” Lillian said, brightening more than the situation warranted.

      Violet set down her bag and fished out three of the phone messages. “And would you handle these clients, please? Call me if you have any questions.”

      “I will,” Lillian promised, clearly pleased with the added responsibility.

      Violet left, crossing her fingers that the woman didn’t do anything that might jeopardize everything Violet had worked so hard to build.

      

      DOMINICK FROWNED when he realized that the ice in his vodka tonic had melted. “You’re slipping, old man,” he muttered to himself, then poured the drink down the bar sink.

      He’d been restless for weeks and in truth, he couldn’t put his finger on the reason why, except for the fact that the holiday season always made him antsy. No longer having family left a gnawing feeling in his gut anytime of the year, but being alone at Christmas was the worst.

      A knock sounded at the door. He looked up to see his longtime housekeeper, Sandy, standing there. “I’m heading home unless you need anything else.”

      “No, I’m fine,” he said.

      She angled her graying head. “Are you, Dominick? You’ve been moping around for months now.”

      He gave her a wry smile. Sandy had known him since he’d been a teenager driving his parents crazy with all his extreme sports activities, and she didn’t miss a thing. “Don’t mind me, I’m just bored.”

      “And lonely?”

      He pursed his lips. “Maybe.”

      “You need to stop trying to kill yourself jumping out of airplanes and settle down. I’ve seen a dozen women come through here in the past few months. Aren’t any of them marriage material?”

      He walked over and put his arm around her shoulder. “I’m the one who isn’t marriage material.”

      “You’re not afraid to jump off a cliff into the ocean, but you’re afraid to walk down the aisle?”

      “Sandy, there are some things that are even too scary for me to attempt.”

      She made a rueful noise. “One of these days, son, you’re going to meet someone who makes you feel more alive than any of those stunts you pull. When you do, promise me one thing?”

      “What?”

      She poked him in the arm. “That you’ll jump. Good night.”

      “Good night,” he said, planting a kiss on her cheek.

      After Sandy left, Dominick reasoned that he’d been cooped up in his office too long, that he needed to plan a getaway and do something fun. The thought perked him up. He hadn’t tried the new wingsuit that research and development had sent to him. After all, nothing said fun like jumping out of plane and riding the wind currents miles above the earth with the ground rushing toward you at breakneck speeds. The sensation was as good as sex.

      Lately, even better than sex.

      He considered calling Bethany, his current lover, but he was growing weary of her conversation—the woman was obsessed with reality shows. Call him old-fashioned, but he’d rather live life than watch it on a flat screen.

      He thought about pouring a fresh drink, but couldn’t work up the enthusiasm. He needed…something. A new challenge. Things were beginning to feel stale in his life. Maybe that’s why the potential acquisition of Sunpiper intrigued him—it would give him something new to throw himself into.

      When his doorbell rang he was glad for the diversion.

      A courier looked him up and down. “Dominick Burns?”

      “That’s me,” he said cheerfully, although he realized that one might not expect the owner of a home in this neighborhood to answer his door barefoot, wearing jeans and a retro Hang Ten T-shirt.

      He signed for the package and tipped the guy. When he saw the return address, a smile curved his mouth. So Violet Summerlin had compiled information on Sunpiper already. The woman was a dynamo. He’d tried to steal her away as his personal assistant several times, but she’d turned him down flat. And he respected her for it. No one knew better than he did that the best job in the world was working for oneself.

      Besides, if she was on his direct payroll, he couldn’t flirt with her until her cheeks turned that adorable shade of pink.

      As he opened the package, the image of Vee came into his head. Between the staid black-and-white uniform she insisted on wearing and that damn ponytail that was so tight the rubber band might blind someone if it snapped off and caught them in the eye, she was perhaps the most prim package he’d ever encountered. Still, he had eyes and the woman was classically beautiful. Her hair was thick and curly and she didn’t miss being a redhead by much—a strawberry blonde he’d heard his secretary describe her as once, with the milky coloring to match. Despite her freckles, he doubted if the woman had ever spent a full day in the sun.

      In fact, he thought, chuckling, there were probably parts of her that had yet to see the light of day.

      But she had the most incredible blue-green eyes and full coral-colored lips. And he could see the generous curve of breast that she hid underneath her somber jackets. Violet Summerlin was stacked—she just didn’t want anyone to know. He wondered idly if she had a boyfriend or if she spent all her time pleasing people like him.

      Furthermore, he wondered if anyone had ever tried to please her. A vision of parting her knees to delve into those unexposed places made his cock twitch unexpectedly.

      Dominick pulled his hand down his face and chastised himself for thinking such wicked things about such a sweet person, a person who wanted world peace for Christmas, for heaven’s sake.

      He decided to switch to coffee to peruse the information she’d sent, tossing an extra scoop of grounds into the filter for a caffeine kick. While he waited for the coffee to brew, he pulled the stack of papers out

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