Title: His Sexy Secret Santa
Author: Nancy Fraser
Genre: Spicy Contemporary Romance
Book Blurb:
Ebenezer Scrooge can’t hold a wicked candle to Assistant D.A., Zackary Parker when it comes to disliking Christmas. On the fast track to becoming the next elected District Attorney, Zack has little time for anything but his society girl friend and schmoozing the Suffolk County elite in search of their support.
The only wrench in his plans is his unrequited attraction to Erica Jordan, his overachieving paralegal. Will his fantasies about the buttoned-up perfectionist get him in more trouble than he can handle?
Erica Jordan prefers to keep her professional and personal life as separated as possible. While she exudes an intelligent and confident demeanor in her position as paralegal to the county’s top litigators, her weekends are reserved for the “other” Erica—the hard rock loving, sexy chick in the short skirts and sky-high heels.
What will happen when her two worlds collide? And, can she and Zack get past their no-fraternization rule to create a holiday neither of them is likely to soon forget?
Exclusive Excerpt:
“Sorry, the call took longer than I expected,” she said, the sultry, honey-and-whiskey tone of her voice at distinct odds with her plain, rather studious appearance. Zack drew a breath, refocusing his attention back on the meeting, rather than on his curiosity about his talented paralegal.
“What did the sheriff want?” he asked. “Hopefully not another non-starter case for us. If Sheriff Daniels had his way, we’d be prosecuting jaywalkers on the same level as arsonists or murderers.”
“No,” Erica explained. “This time he’s got a live one. Or, at least it appears to be on the surface.”
He gave a curt nod. “You can give us the details when we get to new business. Let’s finish up on the current case load review.”
Each attorney, in turn, gave an overview of their pending cases, their progress—or lack thereof—in preparing for court, and their opinion on the expected outcome. Zack found it somewhat amusing how they all fought to outdo the attorney who had presented before them.
No wonder most of these men and women had gone into the public arena—they’d have never lasted in the private sector. Except for her. Erica Jordan could be working for any law firm she wanted, and earning two-to-three times what she was paid as a government employee. Hell, she was smarter than a lot of the attorneys he’d worked with, or against.
The fact that she seemed quite content where she was ratcheted his curiosity up another full notch.
“New business is next. Before Miss Jordan gets to the sheriff’s latest wish list, does anyone have non-case related business?”
Somewhat timidly it seemed, Andi Stevens, the admin he shared with Erica and his boss, Scott Pillard, raised her hand. “I’d like to discuss this year’s Secret Santa participation.”
“Secret Santa?” he repeated, forcing an authoritative tone to his voice. “You want to deck the county attorney’s offices like a tricked-out shopping mall, and you want to exchange gifts?”
Andi nodded, then asked, “Didn’t they celebrate the holidays at that fancy law firm where you worked before?”
He stifled a laugh, admittedly impressed with her brashness. “Of course, they did Miss Stevens, but in a far more subdued manner. We held a corporate cocktail party, handed out bonuses, and made generous donations to various charities.” He raised his head, directing his final words on the matter to everyone in the room. “Our concessions to decorating consisted of tastefully adorned wreaths on the doors leading to the fifteenth and sixteenth-floor lobbies.”
“Oh.” The single-word response seemed to dull the young woman’s enthusiasm, and make him look like a grade-A ass at the same time.
Zack bit back on a self-deprecating laugh. “However, if the rest of you want to participate in a gift exchange, I’ve no problem with it whatsoever.” Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Erica Jordan’s quick smile before she pursed her full, pink-tinged lips together to hold her reaction in.
“Thank you,” Andi said. “It’ll be fun. We can set a spending limit—”
He raised his hand, stopping her mid-sentence. “Fine, you work out the details and fill us in at next Friday’s staff meeting.” Hoping to steer their focus back onto the business at hand, he turned to Erica and asked, “What did the sheriff have for us?”
“An alleged bribery case, sir. Their investigation uncovered what looks to be corruption in the county land surveyor’s office. The bribe supposedly came from a local real estate developer.”
“Are they sending their files over?”
She nodded, the slight dip of her head knocking loose a tendril of her snugly pinned blonde hair. Zack sucked in a quick, hopefully silent, breath. His palms itched with the urge to reach out and touch, to run the golden silk through his fingers.
With a brush of her hand, she slid the errant strand behind her ear, and explained, “The file should be here first thing Monday morning. I’ll go over the notes I took during the phone call, and do some prep work before I leave for the night. I should be able to find at least a half-dozen or so citations on similar cases.”
He stood, prepared to dismiss the staff. “That’s it everyone. Have a good weekend.” Before she could escape, he added, “Miss Jordan, can you hold back a minute?”
“Yes, of course,” she said, coming to meet him at the end of the long conference table.
“I’d stay and help with the research,” he offered. “But I’m expected at a fundraiser.”
“It’s not a problem,” she assured him. “I don’t have any plans for the evening.”
“Plans or not, I’m sure you hadn’t intended to stay late,” he said, not really needing to extend the conversation, yet wanting to enjoy more of her sultry voice.
She shrugged, the quick lift of her slender shoulders drawing his attention to where her blouse narrowed into a vee and exposed a scant peek at her porcelain skin.
His fingertips did their all-too-frequent tingle whenever she was nearby.
“I’d better get to work,” she said, no doubt waiting for him to signal they were done.
“Yes,” he agreed, coughing to clear the sudden dryness in his throat. “I’ve got to get going if I’m going to make the fundraiser on time.” She’d just reached the door, when he added, “Have a great weekend, Erica.”
She turned, meeting his gaze. Her eyes widened, his use of her given name obviously catching her off guard.
“You too, sir.”
Zack closed his eyes and let out a long, cleansing sigh. Sir?
What he wouldn’t give to hear her say his name in those low, dulcet tones of hers. Or, better yet, in a moment of unrestrained passion. He’d always had a thing for the subdued, prim-and-proper type and Erica Jordan was pushing all the right buttons.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Universal: https://books2read.com/HSSSanta
Share a holiday family tradition:
My eldest son is a December baby (the 16th) and, when he was young, we began decorating our home and tree on his birthday as party of our celebration. Even though he’s now an adult with nearly-grown children of his own, both he and I have continued the tradition.
Why is your featured book perfect to get readers in the holiday mood?
Who doesn’t long to be on Santa’s Naughty Reader list at least once? His Sexy Secret Santa is a cheeky look at inter-office relationships gone wrong and how much fun it can be to get things right just in time for the holidays.
Giveaway –
Enter to win a $75 Amazon (US or Canada) Gift Card.
You must have an active Amazon US or Amazon Canada account to be eligible. Open internationally.
Runs December 1 – 31
Drawing will be held on January 3, 2022.
Author Biography:
NANCY FRASER is an Amazon Top 100 and Award-Winning author who can’t seem to decide which romance genre suits her best. So, she writes them all.
Nancy published her first book in 1996 and hasn’t stopped since. Her 100th book will be released on her birthday in April of 2022.
When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five wonderful grandchildren and looks forward to traveling and reading when time permits. Nancy lives in Atlantic Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people.
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