Author's Note: This is a pinch hit for C.C. Baptiste written in response to the CCOAC Christmas Fanfic Exchange. It's written especially for klcm! The prompts were: Last Christmas (by WHAM!), Christmas Memory, Fairy Lights, & Mistletoe. All of them will be used in the story.

Thank you all so much for the reviews for last chapter! - Angie

Penelope was jarred awake by a loud bang just outside of her hotel room. The door flew open, and she heard a low chuckle followed by giggling. Propping herself up on her elbows, she popped one eye open, then the other. It was her roommate, and the cad had a woman on each arm. "Oh, hell, no," she muttered sleepily.

She reached for the lamp, and as the light illuminated the room, she jumped out of bed. "What is going on?" she demanded, her voice hoarse from sleep. But she wasn't so out of it that she didn't notice how striking the women were. Of course, she'd expected nothing less.

"I just thought we'd have a little after party," Derek stated innocently, his eyes roving over her body.

God, weren't two women enough for him? "In here?" she croaked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Where else?" he asked with a shrug.

His gaze was still wandering over her flesh and Penelope self consciously crossed her arms over her chest. The nightgown she was wearing, sprinkled with little sprigs of mistletoe, hadn't seemed so short on the mannequin; the v neck suddenly felt too low, the black lace just above her breasts too thin.

She gave him a challenging look, and then brought her gaze first to one woman, then the other. "Let me tell you a little something about this one. The man is a player. Play-er," she said, enunciating each syllable carefully. "So if you're looking for a one night stand, then you've got your guy. By all means, go for it." She shook her head. "But not in my room."

The three just stared at her for a moment before giving in to their hilarity. The chocolate skinned woman on Derek's right threw her head back, the mirth overtaking her. "Oh, Derek," she said between gasps. "Can I tell her?" she asked.

"Oh, hell no," he said smirking. "I think it's going to be much more fun if I'm the one to break the news." He fixed his gaze on Penelope. "Baby Girl, have you met my cousin…Gina…and her girlfriend, Janette?"

Penelope's mouth opened, but nothing came out. "Oh—" she said in a small voice. "Your…cous…her girl…I…I'm really glad to meet you," she sputtered, rushing forward to shake Gina's hand.

Instead of extending her own, the woman looked Penelope up and down. "You were right," she said, turning to Derek with an approving nod. "Smokin' hot bod."

Derek turned his gaze to Penelope and grinned widely; she stepped back, her jaw dropping. Aside from Desiree, was the entire family like this?

Gina laughed at her reaction. "I think we're gonna leave now," she announced. "Your roommate doesn't really seem like she's into company." She leaned up and kissed Derek on the cheek. "See you tomorrow, Cuz," she said, turning to go. Derek closed the door behind them, then turned to face Penelope, whose cheeks were on fire.

"You set that up," she said accusingly.

Derek grinned brazenly. "Yeah. Kinda."

"Why?"

"Because you had your mind made up about me before I even walked through that door," he informed her.

She stood there for a moment before speaking. What was it about him that rendered her speechless? "I'm sorry," she finally said. "I may have misjudged you. It's just…my brother sort of warned me about you before you arrived, and…I guess I based your character entirely on that."

Derek chuckled. "Smart man," he commented.

"But you said—"

"Do you want to know what I'm doing right now?" he interrupted.

"Uh…I'm not sure," Penelope said cautiously.

"I'm trying to picture what's underneath all that mistletoe," he told her, waving a hand towards her black silky nightgown. "And I'm damn disappointed that because of my proactive sister, I'm probably not going to get the chance to find out. Good night, Penelope."

With that, the man stripped down to his boxers and crawled into his own bed, switching the lamp off and leaving her standing there in the dark.

It was a long time before Penelope found sleep. He may not have gotten a peek of what was beneath the mistletoe, but she'd gotten her glimpse all right. His abs were like steel, and she'd seen the tattoo he had on his arm. Who knew lions were such sexy creatures? Which brought her to another thought—what would it take to make Derek Morgan roar?

Penelope slept right until her alarm went off the next morning. When she awoke, Derek was sitting up on his fully made bed, showered, shaved and dressed, reading a book.

He looked over when he heard her mattress shift. "Good morning, Roomie," he said cheerfully.

"Morning," she grumbled.

He grinned as her eyes opened and she waited for them to focus. "Not a morning person, I take it?"

She sat up and shook her head as she stretched her arms over her head, the fabric of her nighty stretching tight across her chest. Derek tried to look away, but when her nipples hardened, he was unable to tear his gaze from her. To his dismay, she dropped her arms with a groan then collapsed back down onto her mattress.

"How do you take your coffee?" he asked with a chuckle.

Penelope closed her eyes with a sigh, and pulling the blankets up to her chin, snuggled underneath them once again. "Two creams," she answered, eyes still closed.

She heard him as he got up and shuffled around, but she wasn't interested in him first thing in the morning, especially when he was fully dressed. She heard his mattress shift as he sat back down on his bed, and took a deep breath…and inhaled the scent of coffee. Her eyes flew open and fell on the mug on her nightstand. She sat up and eyed at Derek suspiciously. "Why are you being nice to me?" she asked.

He grinned at her as he looked up from his book. "Because you were such a great audience last night," he informed her. "I figured I owed you."

She looked at him for a minute before grabbing the mug off the nightstand. "You do owe me," she agreed, then took a deep swallow of the coffee. She sighed in contentment, amazed that he'd gotten it just right.

She heard Derek's cell phone ring, and after a short conversation, he flipped it shut. "Everyone is meeting in the dining room for breakfast," he told her.

"Right now?" she asked.

He nodded.

"I have to get dressed," she said as she pushed the blankets to the foot of the bed and stood up.

"Or…you could wear that," he suggested hopefully.

Penelope glared at him. "Just when I was starting to like you," she muttered on her way to the bathroom.

She could still hear him laughing when she closed the door behind her.