LITMIR.BIZ

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shame and a tragic waste.

       Here lies Eva, whose Christmas wish was to find herself up close and personal with a man, but didn’t specify the circumstances.

      Was that really going to be her last thought? Clearly the mind was capable of strange thoughts in the last moment before it was robbed of oxygen. And having written her eulogy, she was going to die, right here in the dark in this empty apartment mere weeks before Christmas, flattened by this gloriously smelling hunk of solid muscle. If Lucas Blade decided to postpone his return, her body might not be found for weeks. They were in the middle of a snowstorm, or a “winter weather emergency” as it was officially called.

      The thought rallied her.

      No! She didn’t want to die without saying goodbye to her friends. She’d found Paige and Frankie perfect Christmas gifts and she hadn’t told anyone where they were hidden. And her apartment was a total mess. She’d been meaning to tidy up for ages, but hadn’t quite found the time. What if the police wanted to look through her things for clues? Most of her possessions were strewed across the floor. It would be horribly embarrassing. But most of all she didn’t want to miss enjoying New York City at Christmas, and she didn’t want to die without having amazing, mind-blowing sex at least once in her life.

      She didn’t want this to be her last experience of having a man on top of her.

      She wanted to live.

      With a huge effort she tried to head-butt him, but he took evasive action. She heard the rasp of his breath, caught a glimpse of jet-black hair and fierce, smoldering eyes, and then there was a hammering on the door, and shouts from the police.

      Relief weakened her limbs.

      They must have traced the call.

      She sent silent thanks and heard her attacker curse softly moments before the police burst into the apartment, followed by Albert.

      There were no words for how much Eva loved Albert at that moment.

      “NYPD, freeze!”

      The apartment was flooded with lights and the man crushing her finally relieved her of his weight.

      Sucking air into her starving lungs, Eva screwed up her eyes against the lights and felt the man wrench the hat off her head. Her hair, released from the confines of wool and warmth, unraveled itself and tumbled over her shoulders.

      For a brief moment her gaze collided with his and she saw shock and disbelief.

      “You’re a woman.”

      He had a deep, sexy voice. Sexy voice, sexy body— shame about his criminal lifestyle.

      “I am. Or at least, I was. Right now I’m not sure I’m alive.” Eva lay there, stunned, gingerly testing the various parts of her body to check they were still attached. The man sprang to his feet in a lithe, fluid movement and she saw the expression on the police officer’s face change.

      “Lucas?” There was shock on his face. “We had no idea you were here. We had a call from an unknown female, reporting an intruder.”

      Lucas? Her attacker was Lucas Blade? He wasn’t a criminal, he was the owner of the apartment!

      She took her first good look at him and realized that he did look familiar. She’d seen his face on book covers. And it was a memorable face. She studied the slash of his cheekbones and the bold sweep of his nose. His hair and his eyes were dark. He looked as good as he smelled, and as for his body—she didn’t need to study the width of his shoulders or the power of those muscles to know how strong he was. She’d been pinned to the ground under the solid weight of him, so she already knew all there was to know about that. Remembering triggered a fluttery feeling in her tummy.

      What was wrong with her?

      This man had half killed her and she was having sexy thoughts.

      Which was yet more evidence that she’d gone far too long without sex. She was definitely going to fix that this Christmas.

      In the meantime, she dragged her gaze away from the magnetic pull of his and tried to be practical.

      What was he doing in the apartment? He wasn’t supposed to be home.

      “She’s the intruder.” Lucas’s expression was grim and Eva realized that everyone was glaring at her. Everyone except Albert, who looked as confused as she felt.

      “I’m not an intruder. I was told the apartment was empty.” The injustice of it stung. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

      “And how would you know that? You research which apartments are empty at Christmas?” He might be sexy, but he didn’t give away smiles lightly.

      Eva wondered how she’d suddenly turned into the bad guy. “Of course not. I was asked to do this.”

      “You had an accomplice?”

      “If I was an intruder, would I have dialed 911?”

      “Why not? Once you realized there was someone home, it would have been the perfect way of appearing innocent.”

      “I am innocent.” Eva looked at him in disbelief. “Your mind is a strange, twisted thing.” She glanced at the police officer for support, but found none.

      “On your feet.” The officer’s tone was cold and brusque and Eva eased her bruised, crushed body into a sitting position.

      “That’s easier said than done. I have at least four hundred broken bones.”

      Lucas reached down and hauled her upright. “The human body does not have four hundred bones.”

      “It does when most of them have snapped in half.” His strength shouldn’t have surprised her given that he’d already crushed her to the ground under his body. “Why is everyone glaring at me? Instead of interrogating me about breaking and entering, they should be arresting you for assault. What are you doing here, anyway? You’re supposed to be in Vermont, not skulking here.”

      “I own the apartment. A person can’t ‘skulk’ in their own apartment.” His brows came together in a fierce frown. “How did you know I was supposed to be in Vermont?”

      “Your grandmother told me.” Eva tested her ankle gingerly. “And you were definitely skulking. Creeping around in the dark.”

      “You were the one creeping around in the dark.”

      “I was admiring the snow. I’m a romantic. As far as I know, that isn’t a crime.”

      “We’ll be the judge of that.” The officer stepped forward. “We’ll take her down to the precinct, Lucas.”

      “Wait—” Lucas barely moved his hand but it was enough to stop the man in his tracks. “Did you say my grandmother told you I was in Vermont?”

      “That’s right, Mr. Blade,” Albert intervened. “This is Eva, and she’s here at the request of your grandmother. I verified it myself. None of us knew you were in residence.” There was a faint hint of reproach in his voice. Lucas ignored it.

      “You know my grandmother?” he asked Eva.

      “I do. She employed me.”

      “To do what, exactly?” His eyes darkened. It was like looking at a threatening sky before a very, very bad storm.

      His grandmother had told her many things about her grandson Lucas. She’d mentioned that he was an expert skier, that he had once spent a year living in a cabin in the Arctic, that he was fluent in French, Italian and Russian, was skilled in at least four different forms of martial arts and that he never showed anyone his books until they were finished.

      She’d failed to mention that he could be intimidating.

      “She employed me to prepare your apartment for Christmas.”

      “And?”

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