“I’m not talking about that,” Gabrielle said, and Kat could practically hear her roll her eyes. “You know what I’m talking about.”
“Do I?” Kat couldn’t help but ask.
“Yes. You do. Hale wouldn’t steal from Hazel’s charity. He adored her. He worshipped her. The only person in the world he likes half as much as he liked his dead grandmother is…”
“Me,” Kat said.
“Yeah. So—”
“So this is our first Christmas since he and I started…”
“Kissing?” Gabrielle filled in.
“Being more than friends,” Kat finished.
“Ha!”
“What’s so funny?”
“Think what you will, Kitty Kat, but you and W. W. Hale the Fifth were never just friends.”
“That’s not true. We were…”
But it was a sentence Kat honestly didn’t know how to end. From the moment the heir to the Hale family empire caught her trying to steal his grandmother’s Monet, he was her shadow, her partner, her coconspirator. Her friend. But was Gabrielle right? Was he always more? Was this…whatever it was…there from the beginning, dormant and waiting to grow?
And did it really matter?
“Well, whatever,” Kat said, deciding quickly. “This is our first Christmas together, as you’ve repeatedly pointed out.”
“With love,” Gabrielle said. “I have repeatedly pointed it out with love.”
“And…” Kat went on, ignoring her. “A long time ago, I might have let it slip that what I really wanted for Christmas was to have the other two eggs. I might have told Hale that someday I wanted the set.”
To Kat’s knowledge, no one had owned all three Eggs of the Magi since the Romanovs. Collectors the world over probably shared that dream, but Kat was the only one who knew people who were willing and able to make it happen.
That realization was scarier than it should be. And Gabrielle knew it. “Oh.”
“Yeah. So…” Kat started just as the doorknob turned beneath her fingers and the heavy oak doors swung open into a foyer that was three stories tall. Years ago, she’d come here, searching for one of the more famous Monets.
Tonight she looked for something even more valuable.
And she found him, standing in the great hall, surrounded by towers and towers of presents. There was a huge tree, half-covered with ornaments. Piles of bows and greenery were strewn about by the fireplace. Kat had a moment of thinking that it looked like a Hallmark store had exploded, but perhaps the most surreal thing was the expression on Hale’s face as he watched them walk into the room.
“Someone’s up early,” Gabrielle said as the first streaks of sunshine streaked across the sky outside.
“Someone’s up late,” Hale told her. Then he turned his gaze to Kat. “Looks like someone also needs a better lock.”
“It took me ten minutes,” she admitted.
“I’ll be sure to pass that along to Silas. The home security division of Hale Enterprises is his new baby, you know?”
“I do know,” Kat said with a laugh. “And my father is blaming me for it. He says putting someone as smart as your head of R&D in charge of home security is bad for business. In any case, you need a better lock.”
“Or a less trouble-make-y girlfriend,” Gabrielle tried, but Hale just shook his head.
“No. Not that. Never that.”
Gabrielle kissed him on the cheek. “It’s good to see you, Hale, darling.”
But it was like he didn’t see her. Hear her. He only had eyes for one girl and she was busy looking around the piles of boxes and rolls of wrapping paper.
“Are we interrupting something?” Kat asked.
On most guys, Hale’s smile would have looked sheepish. On him, it was so roguishly charming that Kat’s heart actually skipped a beat.
“I was trying to decide what to give you for Christmas.”
Slowly, Kat slipped closer. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. I was thinking a jet. That way you could stop borrowing mine.”
“Jets are nice,” Kat said. “I also like candy. And I need socks.”
“Okay.” Hale gave her The Smile again “Jets. Candy. Socks. I’ll make a note.”
Kat didn’t even realize how close she had gotten, like a boat adrift on the tide, a pin pulled by a magnet. Hale had his own draw—he always did. It was what made him an excellent inside man and a dangerous boyfriend. Kat Bishop was the kind of girl who’d lived her entire life trying to keep from being conned by her own heart.
And then, like magic, they were touching.
His hands were around her waist and her hands were in his hair and his lips were on hers, soft and gentle until they eased apart.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Hi!” Gabrielle blurted, pulling them both back to the moment and the task at hand.
“Hello, Gabrielle,” Hale said. “You’re looking well, but I’m sure you already knew that.”
“Thanks,” Gabrielle said. “But I’d look better if you did give Kat a jet, you know. That would really be a gift for all of us.”
“I don’t need a jet,” Kat said.
Gabrielle rolled her eyes. “Yes, you do.”
“What I need is…” She couldn’t stop herself from looking at Hale, from remembering. “I need to talk to you.”