Page 32 of A Merry Penthouse Christmas
“Yeah. And I didn’t want the booties going to waste.”
“Wait.” It dawns on me we’d suspected Emily was having a girl before she and I split. “Are theypink?”
“Indeed, they are.” Arik breezes in from the dining room as if he manifested out of the walls. “Which means they’re perfect.”
He is carrying Bastian, who is wearing the booties. They do look perfect, because Arik is wearing a matching pink button-down with his navy-blue suit. He removed his tie and jacket, but I imagine he looked really sharp in the full ensemble.
Bellamy gives me such a shit-eating grin, I’d elbow him again if Arik wasn’t watching.
“Nice shirt,” Arik says to me.
“Thanks!” He hasn’t seen me since I changed into it. It’s the marigold one Skylar got for me. I hate to admit it, but he was right about how good it would look on me, and with a tie he picked out too, since he once threatened to burn my old one when he saw it.
“I’ll get out of your hair,” Bellamy says. “It was great meeting you, Arik. And you, little Bastian. You’re gonna be a heartbreaker someday.”
“It was great meeting you too, Bell,” Arik says, “You’re welcome here any time.”
“You might regret saying that.” I chuckle.
After Bellamy leaves, I finish putting away the last of the groceries. It’s not time to start dinner yet, but it is Christmas Eve. Treats are mandatory.
“You’re done with work for the day?” I ask Arik.
He only went into the office to finish paperwork. He closed the Johnson merger yesterday. When he handed me my bonus check earlier, he said his success was in large part because of me.
Unexpected outside influences had indeed been the source of his roadblocks. Another business was trying to negotiate a merger out from under him, and once he discovered that, he brought it all out into the open and worked out an even bigger merger where all parties won.
“Done and done,” Arik confirms. “Since you’ll be leaving me tomorrow, I might even bring Bastian to my extended family Christmas.”
“That’s great!” It stings a little to hear him say I’ll be leaving him, though I will, and for more than just Christmas Day. I don’t want to talk about it though. Not today. “Hot chocolate then? Or some early eggnog?”
“Nog, please, but only if you’re adding brandy.”
“Of course.”
I make our drinks and we chitchat for a while, planning out the rest of our day, which really will be a wonderful sendoff for me. I’m choosing to simply enjoy it and not think too hard on the days ahead.
It surprises me that Arik hasn’t put Bastian in his bouncer yet but takes the eggnog from me to enjoy a sip before he leaves it on the kitchen island and nods out the direction toward the nursery.
“You didn’t notice when you came in, did you?”
“Notice what?” I glance in that direction too.
“You didn’t look in your room?”
“No…”
“You should. It’s Christmas Eve, which according to de León tradition means you get to open one present early, right?”
Now I’m excited, and I leave my spiked eggnog on the island too and hurry for my room, hearing the less hurried shuffling of Arik and Bastian following me. When I arrive and peer inside, there is a small but elegantly wrapped present on my pillow.
But the rest of my things are gone.
“What—?”
“Open it,” Arik encourages from behind me.
I don’t understand or know quite how to feel, so I do the only thing I can and move toward the bed. Inside the silver and gold-wrapped package is an equally silver and gold picture frame, but while it is beautiful, it’s the photo inside that renews my smile.
