Page 24 of Santa Baby Maybe
“Pretty.”
“A groom,” I said, pulling out the next one.
His lips curled. “He looks a little stiff, so I imagine that is supposed to resemble me.”
I laughed at his self-deprecation and pulled out another one. “A cottage.”
He sneered. “I’m looking for something a little more impressive than that.”
“Yeah, well, I was fresh out of McMansion ornaments,” I said. “And, finally, the rest are these.”
I took out four different ornaments and lined them up behind the bride, groom, and cottage.
“Cats. You think I want a lot of cats?”
I pursed my lips. “Since I couldn’t bring you my vagina ornaments I had to get a little creative.”
“Pussies,” he said, completely nonplussed. “You brought me pussies to put on my tree.”
I couldn’t help myself and started laughing. Cackling, really.
“You are unique, Joy.”
He said it so sincerely, I stopped laughing. And because it sounded like a compliment, I flushed and started to lift my hand to push my hair behind my ear, but he caught it in midflight. Holding my hand as I was standing over his desk.
“Don’t do that. Just accept what I’m telling you is true. You’re not like anyone I’ve ever known before. I’m glad to be able to work with you. And that’s amazing, considering where we started.”
I looked at our joined hands. “You thought you knew me,” I reminded him.
“I was wrong.”
I liked that. That he could say he was wrong. That he’d made a mistake and was owning it. Something someone with a perpetual stick up his ass wouldn’t do.
“You’re maybe not entirely who I thought you were, either,” I offered.
He sat straighter then and let go of my hand. “Excellent. Then we’ve reached détente.”
I nodded. We’d reached something. “I’ll let you get on with your day.”
He nodded, too, and shoved his hands in his pockets. Almost like he was uncertain what he might do with them otherwise.
I made it to the door but then turned around. “An Audi? Really?”
He quickly picked up my disdain for his conservative choice in vehicles. “Let me guess. You drive a Mini Cooper because it’s good for the environment.”
“Ha!” I shouted triumphantly. “That is my car for now, but when the lease is up I plan to trade it in for a hybrid. So you will be wrong in…a couple of months.”
“My bad. I was way off.”
I smiled. “See you around…White Black, like a color coded thing?”
“Never going to happen, Joy.”
“Don’t be so sure,” I warned him. “I have my ways.”
For some reason I had this instantaneous flash of tickling the truth out of him about his name. That was definitely not office appropriate, so on that thought I left his office more quickly than I otherwise might have.
