Page 77 of A Cozy Kind of Christmas
She was tempted.
Seriously tempted.
But she promised Meg.
If Meg was right about Matt proposing, she had to be there for moral support.
She had her doubts, but it would be just her luck if she didn’t show and Matt took a knee.
“Can’t.” She kissed him slowly and then ducked out of his arms, feeling an odd—yet distinctly different—sense of déjà vu as she grabbed her clothes off the floor. She felt almost drunk from love.
Her skin was warm and dewy, and her whole body glowed and hummed. She still couldn’t believe Connor was here and this was real.
What they were going to do now was a complete mystery. She’d never been in a position like this.
Not since graduating from college, and frankly, not even then.
She’d had a two-year plan and then a five-year and ten-year plan. An investment plan. A retirement plan.
Now, she was in a remote mountain town in Oregon with Connor, who had quit his job. As soon as she was back in New York, she intended to march into the office and resign, although at Connor’s nudging, maybe that wasn’t the best idea.
“Don’t quit. Make them let you go. If you resign, you get nothing. Take the severance package. You’ve put in years. You’ve given the company your life. They owe you, Jo,” he’d said between kisses.
He had a point.
A severance package would buy her time. Time to think and plan and decide what was next. Would she stay in New York or move somewhere new? It was too much to think about now.
She dragged herself to the shower, letting the hot water scald her skin as she soaked in how much had changed in such a tiny amount of time. When she’d left the office a few days ago, she was hoping for a brain break and an escape. Now, she had an entirely different reality awaiting her when she got back.
Enjoy the moment.
Everything else could wait. Tonight was about fresh starts and new futures and she intended to embrace that with every cell in her body.
FIFTY
MEG
Meg positioned herself next to Matt. The intoxicating aroma of his aftershave mingled with the scent of pine and spices. The Christmas beer went to her head. She leaned into his body for support, wishing she could summon the courage to just come out and ask what the deal was with him and Lucinda.
Were they a couple, or was all of it—the party, the weekend, their relationship—simply a PR stunt for the company?
But the right moment refused to come.
Every time they were alone for more than a minute, someone else would come by to wish him happy birthday or congratulate him on his promotion.
“Hey, I wanted to say thanks for the gift,” Meg said when they finally got a brief moment without interruption. “How did you know about the snowy owl? Did you talk to Gam?”
“Gam?” Matt scrunched his face in confusion. “No, why?”
“It’s uncanny—she was telling me about the symbolism of the snowy owl a few days ago, and then you gave me an ornament. What are the odds? It’s hard not to mistake that as a clear message from the Universe.”
“We must have a mind-meld.” He nodded. Then his face hardened slightly, turning serious. He glanced away beforelooking back at her, his gaze intense. “What about the letter? Or do you not want to talk about it here?”
Before she could answer, Lucinda cut off the band, grabbing the microphone from the lead singer’s hand. “Hello, hello, my party people. Raise your hand if you’re here to celebrate our newest VP, Matt Parker, tonight?”
Hands shot up around them.
“I didn’t realize it was a done deal,” Meg whispered.
