“Seriously, isn’t there enough holiday cheer around here? You all don’t have to invade my office.” I glared at my coworkers, decked out in their fancy Christmas finery, complete with Santa hats and jingly socks.

I should have been expecting this—it was a week before Christmas.

“Now Erica Jones, it’s the season!” Judy replied, grinning as she carried a huge poinsetta to the end table near the door. Judy was probably fifty if she was a day, but certainly more of a girlfriend type than a motherly type.

Well, at least if I let her be.

I rolled my eyes. “It’s a waste of décor for me.”

“What are you, a scrooge or something?” Judy’s partner in crime, Cindy Stone, asked as she hung a little green bell on my doorknob.

“No.” I pushed away from my desk and crossed my arms over my chest. “I just hate Christmas.”

Both women dropped their stuff.

“But why? It’s the most joyous time of the year!” Cindy stared at me like I had turned into the Grinch or something.

“I just don’t like it.”

With his usual perfect timing, Andrew Hawkins came through the door. He glanced at Cindy and Judy, then back at me. I knew that look, too. He was about to pull out the charm. “Come on, ladies, not in here. Erica’s not a big fan of Christmas.”

Both Cindy and Judy went all moony at Andrew, even though Judy was a little old and Cindy was allegedly happily married.

Really, though, who could blame them? He was tall, dark haired, broad shouldered, and endowed with a killer smile. He could charm himself into Queen Elizabeth’s pants if he so desired.

He hadn’t changed since he was six.