Page 2 of Bringing Home the Biker

My brow shot up. “Really?”

“Just because I don’t have any family to spend the holidays with doesn’t mean my guys and you don’t. The office will be shut down from the twenty-third to the second.”

I nearly dropped my pen. “That’s two weeks, Axel.”

He nodded. “I know. I just decided this morning. After you call Clark, let the team know Friday is their last day until the second.”

This was shocking. In the five years I’d worked for Axel, he’d never given this much time off. Usually, we had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, and everyone was back to work by the 26th.

“Got it,” I managed to say.

Axel turned to head into his office, but he paused at the door. “It’s paid time off, by the way. The guys worked their asses off this year, so two weeks with pay seems fair.”

I blinked. “Uh, I’ll let everyone know.”

He nodded, disappeared into his office, and left the door open as usual. Axel was the boss, but he never acted like he was above anyone else.

I stared at the stack of mail on my desk and tried to process what had just happened. Two weeks off, fully paid? This was practically unheard of.

I shook myself out of my daze, grabbed my notepad, and started jotting down my to-do list.

Call Clark Gaines back.

Notify the crews about the time off.

Update the holiday schedule.

Then, at the bottom of the list, I added one more task that I had only five days to complete.

Find a boyfriend.

Chapter Two

Axel

It was Thursday afternoon, and my office door was open as always. The faint sound of the Star answering calls and working drifted in and out, but my focus was on the reports spread across my desk. Progress on the three projects was steady—two were ahead of schedule, and one needed a closer look. It was time to head out to that job site and make sure everything was running smoothly before the holiday break.

I stood, stretched my back, and shrugged on my coat. Just as I reached for the light switch, the phone rang. Star’s voice carried through the open door.

“I was just calling to see how you were,” she said.

Her tone caught my attention—light and casual, but something about it made me pause. I tipped my head and listened.

“Oh, wow,” she gasped. “All the way in Ohio, huh?”

There was a short pause while she listened.

“Any plans of visiting Flagstaff for the holidays?” she asked.

I frowned slightly and wondered who she was talking to. Another silence stretched before she spoke again.

“Double wow,” she laughed, though there was something brittle about it. “You moved to Ohio, and you’re engaged. Congratulations.”

My curiosity sparked. What was Star doing? Although her tone was polite, something about the conversation seemed off.

“Well, all the best, Brad,” she chirped. “I’ll be waiting for my invitation in the mail.”

I flipped off the lights in my office and stepped out toward her desk. She was sitting there, phone cradled between her ear and shoulder, before she finally hung it up.

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