by Lara Norman
“There’s this thing I ordered that I’d hoped would be here in time, but other than that, it’s not the end of the world.”
“What was the thing?” He accepted the pad from her and watched her face. She bit her lip while she thought about whether to answer him.
“An artificial tree with all the accessories.” She said it quietly, hoping he wouldn't make a fuss. No such luck.
“Are you serious?” He chuckled at her mortified expression. “Cora LeGrand wants to celebrate Christmas?”
“It’s not that big of a deal. They were out at the store I stopped at, and I don’t have time to shop around. I figured delivery was the easiest way to get it done, but it looks like that isn’t going to happen.”
He stepped closer to her, close enough that he could tilt her face up to his with a few fingers under her chin. “I promise you, Cora, I will figure out how to get you a Christmas tree.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “One way or another.”
Seventeen
Cora put Warren and his promise out of her head. She had too much to do to get the changes to the Graham account finished in time and still make it home at night. She hadn't asked him any of the things she’d wanted to, so she guessed that made her a coward. She knew he was running behind with the weather as bad as it was, and she wasn't willing to make it worse on him. He told her to expect him to show up at her door one day unannounced and bearing gifts, but she didn't think he was serious.
She finished at eight at night and let herself out of the office as usual. The temperatures had fallen to below zero and the snow hadn't let up all day. The only reason she was able to get out of the parking lot was due to the snow plows that came through on a fairly regular basis. As it was, she had to scrape all the snow off her windshield and back window. She started the engine as soon as she pushed off enough snow that it wouldn't all fall inside as soon as she opened the car door and got the defroster running to give her some help. She sat inside for a minute trying to warm her hands and legs while she cursed winter and snow and everything else that was impeding her happiness at that moment. She rested her head on the steering wheel and tried not to cry in frustration.
The snow was melted enough when she got around to picking her head up that she was able to turn on the wipers and get most of it off. Cora got out with her little windshield shovel and worked on the back window before rounding to the hood. It was that exact thing that kept her from enjoying the weather in the slightest. She was so cold she couldn't stop shivering by the time she crawled back in the car, and she still had to drive home. It made her sort of miserable. She parked on the street and dashed up the front walk, fumbling the key in the lock with numb fingers. When she finally made it inside she just collapsed on the couch with her coat still on. She was exhausted and didn’t even think she had the strength for dinner. She searched blindly until she found the blanket on the back of the couch and wrapped herself up in it.
It took at least five minutes for her to warm up and her coat to feel wet enough that she had to remove it. She kicked off her shoes and stood, pulling off her coat and then stripp- ing her work clothes from her body as she stumbled down the hall. Without thinking about it at all, she fell into her bed and pulled the comforter over her mostly naked body and fell into a dreamless sleep.
She was woken by pounding on her door. She cracked an eye open and was startled to see weak sunlight coming in around her curtains. She grabbed for her fluffiest robe as she heard the pounding once more, and made her way to the front door without pausing to look at the clock. She glanced out the peephole and was surprised to see Warren on her front stoop.
“What the hell happened to you?” he demanded the second she cracked the seal on the door. Behind him was a winter wonderland of blanketed snow. Nothing but the vaguest outline of the other houses was visible in the whiteout.
“What do you mean? What time is it?” She blinked several times to clear the sleepiness from her eyes.
Warren practically pushed past her to enter the house. “Do you have any idea how worried everyone has been about you?”
“Sure, Warren, come on in and yell at me at this ungodly hour—wait, what time is it?”
“It’s ten in the morning. On a workday. And here you are looking tempting as all hell, not bothering to answer your damn phone while the office goes crazy without you.”
“Why are they going crazy? Ten o’clock, really?” She looked around him at the clock on her hall table. Sure enough, the second hand was happily ticking by, the other two hands telling her it was almost ten. Con- fused, she went back down the hall to her room. The digital clock on her nightstand was conspicuously blank. She flipped the light switch and nothing happened.
She turned around and bumped into Warren. He put his hands on her forearms to prevent a collision and comfort himself. He could admit he might have gotten a little freaked out for no reason. “Andy and Julia have been calling you nonstop since eight- thirty. At first, they thought you might be having a hard time getting your car out of the mountainous snowdrifts. Then they worried it was something more severe. When I came by at nine-fifteen, they told me they couldn't reach you. The last time you were seen was on the security feed digging your car out last night for thirty minutes near eight o’clock.”
“I guess I lost power at some point during the night. My alarm never went off.” She glanced over her shoulder at the offending clock. “I’m not even positive where my cell phone ended up last night, and I don't have a house phone.”
His hands had moved, sliding up her arms to her shoulders. She trembled at his nearness while her body was so exposed under the robe. Warren had noticed the blouse and skirt on the hall floor when he followed her to her room. He was so relieved to find her in one piece and looking completely rested for the first time since he’d met her that he kissed her without taking the time to second-guess himself. He pressed his still-cold lips to her warm ones, savoring her body being close to his and not minding the way she tasted. Her morning breath could have been worse, but he couldn't find it in him to care.
“Tell me to stop, Cora, or I’m afraid I’ll take you over there to your bed and do all the
things I’ve dreamed of doing.” His words were muffled against her throat as he alternated speaking with laving over her pulse with his tongue.
“I have to get to work,” she said, but her protest was feeble at best. His kisses made her body and brain feel sluggish.
“Tell them your electricity is out and your car is stuck. Both things are true.” He’d gone on an exploratory trip with his fingertips, and Cora could feel every whorl on each pad of his fingers as he dragged them under the top edge of the robe she wore over nothing more than her bra and panties. She looked up into his face, focusing on something other than the top button of his shirt for the first time. His eyes were blue fire as they burned hotly in desire for her. She couldn't look away at that moment, not for anything in the world. She wanted to take him up on his offer, wanted it more than she thought possible so early in their relationship. She knew it was a sign of their compatibility, but she had to back up to clear her mind of the fog he created so she could think.
“I really have to go to work. A client made a bunch of changes to what they want by the end of the day today, and I didn't quite finish it yesterday. My eyes were blurring and I had to come home.” She hoped he would understand and not think she was brushing him off.
“Cora, tell me something. Do you have any feelings for me at all?”
Warren’s face was so devastatingly handsome, but his expression made it clear he was equally unsure of himself. “Yes, Warren. I didn’t want to admit it to anyone, even myself, but, yes, I have feelings for you. If it were even a week from now, after the rush of the heavy workload was over, I would tell you to stay with me today. I simply can’t stay home this close to the holidays. None of my staff will be in tomorrow, and some of them have asked to go home early today. I have to ensure everything is finished before I can take any t
ime off. My job is very important to me.”
“I understand that, Cora. I don’t begrudge your job responsibilities, as long as I know that you aren't using them as an excuse.” He brushed her tangled hair off her forehead with a tender stroke.
“You can even stick around while I get ready and drive me in if your car isn't snowed in by now.”
He smirked at her. “I think I’ll take you up on that offer. Too bad I won’t be able to join you in the shower.”
Her breath caught in her throat. Warren pulled her close to him again, her softness fitting perfectly with his hard planes. She could feel exactly how affected he was by her when they were that close.
“There’s no hot water.” Not the most brilliant reply, but it was all she could think of to deflect his intensity.
It didn’t matter; he could still picture her naked and soapy, running a sponge all over her satiny skin. “I know. No coffee maker, either.”
She groaned then. “And no light to see my face in the mirror to apply makeup. At least I can use what sunlight there is to see myself in the dresser mirror in order to brush my hair.”
He chuckled and kissed her quickly. “But you look beautiful this morning the way you are. I’ll wait in the living room, and I’ll call your office to let them know you’re alive and coming in soon.”
“Thanks.” She didn't want to know how he had their number, but she supposed if nothing else he could look up the main number with his cell phone.
Cora got ready in record time. There was no point in trying to look extremely well put-together, so she brushed her hair and pulled it into a ponytail, threw on jeans and a sweater, and brushed her teeth in the dark bathroom. It occurred to her that Warren had kissed her before she’d brushed, and she cringed at what her mouth must have tasted like. He was honestly probably a saint in a human’s body.
She found him exactly where he said he’d be, in her living room with his phone in
his hand. He looked up and smiled as she came into the room. “I plugged your phone into the charger in my car, but you’ll have to finish charging it at work. It’s probably only gotten about five percent while you got dressed. I’ll even swing you through the drive-through for coffee and breakfast.”
“Thank you for being so thoughtful. I haven't eaten since Andy brought me lunch yesterday at something like three.”
“Oh, Andy says hi, by the way.”
Cora rolled her eyes as she picked up her purse. “I’m sure she’ll have more than that to say once I get there.”
Eighteen
Andy and Julia both wanted to know exactly what had happened. Cora handed them the coffee she’d picked up for them when Warren stopped, and explained going home late and how exhausted she’d been after not sleeping the night before. She hadn't even realized that the snowstorm had knocked out her power until Warren woke her up.
“You should have stayed home and played Eskimo with him.”
Cora glared at Andy. “Sure thing, and then I could have called you post-coital and informed you that it was officially your job to finish up the Graham account instead of going home early. Then I would have gone back to bed with him and not given a second thought to you.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. You should have done that. I would have cheered you on.” Andy grinned salaciously, and Cora couldn't help but laugh.
“Well, you know me better than that. I’m sorry to make you worry about me. At least I got a lot of sleep. I feel pretty damn good today.”
“Maybe because now you have sex with Warren to look forward to in the very near future,” Julia said with a sly smirk.
“That’s not even—I don't think—oh, my God, go to work.”
Andy and Julia both laughed, but they went back to their desks and left their boss alone.
She had too much work to catch up on for them to want to distract her for too long.
With any luck, Warren and Cora would be together by Christmas, which was only two days away. It was exactly what Andy had been hoping for, and Julia admitted to Andy while they waited for Cora to come into work that she would be content with that, too. Anything to make Cora happy and to see her a little less alone was good in Julia’s book, and it didn't hurt that she approved of Warren wholeheartedly.
A few hours after she’d gotten settled in at her desk, Cora called Julia into her office. She waited patiently while the other woman arrived, and she smiled when she saw Julia come in with coffee.
“Thanks, Julia.” She took the cup and had a sip before setting it down on her desk. Office coffee was never as good as any other kind, but it was hot and hit the spot.
“I wanted to make sure you had everything finished before you were due to leave, and that, if not, you had help getting it done,” Cora began as Julia took a seat in the visitor’s chair.
“I only have one thing left to do, and I should have it completed by three.”
“Fantastic. You can go ahead and leave as soon as you’ve handed it in. I know Frances and Murray will be coming in with their families tonight, and I want to see you get home in time,” Cora said with a warm smile.
Julia glanced out the window behind Cora. “I certainly hope they make it with this weather system sitting on top of us.”
“It would be awful if you lost power before you got dinner made.”
“At least I have plenty of candles,” she said with a wink. It took Cora a second to realize the joke that Julia was making.
“Very funny. Happy Hanukkah, if I don’t see you before you leave. See you on the second.”
Julia gave her boss a huge smile. “That’s sweet of you, thanks. And, I guess, Merry Christmas to the new and improved Cora.”
Cora laughed lightly. “For once, it doesn't bother me to hear it.”
Julia left and Cora got back to work. She still had so much to accomplish, but the Graham account was the most important thing, and she managed to finish that by the time everyone was coming back from their lunch breaks. She noticed that nobody left the office. It wouldn't be fun to go out in the mess of snow and possible ice on the road. It would be dangerous enough at the end of the day. She fervently hoped that Julia’s children and grandchildren would be able to safely navigate the snowy roads and make it in time for the holidays.
Cora knew Warren would be by sooner than later to take her home. She honestly hoped she could finish the most important aspects of her job and take the next two days off for once. She realized she wanted to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Warren, snuggled up and doing Christmassy things like putting up a tree and drinking the oft-dreaded hot cocoa. She wanted to give him a gift that didn't yet exist because the storm prevented it from being delivered. She wanted to make love to him in her big white bed and tell him she was past falling in love and straight into head over heels.
She wanted what she’d never had, what she thought she’d never want: a holiday filled with every traditional experience, as long as it all happened with the man she loved.
She wasn't sure what had happened to her, but she liked the transformation.
Warren came for her at six. He was smart enough to know she wouldn't be finished at five, especially since she’d gotten such a late start.
“Car service at your disposal, miss.” He tipped an imaginary hat as he stood in her doorway.
She rose from behind her desk and went to him. “Hi, there.” She stood on her toes, only needing a little boost to reach his mouth, and kissed him. His coat was cold, as was his face as she cupped his cheeks.
He reciprocated every tilt of the head, every swipe of the tongue, every shift of the hips. When they broke apart, she was gasping for breath and his erection was pressed into her pelvis.
“Hello.” He ran his hands over her hips and contemplated going in for another kiss.
“I’m ready to go, Warren, and I’m taking the next two days off.”
His eyes lit up. “You are?”
The awe on his face was perfect pay- ment for her decision
. He resembled the proverbial kid on Christmas. “Yep. I finished the changes to the Graham account and decided that the world could survive without me for the next two days.”
Warren wrapped his arms around her, almost unable to believe that she’d made a decision that was so monumental for her. “That makes me happy. You can sleep as much as you want, lay around on the couch—”
“I want you to stay with me.”
He paused to gauge her sincerity. “Uh, with you?”
“For the next two days.” She watched his facial expressions change and rushed to rescind her offer. “Or not. We could stay at your place, or-or not anywhere together. It’s
whatever.” She shrugged, afraid she’d scared him off.
“I would love to stay at your place, Cora. I’m honored that you asked, just surprised.” He ran one hand through his hair, sending it into disarray. “We’ll have to swing by my place so I can pack a bag.”
She relaxed, so relieved to discover that she had misread the situation. “I’d love to see your place. If you have electricity, I’m pretty sure we'll have to eat at your house. I don’t have any idea if my electricity is back on yet.”
“Hmm. We should probably stay at my place, then. You’ll want a hot shower event- ually.”
She frowned. She hadn't thought of that before. “We should check on my house first so we can make a decision.”
All her thoughts of having a traditional Christmas in her own home morphed into something else. It wouldn't be the same if they had it at his house, but it wasn't the where that was important. It was that she was making the effort and going outside her comfort zone that mattered. Spending two days at his house was miles out of that zone.
She followed him out to his car, which he’d left running near the front doors. Snowflakes blinded her as they hit her in the face, and she noted that his defrost must have been on since the flakes melted soon after hitting his windshield. He opened her door for her and tucked the tail of her coat in before closing the door and rounding the front to get in beside her.