Page 43 of Hostile for the Holidays

“You okay?” I ask, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Better than okay.”

I nod, then help her get dressed, tying her boots while she zips up her pants.

In the hallway, Stella glances around like she forgot where we were.

“Did I just hump your face in the Toys for Tiny Hearts office? Does that make me a bad person?”

“Not a bad person, just a horny person,” I tease.

Stella attempts to playfully swat my arm, but I catch her hand and hold it in mine. She doesn’t pull away so if she’s freaked out about what we did, she’s hiding it well.

Hand in hand, we walk down the hallway toward the exit. On our way, we run into Randall, the site manager.

“Mr. Jensen, we were delighted to have you today.”

“Thank you, Randall.” I nod, deciding it’s a moot point to remind him to call me Jasper again. It’s been five years and countless reminders, yet he has kept the formality. “I always enjoy a day in the warehouse.” I motion to Stella. “This is my girlfriend, Stella St. James.”

Stella gives me a bit of side eye. Yes, we’re only fake dating but if she thinks I’m not going to take advantage of that fact and introduce her as my girlfriend every chance I get, she’s mistaken.

“Pleased to meet you, Miss St. James.”

“You can call me Stella,” she offers, and I smile at the fact that Randall will do no such thing.

Randall pushes his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose. “I’m sure you two have some big holiday plans tonight, so I’ll let you go, but Mr. Jensen, I’ll make sure to get you all the year-end numbers by the first of the year.”

I wave him off. “It’s no rush, I know you and Gloria have that vacation the first of the year, so enjoy and we’ll talk mid-month.”

“Thank you. We will.” He turns to Stella. “And thank you for donating your wrapping skills today, Miss St. James. Mr. Jensen never told us he had such a talented girlfriend.”

“Thank you, it was so much fun being a part of this.”

We say our goodbyes and walk out to the parking lot.

On the way, Stella suddenly gasps and turns to me. “Oh my god, was that Randall’s office? Is he going to go in there and smell sex?”

I chuckle, tucking her into the passenger seat of my SUV before climbing into the driver’s seat.

“No.” I turn to her. “It wasn’t Randall’s office. It was my office. Because this is my charity.”

Her jaw drops and it’s the cutest fucking thing.

“What? No way.”

“Is it that hard to believe I’m a nice guy?” I pull out onto the street to start the drive home.

“No, but part of me wanted to think you were a penny-pinching CEO who doesn’t care about others so I could hate you for it.”

“Hmm.”

“Why Toys for Tiny Hearts? And why in Cedar Hollow? It seems like access to shipping and other essentials for the charity would be better in a different location.”

“The charity has multiple warehouses across the country, but I wanted to give back to the people here. Employ locals to run the warehouse and execute the vision.” I pause, wondering if I should tell her the why behind Toys for Tiny Hearts. I swallow hard. “When I was younger, around third and fourth grade, there were a few tough years that my parents struggled financially. My dad’s business was not doing well. They got behind on bills. We almost lost our house. At the time, Juniper and I still got a present under the tree and it wasn’t until I started my company that my mom told me they had used a charity organization those two Christmases to make it special for Juni and me even when they couldn’t provide it for us.”

Stella blinks, then shifts her gaze to the road. “I had no idea.”

“It’s not something I’ve talked about. We were fortunate that my dad’s business turned around and things got more stable financially.”

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