Page 41 of The Santa Swap

Olivia headed back to her office, her mind spinning with ideas. Having Luke as her person would actually be fairly easy. She could drop things off outside his door, and if he caught her, she could pretend like she was there with a work question.

By the time she settled into reading a report, Olivia had a plan. Luke was going to have the best secret Santa ever. She needed to head to the craft store on the way home.

CHAPTER18

The small paper Luke held was dwarfed by his hands, yet he held it delicately as if it would disintegrate if he looked at it sideways.

Olivia.

Tara had brought him the bowl which held one last paper, apologizing that there weren’t more names to choose from. As president of the company, he could have chosen any person he wanted for the secret Santa swap, but he had decided to let fate take over. The results? Olivia’s name on the paper that he couldn’t put down.

It seemed too good to be true. What were the odds he’d get the name of the person he wanted to spoil most of all? He started brainstorming ideas. A new car would be excessive, and jewelry too personal, but there had to be something special he could do for Olivia.

Luke pushed a stack of papers to the side of his desk and pulled out a notebook. He wrote Olivia’s name at the top of the page and underlined it. Then he underlined it three more times while he tried to think of any gift ideas.

Olivia wouldn’t want anything too flashy. That much he knew. He started to list all the things he liked about her. Her gorgeous hair made the top of the list, as did the way she blushed from the base of her neck to the tips of her ears. A clip for her hair could work, but Luke liked it best when she wore her hair down.

Earrings were an option until Luke remembered that she never wore any. He wasn’t even sure if her ears were pierced. He doodled a triangle on the side of the page, letting his thoughts flow.

Olivia always smelled delicious. He wasn’t sure if it was her shampoo or a type of perfume, but he knew it was difficult to concentrate on anything other than her intoxicating scent if she stood too close. He could give her perfume, but what if she started wearing it and he realized he liked her other scents better? There was no use in rocking that boat.

Olivia’s laughter went on the list. She was usually reserved at work, but when she laughed, the entire room brightened. It didn’t matter what kind of a day Luke was having. If he heard Olivia’s laugh, even around the corner, his day went better. There wasn’t much of a gift you could give for laughter. Maybe a book of jokes?

As Luke wrote, his thoughts went deeper. He loved the way Olivia stepped right in and took charge. She was in a difficult position of not being a vice president, but having to work with their four strong voices. The way she handled herself at meetings was admirable.

The words were beginning to flow. Olivia was kind. He had seen how she stopped to help anyone who seemed to be struggling. It didn’t matter if it was a homeless person on the street or a coworker having a hard day. She was always there.

Her creativity was undeniable. The building block kits she was making for her nephews were an indication of that. Most people were content with a simple store-bought present, but not Olivia.

By the time the paper was filled, Luke was stumped. The only thing he wanted to do for Olivia was take her out, explain his reasons for fake-dating Susan, and kiss her until she forgave him. Instead, he was stuck with a secret Santa challenge.

According to Tara’s rules, you could leave little notes or treats every day for five days. The final day you’d reveal who you were. That gave Luke five days to remind Olivia how much fun their first date had been. If he could get back to that memory, maybe he could convince her that he was worth talking to again.

Luke flipped the top page up and began to write a new list. This time, he chose his favorite five things. Staying in the thirty-dollar budget was going to be difficult, but he was determined to try.

With his list narrowed down, he pulled up a new screen on the computer. He wrote his plan of attack in the new document.

Step One: Buy a small vase of flowers.

It was a stretch, but colorful flowers represented the spilled blocks. He’d tie it in with a note.

Lunch time presented the perfect opportunity for Luke to sneak out. He avoided the actual floral shop on the corner and walked into the grocery store, wandering the aisles until he found the small flower section in the back of the store. Tucked to the side was a vase of flowers that had been marked down from $20 to $5. It was perfect.

A deep red ribbon wrapped around the vase; the ends tied into a fancy bow. It was very fitting for the holidays, but not quite the look Luke was hoping for. He stopped by the dollar store, crossing his fingers that they would have the decorations he wanted to finish off the vase.

The Christmas angels must have been working double time, because Luke found what he wanted almost immediately. Scattered through the fake flower section were a selection of plastic farm animals wearing Santa hats. Luke had thought he’d find some sort of stickers, but this was much better.

Luke wandered the store, going up and down each aisle to find an assortment of other farm decorations. In the dining ware aisle, he found mugs. One mug had a zoomed in picture of a cow’s face, and another had a picture of a chicken wearing a hula skirt.

As he gathered items, an idea came together. He hoped the presents didn’t give him away completely. The cashier gushed about how cute the animals were. Luke had added a stuffed cow and a stuffed chicken to the pile. Once he checked out of the dollar store, he looked at his receipt. $6.37 spent, and he had gifts for a couple more days.

It was time to put his good work together. Luke nestled the Santa Cow stake into one side of the flower vase and the Santa Chicken into the other, and then he held the vase out in front of him to check his work. Step one on his plan to remind Olivia of their date was off to a good start.

The snow, which had been steadily falling all day, was intensifying into a small blizzard. Luke’s knuckles were white as he gripped the wheel, driving slowly to avoid any accidents. His defensive driving paid off when a car cut him off, blasting through a stop sign without even slowing down.

Luke slammed on the brakes, praying to every God he could think of to keep him safe. His car missed the other car by inches, but the vase of flowers didn’t survive unscathed. Water spilled onto the floor where the vase rolled around, crushing flowers with each turn Luke made.

He wanted to stop and adjust the vase, but that wasn’t the safest option. A car could still slide into him if he was on the side of the road. The sooner Luke could get out of the storm, the better. After more than double the time the drive normally took, he turned into the parking garage and found his space. Then he leaned over to examine the damage.

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