by Holly Rayner
With lunchtime creeping in, she’d run out of things to do. It was then that she remembered the Christmas decorations in her car. Truthfully, she hadn’t needed to pick up any more decorations, as she had more than enough stored in the closet at home. It was just that the dollar store had been having a sale yesterday and, never one to let a good sale go to waste, she’d scooped up a few things.
Being distracted and nervous about her new job, she’d left the plastic bags in her car’s trunk and forgotten about them.
With a glance around the office, she gauged the vibe. People had been coming in and out all morning. Surely, no one would mind if she ran out to her car for a minute.
Grabbing her keys and phone, she scurried for the elevators. While she was outside, she could call Danny and check in.
As soon as she exited the building’s foyer, she realized that she had forgotten her coat. It was late November in New York, and that meant a cold wind that you felt in your bones.
Oh, well. The cold would just make her that much faster.
As she walked across the parking lot, she called her boyfriend.
“Sup?” he answered.
“Hey. I’m running out to my car for a sec. Thought I’d call and see how you’re doing.”
Danny had a cold that morning and had decided to stay home and work his regional manager job remotely.
“I’m okay,” he said. “How is it there?”
“So far, so good.” She’d reached the car and opened the trunk to grab the two plastic bags there. “Oh, hey. Before I forget. Corinne wants to know if we can come over at ten on Thanksgiving. She needs some help with the turkey.”
“Oh. Right.” He sucked in air.
“What?” She closed the car trunk and beelined for the building.
“Sorry, babe. I have to work that day. Just found out.”
Adison’s heart sank. “On Thanksgiving?”
“I know. It’s a bummer. Some of our restaurants are open that day, though.”
“I know, I just…” She shook her head and entered the glorious warmth of the lobby.
“But we’ll be together that night. After you get back from Corinne’s.”
“Yeah,” she grudgingly agreed. She didn’t want to complain. The two of them lived together, after all.
The thing was, this would be their first Thanksgiving together. Ever since her parents died four years before, Adison had spent the holidays with her best friend. It would have been nice to make her boyfriend of almost eleven months a part of the tradition.
She punched the button for the elevator and swallowed her disappointment. “You’re right. At least we’ll have that night together.”
“Sure will. Hey, I gotta go. I’m getting a work call.”
“Okay, see you when I get home. I love—”
He’d already hung up, though.
Taking the phone away from her ear, Adison exited the elevator on the third floor. The work space was over half empty, and other people were putting on their coats. The office took an hour lunch, but she’d brought a sandwich and some fruit and didn’t need to run anywhere.
Which meant she had plenty of time to do up her cubicle exactly as she liked it.
Forty-five minutes later, not only had Adison eaten lunch, but her work space was near perfect. With a red and green garland strung around the cubicle’s perimeter, an advent calendar next to her computer, and a stuffed Santa sitting in the corner, it was beginning to look a whole lot like Christmas.
She’d pick up a poinsettia or two when she had the chance, and maybe a little tree.
Yeah, she definitely needed a mini Christmas tree.
Satisfied, she settled back into her chair as the elevator doors opened and people started spilling back in.
“Hey.” Jazzie unlooped her scarf. “I was going to ask if you wanted to go to the deli, but you weren’t at your desk.”
“That was thoughtful of you! Thank you. I ran down to my car to get these.” Adison nodded her head and gave a flourish with her arm, smiling at her lunchtime handiwork.
Jazzie’s eyes widened at the Christmas decorations. “Oh. Wow.”
“I figured the place could use a bit of cheer.” Adison bit into her smile. “I noticed there are no holiday decorations around here, even with Thanksgiving in three days.”
“About that…” Jazzie’s gaze slid to the side, locking on someone approaching the other side of Adison’s cubicle.
Spinning her chair around, Adison found a tall, dark-haired man approaching. He caught Adison’s eyes, and it was like a magnetic force pulled all her attention to him. Perfection in a tailor-made suit walked directly toward her.
The man opened his mouth, about to speak to her, but then he clamped his mouth shut as if he had changed his mind.
Jazzie cleared her throat. “Hi, Mr. Montoya.”
Mr. Montoya?
As in Ken Montoya, the founder of the Montoya Foundation? The billionaire who had made a killing in investing during his mid-twenties, then switched gears and shifted to a career in philanthropy? At thirty-five, he was one of the most successful people on the East Coast.
Human resources had hired Adison, and during her two visits to the office for interviews, she hadn’t once seen Mr. Montoya. Wanting to learn everything she could about her prospective employer, she’d of course read up on him—but none of the stuffy business photos she’d seen online did justice to the demigod that stood before her now.
“How are you, Jazzie?” he asked with a curt nod. “And you’re Adison Hale, I take it. Our new charity administrator.”
Adison struggled to find her voice. Her pulse was racing, and she couldn’t get it under control. “Yes, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
His eyes flicked to the advent calendar. “What’s that?”
“A calendar counting down the days till Christmas. See?” She rolled her chair over and flipped open the first flap, which revealed a little piece of chocolate in the shape of a candy cane. She popped the chocolate out and handed it to Mr. Montoya.
He held it between his thumb and forefinger, thick eyebrows knitting together and a frown pulling on his lips.
Adison’s cheeks warmed. “You know what? I think that’s from last year. It’s probably bad now, anyway.”
She plucked the chocolate from his hand and tossed it in the trash can under her desk. Still, he continued to frown.
Panic overtook Adison. Clearly, she was messing up somehow. If only she knew what she’d done wrong, she’d be able to fix it.
Ken Montoya took a step away from her cubicle. “It was good to meet you. I look forward to working together.”
He gave both women another nod of his head before turning and going through the double doors located at the other end of the open space. These Adison hadn’t been through, and if the boss had access to them, she was willing to bet most people didn’t.
She sighed. “Did I just mess up? He doesn’t seem to like me.”
“It’s not you.” Jazzie rolled her eyes. “Ken is a nice enough guy, but he hates Christmas. And I mean hate with a capital ‘H.’”
“Why?” Adison was aware her mouth was hanging open, but she couldn’t seem to get it shut. Who hated Christmas? Not celebrating it was one thing. Preferring other holidays was also understandable. But why hate a day that brought the world so much joy?
Jazzie shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Is that why there are no decorations around the office?” Adison whispered, afraid she’d already broken some unspoken rule.
“He’s never explicitly told us not to decorate the place, but…” Jazzie trailed off.
“Gotcha.” Adison bit her bottom lip. She certainly didn’t want to get on the boss’s bad side.
She also didn’t want to take the decorations down, though. Not only did they bring her joy, she was certain they would do the same for at least one other person in the office.
“If I kept them up,” she said, “do you think that would cause an
y problems?”
“I don’t think so. It might start some waves, sure, but no earthquakes.” Jazzie winked.
Then it was settled. The decorations stayed.
Jazzie went back to her desk several cubicles down, and Adison did her best to focus on work. All afternoon, though, her mind kept coming back to the expression on Ken Montoya’s face when he saw her decorations. For lack of a better expression, he looked like he’d been told Christmas was canceled.
It made no sense, but it was also none of her business. Everyone was entitled to their own opinion. Still, the man’s frown stayed on her mind.
Or was it him in general she kept thinking about? Just his physicality had been a shock. With his strong jaw, high cheekbones, and straight nose, he looked more like he belonged on the pages of a magazine than in an office.
Not that she should have been noticing. She had a boyfriend, and Mr. Montoya was her boss. There were so many other things she needed to think about.
Like work. And where she might be able to find poinsettias on her way home.
Chapter 2
Adison
“I’m sorry you’re leaving early.” Corinne planted her fists on her hips and pouted dramatically.
“I know,” Adison laughed. “Same here.”
They were standing by the front door of Corinne’s apartment, Corinne’s other guests laughing in the living room as they played cards. They’d just finished Thanksgiving dinner, but Corinne still wore the checkered apron she’d had on all day. Add that to her blond hair that she’d twisted into two cinnamon roll buns, and she was almost too cute to handle.
“I want to stay all night,” Adison said, “but Danny will be tired when he gets home, and he’ll appreciate me having some dinner for him.”
Corinne made a “hm” noise. She made no secret of her feelings about Danny; she thought he didn’t give Adison near enough time as he “ought to,” and that he had “the emotional maturity of a hamster.”
To be fair, it was a best friend’s job to critique boyfriends. Adison didn’t fault her for that. On the other hand, there were reasons why Danny wasn’t always available. He had a very demanding job, for one. And sure, he wasn’t one-hundred percent ready for the things Adison was. He hated talking about the future or making any sort of plans, but everyone had their flaws.
He needed time, and that was the part that Corinne didn’t seem to understand. Their relationship was the longest one he’d ever had, and he wasn’t yet used to such a level of intimacy.
“Call me tomorrow.” Corinne pulled Adison into a hug.
“I will,” Adison promised, hugging tightly back.
It was going on five, but Danny had said he wouldn’t be home till at least seven. That would give her plenty of time to straighten up the house and warm the Thanksgiving leftovers in the oven.
Corinne’s apartment was on the outskirts of Buffalo, near one of the best hiking trails in the area. Before moving in with Danny six months before, Adison had lived in the same apartment complex. Being a short drive from nature had been great, but her lease had expired and Danny had asked her to move into his duplex.
They’d only known each other for five months then, and she’d had some hesitation. He was a sweet guy, though—so much nicer than anyone else she’d dated—and he really believed in their relationship.
So she’d done it. She’d taken the plunge and joined him at his place. It was the first time she’d ever lived with a man, and to be honest the experience had its ups and downs. Danny wasn’t the best when it came to cleaning up after himself, and sometimes he stayed at work much longer than he’d thought he would need to.
The time they did get to spend together, though, was great. They watched movies at home with their cat Taffy or went out to dinner. Adison loved Danny, and she knew she was exactly where she needed to be.
At their duplex, she was surprised to find his car in the driveway.
“That’s weird,” she mumbled, parking behind him.
She had to be careful walking up the drive. Danny hadn’t been able to salt it yet that week, and there were patches of ice here and there. It was a wonder she made it to the front door without spilling turkey or cranberry sauce all over her shoes.
With the plastic containers in one hand, she fumbled for her house key with the other. Before she could insert it in the lock, the door opened from the inside.
“Hey, I brought…” She trailed off. It wasn’t Danny standing in front of her.
Instead, in front of her stood a girl with long blond hair and thick bangs. She had her jacket over her arm and her cheeks were pink.
“Hi,” Adison said, confused. Danny had said nothing about having anyone over.
“Hey.” The girl ducked her face.
“Hey, babe!” Danny’s voice called from inside. “You left your socks. Are these supposed to be a parting gift for me?”
He walked across the living room laughing, but that ended the moment he got to the door and saw Adison. You could have heard a pin drop as the three of them just stood there.
“What’s going on?” Adison felt like she was floating above her body, watching the whole scene rather than being a part of it.
No one answered.
There it was: the ton of bricks. It walloped her, stealing her breath and twisting her heart.
Danny had come home early.
He had not told her, because he had a girl over.
A girl who, while at their house, had taken off clothes.
“Um.” The girl bounced from one foot to the other. “Okay, bye.”
With that, she darted past Adison, ran across the snow-covered yard, and jumped into a car parked on the other side of the street.
“What are you doing here?” Danny demanded.
That was the only word that could be used to describe his tone of voice. He had demanded to know what Adison was doing at her own home.
“I came home early.” The plastic containers in her hand shook.
“Why?” he spat. “I told you I wouldn’t be home till later.”
“Right, that you were working late.”
Suddenly, Adison cracked. It all made sense now. Danny’s “long hours,” the excessive amount of time he spent online, how so often when she came into the room he put his phone down.
“How long have you been seeing her?” Adison demanded.
He shook his head and made a noise of exasperation.
She waited for his answer, still holding onto the hope that she was being paranoid. Perhaps the two of them were colleagues, and the girl had taken her socks off to get more comfortable.
But then Adison saw the panties on the couch…and the volcano erupted.
“What the—” she started. “Danny!”
She pushed past him and entered the living room, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted to fling the Thanksgiving leftovers at him, to see mashed potatoes in his hair and stuffing sliding down his shirt collar.
How could this have happened? They had such a good relationship. They loved each other, were available for each other.
You are available.
The little voice in her head struck her dumb. It couldn’t have been more true.
She’d always been there for Danny. Meanwhile, he was in and out of the house, always claiming to be working.
“I didn’t want you to find out like this, Ad.”
He reached for her, but she stepped back. Her shoulder hit the corner of the wall, but she didn’t pay the pain any mind. Nothing could compare to the damage being done to her heart.
“What are you saying?” she asked. “That you were planning on leaving me for her?”
“No, Ad, no. I wasn’t going to break up with you.”
That made her jaw drop. “So you were going to keep on cheating.”
He looked stumped. There was no good way to answer that and, boy, he knew it.
“I have to get out of here,” she said, more to herself than to him.
Slamming the leftover
s onto the kitchen table, she rushed into the bedroom and pulled her suitcase from the closet. Taffy was in there, crouched under some hanging dresses, looking up at Adison with big eyes.
“It’s okay, girl,” she told the striped cat. “We’re leaving.”
Before Taffy could run off and hide, Adison scooped her up and placed her in the cat carrier. Danny still hadn’t come into the bedroom.
She’d expected him to follow her in there, to offer an apology or another bull explanation. Apparently, though, he didn’t care enough to even try.
Angry tears stung Adison’s eyes and rolled down her cheeks. A sob bubbled up her throat, but she kept that tamped down. No way would she sob where Danny could hear her.
She grabbed clothes by the fistful, not even sure if she was packing everything she needed. She couldn’t think straight, couldn’t touch anything without her hands shaking.
“Adison.” He was in the hallway, looking in at her. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I’m not a relationship guy. I tried.”
“Tried?” she spat. “More like lied.”
She pushed past him, bumping his shoulder on her way into the bathroom.
Toothbrush. Contact lenses and solution. Makeup. She threw them into a tote bag she found hanging on the back of the door.
There were so many other toiletries that she used on a daily basis, but she didn’t have time to pack those up. She needed to get out of the house before she completely fell apart.
“Come on, Taffy.” She lifted the cat carrier.
“Hold on,” Danny said as she walked for the front door. “We didn’t agree that you can take the cat.”
She spun around, pinning Danny with a withering look. “We didn’t agree that you could screw other women. Besides, Taffy is mine.”
She’d had Taffy since she was a kitten. The little furball had been a present Adison gave herself the week after her parents’ funeral.
Which meant her relationship with the cat was about three years longer than her relationship with the piece of trash standing in front of her.
