Page 45 of His Gift
The smile that spread across Shawn’s face made everything in the world feel better. “Yeah, we will,” he said, surging forward to kiss me. “Now go get onboarded. We’ve got work to do.”
The onboarding process for Wythe Industries was weirdly similar to every junk retail job I’d ever worked. There was paperwork to fill out, bank account information to hand over so I could be paid, and a very quick orientation about the history and mission of Wythe Industries, and the Wythe Foundation specifically, that Trudy rushed through.
“You can catch up on all this in your free time,” she said, handing over a small pile of plastic-bound mini books with staged pictures of the Wythe family on the front. They all looked stiff and touched-up in those pictures. Both Shawn and Walt were considerably younger, but they already had the weary look in their eyes that their parents had. “I know Shawn wants you to dive into this Christmas Eve supper project today, so we’ll deal with the nitty-gritty as and when we can over the next week.”
I liked Trudy. She was competent and kind, which was a combination that could never go wrong. She was right about Shawn wanting me to get started on our idea right away, too.
“It’s lunchtime and we have to eat,” he said as he came with my coat to collect me in the small office I’d been given as my own. “But we can make it a business lunch.”
I had no idea what that meant, so I left the computer, were I was trying to set up my accounts, and crossed the room to grab my coat from him. “I don’t really need an entire office,” I said as I shrugged into the coat. “I barely need a cube. I’ve never worked in an office before. All of this is so way over my head.”
Shawn grinned, and once we stepped into the elevator and the doors closed, he took my hand. “You’ll get the hang of it,” he said. “And you deserve the world and more.”
I blushed and melted at that. “I just hope I turn out to be worth the effort you’re putting into me,” I said.
Shawn shocked the sunshine out of me by grabbing me, throwing me up against the wall and lifting me to my toes, then slamming his mouth over mine in a fierce, possessive kiss. He pressed his hand into my crotch as well, causing my cock to spring up and my hole to go loose and damp.
“I know what I want to put into you,” he growled, then kissed me again.
I nearly laughed with the sudden sexiness of it all. It seemed so, so unlike Shawn. But then again, he’d been embracing all the things about himself that I was pretty sure he’d once shied away from since we’d gotten together.
The elevator came to a stop on the ground floor and dinged as the doors slid open. Shawn didn’t let me go in time, and the lobby full of people waiting for the elevator got a surprise look at Shawn mauling me before we both jumped straight, cleared our throats, and adjusted ourselves so our coats hid what people didn’t need to see.
We hurried out of the elevator to grins and head shakes.
“Next time I’ll push the stop button,” Shawn said, his voice rough with desire and embarrassment.
“Don’t you dare push the stop button,” I teased him.
By the time we made it outside, we were both grinning and giggly. It was a clear, crisp, November day, and the streets of Barrington were bustling.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“The Barrington Christmas Market just opened this past weekend,” Shawn said. “I thought we’d go check the place out, see if we can speak to some of the vendors, and get some ideasfor who we could ask to take a booth at the Christmas Eve supper.”
“That’s a great idea,” I said. “I’ve never been to the Barrington Christmas Market, but I’ve heard it’s amazing.”
“I’ve only been once,” Shawn said, “but it is pretty amazing.”
Shawn wasn’t lying. The Barrington Christmas Market took up the entire town square in the center of the city. It was made up of booths and stalls where local businesses and craftspeople sold everything from toys to clothing to crafts and more. I was most interested in the food, to be honest. I didn’t know if I was going to end up with morning sickness yet, it was way too soon to tell, but for the time being, I sniffed the air and lost myself in the scent of sweet things baking, bacon frying somewhere, fresh bread, and Christmas spices.
“How about we try some of everything,” Shawn said as he took my hand at the beginning of a row of food carts. “Do you think food service is the kind of job that someone might want if they’re hoping to improve their future?”
“Possibly,” I said. “Maybe one of these guys could talk to people about how to set up their own business.”
“Oh. That’s a good idea, too,” Shawn said, his face a little red, like he believed he’d accidentally insulted me.
He really hadn’t, though. He was new to the whole mindset of poverty thing, but learning all the time. I loved that about him.
Oh my gosh. I was in love with Shawn. I was in love with an alpha that was so high above me it should give me a nosebleed. How the heck was that supposed to work?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Shawn
To be honest, the real reason I wanted to visit the Barrington Christmas Market with Enzo was not to check out the vendors or to look for people who might be interested in helping with the Christmas Eve supper. It was because I’d been shaken by the family meeting and by the way my parents had reacted, both to Enzo and to the fresh ideas for our longstanding event. Maybe it was because I was able to see the interactions through Enzo’s eyes, even though we hadn’t bonded, yet, but I’d noticed and been upset by the way Dad had tried to play me and Walt against each other.
Had he been doing that all along? Was that why Walt hated me so much? I felt like a fool for not noticing Dad’s divisive tactics before, but I had to face it, I’d been too busy working hard to be his favorite, whether I was doing it consciously or not. I loved my dad, even though he was flawed. I had to believe that he and Papa were good men at heart. They were…weren’t they?
