Thank you so much for all the sweet responses to the Christmas chapter! Here's my New Year's Offering:

Midnight + Surveillance Tape + Hot Tub

"I wish we didn't have to leave tomorrow," Riley commented, standing next to Mac on the rooftop terrace of the ski resort that had been their home for the last few days.

"Well, we still have a couple of hours and the mission's done so we can make the most of it," Mac replied. The job had been easy: Posing as a couple, they had come to the Swiss Alps to gather intel on a notorious arms dealer by befriending his daughter, who loved to spend her Christmas break on the slopes and in the clubs around the resort. And now that they had everything they needed, all they had to do was to keep up the charade – which meant attending the resort's New Year's Eve party.

"It's almost midnight," Riley noted, giving him a little nudge. They had become quite comfortable in their roles, as neither of them had trouble with showing affection. Still, there was one line they had yet to cross…

"Any New Year's resolutions?" Mac asked.

"You mean besides dressing warmer?" She joked, the white fake fur jacket she was wearing over her silver party dress doing little to protect her from the cold.

"Come here," he laughed, and put his arm around her.

"Thanks."

"Ten…" The countdown started.

"Do you see our friends?" Mac asked.

"They're by the bar," Riley replied.

"Seven…" The music stopped and people around them started to pair up.

"Then we better put on a show," he smirked.

"Five…"

"One last hooray before we go back to being ourselves," she reasoned, angling her body towards his.

"Three…"

His eyes darted down to her lips.

"Two…"

She took a deep breath, reminding herself that they were only pretending.

"One…"

He kissed her as the crowd started to cheer and New Year's wishes were exchanged around them. Taking his sweet time (maybe a little more than what would have been necessary), Mac lingered against her lips, caressing her cheek with his thumb before he pulled back a little to gauge her reaction.

"Happy New Year," he breathed as the band started to play Auld Lang Syne and the fireworks exploded above them.

"Happy New…" She couldn't even finish before his lips were back on hers. Feeling him pull her even closer, Riley willingly leaned into him, linking her hands behind his head as she kissed him back.

"I…" Mac was the first to speak when they came up for air.

"Yeah…" Riley mirrored his startled expression, not sure how to deal with the intensity of emotions that had just rolled over her.

"Sorry…" Mac relaxed, his training kicking in. "I got carried away."

"It's cool," her fingers slid down to his chest, forming a barrier between them. "We're cool," she added, glad that she could blame her flushed look on the cold mountain air.

"Maybe we should call it a night," he suggested, not quite sure how to proceed. "Unless you want to stay…"

"No," she shook her head. "Let's get out of here."

xoxo

The moment they got back to their suite, Mac excused himself to the shower, leaving Riley to her own devices. On one hand she was glad to have a moment to herself but on the other, she wasn't sure what to make of his reaction. If it even was a reaction, maybe he just wanted to take a damn shower…

She sighed and threw her coat over a chair, figuring that she might as well change into her pajamas before he'd be done. But then her bathing suit caught her eye, reminding her that a shower wasn't the only way to unwind.

Riley adjusted her headphones and leaned back in the hot tup on their balcony. A few minutes with a great playlist and an even greater view of the mountains and the night sky, would surely help her to forget the way Mac's lips had felt against hers, or how he had pulled her into him, or the way he had looked at her after they…

"Damn it," she mumbled as she reached for her phone. She muted her playlist, took off her headphones and accessed the resort's surveillance system. Now she'd only have to find the right camera, rewind to midnight and… Well, she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to see, but it would hopefully provide her with some much needed perspective.

"It was just a stupid kiss…" she said to herself before pressing play. There it was, she watched him put his arm around her as she leaned into him and…

"Riles?"

She dropped her phone at the sound of Mac's voice.

"Oh god, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you…" he tried to help her fish her phone out of the water but only succeeded in soaking the sweater, he had thrown on over his pajamas before coming outside.

"It's fine," she rescued the device out of the depths of the hot tup. "Besides, it wouldn't be a successful mission without you wrecking a phone…" she looked up to meet his eyes.

"I was just…"

"You were watching the surveillance tape to reassure yourself that whatever you felt was just in your head?"

"Great. You saw that," she wished the water would just swallow her.

"Hey, at least you're confronting your feelings, instead of trying to wash them away with a cold shower," he joked, drawing a hand through his hair, a gesture Riley recognized as a sign that he felt overwhelmed. But then his expression changed. "We're idiots."

"Don't hold back…"

He didn't. "Spending these last few days with you? It felt right, and so did the kiss. It was a perfect accumulation of every glance, every touch…"

"We were undercover."

"We weren't undercover when we you fell asleep on my shoulder during that movie last night, or when you told me stupid jokes to distract me from my fear of heights on the ski lift, or…"

"Or right now…" Riley looked at him the same way she had looked at him after their kiss, and Mac was ready to pick up right where they had stopped.

"What are you doing?" She laughed as he climbed into the water – fully clothed.

Instead of answering he pulled her towards him, stopping once he could feel her breath on his lips. He wanted her to set the pace.

She didn't waste a beat.

They came together in a fierce kiss, and whatever they had felt earlier paled in comparison to what they were experiencing now – both knowing that this wasn't just happening under the guise of their cover IDs. It was all them, and it it felt right.

He fastened his grip on her, and she locked her legs around his waist, bringing them even closer together, only coming apart long enough for him to get rid of his sweater and the T-Shirt he had been wearing underneath it…

"We're still gonna have to talk about this," she said as their kisses became more leisured.

"We have a 12 hour flight tomorrow, lots of time to talk…" he reasoned, and she couldn't argue with that.

"Unless…" he smiled when he noticed the snowflakes, first on Riley's hair and then all around them "…we get snowed in."

"You think we can keep this up for another day or two?" she asked, before their mouths slipped over each other again, which told her everything she needed to know.

Happy New Year! Reviews make my day and fresh ideas are always welcome!

Love Laura