Billionaire Under the Mistletoe

by Hannah Jo Abbott

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Stewart laid on his couch staring up at the high ceilings. He didn’t want to be here, in his house, but he also didn’t want to go to the office. That’s a first, he thought to himself. Most people look forward to holidays or vacations and dread going to work. But I’ve spent my whole career loving what I do and missing work when I’m away. He sighed. Nothing feels right. This morning he had a pit in his stomach, just like every day since Abi had left. He wanted to call her, text her, see her, but he was afraid all he would get was more hurt.

  This had never been the plan. Sure, when he first hired her, he thought he would probably make it work until the first of the year and maybe nothing more. But he didn’t know how she was going to come into his life and change everything. The night of the Mistletoe Ball he had so many thoughts and made a million plans in his mind. While they drove around looking at Christmas lights, he dreamed of making it a tradition every year, and he made plans to let her help decorate his house in the future. He had thought about spending Christmas day together and about kissing her at midnight on New Year’s Eve.

  He squeezed his eyes closed now, trying to push away all the could-have-been thoughts. He had wanted to be a man she could trust, and someone she could share her dreams with, but now she was gone.

  Stewart gathered himself and got ready for work. He drug himself into the office, the cold and the snow now seeming less magical and more miserable. He walked in thinking he needed some coffee. Since he was so much later than normal getting in, his assistant was already at her desk. Mallory was from the temp agency, a recent college graduate who wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life.

  “Good morning, Mr. Vincent,” she said cheerily.

  “Morning,” he growled. He thought about asking her to get coffee, but the last time he did she had been gone for an hour and came back with his order all wrong. He knew he would have to go through a real hiring process soon, but he couldn’t make himself do that yet. That’s why I hired Abi, he thought. Stewart opened the door to his office and stood staring into the room.

  “Is there anything I can do for you this morning?” Mallory asked.

  “Where did you put the files that were on my desk?”

  “Oh,” Mallory giggled like a high school girl, “Surprise! I cleaned up the office for you. I stacked all of the paper work and put them over there on the shelf.”

  Stewart let out a huff. He made it a policy not to speak rudely to employees, but now he was pretty close. “Mallory, I had those where I wanted them,” he said through clenched teeth. “Please don’t touch any paperwork in my office.”

  “Yes, sir,” Mallory said quietly and went back to her desk.

  Stewart entered the office and made his way to the stack of file folders. They had been sorted into piles on his desk, but now he could see they were all mixed together. He rubbed his hand across his face. the three-day-old stubble scrapping his hand. “I’ll spend all day fixing this,” he said out loud. “Better get to it.”

  As he looked at folder after folder he kept telling himself he wished Abi was still his assistant. She would never have made this mess, he thought. Somewhere around the seventh folder, he realized that wasn’t true. He didn’t want a better assistant. He didn’t want Abi back as his assistant. He just wanted Abi.

  ***

  Abi stared at her computer screen. She may have had a rough week, but for now she had what she had wanted for so long: enough money in her bank account to pay all her bills, and time to sit and write. So why can’t I do it? she asked herself. She sat in a back booth in the same coffee shop where she had met Stewart weeks earlier. She had her coffee beside her, and her laptop on full charge, ready to spend the day writing. But as she held her fingers over the keyboard nothing would come. She had always been able to dive right into her stories, and all day long her mind worked on characters and ideas. Now it all seemed impossible.

  She slammed her laptop shut and let her face fall in her hands. I don’t know if I can write romance anymore when I know it’s all a lie. Men are fake. They’re all the same, fake. And all they care about is money. Making money, having money, using money to get what they want. Abi wished it wasn’t true, but she had seen it for herself enough times. She sighed a heavy sigh. If it’s all fake anyway, I guess I might as well write some good fake stories. She opened her computer again and forced herself to type one sentence, and then another, and another. It felt dry, but she was glad to get some words on the page. She was beginning to get into the flow when she heard someone say her name.

  “Abi?” the male voice said.

  She looked up and furrowed her eyebrows at the man she didn’t recognize. “Yes,” she said, sounding as if it were a question.

  “I’m sorry, you probably don’t remember me. I’m Evan Briggs, I work at OneSource.”

  “Oh, yes, that’s right. You’re the publicity director, right?”

  “Yes, that’s right.” He glanced around, “Do you mind if I sit?”

  “Umm, no,” Abi said feeling uncertain, “I guess not.”

  “I’m just waiting for my coffee, so I won’t keep you long.”

  Abi shut her laptop. She was always very protective against people seeing her writing.

  “So are you a writer?”

  “Yes. Well I mean I’m trying.” She remembered his voice on the phone with Stewart. “That’s right, Ste…Mr. Vincent talked to you about me.”

  “Well yes, sort of. He didn’t tell me anything about your work. He just wanted me to connect you with some people in the industry. He must really think you’re good to offer to do that.”

  “Oh really?” Abi raised one eyebrow, ready to tell him that she would beg to differ.

  “Absolutely. I’ve worked with Mr. Vincent for a few years now, and that’s long enough for me to know that he would never recommend something to someone unless he believes in it one hundred and ten percent.”

  “Oh?” Abi said again. “That’s interesting though, since he’s never read any of my work.”

  Evan laughed. “I can imagine that romance novels aren’t exactly his thing. But that’s why he wanted to connect you with an editor, someone who will look at your work and give you an honest opinion and some pointers. But I’ve heard Mr. Vincent say a thousand times that he believes in people, and it’s not just about if someone is gifted or talented, but it’s about their desire to work for what they want. And I’m guessing he thought you were someone who had the drive to accomplish your goals.”

  “Oh,” Abi said, quietly.

  They called his name then and Evan stood. “Well my coffee’s ready. It was nice to see you again.”

  Abi stopped him, “Just out of curiosity, did you find the woman from the grocery store?”

  Evan lowered his eyebrows, “Beg your pardon?”

  “You know the woman from the grocery store. Did you find her to talk to the press about the story?”

  “How do you know about that?

  Abi shrugged. “I just know.”

  “Did the woman call the office?”

  “No, I never heard from her.”

  “Well, I didn’t look for her.

  “Why not?”

  “Don’t you know?” Evan seemed confused.

  “Know what?”

  Evan put his hands on the back of the chair and leaned over. “Abi, I asked Mr. Vincent to do the story. I thought it would be great publicity for the company.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Abi mumbled.

  “But Mr. Vincent said no.”

  “What?” Abi’s eyes flew wide open.

  “He didn’t want anyone to know about that. He said he didn’t do it for publicity, and he didn’t want to embarrass the woman to have her face on the news.” Evan shrugged, “I thought it was a good idea, but I don’t argue with Mr. Vincent.”

  “Oh,” Abi repeated herself for the fourth time. She felt sick to her stomach all of a sudden.

  “I’ve got to run, have a nice day.” Eva
n turned to get his coffee and was gone.

  Abi let her face fall into her hands and took several deep breaths. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she said to herself. Why was I so stupid? He’ll never even talk to me now. Oh what did I do? She berated herself for several minutes before she realized a tear was sliding down her cheek. She had been stupid and stubborn, and it probably cost her the kindest man she had ever met.

  Suddenly she sat up straight and froze in her spot. “But I have to find out,” she told herself. She looked at her watch and then gathered up her things, shoving them in her bag as fast as she could.

  She stopped at the counter and made a quick order. Then, just like the day she met Stewart, she took off as fast as she could, walking the two blocks to the office building.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Stewart sat on the couch in his office, file folders and papers spread across the table and the floor all around him. He looked up when he heard his assistant’s voice getting louder and louder.

  “You can’t just go in his office,” she squeaked.

  “It’s alright, I’m sure it will be alright.”

  Stewart’s heart thudded and he froze in place when he recognized the other female voice. He stood to go to the door, but his feet wouldn’t move. When the door opened and Abi walked through, he thought his heart would burst at the sight.

  Mallory was close behind trying to stop her. Abi met his gaze and they locked eyes. Her look seemed to plead with him to let her in. “Mallory, it’s fine. She is welcome to come in.”

  Abi let out a breath, seeming relieved. Mallory left, closing the door behind her.

  Stewart finally made a move and went to Abi. He reached his hands out when he saw that she held two coffees. “For me?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Abi practically whispered. “It’s a peace offering.”

  “Thank goodness. I haven’t had good coffee since you’ve been gone.” He watched Abi’s face as she turned her eyes to the piles in the floor behind him.

  “What in the world?” Her eyes showed her shock.

  “Yeah,” Stewart rubbed his forehead. “The temporary assistant decided to clean up my desk. She mixed all the projects up and I can’t figure it all out.”

  “Oh no!” Abi seemed genuinely concerned. “Do you want me to help you? I remember most of the ones we picked for the next round.”

  Stewart reached out and put his hand on her arm. “That’s alright. I’m sure you didn’t come here to help me sort papers.” He flinched. “Or did you? Are you here to ask for your job back?” He hoped that wasn’t the reason.

  “Ummm, no, not exactly. But maybe.” Abi bit her lip and he could see she was nervous.

  “Come here.” Stewart led her to the couch and moved a pile of folders to the table. When they were both seated, he turned to her, fighting the urge to pull her into his arms. “What did you come here for?” he asked gently.

  Abi took a deep breath and let it out. “Stewart, I know I was horrible the last few days I was here. I wish I could take it back, but I was so upset.”

  “About what? I thought it was because you were worried our personal life was moving quickly and you were trying to be professional. But I know it was more than that.”

  “I’m sorry. I should have talked to you. But the morning after the Mistletoe Ball…” she paused. “Well I heard you on the phone and I heard the publicist say the news wanted to do a story about the woman that you helped with groceries. I was so mad. Like fuming mad,” Abi held her hands wide with her fingers spread apart to show the extent of her anger. “I had thought you were this wonderful guy who not only was fun, and kind, and smart, but also wanted to help out a total stranger by feeding her kids. So to hear that you knew it would be a good news story, and that it would benefit the company just floored me.”

  Stewart waited until she stopped to say, “But I didn’t let them do the story.”

  “Well I know that now,” Abi’s voice was quiet. “But I didn’t then, and it just completely knocked you down from where I had built you up in my mind.”

  “Tell me more about how you had built me up.” Stewart’s voice was teasing. She punched him playfully in the arm, but before she could pull back, he took her hand in his. “I’m sorry I ever gave you a reason to doubt.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about it. It’s all my fault.”

  “But now you know, right?”

  “Yes,” Abi said. “But there’s something else. That was only part of why I was mad, and maybe if it had just been that I would have told you what I thought and we could have worked it out. But I also know you told Evan you would do whatever you could to get my writing in front of the right people.”

  Stewart sat still and stared at her. “Well that part is true. I did say that, and I will. But I don’t understand the problem with that.”

  “The problem is that writing is my thing. I want my writing to be good, and I wanted you to believe that I could do it without you cashing in favors to the right people.”

  “Abi!” Stewart raised his voice in shock. “Do you think I would trade favors or pay people to publish your work? If I wanted to do that I could start my own publishing company and publish your book no matter how bad it is. But I would never do that. I have seen how hard you’ve worked at being my assistant. You stepped up from day one and took charge of the position. Because of that, I know that you will give your writing your best effort and you won’t stop until it’s the best it can be. And only then would I help connect you with editors that can look it over and help you get it ready for publication.”

  Abi hung her head. “Yeah, I know that now too.”

  Stewart lifted her chin with his finger until she looked him in the eyes. “Abi, I want you to know this. I believe in you. I believe in you as a person, as a hard worker, and as a dreamer. And I know that you will not only accomplish, but thrive in, whatever you want to do.”

  Abi smiled as a blush crept over her face. “So can you forgive me for being stupid and ridiculous?”

  “Hmm, I guess so, on one condition.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Let me show you something. Wait here.”

  Stewart stood and went to his desk. From the bottom drawer he pulled out a white box and brought it to the couch. “I had this sent over after the ball. But I never got a chance to give it to you. So my condition is that you help me put up this last bit of Christmas decorations in the office.” He placed the box in Abi’s lap and sat back to watch her open it.

  She gave him a questioning look, but she slowly untied the bright red ribbon and lifted off the lid of the box. She sucked in a breath and put her hand to her mouth when she saw the contents. She grinned at Stewart before she lifted out a bunch of mistletoe tied with a ribbon. Abi laughed, “You sure you want to hang this in the office?”

  “Hmm, maybe I’ll just keep it in my desk.” He winked at her. “But let me see it. I think we need to test it out and see if it works. He slowly took the mistletoe out of the box and then placed the box on the floor. He looked deep into Abi’s eyes. “Abi, I have never planned to fall in love. I’ve worked in this business my entire career and I’ve made that my life. But you walked right into my office carrying coffee in your hands, and Christmas in your back pocket. You flipped every idea I had about what my future would look like and made me want things I’ve never wanted before. And Abi, what I want is you. I want to know life outside of work with you and I want us to have a future that we figure out together.” Stewart stopped and waited for her to respond.

  Abi tilted her head towards him and her smile went from ear to ear. “Sounds good to me.”

  “I love you, Abi.”

  “I love you too, Stewart.”

  Then he slowly raised the mistletoe over their heads and lowered his lips to hers. He knew they didn’t need the mistletoe anymore and dropped it on the couch to take her in his arms.

  EPILOGUE

  “Ten, nine, eight…” Abi loudly cheered each number counti
ng down the seconds. Stewart had surprised her just that day, telling her to pack a bag and they were going to New York City to see the ball drop. She looked down at his hand on hers and felt warm from her nose to her toes. Despite the freezing temperatures and the threat of snow. She looked up in Stewart’s eyes and she just knew. She knew that this was the first of all the New Years together that they would have together for the rest of their lives.

  Stewart was still counting, “Seven, six, five…” When Abi reached up and took his face in her hands and kissed him. “Hey,” he said, “We’re supposed to count down to zero.”

  Abi laughed, “I didn’t want to wait any longer.”

  Stewart smiled at her and nuzzled her cold nose against his. “Me either,” he kissed her again. The crowd cheered as they looked up to watch the ball drop and the noise was deafening. The air filled with streamers and the sky above lit up with fireworks. Stewart yelled to be heard, but it was too loud, so he pulled Abi’s hand and led her away from the crowd. When they were far enough to hear each other, but still able to see the celebration, he stopped and turned Abi to face him.

  “Abi, I don’t want to wait either.” She gave him a confused look before he continued. “When my assistant walked out on me I didn’t know how I would survive the holiday season. Then you walked in and everything just seemed to work. I didn’t know how great it would be, I only knew that I didn’t want to look for an assistant.”

  “I told you I could do the job.” Abi could feel her heart pounding, even though she tried to joke.

  “Yes, you did. And you did it so well. Which makes it hard for me to say what I’m about to say.”

  Abi felt concern rising in her, but tried to focus on his words.

  “Abi, we said we would give it a trial run with you as my assistant, and that we would decide after New Year’s.”

  “Yes,” Abi said cautiously.

  “So now, it’s after the first of the year. And regrettably I’m going to have to fire you.”