“Probably just to ask me when she’s going to arrive at the party. Why, are you jealous?”
Deep breath in and hold for the count of four. Stupid breathing exercise that barely keeps me from losing my mind. Still, it calms me enough that my voice comes out even. “Just making sure that my employee is safe at all times.”
“I’m perfectly fine. Listen, I’ll see you after the holidays, and we can catch up on the Henderson security plan then. Try to enjoy your time off,” she tells me.
As she hangs up, I stare at my phone long after and listen to the dial tone. There’s not a chance in hell that I’ll be enjoying this time without her. Not knowing that fucking Bobby is around.
Chapter 2
Joy
Just making sure that my employee is safe at all times. Ford’s words echo in my head as Bobby talks to me. When he shows me the ring he’s planning to offer my sister, he hardly looks like a man in love. He looks like he’s just been awarded a lifetime supply of tinsel.
Given all the Christmas movies he stars in with my sister, that’s not exactly in short supply. She broke up with him two weeks ago and didn’t shed a tear. It’d surprise me if he cared either.
But our families run in the same circles. Our mom is friends with his parents, and their union is something that’s been heavily encouraged by both sides.
I guess that’s the advantage of not being pretty or popular like my sister. They’re not all trying to run my life. I’ve been allowed to break away from the family business and have my own career.
Well, as much as you could call a career helping a computer-illiterate grump scan and sign documents. It’s not exactly a position that comes with the potential for any upward momentum.
Still, I can’t deny that I get a thrill every time I see his scruffy face or watch him scratch that bristly beard.
Sometimes, I lie awake at night wondering how it would feel against my cheek. Would it be soft and soothing or bristly and stingy? Is it crazy that I want to know?
Clearly, my boss doesn’t spare a single thought for me. Just making sure that my employee is safe at all times.
I deflated faster than a blow-up Santa with a dead motor. All of my good, flirty feelings evaporated. I’m not the girl he thinks about, and I should have known that. I do know that.
But there are these moments–infrequent as they are–when I almost think that Ford might return my feelings. Like the time he had a new laptop delivered to my apartment an hour after mine crashed.
I only called him to let him know I’d be running a little late getting the documents back to him, not because I expected him to buy me a state-of-the-art laptop with every bell and whistle possible.
More than that, he included a tablet, fully loaded with the most expensive drawing programs and a customizable pencil.
The female tech support agent who showed up and retrieved all of my files from my dead laptop was just icing on the cake. By the end of the day, it was as if the great disaster had never happened at all.
See, that’s where I went wrong. It’s perfectly normal to replace an employee’s equipment. A good boss would do that. It’s a business expense. I’m sure he gets a tax write-off or something.
“Do you think she’ll say yes?” Bobby asks, and I swear he wipes sweat from his brow.
Knowing my sister, it’s entirely possible. But I don’t want to think about her marriage to Bobby. I don’t want that marriage for either one of them. They both deserve to find people they love, not a match made in conglomerate heaven.
I give him a weak smile. “I think it’s a very pretty diamond.”
He glances down at the ring. “I’m proposing tonight at seven sharp in the middle of the room in front of everyone.”
That’s when I understand what this is. He’s giving my sister an out, a warning of what’s going to come.
“I’ll make sure she knows tonight is going to be a special night,” I answer, careful how I phrase it. You never know who might be eavesdropping.
He nods and leaves me to deliver the message. I hurry through unloading the rest of the packages. They’re carefully wrapped toys for the children.
Maybe the Jolly Family Media Company has turned Christmas into the “biggest payday in America” according to some angry religious organization. But no one does more good for children’s hospitals than my mom.
“Where are you?” I demand as soon as Holly answers the phone. I wait for her, but she doesn’t say anything, so I continue on. “I’m here at the hospital.”
“I’m on my way,” my big sister says, but I don’t like the tone she’s using. I can tell when she’s trying to hide something from me. Unease trickles down my spine.
