by Holly Rayner
“That’s fine,” she said. “You can keep it.”
“I don’t like you leaving your stuff all over the place,” he grumbled.
“Excuse me?” Fire raced through her veins. “I was a little rushed on the day I came home and found another woman there, so yeah, maybe I did forget my body wash, but you forgot to keep your pants on.”
Danny turned cherry red. “You—”
“Stop.” It was Ken, leaning forward and staring at Danny without blinking. “You heard her. It’s time for you to leave.”
There was a long, tense moment where the two men stared each other down. Adison’s breath hitched in her throat. Then, finally, Danny guffawed and stood.
“See you later, Ad.” He threw a hand in her general direction.
“Doubtful,” she responded.
He sulked out of the coffee shop.
As the door closed behind him, Ken’s arm retreated from around Adison’s shoulders. She sucked in a long breath, steeled herself for the storm that was about to hit, and turned to him.
Chapter 8
Ken
“Thank you, and I’m so, so sorry.” She spoke in a rush, following up by biting into her full, pink lip.
Ken opened his mouth to respond, but the words wouldn’t come. He’d never been this close to Adison before. To put it simply, he was struck dumb by her beauty. Her milky skin, with freckles mapped across her nose and cheeks like a galaxy. Her round, puffy lips. The big blue eyes that made him want to fulfill any request she might ever have.
And the smell of her. Vanilla and flowers. Add that to how good it felt to have her body sidled up to his, and the effect was intoxicating.
When he didn’t respond right away, her front teeth released her lip and she looked away. “I’m really sorry, Mr. Montoya. I didn’t have that planned. It just kind of happened.”
“It’s okay.”
“Really?” She cautiously looked back at him.
“I think I have a good sense of what was going on.” Conscious of how close they still were, he scooted his chair away from her by about a foot. Playtime was over. Though, admittedly, he’d enjoyed it.
Adison sighed. “That was my ex. We just broke up last week, and he already has a new girlfriend. For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to respond to that by claiming I’ve already met someone new.”
“Me?” He grinned.
It was supposed to be a joke, but she blushed and dipped her face.
“I’m kidding,” he said. “Please. Go on with your story.”
She placed her hands on the table, both of them in fists. “All I said was that it’s someone I met at work. A complete lie. And right then you walked over. I’m sorry that I drew you into it.”
“Ah. I see.” He nodded. “Well, I don’t fault you at all. If I might insert my opinion, I’d like to say that your ex seems like a terrible person. That’s my initial read.”
“He cheated on me. I came home early on Thanksgiving and he had a girl over.”
Ken literally saw red. If he’d known that when Danny was there, their conversation might have ended differently.
“That’s awful,” he said.
She shrugged. “It is what it is. I’m moving on. Just not…” She fiddled with her bracelet. “Not right away. Again, I’m sorry.”
“And again, it’s fine.”
She watched him from the corner of her eye. “You sure? You’re not going to…”
“What?”
“Never mind.” She flipped her wrist, then grabbed the paper cup next to her and tried to take a sip. Her coffee was gone, though, so she put the cup down and went back to messing with the bracelet.
“Can I get you another coffee?” he asked.
“No, thank you. I’ve had enough.”
“Did you think I would fire you?”
She cringed. “Maybe?”
Ken’s chest constricted. It sucked to know she thought he would can her after such a small infraction—if you could even call it that. To him, it had been an opportunity to help out a nice person who was clearly in a crappy situation.
“We hired you because you are an asset to the Montoya Foundation, Adison.” He paused, liking how it felt to say her name. “I would never let you go over something such as this.”
“Okay.” The tension released from her shoulders. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
There was a pregnant pause, and Adison’s throat rolled with a swallow. “Do you need to get yourself some coffee?”
“No.” He was surprised to find he’d almost forgotten all about asking her to plan the party. “That’s not why I came here. I have something to ask of you.”
Her cinnamon eyebrows knit together. “What is it?”
“Jazzie told me you were an event planner before you joined the Montoya Foundation.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“I’m throwing a Christmas party, and I would like you to plan it.”
She couldn’t have looked more surprised if he had asked her to plan a mission to Mars. “Christmas? Like the holiday?”
“Is there another Christmas?”
“No, no, it’s just…” She pressed her thumb to her cheek, an adorable gesture. “It’s well-known around the office that you don’t like Christmas.”
He tried not to cringe at that. He wasn’t Scrooge, but hear someone talk about his preference for skipping the holidays and you might think exactly that.
“Perhaps I’ve had a change of heart,” he said lightly.
She didn’t look convinced, but she also didn’t know him well enough to contradict him. “When is the party?” she asked.
“The twenty-third.”
“Where will it be? How many guests? Are you doing a meal?”
“Uh…”
“Oh. Wow,” she said, her eyebrows raising. “This is pretty impromptu.”
“I will pay you for it, of course,” he said. “Whatever your planning rate is, plus extra for doing it last-minute.”
“Considering the fix you just got me out of, I’d do it for free.”
“And I would not hear of that. You will be compensated for your time.”
“Okay. Thank you.” She opened her phone. “If we’re going to do this, we need to start now. Tell me any ideas you have for it.”
He drew a breath. “It will be a company party, so plan for everyone at the Montoya Foundation along with a plus-one for each.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere.” She nodded as she typed. “What about themes? I know it’s Christmas, but do you want to spin that a specific way? And what time of day are you thinking? Is this a dinner party? Brunch? Cocktails and apps?”
As soon as they’d started planning the party, her demeanor had changed completely. Gone was the embarrassed, nervous Adison; she’d transformed into a woman who was in her element, confident and assertive.
“Evening, I think,” he said. “We can do dinner. Live music would be great, as well.”
He thought on it some more. What would impress Thea?
“You like Christmas,” he said.
Adison’s fingers stilled on her phone screen. “Um. Yeah. I do.”
“I want this party to be a Christmas lover’s dream. Do it any way you wish.”
Her eyes lit up. “What’s the budget?”
Now there was another detail he hadn’t thought about.
But Ken had plenty of money. Billions. And he wasn’t reckless with it, either. He continued to invest, and he’d flipped several mansions across the country. Dropping a little extra on a party that could end up helping struggling health centers would be well worth it.
“There is no budget,” he decided.
Predictably, her eyes widened. “You must really want to impress the office.”
He started to answer, but she made a face. “I’m sorry. That was inappropriate. I shouldn’t have said it.”
He chuckled. “It’s fine. Just put everything together and then send
me a rough estimate, although I can tell you now that I will okay it. I want this to be the most impressive Christmas party this town has ever seen. The whole state needs to be talking about it for years to come. Do you think you can do that?”
That marvelous smile was back. “I know I can.”
“Good.” He nodded, confident that he had found the perfect woman for the job.
Chapter 9
Adison
When she left the coffee shop, Adison’s head spun from the multitude of ideas floating around in there. Ken had gone ahead, telling her to stay at Drip and take as much time as she needed brainstorming.
She’d only taken a couple minutes, though. She hadn’t wanted to neglect her work responsibilities, but she’d felt odd about walking back to the office with Ken.
He’d swooped into one of the most uncomfortable conversations of her life, literally becoming her knight in shining armor. Fast-forward fifteen minutes, and he was offering her the kind of job she’d fantasized about for years.
Her heart was full of gratitude, joy, and excitement. Along with something else she wasn’t sure she should be feeling.
When Ken had wrapped his arm around her shoulders, his touch had felt so right. It stole her breath and shook up her world. Walking back to the office now, her stomach was still full of butterflies.
It was a feeling she couldn’t trust. She’d just left a relationship; for all she knew she was only reacting to the need to be close to a man.
Seeing as Ken was her boss, she couldn’t screw things up by entertaining fantasies about a personal relationship. She’d just have to throw all that pent-up energy into planning the party of her career.
She’d planned on giving event planning up in order to focus on her new job, but now that she had a party to throw, she realized how much she already missed it all.
By the time she reached her cubicle, she’d already decided the theme would be “Winter Wonderland.” Since The Montoya Foundation was an umbrella charity, they could have a Christmas tree with ornaments that had names of families or nonprofits in need. Any guest who wished to could select an ornament and make a donation to the name on it.
These, along with numerous other ideas, kept her energy going through the rest of the day. She still had her regular work to focus on, though, so she couldn’t actually do any party work until after she clocked out.
“Taffy, where are you?” Adison called, as she let herself into her apartment. The joyous voice echoing in the main room surprised her. It was, quite possibly, the happiest she’d sounded since moving into the place.
After pouring Taffy a fresh bowl of cat food, she settled onto her air mattress and started looking up venues. The Montoya Foundation had a hundred and fifty employees total. Add a plus-one for everyone, and that was three hundred people.
The thought of planning a party for that many people didn’t unnerve her. She had long ago developed a methodical approach to big events. It was the swiftly approaching date that had her nervous.
Typically, companies booked venues for events like this months in advance. They were only a few weeks away from the twenty-third. If she were going to pull this off, Adison needed to get a venue fast.
“Sorry, nothing is available,” said the first place.
“Try back next year,” said the second.
“This late?” The rep for the third place actually laughed out loud.
She called seven more venues, managing to get someone on the phone for all of them except one. For that place she left a voicemail.
Not that she had much hope. As she stared at a list full of crossed-off names, her heart sank. She’d called converted warehouses and barns, a ballroom, a tearoom, and several hotels. If the downtown event space she’d left a message with called back with bad news, she was out of options.
Which sucked. It wouldn’t be her fault, but it sure would feel that way.
Someone knocked on the front door, making her look up from the notebook.
“It’s me!” Corinne called through the wood.
Adison wasn’t surprised—since she’d chosen to relocate back to the apartment complex she’d lived in before moving in with Danny, she was now just a three-minute walk away from her best friend’s front door.
She jumped up from the air mattress and jogged to open the door. “Hi, bestie.”
“Just checking in.” Corinne looked cautiously around the living room, as if she expected to find wads of tissues and empty tubs of ice cream all over the place. “How are you doing?”
“I’m doing good.”
“You sound…” Corinne turned on her heel to study Adison. “Dare I say it?”
“Like I’m in a good mood?” Adison laughed.
“It went well with Danny, then.”
“Huh?” She wasn’t faking it; she’d barely thought about Danny all afternoon. Something much more important had been taking up her attention.
“No,” she said. “It’s something else. Be right back.”
She scurried into the bedroom, grabbed the sparkly red and green notebook she was planning the party in, and brought it back to show Corinne.
“You got a new notebook?” Corinne scooped Taffy up and held her with her belly up, like she was a baby.
“I’m planning the Montoya Foundation’s Christmas party.”
“Wait a minute. I thought—”
“I know, right.” Adison dropped the notebook on the island. “I guess he had a change of heart.”
Corinne smiled knowingly. “Maybe your decorations had something to do with it?”
“What? No.” It felt like the heat in the apartment had been turned up by ten degrees.
Corinne shrugged, clearly not planning on pressing the matter. At least for the moment. “So how’s the planning going?”
Adison tried not to sigh, but it was no use. “I started an hour ago, and so far, not that good. It’s nearly impossible to find an available venue this late.”
“What day is the party?”
“The twenty-third.”
Corinne snorted.
“I know.” Adison pushed her fingers through her hair and tried to stay positive. “There’s one more place. Once they call—”
Her phone started ringing and she looked at Corinne. “Speak of the devil?”
She pulled the phone from her pocket. “Hello?”
“Hi,” a woman said, “this is Amanda from the Salazar, returning a call about availability on the twenty-third.”
Adison’s heart jumped. “Yes, that was me. Is the day available?”
“I’m sorry, it’s not. We typically start booking the week before Christmas months in advance.”
Adison closed her eyes. “Thank you for letting me know.”
“Bad news?” Corinne asked as Adison hung up.
“This sucks.” She shook her head. “The only option is for me to broaden the search beyond the city, and it’s a company party. People aren’t going to want to drive twenty or thirty miles to get to it. And that’s assuming I even find somewhere that close.”
“There has to be something.”
Adison nodded. No way would she give up.
“I’m calling Mr. Montoya.” She searched for his personal cell number, which he’d given her before they parted ways at Drip.
The phone rang twice before he picked up. “Hello, Adison.”
She hadn’t been prepared for the voice like butter. No, whiskey. Smooth, but with a little bit of fire to it. Did he sound this sexy in person, or was it only on the phone?
“H-hello, Mr. Montoya,” she stammered.
“Please, call me Ken,” he said lightly. “How’s the planning going so far?”
“About that… I’ve called every event location in Buffalo that would be large enough, and they’re all booked on the twenty-third. The only solution I can come up with is throwing the party slightly outside of town. Say Cheektowaga.”
Not that she had much hope for that town either. Or any town in the whole countr
y.
“Hm,” was all he said.
“I can make this work,” she said quickly. “I just need some wiggle room.” She glanced at Corinne and crossed her fingers.
“I might have a solution. Can you come to my house?”
Adison’s lashes fluttered, and she felt momentarily shocked by the question. Maybe because she’d never even imagined what Ken Montoya’s house looked like. And she’d definitely never imagined she would see it.
“Sure. When?”
“How is right now?”
It was barely seven. She’d had no dinner; hadn’t even changed out of her work clothes. But none of that mattered. This party had already become her number-one priority.
“Good. I can come right now.”
“Where?” Corinne hissed.
“Perfect,” Ken said. “I’ll text you the address. See you soon.”
“Okay. Bye.” She hung up, surprised to find her hands were shaking.
There was no need to be nervous. She was only going to her boss’s house. Her super attractive boss that she had already told herself was off-limits.
“He wants me to meet him at his house,” she announced.
“Oh. Where does he live?”
“I’ll find out in a second,” Adison said, right as the text came in. She recognized the street. Not surprisingly, it was in one of the nicest parts of town. Still, it wouldn’t be more than a fifteen-minute drive.
She grabbed her purse, coat, and the notebook. “Sorry to kick you out right after you’ve gotten here.”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about me.” Corinne followed her out of the apartment, and they walked down the hall together after Adison locked the front door. “You do your thing. Text me and let me know you made it home safe, okay?”
“I will. Thanks.” Adison blew her a kiss, and they parted ways at the bottom of the stairs, Corinne walking for her building and Adison getting into her car.
Though her hands had stopped shaking, she found she was sweating—even despite the cold. Putting the address into her GPS, she took a deep breath and pulled onto the street.
