Page 67 of Falling for Mr. Wright

“I hate this cereal.” Mary Beth slurred her words and shoved the cereal back in the gift bag, tossing it at a young intern named Bryce who Sarah had earlier assigned to distribute the gifts.

Sarah stifled a laugh. Someone was a bit tipsy. She hoped the intern wasn’t traumatized.

“Okay, confess.” Mary Beth wagged her finger at the crowd. “Who is my Secret Santa, because so far you’ve given me perfume that I’m allergic to and gluten foods I can’t eat.”

Connor, the Vice President of Finance, reached for Mary Beth’s arm. “Let’s get you some coffee, shall we? Carry on, everyone.”

Logan shook his head and stepped out of the doorway, motioning for Sarah to do the same. “Did you know about her allergies and gluten intolerance?”

“No.” She followed, feeling slightly bad for the disaster that had just taken place.

“I’m glad I didn’t cause her an allergic reaction or anything that would involve an ambulance visit. I guess my twelve days of gifts was a bad idea.”

Sarah glanced up at her boss, her heart full of empathy. “Maybe she wasn’t the right one for the gifts?”

“Probably not. I kind of got the impression that we wouldn’t have a lot in common. I guess there’s always next year.” He looked down at her and winked. “Do you think Vanessa’s into me?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

He chuckled. “A mystery to solve in the new year.” He held out his arm again. “But I’ve got more important things to do right now. Let’s get you to where you need to be.”

Where she needed to be?Why did she need to be in the conference room?

They stepped inside, and Logan escorted her to the front row just as his phone buzzed. “Take a seat right there in that one.” He pointed to the second chair to the left in the front row. “I’ll be right with you.” Reaching into his pocket, he held out his phone, staring down at the tiny screen.

Sarah took a seat, placing her gift on her lap. Was she going to open it here? Why the conference room?

“Okay, that makes sense.” Logan grinned down at his phone.

“What makes sense?” she asked.

“Why we’re here.”

“Was that my Secret Santa who texted you?”

“Has anyone ever told you that you ask a lot of questions?”

Yep. Ryan. “Sorry. It’s a habit,” she said, bitterly. Apparently a bad one that had thoroughly ticked Ryan off yesterday when she’d fired an arsenal of questions at him. If only she could take that moment back. If only she hadn’t followed him into the elevator.

Logan stepped closer until he was standing in front of her. “Picture the first meeting you had in this room.”

She raised an eyebrow. “My first staff meeting?”

“Yeah, what were you feeling?”

“What was I feeling?” Sarah studied her boss. What was he getting at? She glanced down at her gift. Couldn’t she just open it? “Um… It was two years ago. I’d worn my best suit that day because you’d asked me to give a short presentation on the company retreat you’d planned for January at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. I was so incredibly nervous. I’d never given a presentation before…” She paused. “I mean I did in college, but never in a professional setting, and certainly not wearing a suit.”

“How did youfeel?”

She thought back to that god-awful moment. She’d only been on the job a week and didn’t really know anyone. She’d worked tirelessly on the three slides Logan had asked her to prepare and practiced in her bedroom mirror for five days straight.

As the staff had filed in, her heart had raced so fast, she’d been surprised it hadn’t broken out of her chest. “I was petrified.”

“And then what happened?”

She stared up at him, not quite sure what answer he was looking for. “I did the presentation.”

He shook his head. “Before that.”

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