Page 10 of The Santa Swap

“You may not be the kind of girl who kisses your boss, but I’m most definitely the kind of man who doesn’t let an opportunity like you slip through my fingers. Besides, I’m pretty sure you asked me to.”

Olivia opened and shut her mouth. He was right in a way, but that wasn’t what she had been asking.

“Even putting the fake name aside, this really isn’t something we can do.” Olivia reached her hand up to straighten a section of Luke’s hair that was out of place.

He grabbed her hand, lowering it to her side. “If I can’t be kissing you at work then you really can’t be playing with my hair.” The hunger in his eyes was obvious. “But you should be kissing me. I’m the kind of guy you want to kiss.”

Olivia’s resistance was crumbling. “I don’t know anything about you. I just barely learned your real name.” She took a step back, trying to widen the distance between herself and the handsome face staring down at her. This was definitely not how she planned her first day of work to be.

Luke trailed his fingers up and down her arm before wrapping his hand around hers. “I really want to talk to you more and explain my reasons, but not here. Not at work.”

“What are you saying?” Her mind was screaming at her to slow down, but all she could focus on was the pressure of his fingers pressed against hers.

“I’m saying I’d like to take you out again.”

Olivia studied Luke’s face, knowing full well what going out with him would entail. She’d become the woman that everyone in the office gossiped about. Rumors would fly that she had only gotten the job because she was dating the boss. If she wanted to be taken seriously, hanging out with Luke was out of the question.

The pressure on her hand was increasing as Luke pulled her closer. She had to put her foot down before his lips got anywhere near hers. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

Olivia let go of Luke’s hand and reached for the door knob. This time, when she turned the handle, he let her leave. She hesitated, with one foot standing in the doorway. In her mind she could hear her best friend’s voice shouting at her.Are you really going to turn down the potential for love?But there was no guarantee of love, and the job was a fantastic opportunity. She wasn’t going to throw it away for a good kiss.

Tara was waiting on the other side of the door. “Did you have a good meeting?”

The heat in Olivia’s cheeks flared again. How much had Tara heard? Yes, the meeting was very good. Kissably, heart pounding good. Too bad it wasn’t ever going to happen again.

CHAPTER5

Unfortunately for Olivia, her red cheeks didn’t escape Tara’s notice. Tara waited until they were out of sight of the room before pouncing.

“Most people don’t leave Luke’s office looking like Rudolf’s cousin. What happened in there?” Tara’s all-knowing stare made Olivia squirm. She may have looked like she was fumbling around the office but nothing seemed to escape her notice.

Olivia held a hand to her cheeks. “The blushing? That’s nothing. I turn red if I so much as sneeze. It’s one of the hazards of having fair skin.” Or one of the hazards of kissing the boss, but Tara didn’t need to know that.

Tara gave a quick nod. “I have a friend like that. What did you think of Luke?”

They had walked into the break room. Olivia busied herself preparing a cup of coffee so that she had something to do with her hands. “He seems nice enough.” It was a safe answer. Not an entirely honest one because he was nice, handsome, charming, fun to be with, and an incredibly good kisser, but Tara didn’t need to know that.

Olivia was ready to clear her mind. “Tell me about the rest of the company. How many employees?”

“You bring us up to ninety-seven. Can you believe that when I started here, it was just me, Luke, Gary and Susan?” Tara wore the look of a proud parent.

“I’m guessing you didn’t work in this beautiful building at the time.”

“Nope. We were definitely one of those typical startup companies that got our start in a garage, except in our case, it was Luke’s living room.”

“What about the other people who were with you on day one? Will I be meeting them today too?”

Tara pulled a poppy seed muffin out from a plastic container and cut it in half, offering one section to Olivia. “Gary is home with the kids today. One of the twins has a cold, and Gary thought he might be coming down with it too.”

“Wow. You really do know everything that happens in the office, don’t you?”

Tara’s grin grew wider. “Well, mostly, yes. But Gary is my husband. Seriously, if someone told me that our double date would lead to us starting this company, I would have called them crazy. I still pinch my arm sometimes to make sure it’s real.”

“Double date?” Olivia was struggling to keep all the facts straight.

“Yeah. Susan and Luke had been going strong for a couple of years before we met them. Gary and I bumped into them in line at an ice cream shop one evening. We ended up chatting and by the time it was our turn to order, we had gotten their cell phone numbers. We had so much fun double-dating back then.”

Olivia’s stomach dropped at the thought of Luke dating anyone else. It was a stupid, jealous thought that she pushed out of her mind. He could, and from the sounds of it, did, go out with anyone he wanted.

---