by Holly Rayner
“Great.” He hung up and stepped into an empty elevator.
So the tables had been turned. He’d thought his time playing fake boyfriend was over, but apparently it wasn’t. Adison wasn’t the only person who needed a relationship to achieve their goals.
The irony of it all was almost too much. It made him wonder if everything that had happened was by chance or the hand of destiny.
Or maybe he was just observing the result of what happened when two determined, slightly sneaky, people came together. Either way, he couldn’t help but be entertained.
Chapter 15
Adison
The phone call ended with Adison’s pulse thrumming. Stepping to the side of the sidewalk, she sent Ken a text with the name of the bakery and its location.
What on earth was he planning on asking her? Did it have anything to do with the kiss Friday night?
They hadn’t spoken since he’d dropped her off at home. She’d been busy all weekend with party planning and had tried her hardest to not even think about Ken, but it had been hard.
That kiss had been…otherworldly. When Ken touched her, her body came alive in a way it never had before. She’d felt like they were dancing on clouds and not a hardwood floor.
But it had only been a passing moment. A mistake. He’d made that clear with his apology in the car on the way home.
And so she’d done her best to move on from it. Ken was attractive, and her heart beat faster just thinking about him, but he was her boss. Obviously, he’d only kissed her because he was as swept up in the moment as she’d been. Their connection didn’t go any deeper than that.
With a start, she realized she’d walked past the bakery. Backtracking, she pulled the door open and entered the shop. The delicious smells of cookies and cakes greeted her, along with one of her favorite Christmas songs. A thin tree with twinkly pink and purple lights was in the corner, and a blackboard announced the seasonal coffee drinks. A girl wearing a bandanna and a white apron was behind the counter, ringing up a customer.
This bakery was one of the best in the city. Not only did it have amazing reviews, but Adison knew from personal experience that the owners were more than capable of catering a party. She’d used them for two events before, and the guests had loved their macaroons and coconut cream cake.
For this event, though, she’d need something new. Something more Christmassy.
“Adison!” The swinging doors opened, and Cici De Roman breezed in from the kitchen area.
“Hello Cici! You’ve outdone yourself on the décor in here.” Adison met the woman in front of the cake display, where they hugged tight. “How are you?”
“Amazing, and excited to get this cupcake testing on the road.” She squeezed Adison’s hands.
“Thank you so much for this. You didn’t have to do a whole tasting.”
Cici waved the words away. “Girl, please. It’s my pleasure. Now you have a seat and I’ll have Willow make you some coffee while I get the cupcakes. What would you like? Try our gingerbread latte! It’s amazing.”
“Sounds delicious!” Adison laughed and took a seat at one of the pink tables. Cici had a habit of dominating a conversation, but she was so pleasant and fun that it was hard to mind it.
“Oh,” Adison added before Cici had the chance to rush back into the kitchen. “My boss is coming, too. Last-minute change.”
“The head honcho himself?” Cici made a show of dusting imaginary dirt off her apron. “In that case, I’ll bring out the big guns. Willow, two gingerbread lattes!”
Adison set her purse on the table and rubbed her palms together, noticing they were sweaty. Again, her mind drifted to Ken. What if he’d called because he regretted regretting the kiss? As in, he’d realized that he really was into her and wanted to pursue a relationship?
What would she say back?
She didn’t have to wonder. She already knew.
Despite the reasons she’d given herself for staying away from Ken, she wanted to be near him. She wanted more than conversations about parties and stolen moments on dance floors.
She wanted the chance to get to know him better. She wanted intimate moments on the couch, candlelit dinners, and weekend road trips.
The bakery’s front door opened, bringing with it a gust of cold and a tall, broad-shouldered figure. Adison sucked in a breath as Ken stepped into the shop and looked around.
“Hi.” Her voice sounded small, uncertain. Her pulse still raced.
“I found you,” he said warmly. “What are you up to in here?”
“Testing cupcakes!” Cici appeared, a tray of cupcakes balanced in her hand. “You must be Adison’s boss. It’s such a pleasure.”
“Good morning.” Ken nodded.
“Sit, sit.” Cici slid the cupcakes onto the table and pulled out the pink chair opposite Adison. “Coffee is on its way.”
“Oh. Thank you.” He took the seat and unwound his scarf, but kept his coat on. “This is quite the special treatment.”
“Adison is quite the special girl.” Cici winked, and Adison’s face warmed.
“Yes,” Ken said. “We’re very lucky to have her at the Montoya Foundation.”
The lattes arrived in wide-mouthed ceramic mugs, and Cici pointed out the different cupcakes. There was peppermint mocha, red velvet, chocolate liqueur, sugarplum fairy—which was filled with jam—hot chocolate, and eggnog.
“How do you pick?” Ken asked.
Adison handed him one of the two forks Cici had left them with before bustling back into the kitchen. “We pick together.”
They started with the peppermint mocha. Adison already knew she would narrow the selection down to one classic flavor plus one special concoction. Cici also had a vegan cupcake, so she would order that as well.
“They’re all good,” Ken announced after three.
“The best in the city. It’s hard to choose.” Adison dug her fork into the eggnog cupcake. Her appetite was so slight that she didn’t even know if she would be able to take another bite. Her nerves were really getting to her.
“I don’t have a preference.” He cleared his throat and picked up his latte—but didn’t drink it.
Adison licked her dry lips. “I didn’t plan on working on the party during regular office hours, but I’ve finished everything I need to do today, so I figured—”
“Don’t apologize. It’s quite all right. You know best how to manage your time.” He smiled, but it was strained.
An awkward moment passed. Under the table, Adison wrung her hands.
“You said you had something to ask me?” she said.
“Yes.” He put the coffee mug down and leaned closer. She caught a faint whiff of his aftershave, and it was all she needed for the memories of Friday night to come rushing back.
“It’s about this weekend,” he said. “I was wondering…”
“Uh-huh?” she almost whispered.
His bright eyes landed on hers. “Do you remember Thea Sorentis? She called when you were at my house.”
“I do,” Adison said slowly.
“Well, she’s having a get-together this weekend at her home in Wyoming. Would you like to accompany me there?”
“Oh.” Adison’s heart fluttered. “I’d love to.”
“Great.” He smiled broadly, and the whole world turned to glitter.
They were going away for the weekend! On a personal trip, not a business one. This had to mean that, like her, he wanted more of what they’d shared Friday night.
“By the way,” Ken said, “I want to apologize one more time for what happened at the party.”
And just like that, the illusion shattered. Adison sat there, speechless, staring at the thousand fragments at her feet.
“You are a wonderful woman, Adison, but it would be best if we keep our relationship professional.”
Somehow, she found the strength to speak. “Right. I get that.”
Except she didn’t really at all. She’d talked herself into believing a
personal relationship could be possible. Why couldn’t he do the same?
Because he didn’t really want her. That’s why.
Disappointment flooded her soul. Needing something to do, she took a long drink of coffee.
“I’d had a bit to drink,” she found herself saying. “I’m really a lightweight.”
“It’s all on me. My fault entirely.”
“Well…thank you.” She nodded. Drank her coffee. “Where did you say Thea’s place is?”
“Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We can take my jet.”
Adison put her coffee down and stared at the milk foam clinging to the cup’s rim. Why was he asking her to go on this trip with him if he wasn’t interested in dating her?
Perhaps he wanted to thank her for all her work on the party. Her mind strayed back to her initial suspicions about Thea being a love interest.
Once they got to Wyoming, was Ken planning on taking off for some intimate time with Thea? The thought made her feel sick, and she almost opened her mouth and declined the offer to go.
But then she remembered this was Jackson Hole. A true winter destination. Adison loved all things snowy, and that included sports. She’d never had the money to take herself to somewhere like Jackson Hole in the middle of winter. If Ken did disappear—with or without a woman—while they were there, she would just comfort herself with some skiing and sightseeing.
“Sounds like fun.” She looked up at him and did her best to seem like there was nothing but joy in her heart.
So nothing would ever happen between the two of them. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t care. Life wasn’t fair, though. She’d learned that the night she lost both her parents at the same time, and every once in a while, the universe reminded her of that truth.
As she always did, Adison forced herself to look at the positives. Even though she and Ken wouldn’t be going on a romantic getaway, she’d be getting a free trip to somewhere she’d always wanted to go.
“Excellent.” Ken raised his coffee cup in a cheers. “So which cupcakes are you getting?”
“Sugarplum, hot chocolate, and Cici’s famous vanilla vegan.”
“Wonderful choice.”
They clinked their mugs together, and if you were looking in at the scene through one of the bakery’s windows, everything might have seemed ideal. Like most situations, though, it was all really complicated, and Adison was just another person doing what she could to make the best of it all.
Chapter 16
Adison
They didn’t wait until the end of Friday to leave for Wyoming. Instead, Ken made arrangements for his jet to take off at three. Right after lunch, Adison discreetly packed up her things and went down to meet him in the lobby.
She wondered if anyone at the Montoya Foundation knew they were taking a trip together. If so, she wondered how it looked. Did she come across as a teacher's pet? Someone who was stealing Ken’s favor even though she was the newest addition to the company?
She certainly didn’t think she was either of those things. No, scratch that—she knew she wasn’t. Ken had made as much very clear.
He waited by the building’s front doors, talking on his cell phone. When he noticed her approach, he finished the call and put the phone away.
“Right on time.” He nodded at the small, rolling suitcase she’d packed the night before. “You’re traveling light, I see.”
“I usually do.”
She’d always been an efficient packer, and coiled in that one suitcase were enough clothes for several days, plus a paperback and the essential toiletries.
“The car’s right out front.” He led the way out of the lobby. Instead of walking to the parking lot Adison was used to heading to, they climbed into a running SUV in front of the Montoya Foundation.
It was nice and warm inside the car, where the seats were leather and there was a partition between them and the driver. The whole setup screamed luxury.
She buckled in, already feeling excited about the trip. Merely leaving work early on a Friday was enough to get her juiced. It reminded her of when her mom would pick her up from school early to leave on a family trip.
“What are you smiling about?” Ken asked.
“Was I smiling?” She hadn’t realized it.
“Yes.” A grin flicked at the corner of his mouth.
“I was thinking about my mom…and the trips we used to take together.” She turned to the window. It wasn’t a conversation topic she felt like opening right now.
“Do you travel together often?” Ken asked.
“We used to.” Adison kept looking out the window. She thought he might ask her to explain further, but to her relief Ken didn’t pry.
A short drive later, they arrived at the airport where the driver took them right onto the tarmac, bypassing the headache of checking in and going through security. For the first time in her life, Adison found herself looking up at a sleek, white private jet.
The car stopped in front of the stairs, and the driver jumped out to open Adison’s door.
“Thank you,” she told him, feeling like a princess. Was this the way it was every time Ken traveled?
She went to get her suitcase from the trunk, but a flight attendant had already grabbed it. Up in the plane were more leather seats, a cozy couch area, a flat-screen TV, and a mini bar.
“Wow,” she said under her breath.
“Make yourself at home.” Ken opened up the mini fridge, grabbed two bottles of water, and handed her one.
She sat in one of the seats next to a window, putting her water bottle in a cup holder. Talk about legroom; she could do a workout on this jet if she felt like it.
“Do you fly much?” she asked.
Ken took a seat across and down one from her. They were sitting in a little cluster of four chairs.
“Seems like all I used to do was travel. I’m happy to say I’m doing more and more business in Buffalo, though.” He paused. “I love it there.”
“Me too. I don’t think I’ll ever leave.”
“You grew up there?” he said.
Their conversation was interrupted by the flight attendant popping over to see if they needed anything. Coffee? A cocktail?
“I ordered dinner from a vegetarian place,” Ken told Adison. “Since I didn’t know…”
“I eat everything,” she assured him.
“Good.” His face lit up. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
The flight attendant left after they assured her they had everything they needed, closing the curtains that separated the front of the plane from the main part.
Moments later, the plane’s engines rumbled beneath them and they started rolling to the runway.
“You were telling me about where you grew up,” Ken reminded her.
“Here. Buffalo.” She fingered her water bottle cap. “As an only child. And you?”
“New York City.”
“So that’s where your no-nonsense attitude comes from.”
He smirked. “Who? Me?”
The plane tilted as it took off, making Adison’s stomach churn. She held onto the edges of the seat, not liking this part at all but taking comfort in knowing it would be over soon.
“Here.” Ken reached over and closed the window shade. “That helps me.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly, embarrassed that he’d noticed.
The jet reached its destined height and leveled out, and it was then that Adison noticed how close Ken was to her. He’d moved into the seat across from her to close the shade, and now their faces couldn’t be more than a foot apart.
He must have had the realization at the same moment. His bright blue eyes widened, and he cleared his throat before sitting back in the seat.
She looked down, hating the butterflies in her chest. When were they going to get the picture and migrate on out of there?
She cleared her throat, desperate to start a new conversation but not knowing what to say.
Thankfully, Ken spoke up. “H
ow is it going with the party decorations?”
“Good.” She met his gaze. “Corinne and I went to the craft store the other day. Once I get back from this trip, we’ll make the centerpieces for the cocktail tables. Something like this.”
She pulled out her phone and scrolled until she came to a picture of candles floating in water filled with glitter. The glitter and water had been mixed with glue and food coloring to distribute the glitter. “Except ours will be silver and red,” she said. “Winter wonderland.”
“That’s right. A perfect theme.” He propped his chin in his hand and gazed at her with what she was fairly sure was admiration. “Have you always been this good at decorating?”
“I’m not sure I’ve always been good at it, but I have always loved it. My mom was crazy for the holidays.” Adison hesitated, then continued.
“We always had three Christmas trees. One she would decorate all fancy, like something out of a magazine. That one went in front of the living room windows, so it could be seen from the street and was the first thing people saw when they entered the house.” Adison paused, picturing the tree in her mind and trying not to get misty-eyed before continuing.
“A second tree went in the family room. That one we’d decorate with family ornaments, those cheesy construction paper cut-outs with my picture on them and homemade garland made of strung popcorn. Best of all, the third tree went in my room. Each year I decorated that one however I liked, with items I’d find around the house. One year I had it covered in ornaments I’d made with cookie cutters, printer paper, and hung with paperclips.”
Adison finished with a laugh, and Ken chuckled as well. She hadn’t expected to share such a personal story, and it was probably the most she’d ever said in front of him at one time.
“Your mom sounds amazing.”
“She was amazing. She and my dad have been gone four years now. They died in a car accident.” Adison opened the blind. Fields and highways stretched out below, the cars little ants.
“I’m sorry.” His voice was thick and low. “My parents have also been gone for a few years, although I wasn’t nearly as close to them as it sounds like you were to yours.”
