From The Nights Before Christmas © 2010 by Kerry Allen

Chapter One

There were two things by which Harvey Doyle did not wish to be greeted when he arrived at the office. The first was daylight; the second, superstitious peasants armed with holy water and wooden stakes.

Upon his arrival the evening of December 23, he added a third unwelcome sight to the list: coworkers flinging Christmas flotsam everywhere in preparation for an office party he hadn’t been warned about.

His left foot slid backward. If he remained quiet and made no sudden movements, he could retreat to the elevator and call in sick before anyone knew he’d been in the building.

Read the rest of this entry »

From The Nights Before Christmas © 2010 by Kerry Allen 

Chapter Two

The vamp scowling at her was cute in a Yeah, baby, do my taxes, do ‘em hard kind of way. If he’d cracked a smile at her Citizen Kane joke, and if she hadn’t had the life sucked out of her by one of his parasitic cronies less than an hour earlier, Bowe might have dragged him down to the desk and decked his halls. Under the circumstances, however, a guy with no sense of humor who thought biting constituted foreplay just didn’t set her girly bits atingle.

Given the consequences of failing her mission, if her girly bits weren’t atingling, athrobbing, and asinging the “Hallelujah Chorus,” she couldn’t afford to waste what little time she’d been given polishing office furniture with her back.

She sat up. Gravity pulled the coat from her torso, the hat from her head, and the limited supply of blood from her brain. “Aw, fuck. I don’t have time to faint.”

Read the rest of this entry »

From The Nights Before Christmas © 2010 by Kerry Allen

Chapter Three

Bowe’s idea of a good time wasn’t being locked in an office with three vampires while what sounded like a hell of a party roared to life just outside. She’d pass on the mulled plasma or whatever that crowd was drinking to make them so rowdy, but she’d take the laughs and dancing. Maybe some thoughtful reveler would wrap up a stapler or something so she wouldn’t be left out of the gift exchange. A good time would be had by all.

Instead, she got to spend her evening stuck on the phone with a series of crotchety Council Elders, trying to clear up the obvious error in her orders.

During one of the many times she’d been placed on hold, she suggested, just in case Scowly-vamp turned out to be the right Harvey Doyle, he go out there and get his Christmas groove on.

Read the rest of this entry »

From The Nights Before Christmas © 2010 by Kerry Allen

Chapter Four

“You’re very quiet.”

Harvey wished the same could be said for Miss Winderowe. There was no reason for her to speak after telling him where to drive. Her low, intimate pitch warmed and softened the distinctive elven lilt that had always sounded to him like a poorly played fiddle, but if she had nothing more substantive to remark upon than his reluctance to converse, he’d as soon listen to the tires hissing over wet pavement.

He stopped the car at a red light, and even the tires took a break from their noise making. “I’m thinking.”

Read the rest of this entry »

From The Nights Before Christmas © 2010 by Kerry Allen

Chapter Five

Sweat beaded on Harvey’s skin, out of proportion to the overheated mall. The cause walked two steps ahead of him, hips swishing in a way that drew appreciative leers from men and lacerating glares from women. Both bounced off Bowe’s impervious hide and struck him as if he were the target. He didn’t know whether to throw his coat over her or issue a blanket apology for the disturbance she caused.

He settled for blotting his forehead and tucking the handkerchief back in his pocket with a resigned sigh.

She spun around at the sound. “Oh, get over it already. I wasn’t giving you a lap dance. I would have had to trudge through a lake of sludgy ice if I got out on my side of the car, and these shoes aren’t made for puddle-wumping.” She lifted one patent leather Mary Jane with a four-inch heel as if daring him to dispute the claim.

Read the rest of this entry »