Risky Christmas Read online

  “I like fish and chips.”

  He shook his head. “Steak?”

  She smiled. “With sauce and fries.”

  He chuckled. “You should weigh a lot more than you do.”

  “It’s all about portion control.” And she couldn’t afford big ones.

  Finishing his meal, he took her plate and put the dishes on a tray outside the room. Then he went to the other bed and stretched out on it, leaning against pillows propped against the headboard, his stomach muscles bunching and keeping her gaze there.

  “I think you should stay with me when we get to Montana.”

  She lifted her eyes to his profile. He hadn’t turned to look at her when he spoke. And then it dawned on her that he wanted her to stay with him because of Axel. For a second she thought he meant because he liked her. “All I require is getting to Montana.”

  Mason rolled his head on his pillow. “Axel hasn’t been located yet.”

  “I’m not afraid of him.” How many men like that had she dealt with living in Chicago? Except, none of them had guns…

  “Then humor me. I need you to stay with me until he’s captured. Of all the men in that organization, Axel has the most reason to come after me.”

  “I don’t want to stay with you any longer than I have to.” More bite came out in her tone than she would have liked. She didn’t understand her affront. Whatever happened to her heartache over her ex-boyfriend? Had one kiss obliterated him?

  Now Mason swung his feet over the side of the bed and sat up. “Chloe…”

  She picked up the remote again and flipped more channels, mad that he’d affected her that way.

  “Chloe?”

  Relenting, she dropped the remote and turned to look at him.

  “Stay with me,” he said.

  Again, she was struck with the tantalization that he meant something other than he actually did. And then she recognized his worry. Did he think Axel would come after them? He’d said Axel had the most reason to do so.

  “All right. I’ll stay with you. But only until I get settled. Find a place to live. Start looking for a job.”

  “That’s fine, as long as Axel is apprehended.”

  He was doing his job. Just like kissing her had been part of his job. “I understand. I can take care of myself, but I’ll stay with you if it makes you feel better.” She’d never admit to him that she agreed it was wise to be careful.

  “I’m sure you can.” He reclined on the bed again, sounding exhausted.

  She tried to pay attention to another rendition of A Christmas Carol. But her awareness of him stopped her.

  “What if Axel isn’t caught by Christmas Day?” That was the day after tomorrow. “I don’t want to intrude on your family.”

  “You won’t intrude. My mother will hardly let you spend Christmas alone.”

  She glanced over at him. He’d closed his eyes with his hands behind his head. She let her gaze go over his bare chest.

  “You’ll like her,” he said. “My dad, too.”

  She saw that his eyes were still closed.

  “They know you worked with me on the investigation and why you’re coming with me. You won’t have to pretend you’re my girlfriend.”

  “Good. Then you won’t have to kiss me again.”

  His eyes opened and he rolled his head on the pillow again to see her.

  She turned back to the TV. Why should it matter that he wasn’t thinking of her with that kind of interest? He was just going to make sure she was all right and then she’d be on her own again. That would be the end of them. Whatever that was.

  After suffering hours of traveling with Mason, landing in Great Falls and then renting a black GMC Yukon, Chloe’s apprehension grew. Mason hadn’t said much the entire trip. He seemed as unhappy as she was over having to stay close. The why of it had her in turmoil. What if he hadn’t faked that kiss? Sure, it helped his cover, but had he felt the same as her? At the time it sure seemed that way. But he worked undercover. He role-played all the time.

  They’d been following a snow-covered dirt road for several miles now. The endless beauty that passed her window captivated her every once in a while, offering a welcome reprieve from her thoughts. When Mason turned onto another road, she looked for a house but didn’t see one. It was a few more miles before they rounded a curve and an old colonial-style house came into view.

  Pure enchantment. It was big and white with black shutters and a wraparound porch with pillars in the front. There was a swing and a stone fountain that she was sure was absolutely beautiful in the summer.

  “Oh,” she breathed. “Is that…?”

  “No. The log house up ahead is.”

  Looking forward she saw a sprawling log home with green metal roofing that screamed money.

  “That’s where your parents live?”

  “Yes.”

  “Wow.” That’s all she could say. When he’d said his mother inherited a ranch she pictured a small farmhouse. Smaller than this, anyway.

  “My mom inherited the ranch. My great grandfather started up a bakery chain that took off…Schrader’s?” He glanced at her and she nodded. She recognized the name. “It wasn’t as big when he ran it. The corporation that bought it expanded quite a bit.”

  But he’d obviously done well in the sale.

  “He bought this land and built the house when he sold the company and retired. My grandfather made a working ranch out of it. People rent the cabins he built.”

  “And your parents run the ranch now?”

  “Yeah. That other one is the original house. I’ll have to show you it some time. It’s basically a guesthouse now. They built this log home three years ago.”

  “It’s beautiful.” Being around this kind of money was as foreign to her as a trip to Mongolia.

  He stopped the Yukon in front of the log home. Warm light illuminated most of the windows in the front, the biggest beneath a huge triangular gable, where a giant Christmas tree twinkled cheerfully through the glass. Getting out of the SUV with him, she saw how he looked around before going to the front door to open the heavy wood door with a pretty wreath hanging on it. She wondered if the security measure was out of habit or if he was looking for Axel. That idea disconcerted her a little. It was so isolated here.

  A horse whinnied. There must be a stable behind the house. Other than that, it was silent. No sounds of the city. Only absolute stillness beneath a partially cloudy sky.

  Stepping inside behind Mason, her immediate impression was color and grandeur. A hall led off the living room beside a built-in entertainment center and an enormous television. The Christmas tree she saw from outside flirted with the beams overhead and inspired a new idea for a card. Opposite the entry, huge granite rocks rose from the fireplace to the exposed ceiling, nestled in the log wall.

  “Mason? Is that you?” a female voice called.

  “Hi, Mom.”

  “Karl! Mason’s home!”

  As Chloe moved farther into the room, she could see the kitchen around the gigantic tree and a stairway leading to a landing with two doors and a hallway. A woman with short, dark hair that was still shiny with health appeared from the kitchen, trotting toward them with a big smile. She was as tall as Chloe and a little thick around the middle, but not in a way that hindered her movement. She threw her arms around Mason and he hugged her back with a deep chuckle.

  Then an older version of Mason emerged from a hallway to the left. His hair was still thick for his age and his green eyes smiled behind black-rimmed glasses. He was tall and lean, and Chloe thought in his younger years that he might have been a lot more muscular.

  Mason’s mom released him and his dad embraced him briefly. “It’s been so long.”

  “Over a year,” Mason said.

  “How long before you’re sent for another case?” his mother asked, her joy in seeing him deflating a bit. Each time he went undercover, the times he could see or talk to his family had to be limited. If Chloe had a family, she�
��d spend as much time as she could with them.

  “I don’t know. I’m taking a few weeks off.”

  Mason’s vibrant mother turned her attention to Chloe, looking her up and down with a smile. “You didn’t say she was pretty.”

  Taken off-guard, Chloe glanced uncertainly at Mason.

  “Mom,” he protested. “This is Chloe Bradford. My mother, Beverly.” He turned to Karl. “My dad, Karl.”

  “Everyone calls me Bevy.” She shook Chloe’s hand firmly, letting go to let Karl shake it next, his much less vigorous.

  “It’s nice to meet you both.” Bevy was the antithesis of her husband. Social energy beamed from her and Karl seemed like the quiet type. Chloe held back a grin.

  “Thank you for helping my son,” Bevy said. “Mason told me about how you had to pose as his girlfriend.”

  Chloe didn’t miss Mason’s fidgeting. He wanted to get these introductions over with. “We helped each other.”

  “Well, no matter what brought you together, we’re so glad to have you for Christmas.”

  “I’m happy to be here.” More than she should be, spending Christmas with a family…Mason’s family.

  “Where is everybody?” Mason asked.

  “Your brother will be back in a while. He took the kids shopping in Great Falls,” Karl said. Other than the subtle joy over seeing Mason when he first walked into the room, his expression remained stoic and unreadable.

  “What about CC?”

  His mother scoffed with a wave of her hand. “She said she’d be here last night but she had more drama to deal with before leaving L.A.”

  “What now?”

  “Her husband is having an affair. He’s spending Christmas with his lover. CC’s a wreck.”

  It must be contagious. Everyone Chloe ran into lately had been with someone who left them for someone else.

  “We’ll fix her up when she gets here,” Mason said.

  Bevy kissed her son’s cheek and patted the other one. “That’s my son.” Then she moved back. “You two can take two of the rooms upstairs. Go get your luggage, Mason. I’ll take Chloe into the kitchen so we can get acquainted.”

  “I’ll help you,” Mason’s father said, heading for the door.

  Mason followed, casting a glance back at his mother and Chloe as though not sure he liked the idea of them getting acquainted. Chloe wasn’t sure she did, either. Spending Christmas with his family was one thing, but getting too attached was quite another.

  Bevy waved her toward the kitchen. “Come on. I’m getting ready for tonight.”

  She followed her into the kitchen, where the smell of Swedish meatballs grew stronger. “Do you celebrate on Christmas Eve?”

  “The big event is tomorrow. I’m throwing together some appetizers for tonight.” Bevy resumed rolling tortillas into spinach and cream cheese pinwheels.

  “Mason said he met you at a grocery store.”

  “In the parking lot.”

  “I know he did what he had to at the time, running into one of those men he was investigating the way he did, but I have to tell you. I always hoped he would meet a nice girl that way. Without planning it. Spur of the moment. Out of the blue. When he least expects it.”

  Chloe began to pick up on some romanticized undercurrents. Did his mother think Mason had brought her here as his new girlfriend? Meeting him definitely hadn’t been planned, but for him it was all business.

  Just then, Mason and his dad came through the door along with the sound of many more voices. Boisterous voices. After everyone removed their winter coats, two blond-haired girls around six and eight roared with excitement and ran down the hall. An older, wiry blond-haired boy was slower and looked bored as he went to plop down in front of the television. Mason smiled as he talked to a man perhaps five to ten years older than him. His brother, the homicide detective. He was shorter than Mason and had light brown hair. A slender blond-haired woman in a soft green sweater followed beside Mason’s father, talking rapidly with a big, toothy smile. She waved into the kitchen.

  Then the four of them climbed the stairs, carrying shopping bags and luggage, loud chatter fading as they turned down the hall.

  “It’s not often Mason brings a girl home,” Bevy commented.

  Chloe turned back to her, again picking up on the leading insinuation. “He thought it was best.”

  Bevy eyed her briefly, appearing unconvinced that was the only reason. Her dark hair was a stylish bob around her aging face and her gray eyes were keen with intelligence.

  Catching sight of Mason stepping down the stairs ahead of his father and brother, she found herself unable to stop looking at him. He moved smooth and strong, all man coming toward her. He noticed her and their gazes held. When he reached the bottom, he gave her a subtle grin before turning to go into the living room.

  The blonde came jogging down the stairs, still in jeans and the green sweater. Not as tall as Chloe, she had big breasts and hips that were probably hard to keep trim. She entered the kitchen.

  “Deirdra, this is Chloe Bradford, Mason’s friend.”

  The way Bevy said friend clearly indicated she didn’t believe for a minute they were just friends.

  “It’s about time Mason brought someone home,” Deirdra said, obviously having drawn the same conclusion as Bevy. She sat on the stool next to Chloe, blue eyes dancing, shoulder-length blond hair thick and shining.

  “Any luck shopping?” Bevy asked.

  “Yes. We found what you were looking for.” Just as Chloe began to wonder what that was, she continued, “Teddy bought four new movies.” She smiled over at Chloe. “Why is it that we always end up buying more than we plan at Christmastime?”

  Chloe didn’t know what that was like. She just smiled amicably and kept quiet.

  The front door opened again and Chloe noticed it was dark outside. A woman appeared around the Christmas tree, rolling a suitcase to a stop and draping her fur-hooded jacket over the top as Mason reached her. After hugging him and talking a bit, she embraced her dad and other brother. In tight stretch jeans with colorful butterflies running down one thigh and a wild sparkly printed long-sleeved shirt, she had a vibrancy that matched her mother’s. Her hair had a blond streak in the dark strands and her eye makeup was heavy around green eyes that were the same color as Mason’s. She ruffled the boy’s blond head before heading toward the kitchen.

  “CC.” Bevy moved around the kitchen island to hug her. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m great. My husband is bonking a twelve-year-old.”

  “You’re only twenty-seven, Cees. She can’t be that much younger than you.”

  “I knew he was too in love with himself. I should have never married the weasel.”

  “I won’t say I told you so.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” CC noticed Chloe then. “One of the neighbors come over for Christmas again?”

  “No, this is Mason’s girlfriend,” Deirdra said.

  Breathing an entertained laugh, Bevy went to remove some shrimp from the refrigerator.

  “I’m not his—”

  “Chloe Bradford, meet Mason’s younger sister, CC Jaffee,” Dierdra cut her off.

  “It’s not Jaffee anymore.”

  “It will be again soon.”

  CC smirked at the unwanted truth and then went to the refrigerator. “Mason didn’t say anything to me about a girlfriend.” She closed the refrigerator door, holding a beer.

  “We’re just friends,” Chloe insisted.

  “She posed as Mason’s girlfriend to help him protect his cover,” Bevy said, arranging the shrimp in a pretty bowl. “But they met at a grocery store before that.”

  CC used a bottle opener to remove the cap and then came to sit on the other side of Chloe. “He still in that dumpy part of Chicago?”

  “That’s where Mason met Chloe,” Bevy informed the blunt-speaking woman. “She lives there.”

  “Oh.” CC looked apologetically at Chloe. “Sorry.”

  Mason’s rich laughte
r made her look into the living room. The sight of his still-smiling face stole her concentration. Catching her watching, his smile faded and his eyes took on a telling smolder.

  Forcing her attention back to CC after a notable delay, she said, “Don’t be. It is a dumpy part of Chicago. That’s why I’m moving here.”

  After following Chloe’s gaze, Deirdra lifted her brow speculatively.

  “You’re moving here?” CC asked.

  “Yes. But not because…not because…” Why couldn’t she say not because of Mason? She wasn’t moving here for him. But these women thought…

  “Why did he bring you home with him?” CC asked.

  “The FBI is still looking for one of the men Mason was investigating. It’s a precautionary measure,” Bevy said. “He didn’t want to leave her in Chicago.”

  It was more than precautionary. And it had nothing to do with his interest in her. He wasn’t interested. Was he? She glanced over at him again but he was busy talking to his dad.

  No. He was worried Axel would find them here. That was why she’d agree to stay with him. She looked out the dining room window, darkness peering in between the swooping curtains. She’d seen how he had scanned their surroundings on the way here. His family thought the danger was left behind in Chicago, but Mason was afraid of bringing danger to their door.

  “I think that’s what he’d like us all to believe,” Deirdra said, reeling her back into the conversation. “I bet he likes her.”

  “Oh, I doubt—”

  “I saw the way you look at each other,” Deirdra teased. “It’s obvious.”

  Was it? Mason didn’t seem open to letting another woman into his heart.

  CC laughed lightheartedly. “This is going to be a great Christmas. Exactly what I need.”

  “Really, I don’t think—”

  “You’re different than the other three he brought here,” Deirdra interrupted again.

  Bevy was smiling in that way again. “She does seem different.”

  Chloe checked each woman’s face and settled on Bevy, relenting to curiosity. “How so?”

  “Not as fancy,” CC said. “They all made more money than him.”

  The woman didn’t know when she was insulting. Chloe found it refreshing, though.