Page 66 of His Christmas Wife

Now she’d cloaked herself in a shell, and he intended to demolish it.

Deliberately he signed each check, taking his time to read who it was to and the precise amount.

She sighed in frustration.

Generally she left them with him and returned sometime later.

“You wanted to talk?”

“Where’s your ring?” Its absence had been gnawing at him all day.

“In a box on my dresser.”

The answer was so quick, she must have prepared in advance.

“Wearing it would have invited questions that I am not prepared to answer. I don’t think everyone at the company needs to know about this…” She stopped. Then, after crossing her legs at the ankles—so damn prim and proper—she continued, “Our arrangement. And I’m not making up another fake boyfriend.”

“I see.” Hard to argue with. Even if he didn’t like her response.

“Anything else? Otherwise I need to get back to work.”

Was she intentionally yanking his chain? “I’m considering closing the business for the rest of the year.”

Though she opened her mouth, she said nothing.

“Speechless?”

“I’m trying to figure out what you mean. Is this a cost-saving measure? As in you’re forcing your employees to take time off without pay?”

Always so damn suspicious of him. “No.”

She blinked slowly. “In that case…I don’t understand.”

“Over the last few months, everyone has worked hard. As you are so fond of reminding me.”

“True.” She inclined her head. “But it’s also the end of the fiscal year. There’s a lot of work to be done and with fewer employees than normal already.”

“So you’re advising against it?”

Frantically she shook her head. “No.”

“Then…?”

Meeting his gaze, she exhaled. “Are you actually serious about this?”

Was the idea so novel that it appeared to be ludicrous? “I thought it would please you.”

“It does, but…” Suspiciously she narrowed her gaze. “You don’t do anything that’s not self-serving.”

Frost winced. After what he’d told her about his determination to restore the family fortune and good name, the remark took him aback. “I assure you; this idea was anything but.”

“So you’d allow everyone to go home tonight and not expect them back until after the new year?”

“Correct.”

“What about the fiscal losses?”

“More than made up for in company morale and employees who return reengaged. Or so I’d assume that would be your argument?”

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