Page 5 of Merry Me Grumphole

“Apology accepted.” It’s not like I can stay mad at him forever. My heart won’t let me. Riley Sanders is my weakness. “So, what do you want? I know you didn’t just come here to say hello.”

He pulls his hands out and puts them in front of him in defense. Has this guy taken a look in the mirror? Those broad shoulders and extra foot of height give him an advantage. He can take me easily.

In a fight or on my desk, wherever he wants, really.

“I thought long and hard about it,” he starts up once he realizes I’m not feeling violent, “I came to offer you Harrison to show you I’m sorry.”

I sputter on my drink, coughing. He grimaces.

“You are not offering me that company,” I huff out, coughing. I refuse. Harrison brings in thousands of dollars every quarter. Riley gets fat bonus checks over them. He’s definitely rubbed his success in my face before. “No thank you. I don’t want that.”

Harrison for Flanders? No thank you. I’m asking for an equal prize, not the downfall of the man eyeing me from his bird’s-eye view.

He sighs, pinching his nose. “Then please tell me you know what you want.”

Maybe these little games of ours have finally run their course. Riley looks exhausted.

“Christmas day,” I sputter, “let me bug you for a few hours.”

His brows narrow and the sirens are blaring in my head, screaming the wordABORTover and over.

“I want to see the light displays,” I force out. My face feels so hot, it’s not funny. “I don’t want to go alone.”

I need him to bark a laugh or something. When I get the courage to look at him, I ache for some amusement or something.

No, this man is staring down at me hard. Like I’m a puzzle with an extra piece he can’t find a place for.

“I’ll think of something else,” I huff out, shaking my head.

Can everyone hear my outrageous request or see how flustered I feel? Even in a silent room, I can hear their gossiped whispers.

Why couldn’t I have made the request somewhere else? I’ve mastered running away and I could’ve used my skills.

“No, no. I’ll do it.” Looking away from me, he rubs at the back of his neck. “Need to go sweater shopping, I suppose.”

My heart launches up to my throat and I squeeze my apology cup a little too hard. “Really?”

Once he’s looking back at me, he’s got that confident expression that irks me and makes my insides feel like I’ve got a whole lot of butterflies in there. “Better go all out, Gwenevere. You know how much I hate to lose.”

Oh, I will. I’ll destroy him this time around without a doubt.

Then, I’ll take this man out on a date and hope that he’ll finally see me as a woman instead of a coworker. If I want to catch his attention, I’ve got to take baby steps.

Riley Sanders might be a smart guy when it comes to stealing client’s hearts, but he’s outright blind when it comes to my own.

* * *

When the night of the party rolls around, I’m feeling more nervous than usual. Even though the goal is to look ugly here, I did spend some extra time making myself look nice.

My curls bounce with each shift of my head. Running my tongue along my lower lip, I can taste the light-colored lipstick. Hopefully, I didn’t go overboard and make myself look like a clown at a kid’s birthday party.

As far as I can remember, Riley has never included himself when it comes to office parties. I feel like he’s the type who’d rather sit in a silent room with a glass of wine or something. Unless one of the higher-ups was celebrating his results, Riley avoided celebrations like the plague.

Not this time. He’s going to be here to enjoy the festivities. A few holiday tunes and ridiculous games later, I’ll get to see more sides of the man. Find a few wrinkles in his flawless nature. Then I’ll exploit them and find more ways to tease him and return the favor.

My face feels warm as I look at the reflection of myself in my car’s mirror. I slightly touch my eyes where the liner is smudging. Next to me, I’ve brought a platter of cookies, peanut butter ones to be exact. I only stole two on the drive over to the event.

The party is supposed to be a potluck, but my stomach is feeling a bit too full of tingles right now to even think about eating any of the food I’m about to come across. Once I beat all these butterflies away and make some room, I’ll try some of Angie’s chicken dip. I hear it’s to die for.

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