Page 56 of The Heart of Winter

Our fingers were still touching.

Minutes passed, and I just sat there, our skin in contact. Unreal.

It felt incredibly good, like I was high. My breathing grew faster, and it took everything in me not to turn, grab him by the shoulders, and press my lips to his sweet, soft mouth…

Absolutely insane idea. And we didn’t even know each other. He hated me, as far as I could tell.

And yet, I was still doing it. And he didn’t protest.

Finally, my father wrapped up his speech. He mentioned that in about a month, when the test version was ready, two people would need to go to Japan for direct meetings with their development team. Their programmers would be responsible for handling operations on their end, and our team would assist them in getting up to speed.

A few executives asked some questions, and Winter spoke up as well. His voice was calm and composed, even though his heart was beating just as fast as mine. Damn, this guy had some serious self-control, at least on the surface.

He remained professional, which was more than I could say for myself. I barely caught anything that was said, and had no idea why I was even in that meeting.

When everyone started standing up and our hands finally separated, my father headed for the door. Winter, without looking at me, said, "Come to my office tomorrow when you arrive at work. We’ll discuss your role in this project."

"Of course," I replied, my voice slightly strained.

Then, everyone left, going their separate ways.

Dazed, I strolled through the hallway, back to my room.

I didn’t even have the energy to analyze it. I was allowing myself to do things… that could destroy me. But the funniest part? Winter was allowing himself to do them, too.

Were we now BOTH playing some weird game? Testing each other?

But this wasn’t something that could ever happen, we both knew it. No one would accept it. And definitely not my father.

Honestly, I don’t even know how I got through the rest of the day. It passed like I was lost in some kind of brain fog.

But the need to do something, something… was growing, or I was about to explode.

***

The next day, when I arrived at the office, I left my jacket in my room. That’s when my eyes landed on the crystal elf figurine sitting on my desk.

A strange idea flickered in my mind. I picked it up without thinking and headed straight for Winter’s office.

The last time I’d been there was the day I was hired, over two and a half months ago.

This time, I walked in with entirely different emotions.

Winter was sitting at his desk. He didn’t stand when he saw me. He seemed almost barricaded there, like it was a shield of safety between us.

I wondered if he would acknowledge what had happened yesterday.

Predictably, he didn’t.

"Sariel, this project could be a good opportunity for you to develop in a direction that interests you, at least, according to what your father said."

Whoa.

Was this the first time he’d used my actual name? Not Lowen? Yep, a pleasant shiver, check!

"You’ll have some influence on the interface design for this version of the application. You can suggest minor modifications. Maybe it’ll be more satisfying for you than just making icons."

I let out a sharp breath. "Thank you for this opportunity, Director. It’s true that UX design and information architecture are areas I want to develop in." I made sure to keep my tone professional.

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