All I Want For Christmas Is You - Penelope Ward Page 0,30
better fucking yet, stay!
I didn’t want to become someone I wasn’t just because I was jealous. That thought stayed me.
Not wanting Evan to hate me any more than I feared she already did, I slumped down in my chair.
Missing her already.
Evan
Mid-December
As soon as Belle and her father walked away with gift in hand, Reid was there. He strode up onto the platform where Santa sat and bent down to whisper something in Santa Gary’s ear.
Whatever it was, it had Gary blanching beneath his fake white beard.
“Hey, mate,” Gary pulled away from Reid. His words just loud enough for me to hear, “No harm meant, aye.”
Reid cut him a dark look before turning it on me.
I bristled at his displeasure as his gaze raked down my body and back up again. “They needed an Elf,” I whispered.
Suddenly he was before me, his chest almost touching me. “And you thought it would be a good idea for my PA to dress up in a ridiculous elf costume? Why couldn’t someone else do it?”
“You’re making a scene,” I said it through gritted teeth as I beamed up at him. “The kids are waiting to meet Santa.”
He flicked a look over my shoulder and his scowl eased. When his gaze returned to mine he said, “As soon as you’re on break, I want you in my office.”
Irritated that he was being so uptight about the whole thing, I gave him a brief nod and then whirled around to face the line of kids again. As I talked with a shy little boy, I eventually felt the heat of Reid’s stare disappear. When I turned back around toward Santa, my boss was, thankfully, gone.
“Is it true Mr. Shaw is unhappy about this?” Kelly hurried toward me as I walked through the atrium in my costume, drawing stares from customers.
As promised, I was on my way to deal with Reid during my break. I waved Kelly off as she walked along with me. “It’s fine. I should have asked him before I agreed to do it. He obviously needed me for something and is annoyed I wasn’t there for him. Which is fair enough.”
“Oh God, I feel awful for getting you in trouble.”
I shrugged. “How much trouble can I really get into? I’m leaving, remember.”
“Right.” Kelly frowned. The announcement I was leaving confused most of the staff. When asked why I was moving on, I lied and said I needed a new challenge. I knew they weren’t buying it. Who needed a new challenge after only working in a job for nine months?
Oh well.
Let them gossip about it.
I left Kelly standing in the beauty department and made my way to the elevators. Swiping my ID card across the screen below the buttons for the customer floors, I unlocked the staff floor buttons. With a shaking hand, I pressed for the top floor.
Why I was so nervous, I had no idea.
I couldn’t possibly still care what Reid thought of me.
Yes, I could.
Ugh!
By the time I reached his office door, my heart hammered against my rib cage. I knocked softly.
“Come in.”
My belly fluttered at the sound of his voice.
Damn him.
I stepped inside and found him walking around his desk to lean against it. He crossed his arms over his chest and his right ankle over his left.
His dark eyes gleamed with something that could have been anger or lust. Maybe even both.
That look made my palms sweat.
Reid’s gaze lowered down my body and back up again.
I shifted uncomfortably, feeling a deep, low, needful tug in my belly.
While earlier he’d said the costume was ridiculous, I got the very distinct feeling he was imagining ripping me out of it.
Oh boy.
“You wanted to see me?”
His eyes returned to mine. “Didn’t you think it appropriate to ask me first before you played Santa’s Little Helper for the day?”
“Probably. But we had paying customers waiting to meet Santa. They needed me.”
“I needed you. We were supposed to go over the applications for your replacement today.”
My replacement.
I hated how much that word stung.
“I assumed you could do that on your own.”
“You assume too much.” Reid abruptly pushed up off the desk and strode toward me.
I braced myself, my breathing grew shallow.
The air between us crackled. There was a dark intent in Reid’s eyes.
To my confusion, he brushed past me. I glanced over my shoulder, wondering where he was going.
He looked back at me as he stopped at the door and then very deliberately locked it.