As I walk through Holly’s workplace, I can’t hide my smile. I’ve purposely avoided telling Joy that I’ve been seeing her boss.
I want to see her reaction in person; it’ll be so much better that way. She asked where I went after her work party, and I just fired the question back at her.
She blushed, and neither of us answered. Though, her blushing wasdefinitelyan answer.
She went home with Tulip. That much is clear.
I don’t want her to think that I’m just banging her boss just to bang her boss. We have a connection, and I’ll prove it—to both of them.
Disappointment floods me as I pass Joy’s empty desk. Later, I’ll tease her about being a shitty secretary and letting people sneak past.
Knocking on Holly’s office door, I wait to hear her call out, “Come in.”
As I enter, her eyes open wider, and she lets out a breath of surprise. “Felix—I wasn’t expecting you. What are you doing here?”
“I brought you lunch.” I grin, holding up two large bags. “Since you said you couldn’t do dinner tonight, I thought I’d bring dinner to you…but for lunch.”
Now that I say that out loud, I feel a bit silly. It sounded much more suave in my head.
I perch on the edge of her desk, resting the bag on my leg. Her eyebrows are furrowed, a slight frown on her lips.
“Felix, I don’t really have time…” She takes a whiff of the air, and her pupils enlarge. “What did you bring—are thosefestive meals?”
It’s cute that she knows what they are from the scent. There really might be a former Christmas enjoyer somewhere inside her.
Nodding, I set the bag down on her desk. “Yes, they are,andfrom my favorite place in town.”
She pries her eyes from the bag, meeting my gaze. Is she going to try to guess where my favorite place is?
“The Italian place, Giordano’s, right? I think you told me while we were putting up ornaments the other night.” She raises a brow at me.
The sheer joy that floods me is more than I expected. But it makes me weirdly happy that she remembers things I tell her. My snakes are happy too, wriggling and softly hissing as I grin. “Yes, that’s the one.”
Opening the bag, I pull out the two meals. She sits down and digs right in, her shoulders falling as she tips her head back.
“Is it good?” I chuckle, holding my dish beneath my chin in case of any unfortunate fallout.
She nods, giving me a small smile. “Very. Thank you.”
“Anything for you, dollface.” I wink.
There’s a knock at the door, but not enough time for Holly to answer before it flies open. Joy’s eyes are locked onto a Post-it note between her fingers as she enters absentmindedly.
“Boss, Maryanne is on line one, she wants to talk to you about…” Joy’s voice trails off as she spots me leaning on Holly’s desk. “Felix?”
Giving her a smile, I glance at Holly. Her eyes are wide, and those soft, plump lips are parted to form an O shape. Her fork is raised, but frozen before it reaches her mouth.
She sits straight, her shoulders tight once more, setting the fork down. All that work to get her to relax is ruined simply by Joy’s entrance.
Holly’s shock can’t be hidden as she asks, “You two know each other? Hewasn’tjust a random stripper?”
I look to Joy, who shifts on her feet where she stopped abruptly. “We’ve known each other since we were, what, five years old?”
“Around there. Mr.Glase’s kindergarten class,” Joy confirms.
Nodding, I let out a laugh. “We’ve been there for each other’s first…everything. First boyfriend…”
“First girlfriend…” Joy relaxes more, reminiscing.
