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was or how sincere his offer of forever sounded.
    “So are you.”
    Picking up the cookie platter she hurried out into the living room. Rae-Anne was standing back staring at the tree. For a moment there was a look on her face that gave CJ pause. Her secretary had an aura of sadness around her.
    “You okay, Rae-Anne?”
    Slowly Rae-Anne turned to face CJ. “Yeah.”
    “Do you want to talk about it?” CJ asked.
    “Hell, no.”
    CJ set down the cookie tray and Tad was right behind her with the coffee. Her living room was spacious and had a nice grouping of a sofa and a couple of chairs. Rae-Anne took one of the armchairs and Tad stood next to one of the other ones. So CJ sat on the sofa.
    She focused on serving coffee and then relaxed against the cushions. Tad didn’t sit down, just propped one hip against the arm of the chair and watched her with that wizard’s gaze of his.
    She had the feeling he wanted to pursue the topic they’d been discussing in the kitchen. He was going to be disappointed because she wasn’t ever going to be alone with him again. And the topic of marriage was not going to come up if she had any say so.
    “What were you two talking about?” Rae-Anne asked.
    “Our marriage,” Tad said around a bite of cookie.
    “I didn’t realize you two were serious. When will the blessed event take place?” Rae-Anne asked.
    “When hell freezes over,” CJ said.

Four

    T ad threw his head back and laughed. Despite CJ’s homey living room with the Christmas tree, a part of him wondered if she was going to be worth the battle. He’d lost at love before even though he hadn’t told CJ the details. Losing Kylie had changed him. It had made him realize that life was more than winning and that sometimes a loss could cut deep.
    She crossed the room to the stereo and put on a CD that played Christmas tunes. But CJ had so much sass and spunk—way more than he remembered Cathy Jane having. He couldn’t wait to get her into bed. He had a feeling this glimpse of the real CJ was one not many people saw. “It’s certainly cold enough to freeze hell today.”
    “I’m not kidding,” she said, taking a large sip of her coffee. There was a hint of vulnerability in her eyes that he knew she’d regret revealing. There was so much more to his Catwoman than he expected. She’d always been complicated, he just hadn’t been mature enough to appreciate her.
    He waited until she swallowed then made sure she was watching him. “Good. I like a challenge.”
    “Is that all this is? A game?” CJ asked.
    It was more than a game and more than he wanted to admit to himself. He didn’t know why but she’d become important to his future.
    The CJ he’d kissed in the kitchen was gone and in her place was the modern-day amazon he’d first encountered in CJ’s office. The hint of vulnerability he’d glimpsed in her was now carefully concealed. Would the real Catherine Jane please step forward? “Would you play with me if it was?”
    “No, Tad. Marriage is a sacred bond,” CJ said.
    “Not everyone thinks of it that way,” he said, gently. Kylie certainly hadn’t. She’d thought of it as a business transaction and the more money he’d brought to the table the more viable a husband candidate he’d been. Only at the time he hadn’t realized it. Wouldn’t even listen to Pierce when he’d tried to warn him that Kylie was only with Tad because of his bank account.
    Pierce was his partner and best friend, a paraplegic who’d endured a lot in the name of love.
    “Women do. Right, Rae-Anne?”
    “I’m not the best one to ask about this,” Rae-Anne said, staring down into her coffee cup.
    Tad watched the older woman. There was no ring on her finger. But that didn’t mean anything.
    “Divorced?” CJ asked.
    “I never had the time for marriage.”
    “Gay?” Tad asked.
    “No. I just never took the time to settle down,” Rae-Anne said.
    “Do you regret that?” Tad asked her.
    “Recently, I’ve started to. But