Naughty or Nice Read Online Free Page B

contest.”
    He had every right to be mad at her, but she couldn’t get over his unwillingness to compromise and his hot and cold behavior. “Wow, you really are a Scrooge,” slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it. She tried to cover her harsh words by adding, “Don’t you have an yone you spend Christmas with?”
    His face darkened even more, if that was possible, and he ignored her question. “Wally, you can read Ms. Darling her rights,” he hollered out into the store. “Looks like she’s choosing jail after all.”
    “Wait,” she yelped, holding her head again as another sharp pain pierced her skull. “I said you were a Scrooge, I didn’t say I was stupid. I’ll stay, and I’ll create a display even grumpy old you will like. I mean, Redemption can’t be worse than jail, right?”
    He shrugged. “That remains to be seen.”
    “One week you say?” She squared her shoulders, unable to stop her stubborn streak from emerging no matter how freaked out she was over what might happen to her.
    Nathan nodded. “Think you can handle it?”
    “In my sleep.” She patted her mouth as she faked a yawn.
    A spark of something--admiration maybe--flashed in his otherwise unreadable eyes, and his lips tipped up ever so slightly.
    “Aha!” She pointed her finger at him, the resulting pain in her hea d worth his puzzled expression.
    “Aha what?” His brow puckered.
    “Your face isn’t made of granite after all. I think there just might be some spirit in you yet. Maybe even some Christmas spirit.”
    Nathan’s features turned rock hard once again. He spun on his high and mighty heel, holding his expensive-looking watch up in the air as he stormed out, making as much noise as humanly possible and obviously enjoying every minute of it. “Clock’s ticking, Ms. Darling. I suggest you get to work.”
    “Ho, ho, flipp ing, ho, McScroogy. I’m on it.”
    Ms. Pit poked her silver head in, gave Samantha a nasty look, followed him out, and slammed the door hard. Samantha grabbed her scalp on a moan, cursing the evil doer. She might have a sentence to serve, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t serve it with the biggest dose of Christmas cheer he’d ever seen. Like she said, she was through with l etting men have the upper hand.
    Nathan Snow was no exception.
    Determination overtook her. Yes indeedy, nice was safe, and naughty was highly overrated, but taking Nathan Snow down a peg was beginning to sound oh so merry.
    ** *
    “You did what to Mrs. Claus?” Ellen shrieked in Samantha’s ear.
    Samantha yanked the phone away from her head as she continued to pack her bags back in her Boston apartment. She’d had to beg Nathan to let her go back and get some of her things. He’d only relented by insisting his driver take her, so he could be sure she wouldn’t skip town. At least she’d convinced the hulk of a bodyguard to wait outside.
    “Oh, my God. Those poor elves will never be the same,” Amber interjected. “Honey, the plan was to get you tipsy, not drunk, but you’re such a lightweight. You promised you’d go home. Yes, we wanted you to do something a little crazy to get Mark out of your system for good, because swearing off men forever is plain stupid. We just never expected you to take naughty to a whole new level, and with T all, Dark and Stuffy, no less.”
    Samantha could hear their peals of laughter from a foot away. A three-way with her friends was never a good idea, even if it only involved three phone lines and one connection.
    She brought the phone back to her ear. “About that, thanks a lot, guys. I can’t believe you set me up like that. Getting me drunk and then hitting on him , of all people.” Samantha groaned, reliving the horror of waking up on Santa’s lap and discovering what she had done. Mortified only scratched the surface for what she’d felt at that moment. “I am never drinking again. Ever!”
    “Yeah, yeah,” Ellen said, “that’s what we all say. And for the