Page 45 of Stranded for Christmas with my Boss

“Yes,” Alyssa replies, her voice sounding a bit strained.

Luckily, Oliver finally spots Alyssa and quickly comes to the rescue. He charges across the house toward her with his friends in tow. “Alyssa! You’re an elf!”

I step out of the way as Oliver throws his arms around Alyssa’s waist in a crushing hug. I share a warm smile with Holly before she starts snapping pictures as Alyssa interacts with the kids, letting them touch her costume and wear her hat.

“Are you good?” I ask Alyssa as the kids start to drag her toward the dining room to play.

Alyssa shoots me a smile over her shoulder. “I’ve got this.”

Our eyes linger on each other for a moment, my heart thudding to a sudden stop. Moments like these throw me off-balance, making me feel…indescribable. It’s a good feeling, but what will it turn into? Where will this complicated, uncertain relationship that we don’t even talk about go?

Alyssa is dragged off, leaving me there with my sister, who turns to me.

“So, she’s just your assistant?”

My eyes snap to Holly, but I don’t even get a chance to respond to her.

“So he has said to me,” Austin comments as he walks up to Holly’s side. He crosses his arms and gives me a pointed look. “I didn’t know you invited your assistant to your nephew’s birthday party. Bit of an intimate event for that, don’t you think?”

Holly glances between the two of us, her expression morphing into a confused one as she quickly notices the tension between us.

I sigh as I glance in Alyssa’s direction, watching her teach some sort of Christmas dance to the kids. “Look…I tried staying away from her and giving her so much damn work that we barely saw each other. It didn’t work. It won’t work.”

Holly’s eyes widen as she grabs my arm. “You like her?”

“I think he more than likes her if he’s willing to risk his career for her,” Austin replies.

Their voices form a conflicting cloud of noise in my head, muffling my thoughts as I try to figure out what the hell to say. I don’t even know how to explain any of this to myself.

“I do like her. I understand that she’s my assistant and there might be backlash, but…how am I supposed to help my feelings?” I question Austin. “Genuine feelings. Not lust. Not some sort of fucked up power dynamic. I…care about her. I care about the fact that she’s a family person. That she loves workinghard and helping people. And that Christmas is obviously her favorite holiday.”

Holly’s and Austin’s gazes follow my hand as I gesture in Alyssa’s direction. Holly smiles as Alyssa poses for a picture next to one of Oliver’s friends. “Well, she does seem really sweet. I like her.”

Austin eyes me for a few seconds, his jaw tightening, but he eventually sighs. “You’re killing me, man. Absolutely killing me.”

I lift an eyebrow at him as I watch his stony demeanor crumble more and more by the second. “I don’t know where things are heading with us or what will happen, but I don’t want to hold myself back from something that could be really good.”

The corner of Austin’s mouth slightly turns up as he nods. “And I agree with you. You should see where things go because I do want you to be happy and finally findthe one. Just be careful. Be mindful.”

It’s good advice. If anything happens between Alyssa and me, a lot will be at stake. We’ll have to think of more than just our feelings.

Like my parents.

There are other factors at play, and I don’t plan on destroying both of our lives and reputations over a racing heart. But when will there be a good time to talk to her about us? The office isn’t appropriate for that kind of talk, and it’s not like we hang out a lot outside of work hours.

We’ll have to make time. We may even have to make sacrifices.

But as I watch her twirl around, her laughter ringing through the air, I don’t want to worry about any of that right now. I just want to admire her and the way she lifts the spirits of those around her.

Including mine.

Chapter twenty-one

Alyssa

“She said yes! She actually said yes!”

My voice echoes up and down the hallway as I hurry out of the conference room where some of the marketing team members and myself have been working for the past few hours on last-minute changes to the marketing campaign. It’s the twenty-second of December, which means we’re right against the wire.

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