Unwrapping The Holidays: Hot Coded Christmas / Be Mine for Christmas

He wasn’t a big lover of the holiday seasons and he wasn’t going to miss not being with his family. His mother and stepfather had gone to Europe to ski this Christmas and he wasn’t really in the mood for social-climbing ski bunnies at the moment.

He tried to shove the thought of his would-have-been fiancée out of his head. But he couldn’t let go of the burn of rejection. She’d turned him down. Him. Cole Nichols. No one turned him down. But it wasn’t so much that she’d turned him down, it was the reason she’d given him. That with all his money and connections, and his business, that she didn’t think he could give her the lifestyle she wanted.

She wanted carte blanche to the accounts. And that wasn’t going to fly on any day with him. She’d run through the monthly allowance he’d set up for her in a matter of days.

She liked to shop, and party and she wanted to look the part of a billionaire’s girlfriend. He was generous, but it didn’t matter how much he gave her, it was never enough.

Everyone had warned him about her. But like a fool, he thought he could change her. Control the situation.

She’d already replaced him with someone richer...older too. Someone who wouldn’t bat an eyelash at her gold digger tendencies.

Fine by him. He wished her a lifetime of saggy butt wrinkles. Good riddance. He had work to do. And one day, she’d regret walking away from him. Truth was, he was more excited by the thought of his business goals right now anyway.

Teched was in the process of acquiring a small gaming firm that was bucking the system. Normally, he let his VP of acquisitions handle the takeovers and buyouts, but this damn CEO had been rejecting their offers for over a year. So Cole had gotten involved.

At first he thought it was funny that they declined. He knew the company was struggling, but somehow the owner had managed to keep Cyperpunked moving along. Cole would have preferred to avoid a messy situation, but all attempts to acquire them had been refused.

Fine by him—he liked a little fight anyway. Sooner or later they would buckle. He was going to spend the next two weeks gaining some leverage and applying some pressure.

He wasn’t a fan of the word no. When it came to business, his father had taught him that someone who said no hadn’t yet learned the benefits of saying yes. His father had also instructed him that when the cost outweighed the benefit, to walk away. Never get into a fight simply because someone irritated you. Maybe he hadn’t learned that lesson so well.

In business, it was rare people said no to him. And when they did, he usually was able to make them see things his way. There had been some deals he walked away from that became problematic, but not often. Cyberpunked was falling into that category. But for some reason he couldn’t let it go.

He’d spent a year pursuing the company and so far, they’d rejected every offer he’d come up with. It equal parts infuriated as well as intrigued him. He’d found them out a few years ago with their game Spyder. The gaming kids had gone crazy over the realistic design and 3-D-level graphics. When he’d played it himself, he’d fallen in love with the labyrinth of scenarios and challenges in the game. The designers were smart. And they were playful and innovative too.

He’d made an attempt to secure the company then, but they’d refused to be bought. Six months later one of the partners took off with some of the major clients. The newly formed company built their own games and components for large game manufacturers as well. But the games they put out weren’t as appealing as Cyberpunked’s were. They were missing some of the nuance and complexity. Despite having the better product, Cyberpunked had limped along ever since.

The only logical conclusion was that the creative force behind that operation was the one left running the shop. And Cole wanted the shop. Well, mostly he wanted that key person on his team. The rest of the employees would probably be let go, or placed somewhere in his firm, but he didn’t care about that. Cyberpunked thought they could fight the inevitable. But he knew better. He didn’t give up on anything. And he wasn’t going to start now. Come January, Cyberpunked was going to be part of Teched. They just didn’t know it yet.

Chapter 3 (#ub59fae73-bcbd-52ed-b61e-3e691f735c26)

As soon as Cole opened the door to his suite, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He grinned when he saw who it was. “Jake, what’s up, man? Tell me you have good news.”

“Define ‘good news’,” Jake replied.

“Why is it every time you sound like that, I get the kind of information that puts me in a bad mood?”

His VP of acquisitions gave a humorless chuckle. “Because it’s usually something comprised of the word no.”

Cole ground his teeth. He at least wanted to do some skiing this afternoon before the work began. “What the hell is the matter now?”

“The latest offer to Cyberpunked was denied.”

He pinched his nose. “Seriously? What the hell is their problem? The last package was beyond generous. Hell, it was practically a Christmas gift. I even made concessions for the engineering staff to be hired on.”

Jake was silent for a moment. When he finally spoke, his words were slow, as if he’d measured each one before speaking. “Cole, maybe it’s time to think about letting this one go. At least for the time being until they fall apart on their own. The terms are better for us if they come crawling for a bailout. I don’t like this version of Teched, us chasing after a nothing game company. Hell, they have less than fifty employees. They aren’t worth the effort. This is all ego to them.”

Give up? The hell he would. “No, Jake. J.L. Reed is a genius. You played the game. You should understand.”

“Look, I’m not saying the designer’s not good. I’m just saying, we’re getting nowhere. Right about now, the resources you’re expending trying to get that company to pay attention to us are far outweighing the benefit. You don’t usually get so stuck on something. This is going a step above and beyond. Maybe—”

Cole was quick to jump on the hesitation in his friend’s voice. “Maybe what?”

“I’m just saying that maybe some of this has to do with Clarissa. You weren’t able to hold on to her, good riddance by the way, but now you’re desperate to attain this company. Maybe because the owner is female you think she should fall in line just like every other woman in your life.”

Jake had been spending too much time with his psychologist girlfriend. That’s what Cole thought. “You know, I appreciate the concern, but I know what I’m doing. We’ve been talking about a game division for years. This is the best foray into that.”

Jake sighed. “I hear you, but what about the company that split from Cyberpunked? They are one-half of the outfit. And maybe they’ll be less of a pain in the ass.”

Cole was silent for a minute as he poured himself a glass of Scotch. Most guys his age were indulging in craft cocktails. He had zero patience for adding basil and egg whites to a drink. And his tolerance was low for Jake right now. “Jake, have you ever known me to take less than the best?”

His friend sighed. “No.”

“Then why would I take second best when the real brains are at Cyberpunked?”

“Okay. I hear you. I’ll have another offer drawn up. Maybe it’s time you asked for a personal appointment. Persuade the CEO to meet with you. Maybe she’s old-school and needs a face-to-face. I know she declined to meet with the proposal team. But a meeting request from you directly could tip the scales.”

For the first time in the conversation, Jake was saying something that made sense. Cole could really state his case then. And in person, there were few people who would tell him no. “Best thing you’ve said to me all day.”

“Okay, I’ll get on it. And Cole?”

“Yeah?”

“For once, try and enjoy the holiday.”

Like hell that was happening. “Not likely, but you get me that company for Christmas and it’ll go a long way toward improving my mood.” Everywhere he went, people tried to insist he should be festive. Relax. But they didn’t understand how much he hated the season. It had been years since he could enjoy it.

“Working on it.”

As soon as Cole hung up, he didn’t even get to pick up his glass before the room phone rang. “Yes?”

It was the front desk. “So sorry to disturb you, Mr. Nichols, but there is a problem that needs your attention.”

“Really? Can’t the on-site manager handle this?” He’d hired a management company so he could stay in the background of everything. If his mother had her way, she’d have nothing to do with the place. Too many memories of his father.

“Not this time, sir.”

“Fine, I’ll be right there.” So far his relaxing vacation was anything but.

* * *

This was not happening. “What do you mean you are overbooked? That is not possib—” Jamie had to stop herself from cussing out the guy behind the reservation desk. He looked young. Like just-out-of-high-school young. Screaming at him would get her nowhere. And she was so worked up she might trigger an asthma attack.

She tried some yoga techniques to regulate her breathing. Nope, that didn’t work. She was still furious. “So what do you suggest I do? You’re looking at my reservation aren’t you? I mean it’s there, but somehow you’re telling me that you have nowhere to put me?”

His hands shook as he stammered. “I—I—I’m so sorry, miss, but there are no empty rooms. One of the guests extended a week and that was meant to be your suite. I’m terribly sorry. We’d like to comp you a free stay—”

She could feel the pressure building and could almost sympathize for the kid...almost. Except now he was offering her something that would be useless. Forget Zen. She needed to work. Right now. “Okay. Sure, what’s going to happen is you’re going to comp my next stay, though why I would ever stay here after this is beyond me.”