Page 26 of Christmas with the Elkin Billionaires

“Every girl needs a good pair of skis,” Chase answered.

Tana blushed. The skis were good. Too good. At this very moment, Chase probably looked sexy as sin already dressed in a dark suit in anticipation of the cocktail party later. Mouthwateringly sexy. And he was on the phone with her daughter talking about the customized Frozen-themed skis he’d bought for her. She’d known they were skis, but custom ones? Lindsey had been doing just fine on the skis she borrowed from the resort, and Tana figured they would do until she got the promotion.

“Well, thank you,” Lindsey said. “It’s my birthday party today.”

One of Lindsey’s friends had noticed she was on the phone and came over to see who she was talking to, and then another, and the three of them were huddled around, giggling.

Tana reached in and plucked the phone from her daughter’s hand, then swiped madly at the screen to get it off speakerphone. She didn’t love Lindsey making calls without at leastaskingfirst. “Hi, Chase.”

“Hi.” The warm familiarity in his voice made her knees feel as weak as they had in bed with him the other day. “How’s the party?”

“Getting a little out of hand, clearly.” Her face felt hotter than it ever had in her life. Tana turned toward the wall, waving the girls back to the party game. “Sorry about that. Lindsey grabbed my phone, and I’m really sorry she put you on the spot like that.”

“It’s all right. I’m touched.” He wasn’t joking—his sincerity traveled all the way through the phone and squeezed her heart. “Was there anything else the two of you needed?”

“No,” she said. “We’re good. And thank you, uh, again, for the skis. Lindsey loves them. She can’t wait to use them on the slopes.”

“I can’t wait to see her on them.” Another squeeze to her heart. Chase, looking forward to Lindsey’s first run on her new skis. “Am I going to see you at the employee cocktail hour? Need to be honest with you, Tana. You’d brighten it right up.”

“Oh, please.” She laughed, even more embarrassed. “I’ll be there once all the kids are picked up. And my parents are taking Lindsey for the weekend.” A beat passed, and Tana wished she could see Chase’s face.

“She must be really excited,” Chase said, his voice brimming with anticipation. “Birthday weekend fun?”

“So much fun.” And she was still doing the birthday thing. “I’ll see you at the lodge, okay? Soon.” She hung up before he could say anything else to make her blush.

The game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey was ramping up, and Tana let them play a few more rounds before it was time to start settling down. They’d already had pizza and cake. The first parents to pick up kids filtered in a few minutes later. She’d made it through another birthday party.

“Hey, Mom.” Lindsey tugged at Tana’s sleeve. “I forgot my suitcase at home.”

Tana and Lindsey waved goodbye to the last party guest, and Tana looked down at her daughter. She looked exhausted—hanging on by a thread. Tana stroked Lindsey’s hair. “That’s okay. It was really me who forgot it. I was concentrating on all the party stuff. We’ll go back and pick it up, okay?”

“Go get your things, birthday girl,” Tana’s dad said from behind them. “We’ll take over the party cleanup.”

“Oh, dad, you don’t have to do that. I can—”

“Go,” he said with a smile. “We’ve got things under control here.”

Tana drove home. If she was going to make the cocktail party, she had to change fast. She hadn’t wanted to wear something too sexy to the birthday party, obviously, and now she was pressed for time. While Lindsey grabbed her suitcase from her bedroom, Tana rushed to the back of the house and pulled her best little black dress from the closet. Her only little black dress.

She swept into the bathroom and reached for her makeup bag, Lindsey close on her heels with her suitcase. A little lipstick, a little blush, and she’d be good to go. Oh, and mascara. Lindsey picked up a makeup brush and dipped it into some blush powder while Tana put mascara on.

“I think Chase would be a cool dad.” Lindsey kept her eyes away from Tana’s in the reflection. “That would be a good birthday wish, don’t you think?”

Tana’s hand froze midway to her eyelashes. Clearly, she’d been hanging around Chase too much. She was setting Lindsey up to have unrealistic expectations. Eventually, Chase would zoom off to some new high-flying destination and leave them both.

“Chase isn’t my boyfriend,” she said flatly.Focus on the mascara. Don’t stick it in your eye.“We’re work friends, honey.”

Lindsey pouted and pointed the brush at Tana. “You like him, though. Right?”

“I do. As a friend. Nothing more.”

Lindsey had too much cake, too much soda, and too much fun with her friends. Her face crumpled, and she got off the stepstool in front of the sink, stalking out of the room. “I want to go to Grandma’s,” she yelled back. “I want to go now.”

Tana put her mascara away, her own heart aching. It had only been a few days ago that Lindsey had taken her first steps. Hadn’t it? She’d gone from a chubby baby to a top-speed toddler to an almost-seven-year-old in no time at all. And Tana hadn’t learned anything, apparently. Her first mistake was bringing the gift from Chase to the party. It was sure to raise questions.

Her second mistake was hurting her daughter’s feelings. She’d been dishonest with her, and that didn’t feel good...but being honest didn’t feel right, either.

Suddenly, Tana didn’t feel like going to the cocktail party. She felt like cuddling up with Lindsey on the couch and watchingFrozen. They could try to stop time for a little bit.

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