Page 49 of Santa Baby

Her eyes widened in shock, but she smiled, huffing out a laugh. “Was that sarcasm, Mr. O’Leary? I didn’t think you were capable of that.”

I smiled to myself. I hadn’t been. Not until a few weeks ago when Fia rolled in and upended my life as I knew it. “I need some flowers delivered to the Upper East Side.”

She pulled her phone out of her purse. “What kind?”

I tilted my head back and forth. I was sure Fia had her favorites but the only thing I knew she loved, without a shadow of a doubt, was Christmas. “Something Christmas themed.”

“Like?”

“Red and green.”

Gabby frowned playfully at me and swiped her thumb over the screen a few times. Her face brightened as she smiled to herself, then turned her phone toward me. “How obnoxious are you wanting, because this one is pretty great.”

“That’s perfect. That’s exactly what she’ll like.”

“I’m hoping this is going to Fia Webster. Am I wrong?” Something in her tone gave me pause. Not in a bad way, though. There was a lift in her voice, something hopeful that had my brain spinning faster than it already was.

I nodded. “That’s correct.”

“What would you like the card to say?”

21

FIA

“Ithink I’m reading too closely between the lines.” My voice sounded far away as I gazed down at the bustling street below my apartment. The black, slick pavement was washed in sprays of multicolored light, little shadows bundled against the cold and snow. In the distance, rising above the towering buildings across the street, the New York City skyline burst through the low-hanging clouds. Beautiful. It was just beautiful, but even the shiny lights and constant noise from the street couldn’t numb the thoughts bouncing around my skull.

“Well, you slept with him,” Liv said pointedly from my couch, her dainty legs crossed as she balanced a cup of hot chocolate on her knee. “That’s pretty black and white.”

“We didn’t sleep together. Not all the way.”

“Still, you hooked up. That’s a line you can’t jump back across, you know.”

I chewed my lower lip and turned from the window, tapping my fingers on my arms as I hugged myself. I’d been avoiding Mason. Well, not totally avoiding him. It was the work week, after all. I knew he was busy and I tried to make myself busy, too.

I had taken a family’s pictures in Central Park today. I’d edited some photos sent to me by an influencer for some campaign she was participating in. I’d cleaned my apartment from top to bottom, reorganizing, redecorating, moving furniture around until it felt new, just to take my mind off the feeling of Mason’s hands parting my thighs and his mouth closing in on my⁠—

“The real question is,” Liv mused, cutting through my spiraling thoughts like butter., “Do you want to cross more lines with him?”

“We can’t,” I ground out. “Because this was supposed to be just business. I signed a damn NDA. There’s paperwork involved.”

“Well, you’re talking to me about it, so the NDA has already been broken.” She shifted her position on the couch, tucking her legs beneath her. “Do you like him?”

“Of course I do. He’s… a good guy.”

“I mean, like like him?” Her dark eyes met mine, curious and slightly frustrated by my obvious attempts to skirt my true feelings.

I sank onto the arm of the couch, rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands. “I like him. I like him more than I should. I feel like I’m not looking forward to Christmas this year, for the first time in my life.”

“Why?”

“Because,” I groaned, blinking to clear the pressure spots from my vision. “Because once Christmas is over, this ends, and we just go our separate ways. You know, I haven’t even heard from him since the yacht trip. We had such an easy morning afterward, but the moment I stepped off the boat, reality crashed into me and I realized what we’d done. If I felt like that, he must be feeling like that in spades, Liv.”

“But he could also feel the same way?” She reached for the mug of rich, spiced hot chocolate I’d set down on the coffee table and forgotten about, handing it to me. “Maybe you should talk to him. You know, communicate like adults.”

“No,” I rushed out, shaking my head. “No, because—I can’t. What if he thinks I’m just after his connections? I’ve made a few good contacts going to all these parties. ”

“Are you joking?” She snorted a laugh as I curled my chilled hands around the mug. “Fia, if he thinks that, he doesn’t know you at all, and in that case it would be a good thing to just call this off completely. I think you’re trying to come up with excuses not to fall in love with him. I warned you this would happen.”