Page 23 of His Off-Limits Christmas Gift

I sent the text and worried whether I was playing with fire to arrange for Rachel to come with me. Brandon and I had been friends for a long, long time. Surely, he was protective of her because he didn’t want some random ass to mistreat her. But he had to know I wasn’t that sort of a player. If he respected me as a friend, why wouldn’t he be able to consider me as a partner for his sister?

He couldn’t be so two-faced as to approve of me as one of his closest friends then also shun me if I tried to make a move on his sister.

That would likely becomemyChristmas wish—exploring this new thing with Rachel while also not losing my friend.

Too bad it sounded easier said than done.

9

RACHEL

Nate didn’t say a word about teaching me anything for a couple of days. He didn’t talk to me much at all. They were busy days, preventing us from saying more than a hello in passing.

He was in meeting after meeting, plus he had some other appointments and things to handle. Likewise, it was chaotic in the office. Julie seemed extra frazzled, so I stepped up to help her. And the silly, petty things that popped up in my workload seemed that much more laborious.

Maybe it’s the holidays. No one is thinking straight with all the fanfare and excitement about being off at the end of the month.

More employees seemed to be off as it was, requesting PTO for family things and such. Each time it was explained that I needed to play gopher or do a little something for another department, it was because someone was off or sick.

Like now, with the request that I run copies for another supervisor. Instead of using the machine on the floor where Julie ran things, I was down a couple of floors, covering for someone who had to be off to watch her kid perform for thirty seconds of their hour-long school recital.

At least the holiday décor wasn’t as bad down here. Just the usual trees on counters and a few streamers of red and green strung from door frames and arches. “Jingle Bells” quietly played on the music channel, but it was a newer, more modern version that didn’t grate on my nerves like the classic ones did. The ones Mom played nonstop.

I rolled my eyes at the thought of her. She had to be so mad by now that I wasn’t coming home. While she and Dad understood my desire and need to work, they could not understand why I’d jump at a temp position like this at this particular time of the year.

It wasn’t like I was trying to be obtuse. I flat-out told Mom that she was suffocating in this season, too much with every little extra that could be done to commemorate another Christmas coming. There was a fine line between celebratory spirit and going overkill.

She continued to turn a deaf ear to my comments, though, and she didn’t take a hint when I failed to reply to her many texts and calls.

Another one of which I received as I counted the packets of papers that had to be color-coordinated and collated with and without staples. I swore, sometimes it felt like a math riddle running copiers for specialty requests.

I grabbed my phone, pausing in counting, to read the incoming message.

Two had come in at once.

Mom:Wasn’t this so much fun? If you drive home after work tonight, you can stay for the weekend and we’ll do it again.

She attached aTime Hopphoto of us at Rockton’s hot cocoa stand. There I was, faking a smile over a mug of watered down chocolate that burned my tongue.

My brother had sent the other message.

Brandon:You’re making me regret telling you to work for Nate. He seems to keep you busy all the time!

I winced, uneasy about his comment. He’d said that because our schedules hadn’t worked for us to hang out much since I came to the city. Even though I was renting a studio apartment in his building, a favor done for someone he knew who was traveling for a few months, we didn’t cross paths. The few times he wanted to hang out, I was still working or just hanging out with Julie at the office for dinners. That woman was hilarious. Then, when I suggested a time to go out, at a later hour, he was already at work bartending.

The idea of his not liking the concept of Nate keeping me “busy” made me uncomfortable.

What would he say if he knew Nate had offered to be my mentor?

What would he think if he was aware that Nate and I were sort of, kinda, not really but maybe flirting with each other? A sense of mutual attraction was building between us, or at least I thought something was there. Yet, Brandon would remain a factor we hadn’t considered.

Rachel:It’s more like you have a night shift and I have a day shift. We’ll figure something out next week.

I set my phone down and resumed paying attention to the copying. It had turned into a bit of a fiasco with my distraction, and now I had to recoup for the mistake and redo a fair amount of it all.

“I’m surprised Nate even comes to the party anymore,” a woman said to another as they breezed into the workroom. Both had piles of papers to sort through at another counter. Working side by side, they stood near enough that I could overhear them. The whir of the copiers wasn’t overly loud, and I was instantly intrigued.

“Oh, my God. Remember a couple of years ago? When someone cracked a joke about him ever getting back together with Yasmin.” The taller woman laughed and laughed.

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