Page 19 of Midnight & Magic
Ginger placed Cassidy’s drink on the napkin with one hand and an envelope next to the glass with her other.
“What’s this?” Cassidy asked as she pointed to the envelope.
“Just spreading a little Christmas cheer. I hope that gift will help you with your boss.”
“Well, thanks?” She said, a little puzzled, but other employees said Jingle Jangles really got into the Christmas spirit. They, too, used to get envelopes slipped to them, so she didn’t give it much more thought.
She reached for the envelope to open it as her phone pinged. A new text appeared.
Ms. Cassidy, we need to move up our 3 PM to 2. Meet me in my office.
“Great! I haven’t even finished my liquid lunch, and he’s already barking orders at me. I only have 15 minutes to get back.” She said as she took two more swigs of her drink. “What do I owe you?”
“It’s on the house.” Ginger replied while waving a hand at Cassidy’s credit card.
“Well, thanks, Ginger! Merry Christmas!”
“And Merry Christmas to you, Cassidy.”
Cassidy got up from her bar stool and headed back into the office. With each step, she prayed the vampire was in a better mood. But judging by the text, he wasn’t.
Chapter Seven
Cassidy put her purse down on her desk with a bit more force than she meant to. The force made the envelope Ginger gave to her fall out of the open pocket of the handbag, and it landed at her feet. She quickly bent down to grab it and decided she’d open it since she had a few extra minutes before entering Camden’s office.
It contained a card with a beautiful evergreen tree on the front adorned with red ornaments. Cassidy opened the card flap that read, “Elf Ginger Breading granted Your Christmas wish! For the next 24 hours, I have granted you the gift of gumption.”
Cassidy narrowed her brows. The entire thing seemed odd. Especially at the bottom of the card, there wasn’t a typical signature but a countdown clock that magically counted the hours, minutes, and seconds for the next 24 hours.
Cassidy’s eyes widened.
So that’s why this office has been so happy all month! That Ginger must really have some elfin magic! Let’s hope that it works on the grumpy vampire. Bah humbug! Who am I kidding? It would take a Christmas miracle for that to happen!
She tossed the card into the top drawer of her desk, headed into his office, and closed the door. Before she turned to face him, she found the words she’d been wanting to say to him for the past week and a half. They dripped from her mouth before her brain could process what she was doing.
“Cam, I get you hated the ugly sweater idea, but can you please hear me out? Since I suggested we cool things between us, you’ve been shutting me out at work. I only wanted a break, so the stockholders weren’t breathing down your neck—that’s it. I didn’t want to break things off completely.” She sucked in a breath, hoping that would stop her verbal assault on him, but no such luck. “And let’s face it—since we broke up, you haven’t liked one of my ideas—not a one. All you’ve done is bark orders at me, which makes me wish we had never broken up. You used to love my ideas when we were dating. And I know you don’t hate them for any reason except the distance between us. Cam, I miss the closeness we had. I miss us!”
Camden looked up from the papers he had sprawled out on his desk and met her gaze. There was a sparkle in his eyes she hadn’t seen in what seemed like an eternity. And that says a lot when it comes from a vampire.
“Okay, I’m all ears because I miss the closeness we had, too. And you might be right about me being a little grumpy.” He said with a half-smile.
“Look, it’s not only something fun to do but also a nice way to dress casually for work. I’m sure I’m not the only one who doesn’t want to wear high heels all day and all night this coming Friday.”
Camden rubbed the back of his neck.
“I guess I didn’t see it like that. Part of me wanted it formal so I didn’t feel like shit watching you from afar. And the other part? I mean, I’m always in a suit.”
“You are always in a suit, which is part of why you can’t understand this. You practically sleep in that thing.” Cassidy said as she batted Camden’s forearm playfully. “And as far as watching me from afar? Yeah, that would have killed me, too. Oh! I have another idea! We can hire a Santa for a Pictures with Santa booth. That’s another fun thing—especially for the kids that are coming.”
Camden put his palms out to Cassidy.
“Hey! Now you are just pushing your luck!” Camden chuckled. “But, alright, alright, you got me! We can do all of that on one condition.”
Cassidy swallowed hard before responding. She wasn’t sure if Ginger’s gift had anything to do with her telling off her boss right now. Or if being as close as Cassidy was to him made it possible for her to hash things out. She hoped it was both. Well, she also secretly hoped Camden wanted her back in his life as much as she wanted him. She was skeptical that Ginger’s gift would ever work, to begin with—who wouldn’t be? It’s not every day you meet an elf. In fact, Cassidy wasn’t even sure if they existed—not that it surprised her. She was a vampire, after all. But as his smile broadened, Cassidy began to think Ginger was a true elf of the fae kind, and that magic seemed to pack a huge Christmas punch with facing Camden. Sure, she didn’t exactly make it a point to keep up conversations with him for the past week and a half. In fact, every time he turned her down with a no, she just let him, which, if she was honest, made him more grumpy as each day passed.
“What’s the condition?”
“That you go as my date. The distance between us is too much for me. I get we agreed to make the stockholders happy, but I’m crushed after not seeing you for so long. Please, Cass? To hell with the stockholders! Staying away is killing me. I need you in my life.” His eyes softened for the first time since the papzz leaked the news about her ex and the divorce. “Plus, I may have leaked some news to the press about you being my girlfriend and how you put this Christmas party together.”
