Say no. Please say no.
“Actually there is.” She hands me a stack of color swatches. “Go through these and pick out five shades. We’re launching a new lip line immediately in response to Trinity’s theft.”
“Another winter collection? And I get to put it together?” What in the merry Christmas is this?
Meredith shrugs casually. “It’s no big deal. Just a little in your face moment to throw some daggers back at Trinity. It will make us look good.” She squints. “Unless you can’t handle it, Jennifer?”
“Oh, no. I can. Truly, I can. I’m just a bit surprised, that’s all.”
“Well, head down to legal and sign some forms, then start brainstorming. Happy birthday, Jennifer.”
I’m practically speechless. “Th-thank you. So much. Truly.” She may have the name wrong, but she has the birthday right. I’m shocked.
She waves me off and goes back to staring at her screen.
I hustle my ass down to the company lawyer’s office feeling like I’m floating on air. I’ll get to pick and choose colors and names and everything kickass about an actual line of products? Are you kidding me? I’m soaring above the clouds. Getting locked in an elevator was honestly the greatest thing to ever happen to me. I don’t even care if I was blown off by old what’s his face. Everest Snow. Hottest man on planet Earth with a mouth like a poet and a body like a brick.
I knock on the door to Mr. Watson’s office, and then push it wide open. And to my shock and surprise, inside the tight office is a face staring back at me that makes me weak in the knees.
He grins that menacing smile of his that could stop a freight train dead in its tracks from its power.
Everything about him is uber masculine and dripping with sex appeal. From the way his crisp white button-up shirt clings to his well-defined arms, to the way he has his hair swept up in a chaotic artful wave.
“Well,” Everest rumbles, giving me a taste of that heartstopping gaze he hones so darn well, “if it isn’t the elevator killer herself.” He pushes out a chair beside him. “Have a seat, Ginger Darling. We’ve been expecting you.”
Three
Everest
I can still taste her on my lips. Ginger leaves me with an unquenched thirst for more of her as I lick the flavor of her gloss from my mouth. She’s a gingerbread and mint type of girl. I like that about her. It surprised me. Although it shouldn’t have.
Speaking of which…
What the fuck was that in the elevator? I mean, I was honestly trying to distract the poor girl from having a panic attack. It scared me to see her like that. The same girl that kicked the crap out of the elevator frame just minutes prior was clutching the railing, looking pale as fuck and breathing hard. I didn’t know what to do other than try to soothe her in that kind of situation. The mistletoe seemed like a good joke, a good way to do that. But the kiss? That kiss was something I wasn’t banking on at all. And after she planted her sweet lips on mine, I was so fucking gone. I’ve never in my life had a feeling in my gut like that feeling I had while kissing Ginger Darling.
Her breath, her taste, her touch. How she clung onto me like I held all the answers. It was like kismet. And my brain had to get out. Because I’m not allowed to have feelings for Ginger Darling. I’m not really allowed to be fucking kissing her.
I have a job to do. I have a goal and I never stray from a plan. It’s how I got to this level in my life. My reputation would never live down being seen consorting with Ginger outside of what my true plans for her are. People wouldn’t understand, and I’m not about to get my world twisted in a knot over having some kind of masochistic urge to claim her.
First chance I took, I hauled ass out of the elevator, tossing the mistletoe at the fireman who saved our asses. I didn’t look back. I didn’t think about it again. I can’t risk getting caught. I needed to disappear before she could see where I was really headed off to. And thankfully, I got lucky. Until, I didn’t.
Until she walked her sweet little ass into Watson’s office and turned white as a ghost seeing me sitting here at his desk, as a client. At least, that’s how it looks. That’s how I want it to look.
Ginger is still wearing her sexy as fuck red dress. The fabric clings to her curvy frame accentuating her hips and firm ass. Those tits could win awards. But none of it has anything on her strikingly beautiful face. Full lips and cobalt eyes. Her red hair flames atop her head like the goddess she is, even when it’s all over the place, messily swept into a bun. Her skin is peaches and cream, but her lips are bright with the red-colored gloss.
I could nearly come just looking at her. She’s like a naughty elf’s wet dream. I try not to be so obvious but she’s so fucking hot it’s hard. Quite literally. I have to shift in my seat and tug on the tails of my button-down just to keep quiet about the situation happening under my designer threads.
Also, don’t get me twisted. I’m not this guy. I’m not the guy walking around in a suit that costs more than most people’s annual salaries. Not at fucking all. But for this week? This week I’ll be this guy. Even though my closet at home is full of jeans and Chucks. Humorous screen tees and casual duds are my thing. I like to be comfortable. It speaks more of my person than my bank account and that’s how I prefer shit in my life to run.
If Ginger walked in wearing worn out jeans and a scrappy tee, I’d happily still want her. She’s beautiful beyond her clothes and that’s something to aspire for, isn’t it? The real kind of beauty you can’t buy or fake. That’s what gets me hard. That’s something I’d champion. But, that’s for another day. Today, I don’t let her affect me. Today, I play it smooth.
“Have a seat, Ginger Darling. We’ve been expecting you.”
She glances wearily between Watson and me.
“You are?”
“Yes. Of course.” I have no clue what the fuck I’m talking about, by the way. But I need an excuse to get out of here before I blow my cover.
“Yes, we have, Miss Darling,” Watson pipes up and I’m honestly shocked at his words because…we are?
I try not to laugh. I have zero fucking clue why Ginger is in his office, but I’m more than willing to roll with it.
“Who wouldn’t wait for you, Ginger.” I hop up. “Here, take my seat. I was just on my way out.”
She stares up at me, a bit in my way of fleeing as she stands between the doorway and my freedom. “You have a habit of doing that, don’t you?” She seems pissed. She hides it well, but I’m a pro at reading faces and body language. Plus, why wouldn’t she be? I practically mauled her and then fled without so much as a ‘thank you’ and any man who has been blessed to put his lips on her mouth should most definitely be bowing at her feet.
I pretend not to notice as I reply, “Doing what?”
“Leaving rather abruptly.” Oh, yeah. She’s pissed.
I grin. “Maybe you just need to catch up, Ginger. Move a little faster to keep up with me.”
She huffs. “In your dreams, Sparkly Pants.”
I feign being burned. “On that note, I’ll leave you two to your business.” I try to slide by Ginger and make my way out, but now there are two people in my way. And the second person is much more pissed than the first.
Meredith “Hell on Heels” Taylor fumes as she blinks between us.
“Excuse me,” she demands. “Move please, giant man in my way.”
I chuckle a bit. “I was here first.”
She steps up to me. “I own most of this damn building, bucko.”
She’s a spitfire, I’ll admit that much. “Well, I didn’t know that,” I tell her. “But now that I do, by all means.” I move and wave my hand for her to pass me by.
But, she just stands there, assessing me up and down for a moment until she hooks her neck around to question Watson about me. “Who is this man in my office?” And that is so Meredith Taylor. She could have just asked me my name. But no, that would be too respectful. She’s a woman that loves to degrade people. Especially, the importa
nt ones. At least, that’s her reputation.
“I’m just leaving.” I have to get out of here. I move past her but then I’m anchored down by Ginger grabbing at my shirt sleeve.
“Oh, but you just got here, Mr. Snow.” Her eyes are doing something. They grow a bit larger than normal and wait for me to say something in return as her lips smile tightly. “You should meet my boss. This is Miss Meredith Taylor. You know, the woman you could not believe would hire a girl like me. Remember?” She faces Meredith. “This is the guy who got me stuck in the elevator. The reason why your coffee was so late.”
I laugh. “That’s why you were so angry? Because you had to fetch coffee? And I didn’t break the elevator, Ginger. You’re the one who kicked it.”
She straightens her spine. “I only kicked the outside doors.”
“Yes.” I grin. “But then you violated the inside, too, didn’t you?”
She’s gone from pissed to fuming. She gives Taylor a good run for her money.
I smile bigger as she grows impossibly cuter. I only like razzing her because her nose wrinkles up in this adorable way. And then I notice she has a beautiful dusting of light freckles across the bridge of her nose. And if her fury didn’t turn me on, the freckles definitely fucking hit the mark. God damn. Does she get any sweeter?
Meredith pushes between us. “Jennifer, did you sign the documents I requested, yet? Winter won’t wait forever. We need to get to work on this right away if you want your chance.”
Did she just call her Jennifer? What the fuck? She doesn’t even know her name? Her own employee?
Ginger smirks a little, glancing at me, but shies away when she stares back at Meredith, which is completely understandable. The woman is a tyrant.
“I was just about to. If I can get a moment with Watson, that is. Alone.”
Was that a dig at me or ‘Hell On Heels’?
Don’t care. This is getting interesting, either way.
What is Meredith talking about? Has she offered a deal to Ginger? Hell no. Not on my watch. The lady doesn’t even know her name. There’s no way she’ll respect anything Ginger does for her. And that just isn’t fucking happening. Not on my watch.
“I actually interview people,” I interrupt, angling myself more toward Meredith than Ginger, acting like a wall to block her. “I’d love to interview you. Such an interesting woman. Powerful. Smart.” I put out my hand so she’ll notice my expensive watch.
And she takes the bait. “Oh, are you one of those horrid tabloid bloggers?”
Ok, maybe not.
I laugh in a way that says are you shitting me lady? “Not even close.”
Meredith eyes me like she’s picking out a new handbag. “In that case,” she purrs, “sign me up.”
Bingo.
Four
Ginger
I’m watching a horror film happen right before my eyes. Everest is flirting with Meredith? At least, that’s what it looks like to me. But why? Is he some clout chasing whore disguised in a nice suit and heartbreaking smile?
What’s even worse is that Meredith appears to be smitten with him, like honestly taken by his charms. It’s an easy thing to do because he’s so disgustingly handsome and coy, but it still irks me. By the time he’s done whittling his way into her world, she walks away like a high school girl experiencing her first crush. I think it’s honestly the only time I’ve ever seen her actually happy. If you can even call it that.
Everest has this shit-eating grin on his face when he emerges from Watson’s office. He shoves his hands deep into his pockets. I try not to pay attention to the fact he has a very narrow tapered waist that probably resembles a washboard when he disrobes. Fuck. Now I’m picturing him naked and how it would feel to rub myself like a dirty distressed shirt all over his ripped abs.
That is, of course, when he decides to turn my way.
With a shake of my head, I turn to go back into Watson’s office to sign my name away on the project Meredith has planned for me, but Everest jumps in front of me as a line of defense between me and the door.
“Where do you think you’re going, Killer?”
“Get out of my way, Everest. I have actual work to do.”
“No, you really don’t.” He gently lays his hands on my shoulders and ushers me away, but I shake him off.
“You’re going to get me in trouble again. I was actually starting to have a good birthday until you showed up. Things were on the upswing.” I face him. “But now it’s all jumbled up again.”
Everest’s eyes soften and he gazes down at me. “What exactly are you so eager to sign in that office, Ginger Darling?”
“It’s none of your business.”
“Ok, let me propose this in a different way. Don’t you think the person you’re making a deal with, a legally binding deal, should at least know your name?”
“She knows my name,” I scoff.
“She called you Jennifer.”
“It’s just her way of being a jerk. Some people trap you in elevators. Others call you by the wrong name. You know?”
“I didn’t trap you.” He smiles. “But I damn sure don’t regret getting trapped with you.”
“Really? Because it looked a lot like you’d rather be trapped with my boss than me, the way you acted in Watson’s office.”
Everest shrugs. “Would that be so bad?”
“What?”
“Meredith being a little distracted. Would that be so bad?”
I swallow. “You’re asking me if it’s ok that you interview her?”
“Maybe I should do more than that,” he muses. “Maybe she needs a good man in her life to get off your back and not be so “hell on heels” all of the time, Ginger.”
I baulk at him, and then die of laughter. “This has to be a joke. You’re joking with me right? Pulling my leg? You don’t honestly want to date my boss. Not Meredith Taylor.”
“Why not? It damn sure couldn’t hurt.”
Is he going insane? He’s too damn charming and good looking for someone like Meredith. She will eat him alive. If she were a mother lion she’d be the one who eats her cubs. That’s the kind of woman he wants to date? Why? Hm.
“And what do you get out of it, Everest?”
“Does it matter?” He shrugs and that twinkling comes back into his eyes. I’ve come to observe that usually leads to some kind of trouble where Everest is concerned.
My thinking cap tightens as I stare him down. I cross my arms and give more serious thought to his idea. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because it seems like you have an issue with it after our little...moment.”
Stab me in the chest with a spoon. “Is that what you call it?”
“What would you like to call it, Ginger?”
“Something that is never, ever, ever happening again. That’s what it’s called, Snow.” I tug the mistletoe from my bag and extend it to him. “Here you are. You’re gonna need this back to even have one single iota of a shot at landing Meredith Taylor as your date, let alone whatever else you have up your designer sleeve.”
“Oh damn. You’ve been walking around with this all this time, baby?” He grins, staring at the mistletoe. “Oh, Ginger, you were just waiting to see me again, weren’t you?”
“In your dreams.”
Everest smiles, and then takes the mistletoe from me. He gazes down at it for a long moment. “Ginger.”
But he doesn’t say anything else.
“Yes?”
“Just making sure you’re aware that I remember your name.”
“What? Why?” I ask.
Everest snaps his eyes back up at me. They deepen and smolder. “Because I want you to think about that before you sign your life away. Meredith’s the kind of woman that would trade one of her own children for a good headline. I’m the guy who knows who you are. I’m the guy, at the end of the day, who will remember your name.”
Everest softly caresses the bottom of my chin and then turns away. I stare at
his back as he heads for the elevator.
This is crazy. I don’t even know this man. How can he be so all-encompassing when I don’t even know a single thing about him other than his name? He could be a serial killer or some creepy stalker for all I know. Just a few short hours ago, he was an annoying pest at the elevator doors, and then my secret crush as we locked lips. And now? Now, I want to run after him. It’s like he has some kind of magnetic pull embedded in me after our kiss. I can still taste him all minty and manly on my lips.
But, I have no real reason to trust him, other than the fact, in my moment of feeling terrified he came to my rescue and rather than mock me he comforted me. He found a way to make me feel safe.
Maybe that’s a good reason to follow someone. To trust someone. When the truths of life come knocking, they are the ones who are on the other side, waiting to offer you a safe place to shelter, and let you in.
Or, maybe he’s just an epic jerk, trying to use my vulnerability to get at something else. Something I haven’t quite figured out yet.
But I will.
* * *
Bianca rushes me as soon as I walk through the door. I’m exhausted and in desperate need of a drink. A really strong drink.
She’s wiggling something I recognize right away in her hand, all bright cobalt blue and shimmering with glitter.
“G.” She beams, holding up the box. “Look at who sent you a PR package.”
What?
I grab the box from her hands. “You have to be kidding me. What is going on with this day? It’s like one weird event after the next.”
She laughs. “Well, it’s your birthday.”
She’s right. I can’t even be mad at her. My birth was not normal. I came into this world feet first, what they call a breech baby. I broke my clavicle during birth and needed to stay in the hospital all pinned up like an injured baby bird. It’s like I have no ability to do things normally.
But you’re not here for that story, and frankly I’m not drunk enough to rehash history.
A Very Merry Alpha Christmas Page 3