Page 24 of Sleighing You
Chapter 9
Chris
Icollapsed onto the red velvet chair that was beside a bookshelf of holiday books… the small corner of the room had an archway over top that readStoryBook Corner,and I could only imagine the amount of books Avery read there.
I rubbed my fingers over my eyes as Avery locked the door, waving to the last family heading home after their letter writing. This was the most profitable store in our franchise… and it was all because of Avery’s hustle.
She crossed over to where Kringle was asleep at my feet and dropped beside him, laying her face across his belly. “Mmm,” she moaned. “It feels so good to justsit.”
That was for damn sure. But I was too tired to even respond to her. Instead, I think I grunted something in agreement. She sat on her knees and smiled up at me. “What?” I asked, growing wary of her very intentional stare. “Do I still have whipped cream on my face? You promised me I had cleaned it all off—”
She snorted a laugh that on any other woman wouldn’t have been attractive at all. But on Avery? It was downright adorable. “No,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Jeez, paranoid much?”
“Well, not too long ago, I thought I was getting a kiss and instead you smacked me with a glob of whipped cream. So excuse me if the trust I have in you is waning a little.” I was kidding… mostly. And judging from how her smile faded, melting a little at the corners, perhaps I had taken the joke a little too far. “I’m joking,” I said, hoping I was stating the obvious.
“Maybe,” she sighed. “Then again, I wouldn’t blame you if there was a bit of seriousness in there, too. I haven’t exactly made the last two days easy on you. And I’m sorry for spraying whipped cream in your face. That was pretty childish.”
“What’s childish is putting mistletoe up in a store. Whose dumb idea was that, anyway?”
“Right?” she laughed. “I thought the same thing! It’s like asking for a sexual harassment lawsuit. Anyway, I think we did good today, you know? It was a good idea to send the people waiting to Lex’s and Nick’s.”
“Thank you,” I said. Her acknowledgement, though small, meant so much. Even this morning, that apology was huge. Avery wasn’t blind to her own faults… and that wasn’t a quality I was used to.
Her eyes twinkled and as she nodded, a bit of her hair fell over her forehead, brushing against her cheekbone.
A sliver of pink slipped through her glossy lips as she ran her tongue across them. I desperately wanted those lips on mine. I wanted to taste Avery, know how silky her tongue was as she opened for me. I wanted to know what her moans of pleasure sounded like and how she would writhe against my body when she wanted more.
I hadn’t felt this sort of pull toward a woman since Helena… hell, maybe not even with Helena. I wanted Avery more than I wanted my next breath.
As I lifted my hand and brushed that errant hair away from her eyes, she inhaled a sharp breath that could almost have been mistaken for a gasp.
“It’s good for the store if we can be civil and work together,” she said, voice tight.
As painful as it felt, I tore my hand away from the warmth of her jaw and cleared my throat. Yes, I desperately wanted to kiss her. But she didn’t want to kiss me in return. She had a chance earlier today under the mistletoe and she didn’t take it. And as her boss and employer, itcouldn’tbe me to make that first move. As much as I wanted to. “Absolutely. I can see why my dad values you so much. You’ve got amazing instincts for the store. And actually… tomorrow night, some of our board members are coming here to Maple Grove, my dad and mom included. We’re having a cocktail party and dinner after to discuss the stores… I think you should be there.”
Her eyes went wide. “Really?”
I nodded. After only two days, I’d seen what literally every other member of my family saw in Avery. She was smart, determined, motivated, and effective. She should not only be running the flagship store… she should join the board. And I planned on nominating her at the meeting.
“What’s on the itinerary to discuss tomorrow?” Her hands flew to her flushed cheeks and she huffed a nervous breath. “I just have so many ideas… I don’t know which ones to focus on for one meeting—”
“Do you want to grab some dinner?” I ignored the nerves that gripped my stomach as I asked the question. “We can go over your ideas and I can help you narrow in on which ones to focus on.”
It’s harmless, I told myself. It’s not a date I’m asking her to… it’s just a business dinner. I’ve had hundreds throughout my career.And yet none of those colleagues had me aching to lean over and kiss them…
She seemed visibly surprised by my invitation. “Tonight?”
Uh oh. My stomach bottomed out. “Yeah… I mean, if you’re not busy.”
“Oh. Um… I would, it’s just that I have plans tonight already.”
Fuck. She had plans. Of course she did. I couldn’t help it as my mind wandered to questioning who these plans were with. Did she have a date? A boyfriend? My chest tightened at the thought and I tamped the feeling down like finely ground espresso beans. I pushed off the chair to gather my things to go home. I guess I was ordering a pizza for one tonight for dinner. “Oh, yeah… no problem. I know it was last minute.” I gulped, ignoring the gaping hole in my stomach. What the hell was that about?
She stood too, following me as I jumped up. “Chris, really… I wouldliketo grab dinner, but I just promised my friend—”
I smiled at her in the friendliest way I could manage. “Seriously, Avery, it’s okay. You don’t have to explain if you have plans.” Just the thought of her plans with some other guy left me feeling… not jealous exactly. Although that emotion was there below the surface, too. It was deeper than that. I was sad at the thought. Sad that I may have let an incredible woman like Avery slip through my fingers. That she was here in front of me not only for the last two days, but for years working with my family, and I never noticed her.
I didn’t deserve her. Because Avery deserved the spotlight. She deserved a man who would notice her vibrant spirit immediately and not let his own selfish shit cloud the way.
