Page 45 of The Santa Swap

“Don’t you see anything different?” Luke pointed to the new decoration. The fish were starting to dart beneath the arch.

“Merry Christmas, little fish,” Gary said. “They have been pretty good this year.

Olivia gave herself a mental high five. “I feel inferior. I haven’t thought of anything creative for my person. All I’ve come up with is a note.”

Luke smiled. “I think a note would be nice if it came from you.” He patted her shoulder and walked back into her office, oblivious to the heat he sent zinging through Olivia’s body.

Olivia followed after Luke, sitting down across the desk from him. He was still smiling, his Monet eyes sparkling with a look that Olivia had missed seeing.

“When Tara suggested the secret Santa idea, I wanted to support her as a friend. Now I am beginning to understand what she meant about it increasing morale. Your present made you smile, and mine did too.” He pulled open the file and pushed it across the desk to Olivia. “Should we get to work?”

“For sure.” Olivia followed Luke’s fingers as he went through his various notes, but her mind was only halfway there. Instead of listening to detailed statistics about the Paully company, she was brainstorming more ways to make Luke smile.

She may not be able to date the guy, but she sure could show him how much he meant to her.

Luke cleared his throat and Olivia glanced up, startled.

“I asked if you had any questions but you were staring off into space. Are you okay?”

She was busted. Olivia smiled. “Sorry. I was going over that final set of figures in my mind to make sure I understood them. I think I’m good to go.”

Luke leaned back in his seat and ran a hand through his hair. “Do you think we’ll be able to salvage this account?”

He was talking about a client, but for the first time in weeks, Olivia began to nurse the hope that they could salvage their friendship. Then, once Luke’s heart had had some time to heal, maybe they’d be able to turn that friendship into something more. She couldn’t stop smiling at the thought.

“I think things are going to look better than ever,” she said. “I can’t wait for us to get started.”

Olivia gave herself exactly three minutes to bask in the idea of what it would feel like to have Luke as a steady part of her life. Then she got back to work. No need to daydream over the off-limits handsome boss who sent her heart to the clouds with the simplest of touches.

CHAPTER20

When Olivia’s alarm went off the following morning, she practically jumped out of bed. She forced herself to slow down as she showered and got ready for work. If things were running like normal, Luke would arrive around 7:30 in the morning. She wanted to get there after him so she could deliver her next Santa gift.

One of her favorite things about Luke was that he seemed to take everything in stride. Apart from his yelling match with Susan, she had never heard him raise his voice. In fact, he was one of the best listeners she knew.

She had gone to the used goods store on her way home the night before. People were always donating the craziest items. Olivia was sure if she took her time, she’d be able to find something truly awful to decorate his car with.

She found a set of reindeer antlers and a red nose that were supposed to clip to the outside of the car, but the antlers needed to be attached to the inside of the windows. That wasn’t going to work. A few aisles down, Olivia found removable vinyl stickers of elves. Each of the elves had big ears that stuck out from their hats. They were perfect.

When Olivia pulled into work, she found a spot open on the same row as Luke’s car. A few cars pulled in right behind her but she stayed in her car until the people had walked into the building. Then she grabbed her stickers and got to work.

By the time she was done, it looked like there was an elf party happening on Luke’s car. Every panel had at least two or three elves in various states of decorating for Christmas. It was awful. She couldn’t wait for Luke to see it.

Olivia rocked back and forth on the elevator ride up to the tenth floor. She wanted to say something to Luke, but it would be funnier if she let him discover the car on his own. He was feeding the fish when she got off the elevator.

“Good morning. What’s that smile about?” Luke raised an eyebrow.

Perhaps her poker face wasn’t as good as she thought. “I know something you don’t know,” she said.

“Want to fill me in?” he asked.

Olivia liked this game. “You’ll figure it out eventually. Don’t worry about it.”

Luke laughed. “Do I have something embarrassing on my face? Is my shirt inside out?”

“It’s something fun, and that’s all that I’m going to say.”

Olivia walked into her office and set her purse to the side. She was opening her drawers to pull out a pen when something caught her eye. Two mugs sat to the side of her computer monitor. The first one was a cow’s face and the second was a chicken wearing a hula skirt. Both mugs were stuffed with packets of hot cocoa and candy canes.

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