Page 4 of Forever His This Christmas

“Not to mention Chris, Carter, Cole, and Casey…you really like C’s, huh?” she teased.

“Only when it comes to starting guys’ names. I was a straight A student.”

“Yeah, how you managed that one I’ll never know because you said you were never studying.”

“High school, college, and even my first couple years after that were certainly parties,” she said, only giving her half of the truth as she always had whenever telling the friend she’d made when she moved here about her past.

“Exactly, so, why’d you stop?” Jackie asked.

“It got old. I could only find so many things to enjoy and the guys all thought that I should just fall into bed with them. Despite everything I did with guys in the past, I don’t just sleep with just anyone, which is why last night shouldn’t happen again.”

“Because the guy talked you into his bed the same night you met him, you can’t sleep with him again?”

Lisa nodded, making Jackie shake her head her way with a groan. “It can’t go anywhere…and there was no need for talking me into his bed. The way he looked at me was enough to get me there and his skills kept me there all night.”

“Then you might as well go back for another round, come on, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“Falling for him when he’s nothing but a playboy? He talked me into his bed with a kiss. I mean, how many others has he done the same with, huh?” Lisa mused really not liking the thought of him with dozens of other women. Sure, he said he never did it, but that was likely just a line to try and calm her, keep her in the moment with him.

“You’ll never know unless you go back.”

“Not likely, I have enough to deal with right now. I had two messages from my mother wanting to know when I’ll be there for Thanksgiving next week,” she added, wanting off the why she wasn’t going back for seconds.

“Ouch, you’re sure you don’t want to go?”

“Not a chance…especially after last night. I am not going to stand around letting the others ask what I’ve been up to, when I know I’ll be thinking of last night for a long time to come.”

“You know you could always go back and talk him into going with you. That would certainly shut them all up,” Jackie suggested with a grin.

“Oh yeah and this is how well that conversation would go:

‘Mom, Dad, guys this is Corey he’s a bartender.’

‘How’d you meet?’

‘Oh, you know, at the bar…’

‘How long have you been together?’

‘Less than two weeks but the sex is great.’

“Yeah, they’d be so happy to have him there with us after that,” she said with a scoff, knowing exactly how her brothers would react to any of that information.

“Alright so it might not work to take him home for Thanksgiving, but you could tell them you’re seeing someone, get his number and call him while you’re there where they’d overhear.”

“No, I’ll just stay here and make sure my work’s caught up because rumor mill has it, we’re being bought out,” she explained, not about to tell her friend what she was really doing for Thanksgiving. It was far better she keep it to herself, and not just for her sake. “I can’t deal with my parents and Colin while wondering what’s going to happen there. None of us know if we’re even going to have a job at Christmas. I really don’t need to add them to the mix with all of that right now.”

“Well at least you had one night of pure fun. It’s better than nothing when it comes to you,” Jackie said, and Lisa smiled thinking about last night.

If he wasn’t a bartender and likely womanizer, she’d probably call him or take his shirt back herself, but he likely was,and she didn’t need that sort of person in her life. Not now, not ever. Especially not combined with her mother’s issues and constant reminders of her teenage years.

Chapter 2

“Lisa head’s up, the new boss is coming through today,” Tanya warned Tuesday morning slipping past her office door.

“Yippie,” she muttered under her breath before asking out loud, “Heard anything about him?”

“Nope, but I’d say we’ll find out at the meeting this afternoon. Seems that Mr. Cantwell is eager to get things moving now that he owns the place,” she stated, leaving her to finish the end of the month reports.

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