Page 12 of Her Christmas Monsters

“The promotion is yours ... on a trial basis,” he adds, cutting off my excitement. “While this is a great idea, there might be some backlash.”

“What does that mean?” I ask, my heart sinking as he grins smugly.

“Your promotion is reliant on the success and public opinion surrounding this display,” he says, handing me back my tablet. “So I suggest you start preparing because if this backfires, it’s on you.”

Chapter Seven

Ihangupthephone and slump forward, relief washing over me in waves after that phone call.

“You got it?” Ethan exclaims, papers shuffling as he rolls his chair closer.

“I got it,” I announce excitedly, using every ounce of my strength to sit back up. Ethan whoops in triumph and wraps an arm around my shoulder. “They were a bit confused with the theme of this version but they said they’ll be able to get it to us a few days before setup day.”

“That’s perfect,” he says, clutching my shoulder tighter in a congratulatory half hug. “I bet Mr Ainsworth was eating his words when you showed him your designs. They’re brilliant.”

“Something like that.” I chuckle awkwardly and turn back to my computer to type the details into my calendar.

“What do you mean?”

“Well he said I have the promotion on a trial basis, and the performance of the display will be the deciding factor on if I get to keep it or not,” I explain, having left that part out when I told him about the meeting earlier, not wanting anyone else to overhear us. But there’s only the two of us left in the office now as night sets in.

“He didn’t,” Ethan groans. He scrubs a hand over his face in disbelief as I turn back to him.

“He did.” I slump in my chair as exhaustion sets in. Ethan ran out to get us takeout, but other than that we’ve been glued to our phones all day and into the night. “I mean, it would be fair enough in any other scenario, but he was the one who wanted something creative and original.”

“It’s not right,” Ethan declares, his lips quirking to the side, the muscles in his jaw bunching.

“There’s just something I can’t quite put my finger on about him,” I muse, thinking back to his strange behavior earlier. When I told him about Jackson taking credit for my work, rage had rolled off him and he almost seemed ... protective. Yet he looked disappointed when I rose to his near impossible demands, and there was outright glee in his eyes as he declared the promotion can be taken away.

Fynn is a puzzle I can’t figure out, but for some reason I haven’t been able to get him off my mind.

“Anyway, let’s not let him ruin our celebration,” I declare and pick up my mug of tea, motioning for him to do the same. “Thank you Ethan, for all of your help and support through all of this. I seriously couldn’t have done this without you.”

“Yes you could.” He chuckles. “It would just be a lot less fun.”

I giggle as we clink our mugs together and take a long sip.

Ethan sputters and hurriedly moves his mug away from his lips as he chokes on his swig. “Tea is really not meant to be chugged,” he wheezes, and I nearly choke on my own mouthful before swallowing it.

“Thanks for that,” I say, wiping away some of the tea that had spilt on my chin.

“You have something,” Ethan says softly, once our laughter dies out. He brushes his thumb gently over my bottom lip, wiping away a drop of tea that had clung to it. Instead of moving away, he repeats the motion again, and I moan softly at the delicious friction, wishing he’d caress them with his lips instead.

“The sounds you make drive me crazy,” he groans, and I freeze at the admission. I hadn’t noticed before, but now that I think about it he does seem to get uncomfortable when I make those little noises of appreciation.

“I’m so—”

“Not in a bad way, Clara,” he cuts in, his warm brown eyes pulling me into their depths. “In a wholly unprofessional way.”

“Oh,” I whisper, and pull in a staggered breath as he caresses my lip again. “What do they make you want to do?”

“Well, they make me wish it was my lips brushing against yours right now, rather than my thumb for one,” he admits, sending a shiver of desire up my spine.

“I wish it was your lips too,” I breathe as the air grows thick with sexual tension. We’ve been so close so many times, but we’ve never actually admitted our attraction to one another ... until now.

His throat bobs and his eyes flick between mine, searching for something in them. He must find it, since in the next second he’s closing the distance between us and his mouth crashes onto mine.

I whimper against his lips as my chest warms. This feels right. Like we were fools for not doing this all along, like it’s always been inevitable and we’ve been meant to be as one. His tongue sweeps along the seam of my lips and I part for him. He wastes no time, his tongue caressing mine, working my desire up even higher as a sense of euphoria washes over me.

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