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I collect my things, since we’ve finished planning for now.

“How about tomorrow?” he asks. “Want me to pick you up?”

I picture Mack pulling up to the house and all three guys staring him down from the window. There’s no reason for them to care. Something tells me they would anyway.

“That’s okay, I’ll meet you there. Text me the address!”

“You’re in a good mood,” Zander says as I hang the stockings on the mantel later that day.

I had them monogrammed at a cute little shop on the way home. It seemed like a nice personal touch.

“It’s been a good day. Everything’s in order for the gala, and this place is feeling more festive by the day.” I adjust the stockings on the mantel. “And I have a coffee date tomorrow.”

“A date?”

His sharp tone makes me glance over at him. “Is that alright?”

I’m not sure why I’m asking. Of course it’s alright.

I’m his employee, not his girlfriend.

Zander doesn’t get a say in what I do after hours. Not that I really have hours anymore. Work and everything else here keep blurring together.

“Of course.” He goes back to his coffee like he couldn’t care less. “Who with?”

“The events director at the Braxton. I met with him this afternoon about the gala, and he asked me out.”

“Mack?” He says the name like it tastes bad.

I search his face for jealousy. Nothing.

“Just make sure it doesn’t interfere with your work,” he says.

“Of course.” I smile politely. I know my place.

But I feel weirdly guilty. Which is exactly why I need this date, to remind myself what these guys are and aren’t.

“Those are nice.” He nods at the stockings. “But unnecessary. We don’t exchange gifts. This vacation is our holiday gift to each other.”

I frown. I wasn’t expecting gifts, but I was hoping to watch them open presents by the tree. It won’t feel like Christmas without a Christmas morning.

“That’s too bad.” I look at the empty stockings. “When I was a little girl, my father always bought me my favorite perfume for Christmas. The same one my mother wore, before she died. I was way too young for perfume, but he didn’t care. He’d tuck it into the very bottom of my stocking, and finding it in that red velvet toe was my favorite part of Christmas morning.”

“What was the name of the perfume?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. It was something floral, jasmine maybe, with a little citrus and a sweetness underneath I could never put a name to. My father passed away a few years ago, and I haven’t found it in my stocking since. The last bottle ran dry not long after he died.”

My throat gets tight.

“Anyway, you guys should reconsider exchanging gifts. Stockings are the best part of Christmas morning.”

“You really like the holidays, don’t you?” His voice is much softer now.

“I do. That’s part of why I’m trying to make it special for you three. I know it’s not technically part of my job, and it’s not like I’ll be around next year to keep up any traditions I start, unless you hire me back. But there’s no reason this Christmas can’t be lots of fun.”

An hour later, I’m catching up on emails in my room when someone knocks at my door.

I open it to find all three guys in the hallway, grinning like they’re up to something.