Page 47 of Snowed In with the Bosses

“Yeah?” He turned and watched the screen. “I think that guy’s about to die. The woman is going to inherit everything, and there will be one more bomb explosion at the very end to leave it open for a sequel.”

“Now you’re being mean.” She lifted one eyebrow. “How is it that I always end up naked while you keep most of your clothes on?”

“I just need this part inside you to have the time of my life.” He pointed at his cock and raised his hands when she scowled. “You asked.”

“We’ll have to see about that. Next time, you’re taking everything off.” Clara’s scowl turned into a light laugh. “I still can’t believe I’m naked in a theater.”

“Best movie I’ve ever seen,” I commented with a grin.

Ethan’s smile stretched wider. I’d never seen him like this. Not with anyone. Where did this playfulness come from? I was supposed to be the lighthearted one of the group. Clara brought out new feelings in all of us. I couldn’t name them specifically in Ethan or Alexander, but I knew what I felt, and it scared the shit out of me.

Life with Clara was becoming more, much more, than I ever anticipated. She was a junior in the company, a woman we needed to stay the hell away from as far as sex was concerned. She’d managed to get all three of us to compromise our status within the company and risk her career on top of everything else. We were playing with fire, and at some point, one or all of us would get burned. I would take the fall if it meant saving Clara. It wasn’t her fault. We were her superiors. We should have been able to control ourselves.

I’d never even looked twice at any other woman in the company, but from the moment Clara showed up, I started drowning.

There was only one reason I could think of for letting myself get in this position. I was falling in love with her.

21

CLARA

Six weeks. How had six weeks passed in what felt like a blink? Christmas with Mom took up almost a whole week as Summit gave us time off for our families. We’d opened presents together, laughed and talked and I’d caught her up on everything happening at work. She was more than proud of me for taking on a major project so early in my career. I’d wanted to tell her how much it weighed on me, the pressure of success, but that was for me to carry. She’d asked about Alexander, and I held back the truth of our relationship…such as it was. If she suspected there was more, she kept quiet.

“Ready?” Ethan straightened his tie, his hands sure and quiet as we made our way into the restaurant and over to the table where Harrington waited with Alexander and Liam.

My smile remained firmly in place. “I’m always ready.”

His quick glance in my direction sent heat spiraling through me. We hadn’t been together since the movie theater, and that look fueled a need to feel him inside me again. Later. That was the promise I gave myself every time we were sidelined by Harrington’s project. I couldn’t be mad about the situation. Work was supposed to come first.

I focused on Alexander, then Liam, and finally Harrington. They were calm, relaxed, and fully invested in my upcoming presentation. I’d worked hard to get every detail correct and perfected. Mom listened to my speech four times over the last two weeks, until I had it exactly right. “Thank you all for coming.” Like they had any choice, but still, I opted for a polite approach. I opened the laptop I’d brought and placed it in the center of the table as I launched into the virtual walk-through.

Their faces fell away. The walk-through took up every molecule of my concentration. I’d repeated the report often enough that I had it committed to memory, but I made sure I kept the pace and tempo on point to draw Harrington into the reality of his design.

I had an hour. Plenty of time to take things slow and leave room for questions at the end. At the forty-five-minute mark, a bolt of nausea rippled through me. I swallowed it down without missing a beat. “As you’ll see here, the office buildings will have the option to open up into conference spaces should the need arise. This allows Mr. Harrington to optimize space for multiple practices but have the ability to bring in larger numbers for work conferences and seminars. Silverbrook is enough of a tourist attraction to warrant the extra attention.” Another surge of nausea clamped down. I had a harder time ignoring this one and paused, turning my back on the table and inhaling slowly through my nose.

“We’ve gauged interest in the animal shelter angle as well.” Alexander stepped in after a beat of silence. “The community is fully supportive and I dare say even excited to have the shelter in place. It’s been asked several times if we would consider a soup kitchen or a similar endeavor for those in need on the outskirts of the area.”

“Done.” Harrington slapped a palm to the table. “This is magnificent. High class but not ostentatious. Your ability to bring it all together is superb.”

His praise helped rid me of the last bit of nausea. I sank into my chair and settled my hands in my lap. “Thank you. You made it easy, but I’m grateful you like the plan.”

“Well, now that we have business out of the way, does anyone have special plans for Valentine’s Day?” Harrington leaned forward, his eyes lighting up.

Alexander’s gaze slid over to me.

A waiter wheeling a silver cart approached our table. He rattled off the dishes and whipped the platters onto the table with a flourish.

The smell hit with the force of a hammer blow to my stomach. “Excuse me.” I barely managed to get the words out through the bile rising in the back of my throat. It filled my mouth, forcing me to cover it with one hand on my way to the bathroom.

Liam called my name, but I didn’t dare slow down. The door banged open under my hand, slammed into the wall, and closed.

My stomach writhed against the astringent smell of cleaner, and I knew there was no holding back. I turned on the cold water and vomited into the sink, wave after wave of nausea sending everything up and out until nothing remained but dry heaves. Those stopped after a while. My entire body shook with exhaustion. I gripped the sides of the sink with both hands and let my head hang until my vision stopped spinning. Then and only then did I risk raising my chin to the mirror. Pale skin shone almost translucent beneath my makeup. My eyes were bloodshot, my mascara wrecked by the tears I’d shed from the overwhelming urges to puke.

“Clara?” Ethan’s voice sounded through the door.

I shoved both hands into the cold water and splashed it onto my face. My makeup was already ruined, and I needed the shock to snap me out of the stupor that had muddled my brain.

Soft male voices continued outside the door. I ignored them, all three of them, and concentrated on making myself as presentable as possible. Their worried tones gave me courage. I had to reassure them I was fine, even when I knew for damned sure that something was different. I’d noticed it last week, a kind of heaviness that settled around me.

---