His Christmas Fantasy. Jennifer Labrecque

seems like a lot of hocus-pocus, but I’ll still be glad to take photos.”

      “So you don’t believe in magic?”

      He leaned into the space between them, narrowing the distance. He caught another whiff of her perfume. If scents were translated to pictures, this one evoked a dark, erotic blend of swirls and curves in shades of ruby red and purple against a blanket of yellow-gold. Complex and evocative beneath the surface. It suited her. “Do you believe in magic?”

      “I trust you’re a better photographer than you are interviewer.”

      He chuckled. “Am I interviewing you?”

      “If you were, you’d be doing a lousy job. You’re obviously biased.”

      “And you’re hedging.” She was a crafty one, Giselle was. “Do you believe in magic?”

      “I believe in forces of energywecan’t necessarily see.”

      Forces of energy. Something stirred inside him, a resonance, an acknowledgement. “I take it that’s a yes. Have you ever experienced magic yourself?”

      Her hands tightened on the wheel and he felt her hesitation, as if she might refuse to answer. She was right. He was a lousy interviewer. She tilted her chin up. “Maybe…once…I’m not sure, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”

      Gooseflesh prickled his skin and the first time he ever saw her came to mind, swiftly followed by that Christmas night two years ago. Forces of energy. That summed it up exactly.

      He asked the question that had been bugging him ever since he’d skimmed Darren’s assignment notes. “Are you coming with a personal interest? Are you looking to fall in love?”

      “It crossed my mind.” Her smile had an edge to it. “Who couldn’t use some help in their love life?”

      That made him want to grind his teeth. “Come on. You’re writing this story, but you don’t really believe this, do you?”

      “How are you so sure it’s not real?”

      “It’s not an issue for me. I can take the photos all day long but it doesn’t mean I believe this magic nonsense.”

      Before she could respond, a massive wind gust barreled through the canyon. One minute they were driving along in their lane and the next a trailer swaying behind a pickup in the lane beside them bounced off the SUV, metal screeching against metal, sending them spinning out of control.