Page 56 of Stranded for Christmas with my Boss

“Did you even check out?” I raise my voice over the loud whir.

“I left the key and a voicemail,” Jensen laughs. “I already paid for the room!”

Our laughter mingles, fading into the drone of the rotors as we rise higher and higher up into the sky. Our cabin becomes smaller and smaller, eventually fading into the distance as the helicopter heads toward the city looming in the distance.

I grab Jensen’s hand, sharing a smile with him as my eyes start to burn. I can’t believe he did this. He defied the odds stacked against us, and I regret ever doubting him. Judging him. Pulling away from him.

He’s the man whose arms I want to run into. Always.

“Hold on!” Jensen tells me as the helicopter takes us over shiny Manhattan, snow and ice glittering on the streets and buildings. The city is quieter than usual as everyone celebrates a white Christmas morning inside with their loved ones, golden Christmas trees illuminating the windows.

“Where are we landing?” I ask him, too nervous to try and look out to see.

“On top of my building!”

My jaw drops before I wind my hands around his arm, holding tight as I feel the helicopter descend. When I finally feel us come to a stop with a thump, I release the breath I was holding in my lungs, the sound bordering on a gasp.

While Jensen talks to the pilot, I unbuckle myself in a slight daze, hardly able to believe I’m miles away from where we werestuck at. Now that we’re in the city, I have a better chance of seeing my parents today, even if it’s a little later.

“Let’s go,” Jensen says as he opens the door and helps me step out onto the roof.

I put my arms out, steadying myself in the blanket of snow on the rooftop. The last thing I want to do is slip and give myself a concussion on Christmas.

Jensen strides to the door leading off the rooftop, seeming incredibly eager to get inside. I doubt it’s because he’s cold.

I didn’t even think to wonder if there is more to this amazing Christmas surprise. Knowing Jensen and his refusal to half-ass anything, should I really only expect a one-part surprise?

Jensen holds his hand out to me as he opens the door that leads to an interior hallway and an elevator. “I might have one more surprise.”

I knew it.

“When did you plan all of this? We’ve been stuck together in a pretty small space!” I question him as I slip my hand in his, letting him drag me down the hallway toward the elevator.

Jensen hits the down button to go down one floor, leading me inside once the elevator doors slide open. “I’ve been very sneaky.”

I cock an eyebrow at him as the doors seal us inside together. “Oh, really?”

Jensen grins as he backs me up toward the back of the elevator, his hands finding my waist. “Really.”

My eyes lift to his, my heart pounding as his body presses against mine. Every fiber of my being calls out for him, yearning for him.

Before I can properly close the distance between us, the doors slide open behind him. “Ready for the second part of your surprise?”

I catch my breath and nod, trailing him as he takes me to the door of his place. My eyes narrow in confusion at the sound of voices inside, my heart stopping. “Jensen…”

Jensen answers my question by opening the door, revealing a tree-lit Christmas celebration as Holly and Oliver dance to “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” in the living room and my parents watch them from the couch while laughing and enjoying hot chocolate and chocolate croissants.

My hand slaps over my mouth, but it doesn’t stifle the gasp that breaks from me, drawing the attention of everyone inside the room to me. Tears well up in my eyes as my parents smile and make their way over to me.

“Merry Christmas, honey,” my mom says, already starting to cry at the sight of me tearing up. She sweeps me into a tight hug in the foyer, my father’s strong arms wrapping around both of us.

“I can’t believe you guys are here! How are you all the way over here?” I ask them as I shake my head in disbelief, hanging onto their matching Christmas sweaters like I’m afraid they’ll be suddenly whisked away.

“Santa Claus,” my dad laughs, earning a playful swat from my mom as we break apart.

“You know how,” my mom replies as she smiles in Jensen’s direction.

I turn and face him as he watches from the doorway with a warm expression on his face. Somehow, without me even knowing, he pulled off the best Christmas surprise ever. One that I willneverforget.

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