Page 5 of Forever His This Christmas

They were due at the end of the week, and she needed to make sure they were accurate. Her mind had been on more than work the last two weeks for certain. The moments work, her mother, and Jackie hadn’t taken up, chocolate eyes kept pulling her back to that night. She’d sent the shirt back after having it dry cleaned trying to put him in the past, but not even that fully worked. She shouldn’t have put the note in the pocket at all. It’d been impulsive and now she was regretting it.

The morning slid past them, and she checked her makeup in the bathroom before heading to the conference room for the meeting. She’d gotten the notice of it five minutes after Tanya had left her office and it’d stated it was mandatory that all included staff attend. She saw the others there and breatheda bit easier, unless the new owner was completely mental, he wouldn’t be getting rid of the group. The people who knew the ins and outs of the company were all in the room and she moved inside as Edward said her name, motioning her towards him and the tall man he was speaking to with James, the company’s head of HR.

“Mr. Cantwell, this is our gem in the finance department, Lisa Branson,” he said, and she pasted a polite smile on her face as the unknown man began to turn towards her. “She can find any discrepancy big or small.”

The moment his body turned, giving her his face, a full rush of shock went straight through her. It felt as if something was sitting on her chest suddenly, making thought and breath impossible. What the hell was he doing here as the new owner of the company? Oh god, this was not what she needed. It wasn’t bad enough that she hadn’t been able to get him out of her head but now he was here, right in front of her, tempting her, making her want far more than she already had. Was the universe trying to screw with her or what?

Corey turned, holding back a full smile seeing the Lisa being praised was his Lisa. The woman he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about for over two weeks now since she’d slipped out while he slept.

This was certainly an unexpected surprise, he mused as her smile only faltered a fraction. “A pleasure to meet you then, maybe you can show my accountants your trick so they can get the latest statements to match the previous ones…”

“Certainly Mr. Cantwell,” Lisa stated.

“Corey, I’m sure we’ll be working together far too much for such formality, but we’ll get to that in a bit,” he added when she looked a bit surprised. He motioned for the group to take a seat and began the meeting, wanting it over so much faster than originally intended.

It took most of his control to stay focused on the meeting instead of letting his gaze rest on Lisa. She’d been in his head since he’d woken up alone, missing his favorite shirt. He’d almost managed to keep her out of his mind for the day when the shirt showed up at the bar for him, cleaned. He’d been wishing she’d paid her bill with a credit card so he could find her already, but it increased tenfold with her little present.

She firmly planted herself in his head when he found the note in the pocket, and nothing had kept her at bay since. It didn’t hurt that every time he opened his PDA, it was right there reminding him that next time he had to do better. Now she was right in front of him, as the liaison for the two finance sections, and he wasn’t about to let her slip away again.

“I believe that will do it for today,” he said wrapping it up at four-fifteen as they started to grow restless. “I know everyone’s anxious about the status of their jobs but currently there are no plans either way. I will be working with both finance departments to see what is possible for us going forward.”

“And for us we’ve tasked the job of liaison to Lisa,” Donald added as she began to stand, making her hold back a groan while the others seemed relieved.

“Please go about things as usual and we’ll get back with you once we have more news,” Corey stated. “Lisa, a few moments please?”

“Of course,” she agreed letting the rest of the room clear as she held onto her need to run. She’d hardly heard a word of what had been discussed trying to keep herself from thinking about him and their night together. Her stomach muscles tightened when he closed the door behind the last person and turned back towards her.

“Lisa…” he began but paused before pushing a hand through his hair the way she’d been wanting to since she saw him. “I’d say this is as awkward for you as it is for me.”

“I might have the upper hand on that one. After all, until two hours ago I thought you were just a bartender,” she replied as he moved over to the chair beside her.

“Is that why you disappeared that morning?”

“I think it’d be best if we don’t talk about that…forget it happened even,” she suggested despite it being the last thing that she actually wanted right this moment. She wanted his mouth on hers, his hands on her, his body on hers. It was absolute madness but every part of her was craving another taste of him.

“That will be impossible because you’ve been on my mind for the last two weeks.”

“Look that wasn’t typical behavior for me…”

His smile stopped her attempt to explain, lie perhaps to keep him at arm’s length. Fuck that smile had to have magic powers, leaving her tongue tied. “Which part, the sleeping with a man you don’t know or the running away?”

“I’ve only ever had one other night like that in my entire life. I left that morning because I didn’t want to deal with the awkward morning after bit or worry that I’d overstayed my welcome. I had it in my mind that you were some playboy bartender that did it on a regular basis and wasn’t up for those conversations because I really don’t do that kind of thing,” she admitted as his eyes bore into her. “I don’t want you thinking that I do if we’re going to have any chance of working together.”

“The same can be said for me, beautiful. The bar was the first thing I owned. I started it in college and while I moved on into other business ventures, I still own it as a reminder of the hard work it’s taken to get me here. The daytime bartender called to say Tony hadn’t shown and he had to get out to pick up his daughter from daycare but didn’t want to leave the place short-staffed. I was in the area and stopped in to lend a hand since Friday nights are usually busy. It’d been the most boring nightuntil you walked in,” he told her, his smile growing making her warm. “When your friend moved away, and those guys came over to you, I wanted to knock them back because I knew you didn’t want their attention. It irritated me though because it meant you also didn’t want mine.”

“I didn’t…still don’t,” she said, and his smile fell, making her want it back.

“But you feel it too, don’t you?” Corey asked, wanting to pull her into his arms and kiss her until they were back at his place in bed again. He knew she felt the attraction between them, the way the air sizzled when they were near. She couldn’t begin to deny their night together was incredible. If she even began to try, it would be a complete lie.

“Yes, but we shouldn’t let it get in our way if we’re going to work together. I’m good at my job, really good at it and I don’t want to lose it because we…”

“Can’t keep our hands off each other?” he suggested knowing it was going to happen despite her words. The look in her eyes, the slight husk of her voice, told him what they felt that night was still there.

“Or when it goes bad,” she said and he wasn’t about to let her worry about that, not when he needed them to have a beginning before even thinking of something not working out with them.

“Your job is safe. I’ve seen your work and you’re more than good, but do you honestly think it’s wise to fight this? We’re both adults. We can agree to enjoy this until or if it goes away, we get bored, or…who knows what happens.”

“No hard feelings that it’s just sex?” she asked, making him glad he’d held off from mentioning things going well with them as a possibility. Clearly there was something keeping her from diving straight in with him the way he wanted to with her. He’d take what she was willing to give right now and let whatever came next happen.

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