Page 33 of The Santa Swap

“Not my man, not my man, not my man,” she whispered as she walked away.

CHAPTER15

“Did you say something?” Luke asked. Olivia was walking past him, but he couldn’t quite make out her words.

She glanced up, an endearing flush shooting from her cheeks to the tips of her ears. “I was talking to myself. Anyway, good job.”

“Thanks.” Luke beamed at the compliment. After the fiasco with the reindeer ornament, Luke was determined to not let his team down. He wasn’t going to win any prizes, but this ornament would be something he’d be proud to display at the front of a tree.

As Luke watched the clock tick down, his stomach began to churn. Once the party was over, he’d be able to pull Olivia to the side and ask her about the newspaper article. If she really hadn't seen it, he’d be able to show it to her first. And if she had already seen it, he wanted to make sure she was okay.

Like the end of the other two contests, the increase in voices grew with each passing minute. This time there wasn’t a rush to be the first team finished. They were all going to take their time until the clock ran out.

Luke looked at the ornaments being made nearby. Surprisingly, he was keeping up with his teammates. The paint on his globe was a little splotchy, but it wasn’t bad. Hopefully someone further down the table had made a masterpiece though, because Luke’s end of the table wasn’t cutting it.

“Who has the best one?” he asked. The team began to look up and down, holding up a few contenders.

“This is our last chance to win some votes,” he said. He gathered the entire team around three clear frontrunners. Brett, not surprisingly, had put together another gorgeous design. The real standout, however, was the globe with beads that wrapped around the ornament before dangling off the bottom. It took a minute for Luke to recognize that it was Olivia’s.

“This is our final vote,” Brittany said. “Which ornament do we think best represents our team?”

Luke raised his hand high for Olivia’s design. He was pleased when a number of other hands were raised as well.

“I think we have our winner,” Luke said.

Olivia held her hands out. “It can’t be me,” she said. “I’m the one who planned the contests. It feels like cheating to have my ornament added to the mix.”

“That’s just silly,” Landon said. “It’s not like we can force people to vote for you.”

“True, but I don’t want people to say I had an unfair advantage. Maybe I stacked the deck to get the decorating supplies I liked best.”

Luke was opening his mouth to say something but Brittany beat him to the punch. “I’ll bring it to the front and say it’s mine.” She looked around the table. “Does everyone agree?”

The nods cinched the deal. Luke watched Olivia walk to the front, her head hung low. She was clearly not happy, but he wasn’t going to interfere. Presenting Olivia’s ornament really was the best choice for the team.

Once again, Olivia took charge of the room. Her assertiveness was a quality that Luke was coming to admire. Sure, it had meant that they couldn’t date in the workplace, but there was something exciting about a woman who knew how to bend a room to her will.

“You’ve got one minute left on the clock. Get those finishing touches on the ornaments and bring them to the front.”

Brittany ran up with Olivia’s ornament. “This is from the green team,” she said. She glanced back at the team and winked.

The other two contestants raced up behind her, gently hanging their ornaments a small metal tree that Olivia had placed in the center of the table. When they stepped back, the entire room erupted into cheers.

“Now it’s the fun part. As you leave, each of you will be given three tickets. I’ll put the vases out once I’ve sorted the bins. Remember to vote for one gingerbread house, one stocking, and one ornament. It can’t be from your own team. We’ll tally the votes and announce the winner soon.”

Luke raised his voice while he walked to the front. “Let’s give Olivia a round of applause. It isn’t an easy task keeping us all entertained, and I think she did a fabulous job.”

The cheers filled the room, making Olivia blush again. “Thanks again, everyone. Luke, Tara, Susan and Gary, can you please come help with the tickets?”

It didn’t take long for the employees to file out the doors with five people handing the tickets out. Once the room was cleared, Tara walked to Olivia’s side.

“I think I can speak for all of us when I say that was the best company party we’ve had in a long time.”

“I agree,” Susan said. “Although the real best part was that I didn’t have to plan it. I’m great bossing people around, but I’m not so great at setting things up. Thanks for all your hard work.”

“It was a blast,” Gary said. “I may have burnt my fingers a little bit on the hot glue gun, but I had fun.”

Tara reached for Gary’s hand, gently kissing each of his fingers, and Luke felt a pang of jealousy. Fake dating Susan was giving him someone to wrap his arm around in public, but she wasn’t the person he wished he was holding.

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