Page 16 of Merry Little Hate Notes

She marched confidently over to place the bag on Holly’s desk. She gave me a barely imperceptible wave and smirk as she continued on tothe elevator. I had a feeling there was more to my mother than I ever knew. I’d only seen her as my mom and the ultimate volunteer. She’d been everything from room mom to PTA president as I grew up. Even now she spent most of her days volunteering in the community. She never missed one of my games and was present for all the big and little achievements in my life. I was just now realizing how little I really knew her. I was going to change that.

But first, I sat back down at the conference table where I’d been working, trying to give Holly some space by organizing online presentations for prospective clients. From that vantage point, I waited to see if Holly would return. She was driving me mad with her lithe body and her silky hair pulled up, a few sexy strands framing her gorgeous face. Even the way she walked was seductive—she waltzed like a nymph through the forest. The fact that she’d never realized her charm made her even more desirable. If she only knew how many guys in high school wanted the chance to see what made the quiet beauty tick. Christian saw to it that most of them never got the chance.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Holly to emerge from the bathroom. I watched through the glass door as she stared warily at the bag, afraid to even approach her desk. She probably assumed it was from me. That was my cue to grab my laptop and walk out like I’d just finished a call. I hated these games, but I hated staying away from Holly more.

I walked over nonchalantly, pretending to mind my own business, and set my laptop on the desk next to hers, near myOfficecharacter bobbleheads that I set out every day at work. Okay, perhaps I was less mature than I claimed. “I just got off a call with the COO of—”

“Did you put that bag there?” Holly interrupted, pointing at the bag.

“No.” I shook my head, happy I didn’t have to lie.

“Did you see who did?”

“You sound abnormally worried. Is there someone in the office who’s been bothering you? Besides me, obviously.” I smirked, doing my best to deflect her question.

Her lip twitched, begging to smile, but she fought it and frowned instead. “No. It’s just ... Well ...”

“Well, what? What’s wrong?”

She sighed and set her tablet near her laptop, eyeing the bag like it might bite her. “I don’t celebrate Christmas,” she mumbled, sounding so disheartened by the fact. “I feel bad when people give me gifts during the holidays.”

I could relate to that. Even more, it hurt me to remember how much she’d once loved this time of year. I could still picture her sleeping under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, bathed in the glow of the colored lights. She looked beautiful in any light, but especially Christmas lights. “I don’t either,” I whispered. “Not for a long time,” I added, hoping she would know why.

Her ice-blue eyes hit mine, and for a second we shared a moment of understanding. It was the first time she’d truly looked at me in years. I wanted to keep gazing into her ethereal eyes, but she quickly put her guard up.

She hastily looked back at the gift bag and replied to my earlier comment. “You can email me any pertinent information about your meeting.”

I wasn’t having any more of that. “If you want half my commissions, we’re going to play like a team.”

My boldness caught her off guard. Her creamy cheeks blushed while she clasped her shaking hands. For several seconds she said nothing. I figured she was debating whether to tell me off or quit. Either way, I wasn’t backing down. It was one thing if she wanted to personally ignore me—that I could understand. But she’d agreed to this partnership. And I was done with electronic communication only.

After considering for a moment, her stance relaxed. “Fine,” she murmured unwillingly. “Whom did you speak with?”

I let out the breath I’d been holding, feeling as if I’d won a minor victory. Although I couldn’t celebrate yet—I knew the battle had just begun and would get figuratively bloody before all was said and done.

“I spoke to Saige at Artemis Vibe Apparel. The CEO, Blake Vanderbilt, is going to be in Aspen next week on vacation. There’s a chance she’ll make time for us to meet her up there.”

Holly jerked her head my way. “Us? Why would I need to bethere?” She sounded panicked. “Marisol never had me travel with her. And I’m not typically involved at this level.”

“Artemis isn’t a typical company, now is it?” I countered. They were entirely female owned and operated and were none too thrilled that a man had taken over Marisol’s account. Our saving grace was Saige—the executive vice president liked Holly.

“No, they’re not,” Holly admitted. “But I still don’t see why I would need to be involved with any such meeting.”

“Because you have an established relationship with them and you’re a woman.” I did my best not to let my eyes rove over all her womanly features.

“So I would just go and sit there while you schmoozed their CEO?”

“For the record, I don’t schmooze people. Also, you would be the one doing theschmoozing.” I grinned.

“Oh, no, no, no. That’s not my job. I do the research, make the initial calls, set up meetings, and make the slide decks. I don’t give presentations.”

“You will if you want to close a deal that means”—I leaned closer to keep this next part private—“almost half a million dollars in commission.” Taxes would take half of that, and we would divide what remained, but this wasn’t a negligible sum. Artemis Vibe Apparel was a Forbes 100 company.

She stopped breathing for a moment before she squeaked out, “All right.”

I tried not to let my smile show the thrill I felt at winning this battle. It made me even more determined to score a meeting with Blake. What I wouldn’t do for an entire day with Holly where she couldn’t hide in the bathroom half the time. “If it comes to that, I’ll help you learn the art of schmoozing.”

She rolled her eyes and logged on to her laptop, ignoring the gift bag.

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