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Annie is joined by Zaheera, who stands next to a bunch of rose gold balloons and cupcakes. They’re wearing matching grins. “Guess what! We sold out!”
My mouth drops, my embarrassment instantly forgotten. “What do you mean?”
Annie laughs. “I mean exactly what it sounds like! You sold through everything.Everything!” She’s bursting with excitement. “And there’s a waitlist growing for the next batch already.”
I gape at Henry. “Did you have something to do with that?”
“When would I have done that?” he deadpans.
“They’re all individual orders,” Zaheera confirms.
But how is that possible? I look back at my office door. “How long were we in there for?”
Annie looks at her watch. “The sale started fourteen minutes ago, so …”
We listened to you two fuck for fifteen minutes, give or take,is what that long silence after says.
“This is … I can’t believe it!” A squeal of glee escapes me as I throw my arms around Henry’s neck. None of that bullshit from this weekend mattered. Not only did Roshana’s attempt to punish Henry fail, but the visibility might have given me a boost.
He pulls me against him in a warm embrace. “I knew you could do it.”
Annie pulls the champagne from the bucket. “What do you say, boss?”
CHAPTER20
“Can you imagine decorating this thing?” I stare up at the massive tree in awe, its countless Swarovski crystal lights a dazzling display for the thousands that huddle in the cold. A puff of my hot breath mingles with the frigid air.
Violet tugs on her periwinkle knit cap—another that she made herself during the long, quiet nights. Her blue eyes twinkle. They’re even more vibrant in the cold. “I can’t believe you’ve never seen the Rockefeller tree before.”
“My parents aren’t big on traveling. Or cities.” When I admitted this fact to Violet, she gasped in horror, and then she insisted on coming to Manhattan so we could see it together. It was as good an excuse as any to get her here again.
She shakes her head. “We comeeveryyear. Well, except last year, obviously. Mom would read up on the tree so we’d know its history.”
“Practically minutes away from me and I had no idea …” Henry’s jaw tenses. He stands on the other side of Violet, his stance solid, as if a barrier from the crowd. Looming not far behind us are Sullivan and Daniel, security guards for the Wolf who work as bodyguards off the hotel’s clock. They’re dressed casually, but anyone paying attention might question the two giant men moving in step, their heads on swivels.
So far, though, tucked in our winter coats and beanies, we’re just part of the crowd.
Violet steals a glance up at Henry, likely wondering where he places his blame. Audrey? His father?
Her?
He can be intimidating when he’s angry, especially if you don’t know him, and especially if you’re a teenage girl seeking his acceptance.
“What’s this year’s tree story?” I ask, hoping to keep the mood light. “Did you look it up?”
“Of course I did.” She grins. “It’s a Norway Spruce from Bainbridge, New York. It’s eighty-two years old, it stands eighty feet tall, and weighs twelvetons.”
“Wow.” I mouth, peering up at it again. “Can you imagine how much work it is to get it here and decorated?”
“There are videos!” Violet prattles on about the complex plan of security and cranes and trucks and five miles of light strands that wind around it. “Did you know that star at the top is worthone point five million dollars? And it’s just sitting up there, waiting to be stolen.”
Henry chuckles, his dark thoughts softening. “That thing weighs almost half a ton. I’d like to watch the fool try.”
She shrugs. “Desperate people do crazy things.”
“Speaking of crazy, have we seen what we needed to see?” He rubs his gloved hands together to emphasize his impatience. When I told him of this plan—standing in the cold with thousands of people to look at lights—he wasn’t thrilled, but he made sure to mark it in his calendar.
“Yeah. Now we have to get street meat and a hot chocolate.”
