“I’ll do my best,” Sunny agreed.
“Your best has been amazing so far,” Grant said. “Can I also put you in charge of getting Christmas decorations? Since, y’know…”
“I know,” Sunny said. That, he could definitely do. Looking at Christmas decorations and imagining how he could decorate an apartment of his own was one of his favorite hobbies. “I’ll actually enjoy that. How many do you want? And what kind?”
Grant shrugged. “Go nuts, and I just want Hope to like it. I promised her a great Christmas this year, with a real tree and everything. If that has to happen in my apartment, fine, but I want it to be as perfect as humanly possible. So I need your help.”
Sunny’s heart melted. Grant’s love for his daughter shone through every time he talked about her. It was so sweet it almost made his teeth hurt.
“She’s twelve, yeah? I think I can appeal to the twelve-year-old crowd. I bet she loves glitter almost as much as I do.”
Grant smiled at that. “She does love glitter.”
Sunny nodded, reaching forward to grab a donut. He could do this. If he had to build a cabin himself, he’d find a way.
He wanted Grant to be happy. This would be his Christmas good deed for the year.
“Hey, uh, while we’re making impossible requests of each other, can I ask you something?”
Grant looked up at Sunny as he reached out for a donut of his own. “I’m all ears.”
“I was thinking,” Sunny began, his heart in his throat. He knew Grant was gay, but he was also older, and he seemed a little reserved. This might be too much for him, and Sunny wasn’t sure he wanted to find that out.
Right now, Grant was perfect. Scratching the surface and risking the discovery that he wasn’t perfect all the way through was scary.
“Just for the holiday season, I was wondering if… maybe… it’d be okay if I painted my nails? I can keep it subtle.”
Grant frowned at him, and Sunny’s stomach sank. It was too much.
And now he had to live with that knowledge. The knowledge that his gorgeous, perfect, sexy bosswasn’tperfect after all.
Not that he had to be. Sunny was still grateful for the job. He’d just hoped that maybe he’d finally be able to be himself at work. He spent a full third of his life here, so it would have been amazing.
“Wear it all the time if you want. Hell, come to work with a full face of makeup and heels, if you want.” Grant shrugged. “I’ll defend you if anyone gives you crap. You’remyemployee, so I get to make the rules for you.”
Sunny stared at him, his donut halfway to his mouth.
Tears pricked at his eyes. Grantwasperfect, after all.
Or at least, as perfect as Sunny needed him to be.
“Thank you,” he said after a moment, his throat still tight, but for completely different reasons now. “That, uh. That means a lot.”
Grant smiled the warmest, kindest smile at him that Sunny could ever remember being on the receiving end of. “Hey, we gotta stick together, right? I’m not into nail polish or heels or anything like that, but I’d like to think someone else would have my back if I was.”
Sunny nodded, forcing back happy tears. He didn’t want to cry in front of his boss, but hedidwant to cry right now.
Thankfully, Grant didn’t look as though he was about to say anything. He probably understood. He’d probably had a lot of moments like this, moments where he was thrilled to feel accepted.
It would have been so much harder for him when he was Sunny’s age. Sometimes, Sunny forgot that things hadn’t always been like they were now.
“You’re a good boss,” Sunny said once he was confident that he had himself under control. “Thank you.”
“Well, you’re a great PA, so no need to thank me. I honestly don’t care if you show up in your pajamas, as long as you keep doing what you’re doing.”
Sunny chuckled at that. “I actually like wearing a suit, so…”
“Yeah, me too,” Grant said. “It’s not as comfortable, but it makes me feel… I dunno. Halfway competent?”
“I know what you mean, yeah.” Sunny nodded, still floating from the relief of discovering that Grant was one of the good guys, after all. “When did you want those Christmas decorations by?”
“Uh, any time before the 24th? I won’t have time to put them up before then, so there’s no rush.”
“Okay. I’ll work on the cabin first, and we can go from there.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Grant sat back, wiping powdered sugar off his nose. “Thanks for making me take a break, by the way. And the donuts.”
“You’re welcome. That’s what I’m here for,” Sunny said.
All he needed to do now was pull an available three-bedroom holiday cabin out of thin air.
