Cori was smiling as she took a bite of her turkey. I was beginning to think taking her back to Vail with me was a mistake. She was really going to put a damper on my personal life. Then again, it might not be a bad thing to slow down for a bit. I’d been sowing my wild oats, as my father called it, for years. I didn’t want a relationship.
I tried that. None of the women I dated would ever quite take the place of the one that got away. It seemed pointless to try and pretend they could. Instead, I opted to keep things very casual. I didn’t do the long-term thing. I just had a little fun and moved on.
That was the way I wanted to keep things.
Chapter 3
Harper
My feet were killing me. I felt like I had walked at least twenty miles in heels. In fact, I was pretty sure I actually had walked that far. The day had started around three that morning and I had been moving ever since. I was beat and exhilarated at the same time. The doors had opened, and the crowds poured in. Our displays were beautiful. I knew our customers enjoyed them as well. I was on the floor, constantly moving and heading off any problems that might arise.
“Excuse me,” I said, trying to make my way around a group of women discussing the benefits of buying kids’ clothes a size too big.
The crowds had been coming all day. It was a successful day of sales. We had sold out of our Black Friday deals within the first couple of hours. That didn’t stop people from buying the other similar items that were strategically placed nearby. The items that weren’t on sale. It was all part of the game. I was thrilled to see the credit cards sliding through the registers. There had been a handful of complaints but that was to be expected. I was going to call the day a success. The real story would be the final sales numbers for the day. It was going to be good. I just knew it.
I just hoped it would be good enough to blot out the lack of Santa. No one was really looking for Santa on the day that was all about buying, but they would be soon. All the pretty little dresses and the cute little suits for the boys were all bought with the idea of getting a picture with Santa. We had to find a way to keep those dollars in-house.
I made my way to the door that would lead down the hall to the elevators that would take me to the top floor. I was dying to get to my office, sit down, and kick off my heels. My feet ached. I could have worn my sensible shoes but that would take away from that cutting-edge thing I had going on. I stopped by the employee breakroom to make myself a cup of tea.
I was absently stirring in sugar, my thoughts elsewhere. I looked out the window that overlooked Boulder and stared at the snow-covered roofs that stretched on and on. It was such a pretty place. I loved the snow in November and December and even a little bit in January. By February, I always got a serious case of cabin fever.
I sipped the tea, thinking about the coming weeks. It was going to be wild. It usually left me feeling a little wiped out, but I liked to think of it as training for a marathon. I trained all year and then pushed hard until my body was close to collapsing. I embraced the craziness. I loved it. It was an adrenaline rush. When mid-January rolled around, I always took time to reflect. That time was not now. I didn’t have time to daydream.
I heard a familiar voice down the hall. I immediately felt guilty, like I was caught lying down on the job. I put down the tea and smoothed down my blouse, making sure it was all tucked in neatly before I walked out of the breakroom. Bob Banner, my boss, was talking with one of the customer-service ladies. He had been busy all day, avoiding me like the plague. I was sure that was on purpose, but it wasn’t like I could stop him and demand he give me five minutes. He was doing his thing, schmoozing and