All I Want For Christmas Is You - Penelope Ward Page 0,16

grand bill under his personal account for the store. Reid had gone quiet at the news, giving nothing away regarding his feelings on the matter.

Then, today, I’d been in the staff room trying to diffuse a quarrel between Ailsa, the manager of the salon, and Louis, the manager of the beauty department. Apparently, Ailsa had recommended a product to a customer that we didn’t stock and this ruffled Louis’s feathers. While he was sort of right that she should only recommend store products, I couldn’t help but understand why Ailsa was pissed off at him for his condescending attitude.

Handling staff disputes was not part of my job description. It should fall to either George, the general manager, the human resources department, or Reid himself. Reid, however, had no patience for ‘tattletales’ as he called them, and George was in a meeting with our events coordinator for the upcoming Halloween sale. Human resources were surprisingly good at avoiding human contact outside of their own department. Reid had asked that ‘I see to the problem’ regarding the staff. This had been happening more and more lately since I had a knack for diffusing situations.

“So,” I was saying to Ailsa and Louis, “If Ailsa thinks this product is a better one than the products in Shaw’s, I’ll talk to Reid about stocking it. That way we all win. Yes?”

Louis gave a little huff but nodded.

Ailsa beamed.

That’s when I saw Emmy floating by the staff room wearing four-inch heels, her diaphanous trench coat billowing behind her as she strutted down the hallway toward Reid’s office.

“Uh … I have to go. We’re all good?” I gave Louis and Ailsa a thumbs up before scurrying out of the staff room before they could stop me. “Back to work,” I threw over my shoulder.

Emmy was already in Reid’s office by the time I caught up. The woman had outrageously long legs.

That’s when I abandoned all common decency and pressed my ear to the door.

I was shamefaced but not nearly enough to stop myself.

“Three months is nothing,” Reid said calmly.

While my boss could glower for Scotland and brood and cut a person with a look so dirty I’d seen grown men crumble under it, he rarely raised his voice. He was always so in control. It made me want to ruffle his feathers.

And by ruffle his feathers, I mean drive him so wild with passion he falls on me like a wild thing.

Flushing hot at the imagery, I squeezed my thighs tight together and tried to concentrate on the somewhat muffled conversation beyond the door.

“Do you know how many men would die to have me in their bed?” Emmy countered.

At her arrogance, I stifled a snort.

So she was tall, voluptuous and gorgeous.

Big deal.

If she had a beautiful heart to go with her pretty facade, then she would have been right. Reid would be lucky to have her.

Unfortunately, Emmy was kind of a snooty cow.

She looked down her nose at Reid’s staff and expected them to snap to her every demand and was what she referred to as a socialite. A socialite? Did those even exist in Edinburgh? Apparently so, because Emmy didn’t work for a living. She had a degree from St. Andrews University, so she wasn’t stupid, but she was from a wealthy family. Between their money and Reid’s, Emmy didn’t seem to think working was a productive use of her time.

Did I sound judgemental?

I wasn’t usually judgy.

But I was judging her. I admit it.

The thing of it was, I couldn’t understand how this lack of work ethic could appeal to Reid. My brother’s best friend hadn’t gotten to where he was in life without a serious amount of hard work. He’d grown up around the corner from us in Dalkeith, a town about thirty minutes southeast of Edinburgh city center. A town I stilled lived in, occupying a tiny one-bedroom apartment a few streets over from my parents’ house.

Reid had grown up with a single mum, Annie. She’d worked her arse off to keep a roof over Reid’s head and food in his stomach. Like us, they didn’t have much, but they had each other and Annie had my parents while Reid had Patrick. I hadn’t come along until my brother and Reid were thirteen years old, so by the time I was old enough to really get to know Pat and Reid, they’d left home. Despite how easy it might have been for them to fall in with the wrong crowd of boys in our