by Jae
“Sure. Lead the way.”
Annie firmly closed the door behind them and watched Drew look around her office. It was weird to have Drew in her work place. “Nothing spectacular,” Annie said, “but it’s functional.”
Drew trailed her finger over the large computer screen and smiled as she picked up a spaceship-shaped penholder from the desk. “It’s great.” She straightened. “Ready?”
After a deep breath, Annie nodded. “Let’s bring the wine to the kitchen first.” She touched the moonstone pendant around her neck as if it were a good luck charm and led Drew out of her office.
Drew gestured for Annie to go first and then followed her into the kitchen so they wouldn’t be under the mistletoe at the same time.
Virgil looked up from the punch bowl and nudged his wife, who in turn nudged Mrs. Cargill.
Within seconds, everyone in the room was staring at them while pretending to admire the Christmas decorations, ladle the punch into their glasses, or be completely focused on their conversations.
Great. Annie exchanged a glance with Drew, who seemed entirely unaffected.
“Everyone is staring at us,” Annie whispered out of the corner of her mouth.
“Let them,” Drew said in the same manner. She put down the box of wine and winked at Annie. “At least they’ve got good taste.”
After straightening her shoulders, Annie reached over and took Drew’s hand.
For a moment, Drew’s hand lay frozen within hers; then Drew squeezed her fingers. A bright smile boosted Annie’s confidence and made it easier to greet everyone in the kitchen and then walk to the conference room, where the rest of her colleagues were sitting.
“Hi, Annie.” Jonathan got up from his chair. “I see you’re here alone. Do you want to sit with me?”
Annie’s shoulders tensed. Is he blind? She was still holding on to Drew’s hand, but apparently, not bringing a male companion counted as being alone in Jonathan’s book. “No, thank you.”
Before she could say more, Sarah waved from the other end of the long table, almost knocking the food from her boyfriend Gary’s plate.
“Hey! Careful!” Gary pulled his plate out of the way, but Sarah didn’t look in his direction.
She eyed Drew with interest. “And you must be Drew. Why don’t you two sit with us?”
Annie held back a sigh. Sarah would try to wheedle information about their relationship out of Drew. Well, at least we’ll have an ally sitting with us.
“We’ll get some food first before all the good stuff is gone.” At least that would give them a short reprieve from her colleague’s inquisition. With a nod toward the lobby, she tugged on Drew’s sleeve.
They walked over to the buffet.
Annie handed Drew a plate and took one for herself. She put a mushroom tartlet and a little of the baked feta on her plate. Her mouth watered when she saw the next dish. “Ooh, you have to try these.”
“French fries?”
“Sweet potato fries. We had them at last year’s party too. They’re delicious.” Annie turned and put a generous helping of the fries on Drew’s plate.
Drew sent her a smile. “Thanks, beautiful.” She picked up one of the sweet potato fries and held it out for Annie to eat.
“Um ...” Annie hesitated, aware that her colleagues might be watching her.
“Oh.” Drew looked left and right as if only now remembering where they were. She started to pull her hand back. “Sorry. I know you want to keep a low profile and—”
Quickly, Annie leaned forward and snatched the fry out of Drew’s hand with her teeth.
Drew stared at her.
Annie stared back, surprised at herself. Then she grinned and shrugged.
On the other side of the buffet table, a man cleared his throat.
When Annie looked up, the grin fell off her face.
“Annie.” Virgil nodded at her. His gaze wandered from Annie to the food she had put on Drew’s plate, then up to Drew’s face. A frown carved a deep line between his bushy brows. “Hello, Ms. Corbin. I didn’t know the bosses had invited clients to the party.”
Annie tightened her grip on her plate until she thought the porcelain would shatter. “They didn’t.” She tried to speak clearly even though she still had the sweet potato fry in her mouth. “Drew is here with me.”
“With you?” Virgil’s eyes widened. “Oh. So you’re really ... um ...”
Here we go. Annie squared her shoulders and stood up straight next to Drew.
“A vegetarian?” Drew said, putting one hand on Annie’s back. “Oh, yes, she has been for years.”
Annie nearly choked on her fry. She started coughing and wheezing until her lungs burned.
“Excuse us, please. Annie needs a glass of water.” Without waiting for a reply, Drew led Annie away from a staring Virgil.
* * *
Two heaping plates of food and two glasses of Drew’s wine later, Annie started to relax.
Drew was entertaining people at their end of the table with a hilarious story about her first grape harvest. She had talked more with some of Annie’s colleagues than Annie had in the six years she had worked with them.
She’s comfortable with people, no matter where she is. In the past, Annie would have been envious, but now she was mainly proud of Drew and how well she got along with others. She reached over and squeezed Drew’s hand under the cover of the table.
Drew looked up from her conversation, smiled, and squeezed back.
Automatically, Annie’s gaze slid down the row of chairs. She froze when she saw Virgil talking to Mr. Cargill.
Virgil pointed to their end of the table and kept gesturing until Mr. Cargill looked over at Annie and Drew too.
Quickly, Annie let go of Drew’s hand.
“What is it?” Drew whispered.
Annie bit her lip. “I think Virgil Hargrave is trying to make trouble for us.”
“Who is he talking to?”
“That’s Mr. Cargill, one of my bosses.” Annie grimaced. “The more conservative one.”
Drew looked at the two men. “Oh, shit, I think he’s coming over.”
The sweet potato fries sat like lead in Annie’s stomach. Every muscle in her body stiffened as she turned to face her approaching boss.
“Do you want me to—?”
“No,” Annie said. “Let me talk to him.” She couldn’t let Drew fight her battles. If she wanted their relationship to have a chance, she needed to learn to stand up for herself and for Drew—even if her knees were shaking.
“Annie.” Mr. Cargill nodded at Annie, then at Drew. “Ms. ...”
“Corbin,” Drew said.
“Ah. You’re Ben Corbin’s daughter, right?”
Drew nodded.
“We met once when you came into the office with your father, but you probably don’t remember me. It was quite a few years ago. Nice to meet you again, Ms. Corbin.” His voice had that polite tone that Annie had heard a thousand times whenever he talked to clients. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “May I talk to you for a moment, Annie?”
Annie exchanged a glance with Drew, trying to find strength in their connection.
Drew looked ready to protest, so Annie forced a smile and nodded. “Of course.”
“Let’s go to the kitchen, where it’s quieter,” Mr. Cargill said.
Annie followed her boss to the punch bowl, where she watched him ladle punch and alcohol-soaked fruit into a glass. With every second, her tension grew. She cleared her throat.
Mr. Cargill looked up. He held out the ladle to her. “Would you like some punch?”
“No, thank you.” She needed to keep a clear head for this conversation.
He replaced the ladle and then looked over his shoulder. “I thought I should tell you without the other associates overhearing.”
A lump formed in Annie’s throat. What was it he couldn’t tell her in front of everyone? Was he about to reprimand her for bringing Drew—a client and a female client
at that—to the party? If any of her colleagues were gay, none of them had ever brought his or her partner to an office function.
“Don’t be surprised if you get a little something extra in this month’s paycheck,” Mr. Cargill said.
Annie stared at him.
“Don’t look so surprised.” Mr. Cargill chuckled. “You earned it. You did a really good job on Mr. Dettman’s account.”
That’s it? That’s all he wanted to say? Annie nearly collapsed as the tension drained from her frame. “Oh, thank you. Thank you so much.” She turned around and wanted to hurry back to Drew.
“Oh, Annie.” Mr. Cargill’s voice made her turn around. “About that friend of yours, Ms. Corbin ...”
Every inch of her braced for an attack, Annie forced herself to look him in the eyes. “She’s my girlfriend,” she said around the lump in her throat.
“I know. Virgil told me.” His gaze ventured to something behind Annie, probably at Virgil who was gloating, happy about the reprimand Annie was about to receive. “For our next party ...”
“Yes?” Annie asked even though she already knew what he was about to say. He would ask her not to bring Drew to an office party again. She gritted her teeth.
Mr. Cargill directed his gaze at Annie. “Do you think she would be interested in supplying the wine on a regular basis? My wife loves the Merlot she brought.”
Supplying the wine? That’s all he wants? Annie stared at her boss. “Uh. Sure. I’ll ask her.”
“Good.” After a fatherly pat on Annie’s shoulder, he walked away.
Annie stood staring at his retreating back. Drew is right. I’ve really got to stop making negative assumptions. Shell-shocked, she stumbled toward the door. She needed a moment to pull herself together and finally convince herself to stop behaving as if lightning would strike her just because she had brought her girlfriend to the office party.
“Annie!” Drew rushed over before Annie could leave the kitchen. She gripped Annie’s shoulders as if she needed to keep her upright. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” Annie smiled. “I’m great, actually.”
Instead of letting go, Drew pulled her closer. “What did he want? He didn’t corner you because you brought me, did he?”
“No. Everyone loves you. And your wine.”
“Everyone?” Drew drawled. “Including you?” She smiled, but the look in her eyes gave the question a deeper meaning.
Annie paused. Love? It’s much too soon to talk about love. If things don’t work out ... She shook her head and stopped herself. No negative assumptions, remember? Her feelings already ran much deeper than they ever had for Patrick or any other person in her life. She breathed in through her nose and then blew out the breath before she looked into Drew’s eyes. “Well,” she said, a tiny smile curling the corner of her mouth, “you know I love your Cabernet.”
For a moment, Drew just stood and stared at her. Then she grinned. “Just the Cabernet?” Her tone was teasing, but her eyes searched for the true meaning of Annie’s words.
Come on. Annie gave herself a mental kick. Trust your gut feeling. Trust Drew. “No,” she said, “not just the Cabernet.”
“You’re not talking about your fondness for my Merlot, are you?”
Annie shook her head. “I’m talking about my fondness for you.”
A large grin broke out on Drew’s face; then something above them seemed to catch her attention. “Uh-oh.”
“What?”
Drew pointed upward.
Frowning, Annie looked up.
Oh.
Mistletoe dangled from the door frame—and they stood directly beneath it.
Annie’s gaze went from the sprig to Drew’s lips and veered to the buffet, where two of her colleagues stood.
Drew shifted her weight, about to move away from her position under the mistletoe.
Maybe it was the moonstone magic; maybe it was the two glasses of wine, but Annie didn’t care about what her colleagues would think anymore. She grabbed Drew by the lapel of her blazer, pulled her closer, and brushed her lips against Drew’s.
“Wow,” Drew said. She touched her lips. “What’s gotten into you?”
Annie smiled and shrugged. “Must be something in the wine.”
Laughter burst from Drew. She leaned over and kissed Annie’s cheek. “Then let’s hope that, like the wine, whatever it is will get even better with time.”
Not turning to see if her colleagues were watching, Annie reached for Drew’s hand and entwined their fingers.
Hand in hand, they walked back to the table.
About Jae
Jae grew up amidst the vineyards of southern Germany. She spent her childhood with her nose buried in a book, earning her the nickname “professor.” The writing bug bit her at the age of eleven. For the last six years, she has been writing mostly in English.
She works as a psychologist and likes to spend her time reading, playing board games with friends, spending time with her nieces and nephew, and watching way too many crime shows.
Connect with Jae online
Jae loves hearing from readers!
E-mail her at [email protected]
Visit her blog: jaefiction.wordpress.com
Visit her website: jae-fiction.com
Follow her on Twitter @jaefiction
Other books by Jae
Manhattan Moon
Length: Novella
Nothing in Shelby Carson’s life is ordinary. Not only is she an attending psychiatrist in a hectic ER, but she’s also a Wrasa, a shape-shifter who leads a secret existence.
To make things even more complicated, she has feelings for Nyla Rozakis, a human nurse.
Even though the Wrasa forbid relationships with humans, Shelby is determined to pursue Nyla. Things seem pretty hopeless for them, but on Halloween, during a full moon, anything can happen...
Coming from Ylva Publishing in spring 2013
Crossing Bridges by Emma Weimann
As a Guardian, Tallulah has devoted her life to protecting her hometown, Edinburgh, and its inhabitants, both living and dead, against ill-natured and dangerous supernatural beings.
When Erin, a human tourist, visits Edinburgh, she makes Tallulah more nervous than the poltergeist on Greyfriars Kirkyard—and not only because Erin seems to be the sidekick of a dark witch who has her own agenda.
While Tallulah works to thwart the dark witch’s sinister plan for Edinburgh, she can’t help wondering about the mysterious Erin. Is she friend or foe?
Hot Line by Alison Grey
Two women from different worlds.
Linda, a successful psychologist, uses her work to distance herself from her own loneliness.
Christina works for a sex hotline to make ends meet.
Their worlds collide when Linda calls Christina’s sex line. Christina quickly realizes Linda is not her usual customer. Instead of wanting phone sex, Linda makes an unexpected proposition. Does Christina dare accept the offer that will change both their lives?
www.ylva-publishing.com
Table of Contents
Legal Notice
Table of contents
Acknowledgments
Dedication
Author's note
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
About Jae
Other books by Jae
Coming from Ylva Publishing in spring 2013 - Crossing Bridges
Coming from Ylva Publishing in spring 2013 - Hot Line
Table of Contents
Legal Notice
Table of contents
Acknowledgments
Dedication
Author's note
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
About Jae
Other books by Jae
Coming from Ylva Publishing in spring 2013 - Crossing Bridges
Coming from Ylva Publishing in spring 2013 - Hot Line