Page 25 of Santa Is A Sl*t

They follow the order without question, though I’m sure they will have plenty on the car ride.

Let’s just hope we can pull off a Christmas miracle.

We’re sitting in a conference room at the Ground Up headquarters waiting for our meeting to begin when I start to question whether or not I should have called Noel for this.

I don’t have time to dwell before her best friend enters the room with two men.

“Eve!” She says as she comes over to where I’m sitting and I stand to meet her hug. “It’s been too long since our last girl’s night. We should put one on the calendar soon.”

I smile when both of the men groan at the idea. Maybe because they don’t want to spend a night away from her or maybe because our girl’s nights never stay as chill as we promise. I’ve only been around for two of them and I woke up the next morning smelling like a distillery.

We all take our seats, with the Ground Up team sitting across from us.

“This is Romeo and Beau,” she says as she gestures to each man.

I won’t lie, these men are attractive. But I think my guys might be a little hotter.

“Kane and Nicholas,” I introduce my own team.

Val giggles. “Oh, yes, I guess I’m not entitled to the privilege of calling you Nico.”

I swear I see a blush on his cheeks and I wonder exactly why she would have said that. And why he would have reacted.

It must be because of something that Noel told her.

“I really appreciate you taking the time to meet us at the last minute, Val.” I tell her genuinely.

She waves her hand. “Of course. I’m sorry Hart couldn’t make it, he had a prior appointment.”

I nod in understanding. “We wanted to talk over a business opportunity with you. And before we give you our pitch please know I would never have put you in this position if we weren’t desperate.”

Val nods, “it sounds serious. What’s going on?”

Nico pulls out his folder and begins talking through the same idea he pitched to us back at SantaScape.

“This sounds interesting but can I ask why you thought we were the people to bring this to?” Beau asks. He’s not rude, just confused.

Nico gestures for me to take over.

“We understand that right now, this sounds like a supermarket holiday aisle idea. We thought so too,” I say with a playful smile. “I thought we should bring it to your team because of your sustainability efforts.”

Val’s eyes light up before she shares a sly smile with her partners. “You want to make an eco-friendly line of diverse holiday decor.”

“Exactly,” I tell her. I’m impressed with how quickly she caught on.

Romeo’s face is full of curiosity. “And how fast are you hoping to move this process.”

Nico speaks up, “As fast as we can.”

I watch as Val looks at both of her partners, sharing looks that must be communicating without vocalizing any words.

Meeting my eyes, Val smiles. “We’re interested. It aligns with an initiative of mine and I think that if we were to work together, with the right team, this could be something incredible.”

“But,” Kane asks.

I tap his knee with my open hand, trying to scold him without them noticing.

“But we need to pitch it to Hart, too,” Val says kindly.

---