Page 24 of Snowed In with the Bosses

Clara moved to the corner and held her phone to her ear. Liam shuffled around, cleaning up our papers.

“Don’t shut down the computers. We can work more after we eat.” I tugged on my coat and motioned for Ethan to grab his. “I’ve set the thermostat to only heat this room and a few others so we can conserve energy in case this lasts longer than a few days.”

“Good idea.” Ethan followed me into the hallway and closed his coat. Frost coated the windows at the far end of the building, and the world outside remained solid white. “Let’s get what we need and get back.” He shuddered. “I don’t like this.”

Neither did I. We jogged toward the supply closet where we stored emergency rations. It was a simple room with floor-to-ceiling shelves, all stocked with food and water. I pilfered through the stacks in search of the good stuff. “Look what I found.” I waved the bottle of expensive wine overhead.

Ethan popped up from the corner, a shocked smile popping into place when he spotted the wine. “Now we’re talking.” He helped me sort through the remaining shelves until we’d found a decent assortment of food to carry back to the office.

Liam met us at the door. He took one look at the bottle and snatched it from me.

“Work first.” I jerked my chin toward the table. “Let’s eat and get another hour in, then we’ll call it for the day.”

Clara must have gotten okay news from her mom because the frown she’d worn earlier was gone. She took the wine from Liam. “This was in the emergency rations?”

“Someone knew what was important in an emergency.” Liam took the bottle back. “I know what we can do with this once we finish it.” A grin and a wink as he waved the bottle back and forth. “Anyone up for a game of spin the bottle?”

Mischievousness sparked in Clara’s expression. “Only if we play my way.” She arched her brows. “Whoever the bottle lands on has to take off an article of clothing.”

11

CLARA

Iused to love camping. I loved the close feeling of being with friends and family huddled over a campfire. We didn’t have a fire here in the office, but the feeling still grew within me that maybe being here with them would reignite my other passions that I’d let fall by the wayside.

Liam watched me, holding the bottle close to his chest and occasionally shooting a look at Alexander.

He would always be the one they looked to for leadership, and I followed Liam’s direction but dared to arch a brow in challenge. He always seemed to cave to that look, and this was no different. “Eat and drink the wine.” Grinning, he organized the food on his desk, then removed his heavy coat and draped it across the back of his chair. “Then we play.”

Play. God I loved the way he said it.

“Who gets to go first?” Ethan’s velvety voice set off the flutter of butterflies in my stomach. He followed Alexander to the table, setting his coat aside on the way, and sank into his chair. “Are there any rules?”

“Rules are simple.” I opened the box of crackers and popped one in my mouth. “If the bottle lands on you, you remove any piece of clothing.”

“Of our choice?” Liam popped the cork on the wine and set it down. “Seems like it would be more fun if someone chose for us.”

“But choosing for yourself sets the pace for the game.” I passed Alexander my coffee cup from this morning. He’d taken all the cups and washed them earlier in the employee lounge. Next staff meeting, I was recommending they put showers in the bathrooms. Or at the very least, add in a single room with a shower in case something like this ever happened again. I’d cleaned up, but I longed for a nice, hot shower.

Alexander poured wine in all our cups and passed them around the table. “Let’s keep it simple and make it our own choice.”

“Of course you’d pick that.” Liam rolled his eyes, but there was no heat or annoyance in his voice, only a genuine desire to poke at Alexander. “You’re so stuffy and controlling you can’t stand the thought of anyone making a decision for you.”

“You consider that a bad thing?” Alexander swirled the wine around his cup before drinking deep.

I downed my own cup and held it up for another. “Empty that bottle. We need it.”

Liam let Alexander’s question go and gulped his wine. “Pour that in the coffee carafe. We’ll refill from there.” He grabbed the bottle when Alexander moved too slowly. “I’ll do it.”

“Come on, Ethan. We’d better set up a circle.” Alexander moved the computers and papers off the table and set them on his desk. He paused and lifted his head. “Are we playing on the floor?”

“Yes. That’s part of the fun.” It was charming that he asked. The mere thought of CEO Alexander sitting in a circle on thefloor in his suit made me want to laugh. I held back the giggles and helped Liam with the wine.

Alexander and Ethan pushed the table out of the way to clear a spot on the floor for all of us to sit. “I haven’t done this since seventh grade.” A melancholy note hit Alexander’s voice as he carried some of the food over and placed it within reach. “Good memories.”

“We’re about to make some better ones.” Liam wiggled the wine bottle in the air.

We walked over to Ethan and Alexander and took our places, the four of us making a loose circle. I snatched another cracker and pointed it at Liam. “You spin first.”

---