Page 62 of Christmas with the Denton Billionaires

He cleared his throat, trying to snap himself out of the Jules fog. He tapped his foot, brushing something, then caught Jules’s shy gaze flit his way.

“Sorry,” he said.

“I thought you were playing footsie.”

He grinned, then brushed his foot against hers again. A blush stained her cheek. Man, this made his work day a lot more fun. Why hadn’t he thought of this before?

Not like finding an abandoned baby and asking a stranger to move in with him had ever been on his to-do list before.

“Careful there,” she warned.

“Or what? You’ll kiss me again?” His grin widened, and he sought out her foot, brushing it intentionally along her heel.

“Exactly,” she warned, her pretty lips puckering. Then someone knocked on the door.

“Mitch?” his assistant Rose asked, poking her head in. “Oh, good. No new babies this time.”

Mitch laughed, waving her in. “See what you miss when you can’t make it into the office because of a storm? What’s up?”

“We have a problem.” His heart sank when she said that. Rose knew him and his approach to work better than anyone, and over the years she’d come to be his right-hand woman. So when she said they had a problem, usually it was serious. “The toy shipment for the Children of the World exhibit for the gala just arrived, but a lot of it is…how do I say it? Unfinished.”

Mitch furrowed his brow. “What now?”

“The wooden toys are just…blank. It’s the damnedest thing.” She shook her head and sighed.

“Let’s go check this out, shall we?” He stood, looking pointedly at Jules before heading out of the office. The most recent shipment had been set aside in the delivery bay at the back of the hotel. The box had already been opened, most likely when Rose checked it out, and sure enough—nearly half the toys were completely bereft of a design. Just naked wood objects.

“What the hell?” Jules asked, picking up a very large red top in one hand and an unfinished top in another. “And nobody noticed this?”

Mitch chewed on the inside of his lip as he thought about what to do. The gala was this Saturday. Sending this back in exchange for another shipment was out of the question. The company they’d chosen for this task required a three week turn-around on all orders, and he suspected a replacement order would be the same.

“I’m definitely getting a refund,” Mitch said. “But returning the toys is out of the question because we won’t get them replaced in time. So the question is how to rectify the situation.”

Jules picked up a few other toys—a horse, a house, and a cow—and said, “Why don’t we just paint them ourselves?”

Mitch was quiet as he considered the idea. She picked up another finished toy. “Most of the painting is really basic. Two, three, maybe four colors max.” She shrugged, looking up at him. “I think we could knock these out ourselves. Or, worst case scenario—set up a toy painting station for the older kids to occupy themselves. One of the staff could oversee it, just to make sure nobody goes around painting walls or dresses. What do you think?”

In an instant, all his tension dissipated. She was right—and more than that, he was excited about her ideas. “That’s great, Jules. Let’s see how many unfinished toys there are first, then we can decide which direction to go.” They unpacked the box, laying out all the toys according to their level of completion. They counted one hundred fifty unfinished toys.

“How many kids are we expecting for the gala?” Jules asked.

“Probably fifty or so. Not many. And usually never little ones like Noelle. I’d say, ages five and up.”

“Perfect. So let’s paint about fifty of these ourselves and leave the rest as a fun activity station for the kids.” She assessed the laid-out toys, nodding, like she’d internally confirmed the decision.

“So that would be a hundred unfinished toys we’re leaving,” he said.

“Right. Which means that some kids can paint two or three. You never know which kid is gonna want to paint one of each shape. It’s a thing, I promise.”

Mitch looked over at her, resisting the urge to pull her into his arms. Not here in the loading bay, where everyone would see them. Back in his office…maybe. But up in the penthouse? Definitely.

He was so relieved he could have skipped back to the office as they had a dock worker haul the toys on a cart behind them. Not because the toy problem was resolved. No, the wooden toys were honestly the least of his worries.

It was the fact that he had a problem solver at his side. It felt good to have someone around him, willing to get creative and find a path forward. He was used to operating solo, with just Rose beyond his office door and his father dropping in with demands or requests.

Having Jules at his side felt like having a partner in the messy business of running an empire. The toys were inconsequential. It was her attitude that really got him.

Mitch called for supplies and sent out a call for other staff members to help with the painting. He divvied them up into piles of twenty, and instructed managers to hand out the tasks to their willing employees. When the paints and tarp arrived at his office, they got to work painting their selection of toys. The first ones were a little shaky—unsure lines, uneven eyes on the horse, a very weird grimace on the nutcracker—but by the time they hit their rhythm, the toys were coming out just as professional as the originals.

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