Page 26 of The Santa Swap

Decorations were starting to pop up in windows along the street. When Olivia passed by the bakery, a new idea came to mind. It hit all the marks that the company needed. Bonding, friendly competition, and a healthy dose of Christmas magic.

Olivia downed her sandwich and headed back to the office. Luke, Susan, Gary and Tara were sitting in a small meeting room. Olivia knocked on the door.

“I know what we need to do,” she said.

CHAPTER12

The company presidency swiveled in their chairs to look at Olivia. She held up the stack of papers. “Susan asked me to come up with some ideas for the company party. I think this will work.”

As she spoke to the group, Olivia kept sneaking extra glances at Luke. He had his gorgeous eyes trained on her face, barely blinking. Heat rose on her cheeks, but by this point, everyone was used to seeing her blush. Hopefully they’d think it was because she was giving a presentation, and not because the unavailable man she had a major crush on was watching her so intently.

She presented her ideas, one by one, giving time for questions afterwards.

“It fits in the budget,” Susan said.

“And it will certainly make people laugh,” Gary said.

“Do you have enough time to get things together?” Tara asked.

Olivia nodded. “I will be ready for the party next Wednesday. That will give me more than enough time to prepare.”

“It sounds like a plan,” Tara said. She stood, gathering her things to leave. Gary did the same, following his wife out to the foyer.

Susan patted Olivia’s arm. “I’m really impressed. You took the idea and ran with it. Great job.” Susan walked out of the office, leaving Olivia and Luke alone.

Luke’s face was hard to read. He walked towards the door, passing so close to Olivia that she could smell his cologne. “I think it’s going to be a blast. Thank you for your preparation.” His words were missing their normal warmth. Olivia’s heart dropped. Was he upset about his ruined date?

She mentally scolded herself. There was no fixing what happened last night. She had apologized, Luke and Susan had accepted, and that was that. Still, she wished she could understand why Luke was being so distant with her.

When Luke reached the door, he gently closed it. Olivia’s heart began to race. The last time Luke had closed the door to an office with the two of them, there had been fireworks. She nervously cleared her throat.

“Uh, did you need something else?” Luke wasn’t walking any closer to her, but she knew he could cross the distance in a matter of seconds.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Luke walked past her to stand in front of the window, turning his face away so Olivia couldn’t read his expression.

“Why wouldn’t I be? I know it will be busy getting ready for the party, but I can handle it.”

Luke spun towards her; his eyes laser focused. “Your date. That guy. You seemed alright last night when we dropped you off, which is the only reason I let you go to your apartment alone.” He trailed off.

Olivia’s heart melted. They couldn’t date at work, but he did care about her. “I promise that I’m okay. I mean, yes, he was a jerk, but he didn’t hurt me.”

The liquid pools of blue watched Olivia. If she didn’t leave, she was going to fall under his spell.

Luke took a step towards her, and her mouth went dry. So much for an exit plan. He reached his hand out and Olivia leaned forward, her breath hitching in her throat. She didn’t care that she had turned Luke’s advances down in the past, and apparently, neither did he.

His hand was getting closer and Olivia’s nerves were on fire. She remembered just how incredible it felt to be held in his arms. He was inches away from her body, close enough to reach out, but then he kept moving right past her.

Olivia’s body flared with heat, flushing from the bottom of her neck to the tips of her ears. He wasn’t trying to kiss her. He was opening the door so she could leave.

“I’ll have Susan check on you later,” Luke said, throwing cold water over Olivia’s heart. “We don’t want you to get overwhelmed with plans.”

“That sounds good.” Olivia grabbed her papers and walked to her office, pulling the door closed behind her. She leaned against the frame, breathing slowly until the heat in her face was gone. As a professional woman, she really needed to get her emotions back under control. What kind of a person thought about kissing their boss when he was clearly dating someone else?

Olivia sat at her desk and sank her head into her hands. What had she been thinking? She really did need to find someone to date, or a great group of friends. There was no way she would ever call Luke for help again.

* * *

The restof the week passed with Olivia doing a sort of dance to avoid Luke. If he was in the break room, she would order coffee from the cart down the street. She knew his meeting schedule so she made sure to arrive and leave the office when he was occupied. The only dangerous times were when Olivia rode the elevator. There was no way of knowing who would be waiting at the top.

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