“Well, happy?”
Mira gave him a smug smile, and he grunted in return.
“You’re a very accomplished liar,” he huffed, and apparently that was all the thanks she was going to get.
She shrugged his comment away. She had way too many glasses of eggnog inside her to let him dampen her good mood. She didn’t exactly like to admit it, but she was enjoying her fake engagement party. Branch’s family were awesome. Both she and her dad had been happy, but they had always longed for a larger family. For more people to take joy in their Christmas festivities. It was really nice being surrounded by so many people who were so jolly and excited, even if it was only temporary.
“I was just… exaggerating. I mean the facts are all there. I did deliver a sandwich to your office; you just weren’t in it.”
“Hmmm.” He didn’t look particularly appeased by that.
“Your family is nice – and there’s so many of them.”
“Hey, Branch. Mira.”
A tall, broad man – there didn’t seem to be any other kind in Branch’s family tree - approached, smiling. He was good looking but kind of forgettable. At least he was forgettable when faced with Branch – he was not nearly as handsome as Branch. But then, who was? Branch could make gods jealous.
Branch scowled, but the other male didn’t seem to notice or mind or even slow his progress towards them. “Mira, this is…”
“Hey, Roger!” cried Mira.
Branch glanced at her in surprise before returning his impatient gaze back to Roger.
“Great party,” said Roger.
“It’s lovely, isn’t it?” trilled Mira.
“But I’m afraid I have to get going,” said Roger.
“Don’t let us keep you,” grunted Branch.
“Welcome to the herd,” said Roger to Mira.
He went in for a hug and Branch really started growling. Mira shivered slightly as Branch slipped an arm around her waist. Pathetically, she tried to suck in her stomach, to give the illusion of a slim waist. But after a couple of seconds, she gave that up. It wasn’t really worth the effort and given the incensed look on Branch’s face – currently directed at Roger – he wouldn’t have noticed anyway.
Roger gulped and settled on shaking Mira’s hand. She said goodbye to him, and weirdly he seemed to bow to Branch before bolting for the door. That was kind of odd, but maybe all CEO’s liked their employees to do that. Mira noticed that a large number of Branch’s employees all seemed to be related to him in some way.
“That’s…”
“Your second cousin Roger – he works in finance.”
“How do you know that?” he asked suspiciously.
“Your mother introduced me to everyone, and while I haven’t met Roger before, I know lots of your family members from delivering sandwiches to them.”
“And you remembered them? I can barely remember Roger, and I see him every day. I spent a five years calling him Roy before someone finally corrected me.”
Mira let out a small giggle. “I try to remember names and sandwich requests. It helps in my job.”
“Hmmm. You enjoy your sandwich delivery job?”
His snooty tone suggested it would be a miracle if she did.
Mira gave him a playful pout. “Actually I do. The owners let me bake cupcakes so we can sell them too. I can make whatever I want. When I applied for the job, I didn’t think I would like it as much as I do, but it’s actually pretty fun. My dream is to have my own bakery.”
“Hmmm.”
His face took on a stony expression.
“What’s your dream job?” she asked because he hardly seemed like he was on cloud nine right now.
“I’m running my family’s company,” he replied.
“But is that your dream job?”
Branch gave her a slightly confused look. “It’s what I always knew I would do.”
“That’s not the same thing. Does it make you happy?”
He paused before saying, “I am not unhappy.”
Mira smiled slightly. Materialistic maybe, but she couldn’t imagine anyone being very unhappy in such a gorgeous house. He obviously enjoyed a nice lifestyle. But there was something not quite right about his house. Of course! He didn’t have any Christmas decorations.
Much to Temp’s chagrin, she put theirs up on December 1st. Poor Temp didn’t know what was going on until she went to the bathroom and she found that Mira had attached her special Christmas seat to the toilet. It said ‘ho ho ho’ whenever anybody lifted it. It was probably a little jarring to discover that in the middle of the night.
“Coo-ee!”
Branch stiffened as a very slim and very pretty redhead started making her way to them. Her hair was expertly teased and she was wearing a brief, glittery mini dress that Mira was sure would barely be big enough to cover even one of her own legs.
Mira hadn’t been introduced to her, but the way she was blowing kisses in Branch’s direction suggested that he knew her.
“Alpha!” she called, waving at Branch.
“Let’s go into the garden,” he hissed.
He virtually carried Mira outside. In fact, it all happened so fast; she was sure her feet didn’t even touch the ground.
“Who was that?” Mira asked as she weaved on her feet, trying to get her balance. “I don’t think I’ve met her.”
“No need to change that now,” he muttered as he gripped her arm, steadying her.
Before she could object, he took her hand and led her around the side of the house.
“My coat…” started Mira as she shivered.
He grumbled and pulled his sweater off and pushed it over Mira’s head. It swamped her, but it was deliciously warm and steeped in his masculine scent. Would he let her keep it? Oh if he would, she would sleep in it and dream that it was him wrapped around her, rather than just a sweater… Yeesh, maybe she needed to get out more.
“Jeez. Aren’t you cold?”
“No.”
He was now only wearing a t-shirt, and it was starting to snow. She placed her hands on his arms, but sure enough, he was already deliciously warm. She ran her fingers over his skin, delighting in the gentle buzz his touch afforded.
When she noticed him gazing at her, she quickly removed her hands and stowed them in the sweater sleeves.
“Who was that?” she asked.
“No one.”
“You usually flee from no one?” she teased.
“Humph.”
His grumpiness seemed to blossom even more. So cute!
Mira bit her lip. She was enjoying herself. Far too much. She had to remember that this was all just a show – she wasn’t really meeting her boyfriend’s family. Plus, she still hadn’t made up her mind on whether she wished to go through with this whole thing or not. Well, actually she had – she was.
Possibly, it was crazy, but she was – she just didn’t know how to break it to Temp. She got to help out her sister, spend some time with Mr. Smolder and help him out, too. She couldn’t see a problem with it. It was hardly like her love life would suffer. She hadn’t had a love life for over a year now.
Mira looked up at Branch through her eyelashes. He wasn’t good for her heart, but he looked like he needed help and she wanted to be the one to give it.
“We still need to talk about this whole thing,” she said softly.
“I know, and we will.”
She fidgeted under the giant sweater. “I wish I’d known it was a party; I might have worn something a little nicer.”
“You look nice.”
“I do?” she blurted in surprise.
She was late leaving work due to some additional orders they were getting – sandwiches for parties - and didn’t have time to change. In fear of being too late, she had even sprung for a taxi. She hated paying for taxis; why take a taxi when you can take the bus?
Branch’s eyes seemed to flare, and his gaze bordered on lusty before he quickly looked away into his enormous garden.
She followed his gaze and was surprised to see one of Branch’s relatives trudging through the snow wearing only a pair of jeans.
“Isn’t that Marcus?”
“I’m not sure; we should go inside the house.”
His voice took on a note of urgency, and he swung Mira into his arms. She let out an eep and wrapped her arms around his bulky shoulders. Her delight at virtually getting to hug him was quickly eclipsed as Marcus proceeded to strip out of his jeans too. He was stark staring naked in the middle of the garden, and it was freaking freezing!
“What is he doing?”
Branch ignored her and started running towards the door. But it was too late. In spite of Branch’s attempts to cover her eyes, or to get her back to the house she saw what Marcus was doing. He was turning into a reindeer!
Mira gaped as the huge beast started trotting around the garden.
“Oh. My. God! He just turned into a freaking reindeer!”
Branch groaned, and she felt the rise and fall of his huge chest.
“Mira…”
“He just… One moment he was there and the next he turned into a reindeer!”
“I know,” he muttered, slowing lowering her to the ground.
Holy crap!