Ivory Lies — Carol Cail

NOW HIRING: TEMPORARY HUSBAND

When April Parish walked into the employment agency, her request was simple. She wanted to hire a man to pose as her husband for the Christmas holidays. He had to be taller than his slender, six-foot boss, and it would help if he had the guts to hold his own with her eccentric eighty-year-old grandfather, the man who'd caused this whole ruse. Grandpa Hack, April's only surviving relative, had recently laid down the law: April wasn't allowed to visit the Ohio farm of her childhood unless she came with a husband in tow.

Ordinarily, job counselor Semi Ruby would have turned away such an unusual offer. His clients were hardly actors. But something about April Parish made him hesitate. And before he'd had a chance to dismiss her sexy smile and eyes that sparkled with iridescent flecks of gold, Semi found himself sitting in April's car, heading to the snowy countryside for Christmas.

April was prepared to tell a few ivory lies -- untruths a shade more creative than conventional white lies. But when she glanced over at the gorgeous man with shoulders as wide as those of a football player, she began to doubt the wisdom of her scheme. Would Grandpa Hack believe this bear of a man was her husband?