Part 1 (1/2)

CHRISTMAS CASH.

Maggie Casper.

Chapter One.

There was a definite nip in the air, enough to chill but not enough to freeze just yet. Standing on the street corner in a jacked-up costume on the day after Thanksgiving wasn 't Noelle Jacobs' idea of fun, but it was necessary.

Since hunk extraordinaire, Cash McCain, refused to give her a job at Raising Cain, the McCain family bar, Noelle had no choice but to take the seasonal work.

It was bad enough she'd decided on the spur of the moment to move back home with no job lined up. The decision left her no choice but to accept the graciousness of her parents and the small apartment above their garage.

But as wonderful as her parents were, Noelle wasn't thrilled about moving back home at the age of twenty-six. Especially when her parents were sure something horrible had happened to bring her back home.

She tried to tell them there was no huge tragedy in her life. It was simple, really. Noelle was just tired of the hustle and bustle of city life. She yearned for home.

Poking her eyes out with fiery hot nails seemed preferable to asking her parents for money. Instead, she'd swallowed her pride and asked Cash, who also happened to be her best friend's brother, for a job.

She'd gone into Raising Cain before opening time, intent on leaving employed, but Cash had not so nicely shot that idea to h.e.l.l with some lame excuse about her being too young to work in a bar. Their heated conversation and all that took place that day still made her ears ring and her core ache with need.

”How can you say that when Casey works here?” Noelle looked around the dimly lit interior of the bar, loving the rustic atmosphere. It had a definite traditional country feel to it. Everything about the place reminded her of Cash.

He'd shrugged his ma.s.sive shoulders, pulling Noelle from her thoughts, then crossed his arms over the wide expanse of his chest. ”She's a McCain.”

He'd evidently thought that little fact to be explanation enough, but once started, Noelle was like a dog with a bone. She didn't easily give up.

”Oh give me a freakin' break. What in the h.e.l.l does that have to do with working at a bar? We're the same d.a.m.ned age, Cash, and you know it.”

Her words seemed to irritate him, causing a frown to crease his brow. His next words were spoken in a low, menacing voice.

”Everyone around here knows causing harm to Casey wouldn't be good for their health.”

”You're nuts if you think her name is the only thing keeping her safe and the lack of it would make me a target. Think about how d.a.m.ned stupid that sounds, Cas.h.!.+” Noelle was feeling a bit irate. Men could be such annoying b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.

Noelle opened her mouth to continue her argument but was cut short when Cash pushed off the bar to stand directly in front of her. He grasped her upper arms, turned and lifted her until her a.s.s landed firmly on the bar.

All thought of arguing fled when Cash wrapped his arms around her lower back, pulling her to the edge of the bar. When his head dipped toward the juncture of her thighs, Noelle thought she'd shatter into a million pieces.

He was so sinfully close Noelle could hardly catch her breath. His scent wafted around her, drawing her deeper under his spell. He nipped at her clothes, catching her thin pants and panties between his teeth in the process. Noelle couldn't help but gasp when Cash let them go with a snap. He seemed to enjoy teasing her.

The fingers of one hand kneaded her a.s.s but it was his other hand that caught her attention and kept it. With sure, deft movements, Cash rubbed her through the thin barrier of her drawstring pants. He had to feel how hot and wet she was.

Noelle was so consumed with l.u.s.t it never even dawned on her that she might want to say something, to insist he stop. When he used his thumb, adding pressure against the already sensitive bud of her c.l.i.t, Noelle nearly shot off the bar her climax was so sudden.

She was a boneless heap when Cash pulled her from the bar. ”Careful,” he murmured against her ear as he turned her away from him.

The feel of his warm breath against her neck sent s.h.i.+vers of delight coursing through her body even though his mouth didn't actually touch her.

”This,” Cash growled while pressing the thick length of his c.o.c.k to her a.s.s, ”is why you can't work here. You're a distraction I don't need or want.”

His words struck like lightning, cooling Noelle's ardor as if she'd been doused with a bucket of cold water.

”You...you...” Noelle hadn't been prepared for the impact of Cash's refusal or how he'd go about doing it. She was so angry forming a coherent sentence seemed impossible.

”This conversation...this lesson is over, Noelle. The answer is no. You should know me well enough to know I won't change my mind.”

The d.a.m.ned man was built like a brick wall and had the mentality to match. There was just no swaying him once he made a decision, and he certainly wasn't known for his willingness to compromise, which was why Noelle found herself standing on the street corner dressed as Mrs. Claus and ringing a stupid bell.

The only joy she got out of the whole d.a.m.ned fiasco was the knowledge that she'd been stationed right across the street from Raising Cain. Knowing Cash was trying to sleep in his apartment above the bar made everything bearable.

The giggle that escaped her chilled lips was one of sheer wickedness. Cash McCain was going to have a miserably annoying Christmas season if she had anything to do with it.

Noelle rang her bell with enthusiastic cheer, smiling at every pa.s.serby as if they were her best friend. Even though she was always prompt, Noelle was going to be extra responsible in the days to come. Showing up early for work every morning might not get her a bonus, but it was sure going to make things much more fun.

When the front door of Raising Cain slammed open ten minutes later, Noelle was digging through her duffle bag for lip gloss. The errant thought running through her mind to bring a purse instead of her duffle bag was cut short by the vision of Cash standing there in nothing more than a pair of drawstring pants, which nearly knocked the breath out of her, but she was easily able to cover her near blunder with a wide smile.

It bit the big one that the arrogant a.s.s knew just how much he turned her on. Now he 'd probably take the information and use it against her, relentlessly teasing and torturing her with it.

The thought of Cash doing anything remotely close to teasing or torturing her made her nipples swell and ache. He was so big. Big hands, big feet, big all over. Noelle's feminine core couldn't help but wonder what the rest of him was like.

Would his c.o.c.k be in proportion to the rest of his body? Noelle could almost picture it, thick and long with veins lying just below the surface. Her mouth watered just thinking about the utterly erotic possibilities.

She'd give just about anything to find out, but evidently Cash was hung up on age. At thirty-six Cash was ten years older than Noelle and therefore thought of her as off-limits. Of course, that didn't mean she was going to give up, it just meant she had to rethink her strategy.

Noelle loved a challenge. h.e.l.l, even her mama always said that if you didn't have to work for what you wanted, it probably wasn't worth having in the first place. The thought made her smile.

Knowing full well she had his attention, Noelle waggled her fingers in Cash's direction then loudly greeted those walking by.

Happy Holidays!

Cash wanted to murder someone. It was ten minutes after nine in the morning and cold enough outside to shrivel a man's b.a.l.l.s. Undeterred by the cold, Noelle dressed in a tiny red dress with no more than a sweater on for warmth, stood on the corner ringing the bell from h.e.l.l.

Her mile-long legs were covered in white stockings but they couldn't be enough to keep her warm in Cash's opinion. h.e.l.l, even the Santa hat perched on the top of her pretty little head sat at a jaunty angle. How was it possible for anyone to be awake so early in the morning, much less coherent and perky?

Cash wanted to march across the street and cover her in the bulk of one of his jackets. To haul her into the kitchen for a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows on top just as he'd done when she and Casey were younger. It didn't seem possible that they were already grown women.

Especially Noelle. h.e.l.l, when she'd left town, she'd still been stuck between being a child and a woman, sort of gangly and awkward, a definite late bloomer. Cash closed his eyes briefly, trying to remember the last time he'd seen her up close and personal, and for the life of him, he couldn't remember.

Surely he'd seen her in the time between her leaving for school and her return home just a few weeks ago? Life had been grueling and busy back then, but that was no excuse. Cash felt a twinge of guilt at the knowledge.

The persistent ringing of the bell stopped, leaving nothing but the normal sounds of life. Cash opened his eyes to see Noelle squatting down in front of a child. A beautiful smile curved her lips, it looked nothing like the mischievous grin she'd bestowed upon him when young or the sneer she'd been aiming at him lately.

Realizing she was no longer the gangly teenager she once had been was like a blow to the solar plexus, stealing the breath from his lungs. Time had been more than nice to Noelle, filling her out in a way that made Cash's mouth water.

From her large, obviously real b.r.e.a.s.t.s to the nipped-in expanse of her waist, over gently curved hips and down the long, long expanse of leg she loved to show, Noelle Jacobs was all woman.