Page 6 of Her Christmas Monsters

We order a couple of appetizers and drinks from the waitress, and a few minutes later she brings back our drinks—a beer for Ethan, and a cosmo for me.

I take a long sip from the martini glass and groan as the strong, fruity drink hits my tongue. “This is exactly what I needed.”

I reach for the bag beside me, about to pull out my legal pad and paper when Ethan’s voice causes me to pause.

“We should at least wait until after food to get back into work.” He chuckles and takes a sip of his beer.

“You’re right.” I sigh and lean back in the booth. “Sometimes, it’s just so hard to turn off that part of my brain that tells me I should still be working.”

“I hear you,” he says in commiseration. “Tell you what, two drinks and the appetizers and then we get back to work. Sound like a deal?”

“You drive a hard bargain Mr Wilder, but I guess we have a deal,” I huff out on a breath of feigned annoyance, but I can’t help the giggle that slips out.

A smirk stretches across his lips as he studies me, almost like he wants to say something but he’s holding himself back.

“Clara, Clara, Clara,” he tsks and takes another sip of his beer. “You haven’t seen hard yet.”

I choke on my cosmo, and hurriedly place the glass back on the table to avoid spilling it all over me. Laughing and drinking at the same time really isn’t the best idea.

“Get your mind out of the gutter,” he chastises, his chest shaking from the laughter he attempts to hold back.

Yes, Clara, mind out of the gutter,I scold myself and try my best not to imagine what exactly could be that hard...

It isn’t long before the appetizers arrive and we’ve eaten as much as we possibly can. If I never look at another nacho again it will be too soon.

“I guess we should get to brainstorming,” I offer, and reach for the legal pad again as the waitress brings us our second round of drinks.

“Of course,” he says with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes as he scans my face. Concern creases his brows, and I hate that he’s worrying about me. He’s already helped me so much, not just with tonight but with the phone calls and emails earlier.

I chew my bottom lip nervously, and duck back down to fish out the pen, hating the stress that comes creeping back in. After I cooled off from the meeting with Fynn, I realized how hotheaded I’d acted with him. He could’ve fired me right then and there for the way I’d spoken to him. But after being overlooked and basically doing my boss’s job for years, it was grating to hear him dismiss my hard work. It was almost like he was trying to get under my skin with the delight that had sparked in his silver eyes when I reacted to his insults. Stupid, sexy, arrogant jerk.

“I think we should just list every idea that comes to mind,” Ethan says. He scoots closer to me and in my haste to straighten, having finally found the pen, my head grazes the edge of the table sending a stabbing pain through my skull.

“Clara,” Ethan exclaims, his hand cradling around the back of my head to keep me in place as he closes the distance between us.

“I’m okay,” I breathe, wincing from the throbbing ache that’s already beginning to fade. “They don’t call me clumsy Clara for nothing.” I chuckle.

“Who calls you that?” He frowns, capturing my gaze. Real anger sparks there as though he’s about to track down anyone who’s ever poked fun at me in the past.

“No one’s called me that since I was young.” I chuckle and turn back to the table, needing to break eye contact with him before I do something I’ll regret.

Ethan’s hand slips away but he doesn’t move back, instead sitting so close to me I can feel his warmth radiating along my skin. A shiver of desire runs up my spine and I want to lean into him, to soak in the comfort I know he’ll offer. I push that urge aside though, needing to focus on the paper in front of me.

“So, let’s start with the word ‘Christmas’ and we’ll go from there,” I say, and scrawl the word onto the pad of paper.

“Well there’s the usual things,” Ethan says, and takes a long drink from his beer. “Trees, reindeer, snow, ice, winter, presents, Santa.”

I write all of those down under Christmas, and we both list a few others including the usual colors associated with the holiday. “None of these are unique though.” I take another sip of my drink, tapping the pen anxiously on the pad of paper.

“What if we went off those words to find more that are close yet not normally ‘Christmasy?’” Ethan asks.

We go down the list making new lists from the words that we have, but they all seem to relate back to the holidays, or they’re so far from the mark it wouldn’t make sense.

“Are we just thinking too hard about this?” I groan and lean on my elbows, causing my hair to spill forward around my face. Good, I just want to crawl in my bed right now and not come out until the holiday season is over. Screw Ainsworth and his ridiculous task.

“Maybe.” Ethan gently tucks my hair back behind my ear so he can see my face. Tingles run over my skin as his calloused fingers graze my cheek. Flames of desire lick up my spine, and I can’t help but wonder how his hands had gotten that way. Despite working together for two years, he’s still such a mystery.

“We’ve done every type of display, every color pallet over the years,” I say, shaking my head in dismay. “The plan I have for this year is by far the most extravagant display we’ve had. I even went back in the archives to make sure it hadn’t been done before.”

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