Read Online We Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus by Brenda Novak - Free Book Online Page A

she’d feared. She was stranded at work on her first day, half starved and exhausted.
    Imagining the sad picture she was going to make in the morning when Cole or Rick found her still at the office, wearing the same crumpled suit, she groaned. She had toget home. But how? It was too far to walk. She couldn’t afford a taxi, not if she was going to have to buy a new car battery, too. And she didn’t know how or where to catch a city bus. At this time of night, she wasn’t sure she felt safe traveling on one, anyway. The places she’d lived had been too small for public transit. She’d never taken a city bus in her life.
    Eyeing the back part of the office, the part that was Cole’s living quarters, Jaclyn wondered if, by chance, he was still awake. His Lincoln Navigator was parked next to her car. If only she had his keys and a pair of jumper cables. She could be on her way in five minutes.
    Can’t hurt to check, she thought, getting out. She walked around to the back of the house, where she hoped to see a light or some indication that Cole might still be working, but everything was shuttered and dark.
    Would he mind terribly if she woke him?
    Motivated by hunger and an intense desire for her bed, she let herself into the office and tiptoed down the hall toward where Cole had gone. Outside a full moon hung bright and low, lighting those rooms that didn’t have the blinds drawn. Jaclyn wandered through a state-of-the-art kitchen, complete with an island, a breakfast nook and white cabinetry, a formal dining room with hardwood floor and a den—judging by the expansive desk, leather furniture and fax machine—to confront a closed door that probably opened into Cole’s bedroom.
    Raising her fist, she took a deep breath…and knocked.
    “Cole? Are you in there?”
    No response. Maybe the door led to a pantry or laundry area, and not Cole’s bedroom. She couldn’t be sure.
    “Cole?” she called again, rattling the knob. The door was unlocked, and she was halfway through it, thinking he must be somewhere else in the house, when she heard his sleep-filled voice from just a few feet away.
    “It’s okay, Laura. Come in. I’m glad you’re here.”

CHAPTER FIVE

    C OLE SMILED , content to remain half asleep as Laura slipped inside his room. He’d known she’d be back. She claimed she wanted nothing more to do with him, that she planned to marry and have a family with someone who was capable of making that kind of commitment. But she’d said similar things before. After a few weeks, she always called or came around, and they slipped into the same comfortable relationship they’d known for two years.
    Tonight her timing was good. She’d been gone nearly a month, and he was missing the companionship and physical pleasure they shared. Not that he would have called her. It didn’t feel right to press her if she wasn’t happy with their relationship. But if she changed her mind on her own…well, that was a different story. He was perfectly willing to take up where they’d left off. For one thing, Laura understood and made allowances for his busy work schedule. For another, she’d been patient with him, considering. And he needed the distraction. He’d gone to sleep thinking about Jaclyn Wentworth and how angry he was at her for ruining his filing system. And how stupid he was for hiring her.
    And how sexy she’d looked with her auburn hair falling down and that tired but happy smile on her face.
    “Come here. Let me hold you,” he said, reaching out to her.
    “I’m sorry?”
    Something was wrong with her voice. Angling his headup, Cole squinted in an effort to see through the darkness, but he’d lowered his blinds before bed and couldn’t make out anything beyond the basic shape of a woman. “Laura?”
    “No, it’s Jaclyn,” the murky shape responded, hugging the wall as though he might gobble her up whole if she came any closer. “I’m sorry to bother you, but…um…my car needs a jump. I was