Chapter One
Sarah Leonard hurried down the hallway of NPH Designs, the eco-friendly architectural design firm where she worked, clutching the felt Santa hat full of employee names to her chest.
Her red patent leather heels click-click-clicked on the shiny cork flooring. The holly-jolly man’s eight tiny reindeer had nothing on her. Not when she set her mind to something. In this case, a plan she hoped would change her life. Oh, yes. Getting things done was her superpower.
She skidded to a stop at her destination and closed herself in the familiar office, breathless with anticipation.
Ryan Wright faced the window, his hands shoved in the pants pockets of his black suit. Sarah always teased him on days he dressed up, but not even she was immune to the effect he had on women. With his short blond hair, piercing blue eyes, and tall, athletic build, her commitment-phobic friend left a trail of broken hearts wherever he went.
Lucky for her, as a civil engineer, he usually went the casual route of khakis and button-down shirts. It helped tone down the sex appeal. A little.
Okay, not really.
But Ryan’s sex appeal was neither here nor there. Unable to restrain her excitement for another second, she blurted out, “I need you to help make Logan fall in love with me.”
Ryan turned around and leaned over his speakerphone. “Hey, guys. My apologies, but I’ve got to cut this call short.” He grinned up at Sarah and added, “I’ll email over the final designs by noon.”
Her mouth dropped open. Had everyone in the company just heard her declaration? Had their boss, Logan? Stomach sinking to her feet, she dropped into the white chair opposite his desk, her air supply suddenly cut off. Was she hyperventilating? She buried her head into the opening of the Santa hat and tried to breathe.
“Hey, Red. You okay?”
She would have believed his concern if there weren’t a hint of amusement in his voice. She knew that tone all too well. They joked around all the time, but not usually at her expense. She squashed the hat against her chest. “Please tell me Logan wasn’t on the call.”
“I could.” He pried the Santa hat from her hands and set it on his desk next to him. “But then I’d be lying, and I’m really trying to stay on the big guy’s nice list this year.”
She groaned. “Santa’s or Logan’s?”
“Does it really matter?”
“Crap.” She closed her eyes. Now she’d be out the job she loved. How could she be so stupid? Coming up with the idea to enlist Ryan’s help to make the CEO—Ryan’s best friend—fall in love with her seemed like the perfect plan when she’d come up with it five minutes ago. Okay, it had some noticeable holes, namely Ryan’s reaction. However, when impulse struck, she had a habit of going for it. Why couldn’t she be more like her roommate, Chloe, who carefully weighed every outcome before acting?
Because impulsive was Sarah’s middle name, that’s why. What she should have done was make herself a warm cup of peppermint hot chocolate, sit her butt down in front of her computer, and craft Ryan a private message from her Facebook account, promptly deleting it until she’d thought this through.
“Relax,” Ryan said. “You won’t be going anywhere.”
She frowned. “How do you know?”
“Logan wasn’t on the call. Nor was anyone who cares who you’re in love with.”
“Ryan!” She grabbed the hat and swatted him with it. “How could you do that to me?”
“Because you make it so easy.” He pushed himself off the desk, offering her the bag of malt balls he kept stashed in his drawer for when she needed to calm her nerves.
She reached in and took one. “Thank you.”
He studied her, his assessing eyes always seeing too much. “I thought you said you got over him months ago?”
She straightened her red knit sweater over her black pencil skirt, not sure how to explain her tiny fib. It had all started last summer. Ryan had invited her out to happy hour, an invitation she’d pounced on because she liked hanging out with him.
After a few strawberry margaritas, she’d casually mentioned that she was interested in Logan and asked Ryan if he thought she had a shot. If she didn’t, who better to set her straight than the guy who’d been Logan’s longtime best friend? Ryan had hemmed and hawed, saying that Logan was a pretty private guy when it came to his relationships and that he wasn’t the right person to answer her question.
So, Ryan hadn’t exactly said no. She’d chalked it up to his probably not wanting to get involved with messy office romances between any woman and his friend.
The following week, Ryan had kept to himself, eating lunch in his office instead of joining her in the cafeteria like usual. She’d missed his company and the to-die-for desserts that his sister would make that he always split with Sarah.
After four days of having to endure sitting with Paul from finance, who’d been with the company forever and liked to discuss every muscle ache and joint pain he’d felt in the past year, Sarah had stopped by Ryan’s office to address the elephant in the room.
And that’s when she’d fibbed. She’d said that in her fuzzy, margarita-infused state, it might have sounded like she had a crush on Logan, but what she’d meant to say was that she’d had a crush on the CEO. Anything else she’d asked that night was purely hypothetical tipsy babble. Please don’t let it get in the way of their friendship.
Ryan had smiled and tugged her ponytail, saying it’d just been a busy week. Whether that was true or not, things between them had gone back to normal the following Monday.
She’d never brought it up again. Until now.
“Okay, so my interest in Logan…never quite went away,” she admitted. “I didn’t want things to be weird between you and me.”
He arched an eyebrow. “So you lied?”
Well, when he put it like that… She shrank in her seat. “I’m sorry.” If he was going to help her, she’d have to come completely clean. “I really like him. A lot.”
“Do you two even have anything in common?”
She frowned. Truth was, despite being his executive assistant the past two years, she didn’t know a whole lot about Logan. She had no clue how he spent his free time, what he liked to watch on TV, or the one thing he wanted more than anything for Christmas. What she did know was that they came from vastly different backgrounds—her a farmer’s daughter from Dillon, Montana, and him from an affluent family.
She shook off her meager upbringing, holding her head high. She was a sophisticated city girl now with a closet full of pencil skirts and colorful stilettos. Surely they shared some interests. “I bet Logan and I have tons of things in common.”
“Like what?” Ryan asked, his lips curving up.
He was testing her. Mr. Anti-Relationship wasn’t going to help her unless she showed him that she and Logan were compatible.
Think.
Snapping her fingers, she said, “We both love Mexican food from Taco Guaco.” There. That was true. Logan often asked her to pick him up the lunch special from the hole in the wall restaurant across the street. Never mind that he always ate it in his corner office with the door closed.
Ryan smirked. “And nothing speaks love more than two people experiencing the aftereffects of bean burritos in unison. I totally agree.”
“Eww!”
He laughed. “So, why do you need my help?” He picked up the baseball on his desk and tossed it. “Why not tell him how you feel?”
“Two words.” She stood and snatched the ball in midair. “Mary Beth Simmons.”
He maneuvered around his desk and took a seat. “Isn’t that technically three?”
She threw the ball at him. “Stop with the semantics. I’ve got a real problem here.”
“O-kay.” He tossed it back. “So, who is this woman?”
“Oh, please. Recently hired in accounting.” She tucked the ball under her arm, brought her hands up to the top of her admittedly small breasts, and pantomimed a large half circle.
A grin spread across his face. “Right. I remember them…um…her.”
She narrowed her eyes. Of course he knew about Mary Beth and her company assets. Everyone did, thanks to her sauntering into last month’s office Halloween party wearing a sexy nurse outfit and black fishnet pantyhose.
Sarah’s master plan for that event had gone out the window. She’d dressed in what she’d thought would be the perfect Lois Lane getup to complement her boss’s Clark Kent costume, thinking maybe, just maybe, he’d find it adorable and see what a perfect pair they were. Unfortunately, she always carried a notepad whenever she left her desk already, and with her wavy red hair, no one had quite got the outfit, including Logan.
While she’d sat in a corner, she and Ryan sharing a hunk of Oreo graveyard cake that his sister had made, Miss Sexy Nurse had pranced right up to Logan, flashed a thermometer, and offered to let him take her temperature.
She’d refused to look for either of them the rest of the evening, afraid she might find that they had both gone missing. Presumably with Mary Beth’s thermometer in hand.
“So, you think Logan’s got the hots for her?” Ryan asked, motioning for Sarah to toss the ball back.
“Yes. Without a doubt.”
“Have you seen them leave work together?”
“No,” she admitted, throwing it underhand like Ryan had taught her the one and only time she’d attempted to play on the company’s softball team.
“Was there a lunch date on his calendar with Mary Beth you happened to notice?” He pretended to wind the ball up for a fast one, but let it gently sail through the air.
She shook her head, caught the ball, and overhanded it back.
“Did he have you buy her flowers for no reason?” He put a little muscle into his toss.
She caught it. “Not a single stem.”
“Three strikes, Sarah. I think I’m going to call you out on this one.”
“Enough with your sports metaphor. Obviously, you have a point. Let’s hear it.”
He shrugged. “It’s more like a question: Could you be seeing something between Logan and Mary Beth that’s not there?”
She set the baseball down on his desk and snatched the Santa hat, waving it in the air. “Maybe nothing has happened between them yet, but something certainly could because of this.” Earlier this morning, Logan had reached into the hat, pulled out a red slip, and lit up like a Christmas tree. “Logan’s her Secret Santa.”
“Oh no,” Ryan deadpanned. “Not that.”
“Stop picking on me. I knew I shouldn’t have put her name in until after Logan picked.” She slumped back into the seat again. “I’ve basically thrown them together.”
“I think you’re overreacting.”
“No, I’m not.” She shook her head. “You know what usually happens when one attractive single gets another for Secret Santa. I don’t have enough fingers to count all of the holiday hookups that have happened in the last two years because of this stupid hat.”
“I’ve never hooked up.”
“Really?” She found that hard to believe. Ryan was definitely hookup material. Half of the floor had a crush on him.
“Nope. I haven’t been so lucky.” He grabbed the hat and shoved his hand in, pulling out a red slip. “And my streak continues.”
“Who’d you get?”
“Can’t tell.”
“It’s a female.”
He lifted one eyebrow. “So now you have psychic powers?”
“No. I know because men’s names are on green slips and women’s on red.” She blew out an aggravated breath, hoping it wasn’t Vanessa from marketing. The perky executive had gotten into the habit of stopping by their lunch table every day to talk to Ryan, sometimes pulling up a chair and joining them. Sarah wasn’t about to lose her lunch partner to Secret Santa flirting. “Why won’t you tell me?”
“It’s a secret.” He walked over and handed the hat back. “Look, I can’t help you with Logan. He doesn’t talk about his love life. I couldn’t even tell you the name of the last woman he took to dinner.”
Sarah’s chest tightened, her shoulders slumped. She glanced down at the stupid hat in her hands, reality hitting her hard. Ryan wasn’t going to help her. Her Christmas wish was going to someone else.
Her body tensed at an image of Logan and Mary Beth kissing underneath mistletoe. She gripped the Santa hat with both hands, ready to rip it apart.
Oh, hell no. She released her tight hold. She was not going to lose Logan to a woman who flaunted her double-D cups in questionable office attire. Yes, it was unfortunate that Logan had gotten Mary Beth and not her for his Secret Santa, but she had a plan, dammit. And it hinged on Ryan.
She took a deep breath and started her pitch. “Maybe you don’t know who he’s seeing, but you can offer some insight. You’ve been best friends forever—you must know things about him that could help me. For example, is he a morning or night person? What’s his go-to TV show? What’s his spirit animal? What’s his favorite comfort food on a rainy day? Does he crawl into warm flannel or soft silk sheets? Does he like his kisses hot and wild, or does he prefer to take it slow and sensual?”
Ryan stilled, his eyes going dark as he scowled. “I don’t know the answers to any of those questions, and definitely not the last two.”
Sarah reached over and picked up the baseball again, holding it up. She was going to have to speak in terms Ryan could relate to. “I have a game plan, but to successfully execute it, I need to have a coach on the sidelines helping me with my plays. You, Mr. Wright, are the right man for the job—the only man. What do you say? Will you join Team Sargan?”
“Team Sargan,” he repeated, a line forming between his eyebrows.
“You know. Logan’s and my name combined—Sargan.”
“Right.” He slid his hands in his pockets. “I don’t know.”
“Think about it, and as a token of my appreciation, I could do something for you,” she offered, glancing down at her watch. She should probably head back to her desk.
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Buy you lunch every Friday in January? Drop off and pick up your dry cleaning for three months?”
His expression lightened a bit at that. “Now that’s tempting. You get love, and I get pressed pants. If I agree, I’m definitely getting the better end of the deal.”
She punched his arm. “Not everyone is against being in a relationship. You should try it.” She motioned behind her. “There are a lot of pretty, single girls in the office who would die to go on a date with you.”
“Nah. I think I’ll renew my bachelor card for another year.”
“You’ll turn it in one day. So…” She pasted on what she knew was her best pretty-please smile. “Will you help me?”
He folded his arms across his chest and studied her for a long moment. Finally, he sighed. “I’ll think about it.”
Her heart raced to a first-round victory. Yes! His answer was good enough for now. She rested her hand on the door handle. “Thank you. If there’s anyone who can help make Logan see I’m the one for him, it’s you. And trust me, Coach Wright. When he and I do get together…” She opened the door and winked. “…Logan will feel like he won the Super Bowl.”
Satisfied with the progress she’d made, Sarah spun on her heels…and slammed straight into the other half of Team Sargan.
…
“Why will I feel like I won the Super Bowl?” Logan asked, looking from Sarah to Ryan.
“Um…er…Merry Christmas!” Sarah raised the Santa hat, a shaky, too-big smile plastered across her face.
Ryan suppressed a smirk as he watched the adorable redhead stumble over her words. She began rambling about the upcoming holiday party, asking Logan if she should purchase a ten-pound Christmas goose.
This ought to be good. Just how was she going to segue from a Christmas goose to Logan winning the Super Bowl? He should let Sarah dig her way out of this solo, but he wasn’t that big an asshole.
Even if she had just stomped on his heart.
He opened up the top drawer of his desk, pulled out a legal-size envelope, and held two tickets out to Logan. “I was going to surprise you later, but I have two VIP passes to the Jets game next week.”
That much was true. Before he’d joined Logan at NPH Designs five years ago, Ryan had worked for a firm who had renovated portions of the stadium, including the pressroom. He’d run into one of the PR directors at the gym a few days prior, and the man had hooked him up with two VIP tickets on the fifty yard line, along with seats to the fifth-quarter press conference after the game.
The person he’d wanted to invite was now the reason he wouldn’t be asking her. Sarah had never been to a professional football game. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t fantasized about her bundled up in her puffy black jacket, sipping hot chocolate, cheering on the Jets.
Of course, in his fantasy, they’d be celebrating touchdowns with his arm draped around her shoulders, and then, much later, he’d find another way to warm her up that involved far less clothing.
Ryan shut down that thought as fast as it came, feeling a prickle of sweat under his collar. He and Sarah were just friends—a fact she’d just reinforced by all but demanding he help her land Logan. What he may or may not have wanted didn’t matter.
He handed one of the tickets to Logan. “Since they’re playing the Patriots, I thought you’d enjoy meeting some of the players. I asked Sarah if she could swing by to see what your calendar was like next week before springing the tickets on you.”
She smiled. “All clear after two p.m.”
Ryan caught the grateful relief in her beautiful green eyes.
“I would have cancelled all my meetings for this,” Logan said, looking down at his ticket. “Wow. Full access. I do feel like I’ve won the Super Bowl. Thanks, Ryan.”
“See, Ryan?” Sarah offered, smiling up at the guy like she’d won the Super Bowl herself. “I told you he’d enjoy it.”
Ryan barely suppressed his scowl. What am I, chopped liver?
“Thanks for getting a head start on the Secret Santa thing.” Logan pointed to the hat in her hands and winked. “I’ve got some ideas for mine. I hear she really likes Christmas.”
Sarah’s grin took a nosedive. It might’ve been funny if Ryan didn’t like her so much. She shoved the Santa hat at Ryan, not taking her eyes off the CEO. “Reach in,” she ordered.
“I already got mine.” He flashed the paper he’d been holding in his palm all this time.
“Right. Okay then.” She seemed lost for a moment, looking between him and Logan, before gathering herself and lifting her chin. “I’ll just go finish taking this around.”
Ducking her head, Sarah slipped out of his office and disappeared around the corner.
“I got really lucky with that one,” Logan said and took a seat. “She’s so efficient. If I ever lost her, I don’t know what I’d do.”
The man was clearly oblivious to Sarah’s blatant interest. Logan had never fully grasped how women reacted to him. High school was a different story—one he chose not to revisit—but their college dorm room had been a revolving door of girls doing anything they could to catch his eye.
“Whatever happened to Andie Carpenter?” Ryan asked.
“Who?”
“Andie Carpenter. From college. Short blonde who would hang out and watch hockey with us freshman year. She’d smuggle us beer she’d bought with her fake ID.”
“Ah, yes. I do remember her.” Logan smiled. “I thought she liked us. Why do you think she stopped coming around?”
“Not ‘us.’ You. And it was because she gave up and moved on to the RA down the hall.” Ryan returned to his desk and tucked the slip of paper with his Secret Santa name underneath his Starbucks cup. “So, what brings you by?”
“Just checking in on the call this morning. How did it go?”
“It was good. Short.” A vision of Sarah hyperventilating into the Santa hat flashed through his mind. “I think the Vert Tower folks are ready to sign off on the redesigns for the first ten floors of office space. I’m telling you—this building is going to put NPH on the map.”
“That’s what I’m banking on. Lease space is going to be in hot demand when we’re done with it. I’m getting calls to negotiate deals daily.” Logan flashed a signature dimple. “I might go ahead and move NPH into it.”
“I’d love a corner office on the top floor.”
“You keep on doing what you’re doing, and I’ll give you an entire floor.”
“Done.” Ryan chuckled, knowing it wasn’t that easy, but he’d been working on this project nonstop over the last five years. It was the main reason Logan had hired him. Ryan led the charge to outfit the corporations who’d leased office space from NPH with sustainable architecture from the floors to the ceilings, and every office, cubicle, and open space in between.
It was equally exhilarating and gratifying to design buildings that he hoped would have a lasting impact for years to come. At the end of the day, he believed that NPH was making a difference, and damn, did that feel good.
“Oh, and there’s something else.” Logan reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a folded paper. He passed it over the desk to Ryan.
“What’s this?”
“My speech.”
“Speech?”
Logan frowned. “Yeah, for the Westbrook gala. I’d love to hear what you think.”
Groaning inwardly, Ryan unfolded the paper. He’d forgotten that their school’s annual winter gala was this weekend. Logan was receiving an alumni achievement award—the only reason Ryan had even considered going.
Visiting Westbrook wasn’t something he did often. His plan was to arrive right before the awards ceremony started and make an early dash for the door the minute it was over. “Did you give me credit for all of your success like we discussed?”
“Of course I did,” Logan said. “I gave you props for the time you took one for the team and asked Jen Harper’s best friend to the prom junior year so that Jen would go with me.”
Ryan shuddered, remembering his awkward date with Suzy Donaldson, the frizzy-haired brunette who’d talked most of the evening about dissecting bugs. “You still owe me for sacrificing my junior prom to support your quest to get laid.”
“Who says it paid off?”
Yeah, right. Ryan shook his head. He’d known better the night of the prom—his best friend getting laid was exactly what had happened—but no one would ever accuse Logan Scott of bragging or showing off. It wasn’t his style.
Plus, a year later, Ryan had gone to his senior prom with the girl of his teenage dreams—his then-girlfriend, Melanie Daniels.
Logan’s cell buzzed. He picked it up and frowned. “Sorry, I’ve got to take this.”
Ryan watched him go and leaned back in his chair. He’d thought senior prom would only be the beginning for him and Melanie. Even attending separate colleges hours away hadn’t kept them apart. Then, a month before graduation, he’d asked her to marry him.
They’d still be together this weekend if she hadn’t dumped him two weeks before their wedding. Worse, she’d turned around and married his former football teammate, Jeff McGee.
Melanie would be at the gala. Hell, the invitation he’d received in the mail listed her as the event’s chair, and her return address was on the envelope. Seeing her with Jeff wasn’t at the top of his bucket list, nor was reconnecting with any of the other girls he’d known in high school. Ryan wasn’t looking for love. Been there, done that, and had paid numerous deposits for a wedding that didn’t happen to prove it.
Maybe he did have commitment issues, but who could blame him?
His gaze fell on the bag of malt balls still sitting on his desk. There’d been a moment during last year’s NPH holiday party when he’d thought maybe he could fall in love again. He’d found Sarah asleep in Logan’s office chair, her feet tucked under her, strappy black heels discarded on the floor. She’d worked so hard on the party—in hindsight, probably to impress Logan.
Ryan had crept in and removed a red throw from the back of the couch opposite Logan’s desk and gently draped it over her, his hand brushing the red tendrils of hair that had escaped her ponytail.
Yeah, it had been a sweet moment, and okay, his heart might have skipped a few beats, but he hadn’t been in a place to even think about taking the moment further than a passing fantasy. With her wavy red hair and collection of sky-high heels, Sarah was hot. No question about it. His attraction to her was a given.
Now, though… Now, he wasn’t so sure what he wanted stopped at attraction.
Logan strode back into the room, shoving his phone back into his pocket. “Sorry about that. So what do you think?”
Ryan sighed. He needed to stop thinking about Sarah, given she’d pretty much just begged him to help her bag the guy once again sitting across from him. “What do I think about what?”
Logan pointed to the paper. “My speech.”
“Right. Sorry.” Ryan quickly read over the two pages that were written in typical Logan style. His remarks were short, formal, and to the point. He thanked his mom, his deceased dad, and former teachers, while sharing a little about how his high school experience had led him down the path of wanting to carry out his dad’s legacy of running a successful design company.
“This is great,” Ryan said. “I still think you should lead with the story of how you were the one responsible for the football team sneaking into the high school pool the night after winning our homecoming game, though. Imagine their faces when you tell them we all jumped in naked with the entire cheerleading squad.”
“Noted.” Logan smiled. “Maybe we should reenact it. I’m sure there will be a number of former cheerleaders there who’d be willing to go for a skinny dip.”
Ryan chuckled and handed back the sheet of paper. “I’m really proud of you, man.”
“Thanks. I think my father would be, too.”
“He’d be thrilled about the Vert Tower, that’s for sure. One hundred and twenty-eight floors. It’s a big fucking deal.”
Logan leaned back in his chair, his smile turning wistful. “He would have walked around with a hard hat on, full champagne glass in hand, toasting everyone who passed.”
Logan’s father, William Scott, had passed away unexpectedly seven years ago. The man had always gone out of his way to make Ryan feel like part of the family, despite his family’s circumstances. Ryan had shared Mr. Scott’s love for sports, so they’d talked game stats for hours while looking over William’s vast baseball card collection. Growing up without a dad, Mr. Scott was the closest thing Ryan had had to one.
Logan stood and headed for the door. “Thanks for reading this,” he said and slid the paper back inside his suit jacket. “I’ve got to jump on a conference call.”
“Later.” Ryan picked up the framed photo of William, Logan, and himself that he kept next to his computer. It’d been taken one summer on the golf links. William had pulled him aside that night, said that he was worried about Logan working himself crazy, and asked Ryan to look after him—maybe help him find a nice woman to settle down with and start a family.
He set the picture down. Would feeding a spunky redhead information on his best friend be considered looking after Logan, or would it only get her hopes up?
And what about his own attraction to her?
Maybe Logan was a better fit. Sure, his friend was private when it came to his love life, but Logan had also confided that the recent anniversary of his dad’s death had him reevaluating things and he wanted to settle down.
Sarah might be exactly what Logan needed. She was beautiful, smart, funny, and determined to get what she wanted.
But what about what Ryan might want? He lifted his Starbucks cup and stared at the red slip of paper hidden underneath, at the name “Sarah Leonard” scribbled in green ink.
Yep. His bachelor status wasn’t going to change anytime soon.
He was screwed.