Kristin Hardy - Her Christmas Surprise

“What’s your hurry?” Lex asked, studying her .

Blonde, slender, almost luminous, there was about Keely a bit of that smooth elegance the women in Chilton always had, the result of salon pampering, expensive cosmetics, luxurious clothing. Amazing what money could buy.

And yet… Though she was thinner and somehow even more brittle than he remembered, she was more beautiful than ever.

Keely Stafford. His brother’s fiancée.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he said.

Lex had known her as a kid, but she was all grown up. If she’d disturbed him then, he had a pretty good feeling she could send him right around the bend now. And besides her obvious attractions, there was something about her – a combination that caught a man’s imagination…a combination that might make a man do anything to try to unlock the secret.

Even steal millions, if he had to.

KRISTIN HARDY

had always wanted to write, starting her first novel while still in primary school. Although she became a laser engineer by training, she never gave up her dream of being an author. In 2002 her first completed manuscript debuted in Blaze®; it was subsequently made into a movie by the Oxygen network. Kristin lives in New Hampshire with her husband and collaborator. Check out her website at www.kristinhardy.com.

Dear Reader,

Last autumn I got to thinking about fate. I love the idea that the universe brings us to that perfect person, no matter how much we may fight it or how confused we may be. The concept stuck with me, and a week later I had the idea for Her Christmas Surprise . Both Keely and Lex are sure they know exactly what kind of person the other one is – and what they think of them. Watching their preconceptions fall away as they discover one another was fun. What a surprise when Keely finds out that the man she thought was the bad brother is the good guy after all!

I’d love to hear what you think of my tale. Drop me a line at Kristin@kristinhardy.com. In the meantime, stop by www.kristinhardy.com for news, recipes and contests, or to sign up for my newsletter to be informed of new releases.

Enjoy!

Kristin Hardy

KRISTIN HARDY

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Thanks go to Ellen Zimiles, Co-Founder and CEO of Daylight Forensic & Advisory, David Johnson of the National White Collar Crime Centre, and Carmella C. Budkins, town clerk of Greenwich, Connecticut

To Gail and Charles,

for their infinite patience,

And to Stephen

All I ever wanted, all I ever needed…

Chapter One

“I think we should call off the wedding, Bradley. It just doesn’t feel right to me. I’m sorry, but I think it’s for the best.” Keely Stafford gave a brisk nod. Calm, matter-of-fact, decisive. That was the right tone.

Too bad she was saying it to herself in an otherwise empty elevator rather than to her soon-to-be-ex fiancé’s face.

Tonight, though, tonight at dinner she’d say it. She’d chosen a quiet, intimate restaurant where they could talk and where he was unlikely to protest too much. Do it in public, that was the thing.

In the meantime, stopping by to take her clothes and things from his midtown Manhattan apartment while he was at work would eliminate the need for any post-breakup visits. Not to mention keep her from chickening out, since the minute he noticed her stuff gone he’d have questions.

And Bradley always noticed everything.

She gave her head an impatient shake and pushed a strand of blond hair out of her eyes. She was twenty-five, for God’s sake. She had a life, her own apartment, a career. If she had second thoughts about their impending marriage, then she needed to pay attention to them. She was old enough to know what she wanted.

At least she hoped so.

Keely walked down the hall to the door of Bradley’s plush condo and reached into her purse for her keys. So she’d had a crush on him at twelve, back when they’d both lived in tiny, affluent Chilton and he’d been the golden boy of the country club. Back before he’d taken over his spot as top executive in Alexander Technologies, the company started by his great-grandfather.

And, yes, maybe she’d fallen for him hard when he’d walked back into her life when she was nineteen, but you couldn’t build a marriage on infatuation. Things had felt wrong of late. Nothing she could put her finger on, just a niggling sense that if they went through with the wedding, they’d both be sorry.

The key slid into the lock with a quiet snick. And then she heard it.

A noise.

A noise, a loud thump inside what should be an unoccupied apartment. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled.

Leaning closer to the door, she focused. Seconds ticked by. And she heard it again. This time, it wasn’t a thump, it was a human sound. Wordless, inarticulate. A groan.

Bradley.

Her heart began to thud. Had he fallen somehow, been hurt? Was he lying there alone, needing help and unable to summon it?

Swiftly, she opened the door and moved into the hall. Just as she opened her mouth to call out, the sound repeated, louder now that she was inside. And she stopped.

It wasn’t a cry of distress. It wasn’t the sound of someone in pain. It was the sound of a person in pleasure.

The sound of two people.

Shock paralyzed her.

“Oh, yeah, baby, like that, just like that,” a woman’s voice cried out with the now rhythmic thuds.

Keely stepped carefully on the marble floor of the entryway, trying to remain quiet. Not that it would matter, from the sound of things. They weren’t listening for noises. They didn’t care. They were completely caught up in one another.

She rounded the corner to the open door that led to the bedroom. And there, standing next to the bed with a woman’s ankle against his neck, was Bradley, sweat gleaming on his naked shoulders.

Limber, the woman was definitely limber, was Keely’s first distracted thought. She’d apparently perfected a position Keely hadn’t even realized the human body was capable of. And Bradley was coming up with noises Keely hadn’t ever heard from him—at least until he looked over and saw her standing in the doorway.

“Keely!” He pulled out of his partner and whirled around.

The woman cried out in protest.

Face hot, the blood thundering in her ears, Keely backed out of the room. The door. All she wanted to do was get to the front door and get out. Frantically, she snatched at the fingers of her left hand, struggling to pull off the engagement ring that now burned there. She didn’t want anything of his touching her. She just wanted away.

“Keely, wait.”

It was Bradley, wrapping his robe on.

“What, so you can finish?”

“It’s not what you think. I can explain.”

“You can explain?” She whirled to face him. “Explain what? Is this that special project you’ve been working on lately?”

“Keely, don’t do this. I love you.”

“I can tell,” she said bitterly, glancing up at the woman who now stood in the doorway, wrapped in the emerald-green silk robe Bradley had brought Keely from Singapore. Don’t let it bother you. Don’t let yourself care .