Page 38 of Her Secret Santa

I feel underwhelming in the slacks and button down I’m wearing, although at least I feel like my hair looks good. I spent more time than usual taming the blonde tresses into a neat ponytail, the few strands that aren’t long enough to put up curled subtly to frame my face.

They look nice, and they’re in good shape, but I feel like everyone can tell they’re secondhand. I’m still wearing the plain black flats I wore at the diner because even with my pay increase, buying new clothes just isn’t at the top of my priorities. It usually doesn’t bother me, but surrounded by so much corporate sterility, I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb. Maybe once the holidays are over and I’m in the office full time, I’ll have to shop for some more work-appropriate pieces. Some of the thrift stores in Manhattan have really good quality clothes that would blend right in here.

“I’d love that.” I’m here for a reason, even if I may not understand why they pickedme. I’m not going to focus on my insecurities when I have an opportunity like this. “It would be nice to get a feel for the rest of the office.”

“We’ll start at the break room, then,” she says, a kind smile on her face.

I stand and push my chair in, then smooth out the creases in my slacks. They’re a little loose on me, but I like the blue-gray color of them. They make me feel professional. Allie says they bring out the blue of my eyes, and I trust her fashion sense much more than my own.

Heidi heads toward the door, and I move to follow her, but a sharp knock sounds before we get there. It swings open beforeHeidi has a chance to extend an invitation, a broad shouldered man standing in the doorway.

His hair is inky black, styled in a way that’s so casually windswept it has to be intentional. It brushes over the tops of his ears, framing sharp cheekbones and a sharper jawline, but it’s his eyes that make me pause. It’s not the surprise in those eyes, nor the way long, dark lashes flutter as they rake over me.

They just seem so…familiar. I have no idea why—they’re so dark they look black, and I feel like I’d remember if I’d ever seen them before.

But something in my gut tightens when he meets my eyes and a muscle in his jaw twitches.

“Can I do something for you, Zade?” Heidi asks.

The sound of her voice breaks us out of our impromptu staring match, and I blink in confusion when he focuses his gaze on her. Losing his attention feels like he’s physically taken something from me, a touch that’s disappeared.

I’ve never reacted like this to someone I just met, and I swallow hard, trying to calm myself down.

Wait. Zade? Zade as in the CEO of Hawthorne Enterprises?

“I need the files from the Greyson acquisition,” he says, his voice low and smooth. “Landon thinks there’s a mistake in them.”

“Thereisa mistake in them.” The voice comes from behind Zade, and a look of pure disgust crosses his face even as he shifts aside to make room for the other man. “The final expenditures aren’t matching up.”

The man behind Zade is shorter, with a shock of red hair and a nasty, smug look in his gaze. I immediately decide I don’t like him. That decision is cemented when his eyes fall on me and his face morphs into a smile that almost passes for charming.

“My apologies, I didn’t realize we had a new face in the office,” he says, shouldering his way past Zade withan outstretched hand. “My name is Landon, I’m the VP of operations.”

There’s not a single part of me that wants to let this man touch me, a gut instinct telling me to stay far away from him, but I grit my teeth and shake his hand anyway. His palm is soft and slightly clammy, and there’s no strength in his wrist.

“Clara.” I introduce myself with a tight smile, pulling my hand away from his as soon as I can. “I’m taking over some of Heidi’s tasks before transferring to the graphic design team.”

“I have a feeling you’ll make a fantastic secretary,” he says with a grin.

It’s an innocuous enough statement, but I can tell from the gleam in his eyes his thoughts are anything but. I can practically see the fantasies of stockings and high heels dancing in his eyes, and I have to fight to keep my face passive.

“Can you not harassmyemployees, Landon?” Zade bites out, teeth bared in annoyance.

Heidi looks up from where she’s been rifling through a filing cabinet in surprise, glancing between the three of us. Zade is still standing in the doorway, his hands in his suit pockets. He’s the very picture of cool and casual, except for the pure fury blazing in his dark eyes.

“Clara was just heading to lunch,” Heidi says, chipping some of the mounting tension away. “You two take a seat, and we can go over all this now.”

Gratitude washes over me at the obvious out she’s giving me, and I nod in rapid agreement.

“Lovely to meet you both,” I say, rushing toward the door before this Landon guy can try to rope me into any further conversation. “I’ll leave you to it.”

Zade doesn’t move from where he’s standing half in the doorway, and I have to step around him sideways to avoid brushing up against him. He watches me with dark, intense eyes,and I almost stumble at the depth of his gaze. There’s something there that seems so close, something I know, but I can’t put my finger on it.

The feeling fades as soon as I pass him and step out into the hallway, fluorescent lights buzzing overhead.

I don’t need to be thinking about my—apparently absurdly handsome—boss this much. I have a job to do.

But remembering the way his eyes flashed when he referred to me ashisemployee sends a shiver down my spine. I have no idea why he seemed so upset about Landon’s weird advances, but I can appreciate the gesture regardless. It’s a little surprising because of everything I’ve heard about him, I didn’t expect him to be so… I don’t know,normal? I expected more of the sleazy shithead energy I got from Landon, but he seems to be as disdainful of that kind of behavior as I am.

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