Page 32 of Secret Santa

“Who hasn’t he been with here?” She sighed, then pushed off the desk. “I mean, do whatever you want, but girl to girl, I thought I should warn you.”

I didn’t want to believe it, but how could I not? I’d seen him at her desk every day since I started. Maybe his old assistant left because he had a relationship with her. He offered to help me find a new job if things went south between us; maybe he offered her the same thing.

The way he talked, like he was so confident that everything would be fine; maybe he knew it would be fine because he did this all the time.

“Maybe he’s serious about you,” she continued with a small shrug. “But he said he was serious about me, too. You know how men are. Once they get what they’re after, they’re not interested anymore.”

I chewed on my cheek. Skin tore and blood pooled in my mouth, but I was too far gone to care.

How could I be so stupid? How could I think he’d really want me?

All those things he’d said were lies. They had to be. My mom was right–I was stupid.

15

AIDEN

I reached for her hand as we walked into the boardroom, but she pulled away at the last second. She tucked her hair behind her ear, barely glancing at me as she placed papers around the table.

She’d been acting strange all morning, and I couldn’t figure out why. I stood at the door and watched her round the table, working efficiently. Her eyes never drifted to me. Not once.

“Danica,” I called, and her back stiffened. Slowly, she turned toward me, a tight smile on her face. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” she said flatly. She stepped toward the door, but when I didn’t move, she paused. “I need to get everyone coffee and water.”

“It can wait.” I folded my arms over my chest as I stared at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said. “I just need to do my job. Please move, Aiden.” I blinked at her. It was a tone I hadn’t heard from her before, and I didn’t know how I felt about it. We stared at each other defiantly, something thick growing between us.

“Will you–” A knock at the door cut my words short, and I sighed before taking a step away. “We’ll discuss this later.” Her head reared back.

“There’s nothing to discuss,” she hissed, then pulled the door open. Trey and David stood there, and when Danica shoved past them, their smiles fell.

“What was that about?” David asked.

“No idea,” I grumbled.

Moving to the head of the table, I stood as the two men filed in and found their seats. Trey was the head of marketing, and David worked mostly with our finances. I needed to see if it would be possible to give this social media thing a go.

I stared at the door, waiting for her to come back. Trey and David continued talking, but I wasn’t listening. I really didn’t care about what they were talking about. I cared about figuring out what the hell was wrong with Danica.

She re-entered the room with a tray full of water and coffee. I moved toward her, my hands outstretched to take it from her, but she stopped and lifted her eyes to mine. The look in them was ice cold. It took my breath away, and momentarily, I was frozen. What the fuck had happened in the few hours we’d been here?

I cleared my throat, then stepped to the side and let her pass the drinks out. I watched her carefully, and when she smiled at David, I nearly ripped his head off his fucking shoulders.

Why did he get a smile and I didn’t? What the fuck had he done to deserve it?

“Let’s start.” I stomped to my chair, aware of their gazes on me, but it was hers I felt more than theirs. “Danica had an idea. Would you like to share it, or shall I?” I lifted my brows at her, impatiently waiting for her answer. She glared at me, her jaw working side to side.

“Go ahead,” she gritted out, then turned on her heel and stormed toward the door.

“You’re not allowed to leave,” I barked. “This meeting isn’t over.”

“You can handle it,” she called over her shoulder and slammed the door behind her. My chest heaved as I stared at it, wishing I could see through the fucking wood and see what the fuck she was doing, where she was going.

David cleared his throat, and I slowly turned my gaze to him. “What?” I growled as I leaned my fists on the table.

“Nothing,” he said quickly. “Absolutely nothing.” My eye twitched. “You okay, boss?”

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