Page 69 of Santa Baby

A few hours later, I drove her home. It’d been a while since I took my own car for a spin, and it felt good having her beside me, my hand resting on her thigh as I sat in gridlocked, Sunday traffic.

“Colin wanted me to remind you that you have family dinner tonight,” I told her over the Christmas music playing on the radio.

Fia shrugged, slouching in her seat. “I already told my mom I wasn’t going to make it. I have to work on Heather Schuyler’s party.”

“How’s that going?”

“Great. Fine. It’s a lot of work.” She laughed, shaking her head. “I love it, of course. This is such an amazing opportunity but it’s also making me realize how much I like just doing photography.”

I pulled up to her building and considered just driving her back to my apartment, holding her captive for the rest of our lives. But Fia ran her hand over her face, sighing as she said, “Will you be my date to her party?”

“Of course I will.”

“A real date, not part of our scheme.”

“Yeah, Fia. I’d love to.”

I got out, jogging to her side of the car before she could open the door herself. I walked her up to her building, our heads ducked against the snow. We were laughing, but then it hit me.

“I need you to know that I really care about you,” I told her. “Last night was amazing.”

“It was,” she agreed, standing on her tiptoes to kiss me. I returned the kiss, realizing how deep I was falling.

“I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“Tomorrow night.” She squeezed my hand and let go, turning for the door.

Our last official event as a pretend couple.

Then what?

29

FIA

It had been a long time since I’d done this.

I picked a path across the floor of my apartment, careful not to step on any of the invitations, mockups, and blueprint guides I’d been using to help envision the decorations for Heather’s party. I held my phone to my ear, my face squeezed against my shoulder. “That’s right. The ballroom is the main space for the party, so I need at least five trees there, two in the drawing room, and one smaller tree in the cigar room. Yeah, that’s correct. Three o’clock on the twenty-first?” I glanced at my watch, mentally doing the math in my head. “Yeah, that’s fine. That’ll give me enough time to do a walkthrough before the party the next day. Uh huh. Perfect. Thank you!”

I tossed my phone on the couch and rubbed my temples.

I was enjoying this, right? The pressure, the constant movement and attention to detail? This was what I wanted, wasn’t it? What I thought I’d lost after building Jake’s business up from the bottom, doing all of his marketing, and designing his first events?

I’d gone to school for this, after all.

I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes. I’d been at this since yesterday afternoon. I worked through the night, got maybe three hours of sleep, and had been up and working since five this morning.

Now, it was noon, and I had a few hours before I needed to get ready to go to that Christmas-tree thing with Mason.

The thought of Mason made my heart squeeze with excitement, which was enough to get moving again.

I was probably just overthinking the whole thing, honestly. Everything was in place. The decorators I’d hired would start tomorrow, transforming Heather’s mansion into a winter wonderland. The catering, music, and entertainment were taken care of. Invitations had been sent out and RSVPs were rolling in.

I could, theoretically, take a break for a few hours. I drummed my fingers on my knees, then shrugged on my coat. I planned on just going for a walk but ended up grabbing my camera. The weight of it felt good in my hands. Familiar. Safe. In a sea of uncertainty, there was one thing I knew I was good at.

I walked to Central Park. It was busy, teeming actually, with locals and tourists alike. Christmas in New York City was one of a kind. It was beautiful in its own, unique way. I sat on a bench with a hot peppermint mocha and started taking pictures.

I didn’t have a goal or theme in mind. I just wanted to capture the feeling in the air today. If it was possible, I wanted the pictures to be a glimpse into the smells, tastes, and emotions of a brisk, gloomy, December day with Christmas right around the corner.