Page 9 of His Off-Limits Christmas Gift

I didn’t need the potential of Nate’s interest in me to be a distraction.

Nor did I need my mother calling to be another, even worse, distraction. She’d called every day, and I could just bet I knew what she wanted to speak about now—when I was returning to Rockton.

I sighed and picked up the phone, ready to stay firm, again, and tell her that I would most definitely not be coming home for the holiday. I had a lucky out, an escape being here, and I damn well wasn’t giving it up for anything.

4

NATE

For three days, Rachel fit right in at the office and impressed damn near everyone she met.

Perhaps not the individuals she told to turn around and not bother her. Or me. Or Julie. They weren’t used to not getting their way from a lowly assistant who stuck to protocol religiously. If someone wanted to speak with me, they needed an appointment. If someone just wanted to show me something, they were redirected to email it as an attachment.

I didn’t know what Julie told Rachel about her responsibilities, but damn, was it nice to buckle down and focus for a change. It hadn’t occurred to me how interrupted I was throughout the day until all the distractions were removed or held back.

I was a laidback sort of guy. After all, there wasn’t anything wrong with being easygoing. I did my job well. There were no complaints. And I liked to be an extrovert and surround myself with others. That wasn’t to say I couldn’t also appreciate how streamlined my day was without people popping in my office nonstop. Or how good it felt to be this productive.

All thanks to Rachel. With stern diplomacy and unwavering professionalism, she refused to take shit from anyone. Not evenwhen they challenged her and said she was “just an assistant who wouldn’t last past this month.”

She was stern and down to do her job. There was no doubt about that. But with the infrequency of her smiles, I wondered if she might be… down. If her mood was sour and that was how and why she could be so tough on the clock.

This boss-lady vibe she had didn’t match the young girl I used to know. And it shouldn’t have. This was the woman I wanted to get to know, not the former child I had as an acquaintance through the association with her brother.

Because day in and day out, for every one of those three days, I caught myself thinking about her much more than I probably should have been.

“Hey, Mom.”

I paused while walking down the hall. If anyone were watching me and witnessed me literally halt mid-step at the sound of her voice, it would’ve been a comedy act. That was how attuned I was to her sweet, sometimes sassy voice. When Rachel spoke, I wanted to listen. It was as simple as that.

Eavesdropping on her call with Mrs. Brown probably didn’t fall into the realm of anything I had a right to know as her boss, but I couldn’t bring myself to move away. Lurking in the hall, I settled in to lean against the wall so I could listen through the crack from her unclosed door.

If she hadn’t answered in such a tired, exasperated tone, I might not have been overly curious. I was drawn to her, yes, but this annoyed greeting really had me intrigued.

“Mom.” A soft sigh left her lips. “I’m not. That’s my answer. Again. Just like I’ve told you since the day I was offered this job and left town. I’mnotgoing to be home for Christmas.”

You’re not?I furrowed my brow, curious. I had a job here in the city and I still made time to go home and see my parents. We made a big deal out of it every year. The McIntosh familyhad been so involved with Malley, Inc. that they had a standing invitation to come to the annual holiday party here. Once it was done, we’d all drive to Rockton and spend the holiday together there, with me taking the cabin for a getaway.

Brandon, too, lived and worked here in New York, but he went home for Christmas.

Why wouldn’t you go home for Christmas?

She had to have been offered this position quickly. Julie fired—or tried to fire—Jessica for the first time last Thursday. She must have applied over the weekend and been prepared to get up and just go.

But without a plan to come home for the holidays?

I rubbed a hand over my hair, confused. She was a go-getter, but even she had to understand the need for a holiday break. That was common sense.

“No, Mom. It will not be the end of the world if I skip Christmas,” Rachel said.

Skip Christmas?I shook my head, unable to make sense of it. It was unfathomable. I didn’t enjoy all the memories that led up to the big holiday party, but that didn’t make me a grinch about the whole season.

“Oh. Uh, Mom? I’ve got to go. Another call is coming in,” she said quickly.

I walked away, knowing this conversation I wanted to follow was over.

Instead of going back to my office, I decided to go over to the bar Brandon co-owned and worked at. I didn’t have a ton of things to keep up with, courtesy of all that productive, uninterrupted time I had with Rachel keeping the office running smoothly. With this unexpected downtime, I sought my friend to figure out why Rachel could be so down.

He was there, just getting the place organized for the evening, and he didn’t wait to ask about the very person I wantedto speak with him about. “How’s Rach getting along there?” he asked after we greeted each other and I sat at the bar.

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