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Unwrapping The Holidays: Hot Coded Christmas / Be Mine for Christmas
Sheryl Lister
Nana Malone
Desire is rising—and hearts are melting—in these sizzling holiday storiesHot Coded Christmas by Nana MaloneNothing says Christmas quite like…computer coding? That's how CEO Jamie Reed plans to spend the holidays, holed up in an upstate New York guesthouse, desperately trying to save her company. She didn't count on sharing this secluded wonderland with her business rival, Cole Nichols. But the sexy tech billionaire just might be the one to make all Jamie's winter wishes come true…Be Mine for Christmas by Sheryl ListerAfter her dream Christmas wedding is canceled, Maya Brooks aims to revive her spirits with a little holiday fling. Ian Jeffries finds the gorgeous bakery owner as luscious as her desserts—and wants more of both. But Maya's trust is shattered when she discovers that Ian's real-estate firm is trying to buy out her shop. Can he prove his passion isn't a ruse and that her love's the only gift he will need forever?
Desire is rising—and hearts are melting—in these sizzling holiday stories
Hot Coded Christmas by Nana Malone
Nothing says Christmas quite like...computer coding? That’s how CEO Jamie Reed plans to spend the holidays, holed up in an upstate New York guesthouse, desperately trying to save her company. She didn’t count on sharing this secluded wonderland with her business rival, Cole Nichols. But the sexy tech billionaire just might be the one to make all Jamie’s winter wishes come true...
Be Mine for Christmas by Sheryl Lister
After her dream Christmas wedding is canceled, Maya Brooks aims to revive her spirits with a little holiday fling. Ian Jeffries finds the gorgeous bakery owner as luscious as her desserts—and wants more of both. But Maya’s trust is shattered when she discovers that Ian’s real-estate firm is trying to buy out her shop. Can he prove his passion isn’t a ruse and that her love’s the only gift he will need forever?
Hot Coded Christmas
by Nana Malone
He reached for her and took her hand. “One dance, Jamie. Call a truce and it’s one dance. And you don’t even have to leave your spot. No one is watching you here in the corner.”
She stared at his hand for a moment, then lifted her gaze up to meet his. With a sigh, she slid her hand into his and let him pull her into his body. “Fine. If it makes you go away. Just one.”
He nodded and pulled her closer against him, relishing how they fit together. “How about for a little while we just forget everything?”
Be Mine for Christmas
by Sheryl Lister
The moment the sexy stranger wrapped his arms around her, sensations Maya never experienced coursed through her body.
Her nerves were already on overload from his verbal play at the table. She tried to pull away, but he tightened his arms around her and held her closer to his hard body. She resisted for a short moment, then brought her arms up around his neck and melted into his embrace.
At length he said, “My apologies. I should have introduced myself first. I’m Ian Jeffries...and you are?”
She lifted her head. “Maya. Maya Brooks.”
NANA MALONE is a USA TODAY bestselling author. Her love of all things romance and adventure started with a tattered romantic suspense she borrowed from her cousin on a sultry summer afternoon in Ghana at a precocious thirteen. She’s been in love with kick-butt heroines ever since. And if she’s not working or hiding in the closet reading, she’s acting out scenes for her husband, daughter and puppy in sunny San Diego.
SHERYL LISTER has enjoyed reading and writing for as long as she can remember. She writes contemporary and inspirational romance and romantic suspense. She’s been nominated for an Emma Award and the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award, and named BRAB’s 2015 Best New Author. Sheryl resides in California and is a wife, mother of three daughters and a son-in-love, and grandmother to two very special little boys.
Unwrapping the Holidays
Nana Malone
Sheryl Lister
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Table of Contents
Cover (#u5b82b2f7-aaae-5154-8a31-045f40afa895)
Back Cover Text (#uafb282b3-249d-5a24-a4c1-4011bdba9303)
Introduction (#u2744692d-e37a-5279-ae40-9302ed017446)
About the Authors (#uddc849a7-14db-5584-bf2d-f4dbb480d321)
Title Page (#u6a08ee9e-51eb-5afe-86ae-63e615f57320)
Hot Coded Christmas by Nana Malone (#uae0076e4-4c70-5879-aea2-16583b48e230)
Be Mine for Christmas by Sheryl Lister (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Hot Coded Christmas
Nana Malone
To Erik, thank you for that long-ago Christmas in London. I will forever remember my gift of apple jelly. You’ve always known how to make me happy.
Dear Reader (#ub59fae73-bcbd-52ed-b61e-3e691f735c26),
Thank you so much for reading Hot Coded Christmas. After over a decade in the software world, I have a soft spot for my computer geeks. Hot Coded Christmas was a chance to revisit my old teams. Though I don’t think any of my old engineers were nearly as hot as Cole!
Next up for me, I’ve got many more books. So sit back, relax and happy reading!
If you want to chat with me, I’m pretty easy to find!
Nana
www.nanamalone.com (http://www.nanamalone.com)www.Facebook.com/nanamalonewriter (https://www.facebook.com/nanamalonewriter)www.Twitter.com/nanamalone (https://twitter.com/nanamalone)
Contents
Dedication (#u87a7a703-4aa6-59ca-bb51-9795208febff)
Dear Reader (#udf6c2f67-afc3-5d69-8a7e-e8ba5d3e430c)
Chapter 1 (#u9973844a-e7b7-59f8-af7d-70433dfb6e52)
Chapter 2 (#u4a9ceca7-fa75-514b-8580-4cfca976c941)
Chapter 3 (#u88d969f6-e2ce-5a9c-94cc-e0480b11f98a)
Chapter 4 (#u4a145463-e2be-59c8-b61c-d4ac96bd54dd)
Chapter 5 (#u23e40621-459e-5059-835d-7d75c3796948)
Chapter 6 (#u0d571daa-c254-5a4c-83f5-7b928d3df5ab)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 1 (#ub59fae73-bcbd-52ed-b61e-3e691f735c26)
Jamison Reed loved everything about Christmas.
From the decorations, to the songs, to the food, and yes, even fruitcake. She embraced it all. But now, as she watched her employees enjoy the Christmas party she’d catered, a long shadow cast a damper on her holiday.
How long would she be able to keep them all employed? Thanks to what she called the great screwup of her existence, she had fifty people she needed to take care of, and going into next year, she had no idea how to do it. No, that wasn’t true. She had a Hail Mary plan, but what would she do if it didn’t work? This was what she got for believing in love. A shattered heart and a drained corporate bank account.
Her head of marketing, Becca Long, sidled up to her, carrying two cups. “Eggnog for your troubles?”
Jamie gave Becca a small smile. “Thank you. Are you having fun?”
“Of course I am,” she said, tossing her glossy dark hair over her shoulder. “I love the annual Christmas party. I love seeing who’s drinking too much. I’m starting a pool on who’s going to have the biggest hangover tomorrow. And I’m taking bets on who’s going to lose their decorum first, once the music gets pumping.” She shrugged. “There’s at least one every year who forgets that this is a work party. But, yeah, I’m having fun. Way more than you. You look worried, boss lady.”
Jamie sighed. That’s because she was worried. Her small gaming company, Cyberpunked, had been having serious financial troubles. Their latest game had done extremely well, especially as it captured an audience of strong, sassy girls. But not exceptional enough to pull them out of the red. They had an investor in the wings willing to drop a ton of cash into the coffers, contingent on the potential of the next game. They’d evaluate everything based on their demo product.
They were willing to take a gamble if Cyberpunked’s demo of the game garnered strong reviews and excitement. Only problem with that was, the demo was scheduled for mid-January and there was still a lot of testing to be done.
Jamison forced a smile for Becca. “I’m good, I promise. Just a little worried...” Becca was more than a friend though. She was a long-standing employee at the company. Over the years they’d grown close. But still, Jamie tried to shield her from the worst of it. From her epic blunders.
“If this is what good looks like, then I don’t want any part of it. You look exhausted, girl. When was the last time you slept?” The petite brunette spread her arms open in front of the converted warehouse that served as Cyberpunked headquarters. The abundance of decorations made the space look like Santa had relocated the North Pole to their offices. “This is all great and everything, and I am so grateful that you did all this for us. I know you’ve been bending over backward to take care of the team, but you have to take care of yourself too. Don’t think I missed how late you’ve been going home, or the midnight emails. Or how early you get up in the morning. I know you’re killing yourself. And it pisses me off when I think about why.”
Jamie shook her head. “No, Becca. Don’t worry about me. Don’t stress about anything. I promised to keep this place running and I will.”
“Come on, Jamie, level with me. At least tell me how bad it is.”
Jamie sighed. The truth would have everyone running for the unemployment line. “It’s not good. But I don’t want anyone to worry about it. When you guys all decided to stay, I can’t even tell you what that meant to me. So, I’m going to handle it. You just focus on enjoying your Christmas holiday. We still have a couple of days to do everything we can for the game release, but then I want everyone to go and enjoy their two-week holiday. I’ll take it from here.”
Becca pursed her lips. “You do too much. But I know you’re not going to listen to me.” Her friend crossed her arms. “At least do me a favor and promise me you’re going to do your best to enjoy the holiday?”
“I’ll definitely try,” she lied smoothly. She would enjoy her time off. It would just be a working holiday.
Becca didn’t look like she believed her, but still her friend gave her a bright smile. “If you say so. Now, you drink your eggnog. I’m going to see if I can find a single hot guy in this crowd and some mistletoe.”
Jamie had to laugh. With her good looks, Becca would have lots of takers.
“Enjoy.” If the only thing Jamie had to worry about was finding someone to kiss for Christmas, her life would be so uncomplicated. It was kissing that got her in this mess in the first place. Matter of fact, mistletoe kissing had gotten her into a lot of trouble.
She took a sip of her eggnog, letting the cinnamon do its job to perk her up. Otherwise, she’d be groaning. She’d been an idiot, letting love enter into a business relationship. She and Brandon had started Cyperpunked over four years ago before they graduated college. By the time they were ready to don the cap and gown, they’d already put out a hugely successful game.
She’d thought they were on top of the world. How wrong she was. The two of them had met at Carnegie Mellon University their freshman year. She’d been one of the few women in her engineering class, and he’d been one of the rare attractive, sociable guys. And that year they’d had nearly every class together. They’d gravitated toward each other and bonded over their love of gaming. He’d always called her his sexy, cute gaming girl. Well, that had only lasted for so long.
After school, they’d moved to New York, where the start-up community was huge and funding was everywhere. They’d had a good run, but things had eventually fallen apart and it seemed Brandon had found another attractive, tech-savvy girl, because he’d left her for one of their interns. She’d come home from South by Southwest Festival to find him gone. He’d left a note. He’d wanted more excitement out of his life. What he’d really meant was he wanted an upgrade in girlfriends.
And to add salt to the wound, instead of just letting her buy him out, there’d been a fight over their clients. Since he was in charge of sales and marketing, he’d managed to convince some of their biggest clients that he was the brains behind the shop.
His leaving hadn’t been her fault. She was self-possessed enough to know that. But putting her company in a vulnerable position, that was her fault. She hadn’t made him sign a freaking noncompete, the legal document that would have protected her stake. And she’d paid dearly for it. Not only had he taken their clients, but he’d also taken a good chunk of their employees with him. While she’d been building the business, he’d been polluting the well. When she’d fallen in love with him, she hadn’t seen him for the master manipulator he was. And it had cost her too much.
Jamie had taken the high road, and refused to address the negative comments swirling on social media and around the building. Since she wouldn’t respond, so many of them thought she wasn’t in it to win it. They also worked with him directly, so why wouldn’t they believe what he’d said? They’d eventually left with him.
With the team she had left, they’d managed to survive for the last year on the residuals from old games and revenue from some new games, but they were struggling and everybody knew it.
Especially Teched. The tech giant was breathing down her neck, eager for a takeover. They’d offered her a buyout, but she knew they would dismantle her company and fire half her employees. That was the general strategy of takeovers. She’d made her team a promise to keep the company going and she intended to keep it.
She wasn’t ready to give up yet. Their last game had been hotly anticipated and the critics had loved it. It was doing well, and had stemmed the bleeding, but she needed a major infusion of cash pronto or there was no way she could keep the doors open.
She’d vowed that she would streamline her lifestyle before she would cut her team, but that promise was looking like a mistake. She’d eventually moved into the room at the back of the office to save on rent. How had she let this happen?
Stop it. You can do this. You can do anything. Besides, it’s Christmas and you believe in miracles. So all you need is a miracle at Cyberpunked.
And her wish she would get. In two days, she would leave for her hometown in upstate New York. Since her family was away in France for her cousin’s wedding, she’d hole up at Mountain Villas Lodge and work. She’d always wanted to stay there when she was a kid. She’d concentrate on the game and enjoy herself as much as she could. Her prayer would be answered, she knew it. It had to be. Because she wasn’t going to give up on her company or herself.
Chapter 2 (#ub59fae73-bcbd-52ed-b61e-3e691f735c26)
Cole Nichols pulled his Range Rover into the paved driveway of Mountain Villas Lodge.
The outer log facade gave the lodge a country effect, but he knew better. Inside, every room was state-of-the-art with the most modern of amenities. The main building housed two restaurants, a bar, a giant heart and seating areas.
They were nestled at the base of the mountain and when the snow fell thick, guests were immediately transported to a winter wonderland beautiful enough to rival any Disney could create.
A good portion of upstate New York had already seen its first snow. His family had bought into the lodge when he was a kid, so they always stayed in the owners’ suite. He’d grown up just thirty miles from here, but this tiny town seemed like a lifetime away from the suburban hub he’d known. Or the urban setting he’d moved to. Out here, in Mills Spring, it was miles to the nearest neighbor. And deer, foxes and rabbits often made an appearance on the premises.
This year though, he’d be without his family or his would-be ex-fiancée. And right about now, he preferred it that way. Alone time with his laptop and the finest Scotch on earth was all he needed at this point.
The biting winter air snaked its way into his peacoat and he shivered. He’d left his damn scarf on the train from the city. But he’d survive. It wasn’t like he was going to be leaving the property much.
He was taking a break from people. He needed solitude from everything. His Thanksgiving proposal hadn’t quite gone according to plan so he was still smarting from that.
