He was there for work, not to complicate things with his assistant and possibly blow up the handle she’d managed to help him get on the company in the process. Just wanting to get this night over with, he was about to call up to her when the click of her heels on the steps rang out in the room.
When she reached the landing between flights of stairs and he got his first look at her, he was breathless.
She was stunning.
She wore a long, sleeveless red dress with thin straps along the shoulders that dropped into a tight bodice that hugged her breasts and gathered at the waist into a long, full skirt. Her hair was in a messy updo with tendrils framing her face, and a pair of drop earrings that brought attention to her delicate, gorgeous neck.
When she saw him, she almost looked…shy?
He forced his lungs to start working properly as she took the final few steps down to him.
“You look amazing, Stella,” he breathed, not sounding quite as composed as he hoped he would.
She reached up and skimmed her fingers along her collarbone—one of her nervous habits—before bringing her arm back down to her side. “You think?”
He nodded. “I know. You’re stunning. Gorgeous.” Maybe he was crossing a professional line or ten, but he didn’t care.
A blush heated her cheeks, and it took every ounce of strength Logan had in him not to press his body against hers and see if she wanted to do some things that would make them both forget about the party.
It’s not a date, he had to remind himself. Again.
As if she was trying to test his resolve, she walked over to him—so close—as his heart hammered frantically against his ribcage. The fact that he had any kind of reputation at all with women made him want to laugh. If only they could see him around this one, a spitfire who reduced him to a ball of nerves.
“You look very handsome,” she said with a soft smile as she reached up and straightened his tie. “There.” Her hands slid across his shoulders, and down along his chest. “Perfect.”
She was close enough he caught the subtle fruitiness of her perfume, and it made him want to bury his face in her neck and breathe deep, to kiss the skin there, to hold her close and never let go.
But this was not a date.
Sensing his resolve crumbling at her feet, he managed to hoarsely say, “We should probably go.”
It was going to be a very long night.
“Yeah,” she sighed, turning toward the front door. They walked out to the car together. Logan helped her in, then made his way around to the other side and slid in beside her. They sat closer than they normally would have, their bodies practically magnets tonight. As the car pulled out of the driveway, he noticed Stella’s hands twisting together on her lap, restless.
He wanted to reach over and take her hand, to give her something to hold on to.
But he didn’t.
He couldn’t.
It. Was. Not. A. Date.
* * *
At the party, it took a while for him to warm up to the crowd; there were more people in attendance than he was expecting. He and Stella had worked out a system where they’d mingle in the crowd instead of staying in one spot, giving them the advantage when moving from cluster of people to cluster of people.
Stella would brief him on who they were getting ready to talk to, allowing him to start the conversation with confidence. And she was right about every person they’d spoken to, giving him just the right tidbit of information to bring up to make the interaction seem more personal than it was.
She calmed him with her capability as his assistant and her warmth as his…he didn’t even know what to call her at this point. It was becoming clearer and clearer to him that he was lost without her, both in his professional life and his personal one.
The two of them shared champagne and teased each other as they drifted through the crowd, making sure they chatted with everyone there. Logan hated parties, but he thought he was doing a pretty good job of hiding it. Stella hated them too, and he made sure to soothe her annoyance by stalking the dessert guy through the party to grab her a cannoli.
She smiled as she plucked the tiny pastry from his fingertips, walking out of the flow of traffic over to a spot by the windows so she could enjoy her treat.
“These make me hate this party a little less,” she said before taking a bite. Logan was a little distracted by the way her lips wrapped around it, by the way her tongue licked away the tiny dollop of cream left behind on her lip. “But I still hate it.”
The whole weekend was testing his resolve, but that lick was nearly his undoing. “We don’t have to stay much longer,” he told her, even though that was kind of a lie. He figured they had another hour to put in before they could leave. “Are you that anxious to get back to coding? I figured you’d need a break.”
She gave him an innocent shrug. “I like that work. Figuring out the problem, making something that isn’t working…work. I know this makes me sound like a total nerd, but I don’t care. It’s exhilarating in a way that I don’t get to experience very often in my day-to-day job.”
Logan understood what she was getting at. He wasn’t under any illusions that her job offered her personal satisfaction for the most part.
But that didn’t calm the ache in his stomach her words inflicted, though.
Stella’s eyes widened once she realized how it must’ve come across.
“I love my job,” she said quickly, resting her hand on his forearm. It was a simple touch that made him feel more connected to her—someone who was definitely not his date—than he had to any of the women he’d gone out with in recent memory.
Women he’d gone out with to help him ignore the fact that he was in love with Stella.
“I don’t want you to think I don’t love my job,” she continued. “Of course I’m happy to be here with you.”
“No you’re not,” he said with an honest smile. “It’s okay to admit it.”
She bit her lip. “I”m happy to be with you,” she amended, which didn’t do much for that resolve he was desperately clinging to. “Just maybe not happy to be here so much.”
Logan laughed. “Noted.”
He was surprised that he wasn’t offended, or even sad for himself. He felt ashamed that he was so worried about himself that he’d kept her neatly tied up in her assistant box, not realizing (or wanting to admit) that she wasn’t happy there and wanted out.
So that he wouldn’t have to deal with losing her.
There was something about this woman that made him feel completely selfless. It was both terrifying and exhilarating. He knew he had to let her go.
Maybe misreading his silence, because it would’ve been impossible for her to know the realization he was working through, Stella looked for a quick reprieve.
“I have to go powder my nose,” she said quickly, tacking on a teasing, “think you’ll be okay without me for a few minutes?”
He was going to have to be. For a lot longer than that.
“Yeah,” he said with a smile. “I’ll be alright. Go.”
She moved to leave, then turned around. “Try to hover near the cannoli guy when he comes out with some fresh ones.” She tried to give him a wink, but just ended up blinking dramatically.
It was so cute.
He was so screwed.
He was going to blame the unfurling warmth of love in his chest for what he did next. He walked through the crowd, knowing exactly who he was looking for. He’d seen Omar Ellickson earlier this evening, when he’d stopped by to say hello and quickly became a silent observer in the conversation that Stella took over by asking him all about his company’s software developments.
He should’ve taken the opportunity presented to him then. But it wasn’t too late; he was going to take it now.
Luck was on his side, because he found Omar at the bar waiting for a drink, no one around him.
“I needed something a little harder than champagne,” Omar admitted when he saw Logan. “I h
ate these things.”
Logan let out a chuckle. “You and me both.” He ordered a shot to go along with Omar, and took his chance while they waited for their drinks.
“You aren’t looking for some new developers by any chance, are you?”
Omar grinned. “Why, you looking for a new job?”
He shook his head, not wanting to joke about this, because his time was limited. “Not me, my assistant.”
That got Omar’s attention. “You’re wanting to let her go?”
“No,” Logan said honestly, shaking his head. “That’s the last thing I want to do. But she has a passion and a talent that I don’t think I can fully develop. She’s done good work for me and my company. I want her to learn from the best, and you’re the best.”
Before he lost his nerve, Logan pulled one of Stella’s cards out of his wallet. He’d taken to carrying them around with him so he could hand them out to people he wanted to get in touch with him for whatever reason.
He never thought he’d be using one to try and get her a job working for someone else.
The bartender delivered their shots, and Logan downed his, swallowing against the burn in his throat. “Just give her a call, okay? You won’t regret it.”
“Yeah,” Omar replied, tucking the card into his jacket pocket. “I will.”
Logan gave him a friendly clap on the back before he went off in search of the cannoli guy.
When he found him, Logan plucked one from the tray for himself, and one for Stella. He ate his while he was waiting for her, the first time he’d tasted one all night. He finally understood why Stella was so obsessed. He considered eating the one he took for her, but he thought better of it when he saw her walking toward him.
The first thing she did was reach for the cannoli. “I saw you thinking about eating that,” she said accusingly as Logan gave her his most innocent look.
“If I wanted to eat it, I would’ve eaten it.”
She narrowed her eyes at him before taking a bite, and, surprisingly, offered him the other half. She held it up, and he didn’t waste a second, just leaned down and took it in his mouth, his lips brushing against her fingertips.
A long, charged moment burned between them. He could kiss her now, and he knew without a doubt that she would kiss him back.
But, this was not a date.
Stella seemed to come to that realization at the same time he did, because she took an almost imperceptible step back. “We’ve made the rounds, right? We can go soon?”
He nodded, his whole foundation shaken by her. “Yes. I just want to say goodnight to the hosts,” he said, nodding toward the door where Maureen and Frank Abernathy stood. They were a lovely old couple who always had a soft spot for him. They were friends with his grandparents, and never did have grandchildren of their own.
Stella took in a nervous, shaking breath. “Maureen Abernathy is a legend.”
Logan laughed. She was a no-nonsense but kind woman, legendary for her charity and also for her her temper if you crossed her.
Logan made it a point never to cross her.
“She is,” Logan agreed. “She and Frank are really nice, down-to-earth people.”
Stella looked around the grand home they were currently standing in, and raised a skeptical brow.
“Well, more down-to-earth than the house would suggest.”
Logan led Stella over to Frank and Maureen, who greeted them with wide smiles.
“Logan, darling. How are you?” Maureen asked as she pulled him into a hug.
“I’m well,” he said, shaking Frank’s hand. “You look beautiful as ever.”
Frank looked at her with shining, happy eyes. “She does, doesn’t she?”
Maureen laughed at him. “Frank, you always were a flatterer.” She smiled at Stella. “Oh, your date is lovely, Logan. Hello,” she said, offering her hand. “I’m Maureen, and this is my husband Frank.”
“This is Stella Reyes,” Logan said awkwardly, not sure how he should introduce her. He couldn’t introduce her as his girlfriend, but he also didn’t want to assign her a title as simple as assistant.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Stella said. “This party is amazing, thank you for having me.”
Maureen thanked her. “Have you tried the cannoli? They’re divine.”
Stella closed her eyes. “Oh yes, and yes they are. Logan’s been kind enough to stay on the lookout for the waiter that has them so I can snag one every time he walks by.”
Maureen laughed.
“Good man,” said Frank, clapping Logan on the shoulder.
Logan grinned at Stella, loving how effortlessly she fit into this world, how charming she was.
“Oh, you two are such a beautiful couple,” Maureen gushed.
Logan considered protesting, but he didn’t.
“And,” Maureen continued happily, “you’re standing under the mistletoe.”
She pointed up, where a sprig was hanging just over the entryway.
Logan looked at it, his heart pounding in his throat.
“You know what you have to do,” Frank said jovially.
“Uh…” Logan wasn’t sure what to do here.
“The holidays are always a little romantic,” Maureen encouraged good-naturedly. “Give her a kiss.”
He looked to Stella, searching her eyes for some kind of sign indicating what she wanted him to do.
“Yeah, Logan,” she teased. “Be romantic.”
Her lips curved up in a soft smile right as he moved closer and pressed his against them.
Chapter Seven
Logan was kissing her.
Logan was kissing her.
In the seconds that the kiss lasted, that was what repeatedly flowed through Stella’s mind. She’d wanted him to kiss her so many times, and he was doing it, and it was so shocking that it wasn’t until the very last few seconds—right before the end—that she’d even realized she should enjoy it because it would probably be the only time it happened.
His lips were so soft, and never in a million years would she have thought they’d have their first kiss in front of an elderly couple in a room full of people at a Christmas party.
Under the mistletoe.
And yet, there they were.
She’d imagined them finally giving into whatever the electric, unavoidable thing was between them more times than she would’ve liked to admit to. In those scenarios, they were always caught up in a moment, usually after a fight, when she’d finally had enough of his attitude, and he—at least she hoped—couldn’t resist her anymore.
She wanted to laugh at the reality of it, which was the result of gentle prodding by a very nice old woman caught up in the whimsy of holiday romance.
But it was a nice kiss all the same, if not over way too quickly.
She probably should’ve stopped him, should’ve corrected the assumption that they were a couple at all. She thought Logan would have, but he didn’t, and there was a not-so-small part of her that hoped that meant something.
She was a probably a fool for even entertaining that idea, but she didn’t care.
When they broke the kiss, they were both a little breathless. Maybe it was for show, or maybe he was caught up in the moment, but Logan gave her a warm, affectionate smile, reaching up and tucking a tendril of hair behind her ear.
It felt real. The kiss, the moment after. All of it.
Stella didn’t know how she was supposed to go back to the way things were after this. She didn’t know if she could.
“Ah, young love,” Maureen sighed dreamily.
Logan stared at Stella for a few more seconds, then turned back to Maureen, looking a little shell shocked.
The old woman didn’t notice, though.
“I told you, you are a lovely couple.”
Logan smiled and said something in return that was drowned out by the sound of Stella’s blood rushing through her head. She felt dizzy, lightheaded, not part of the moment. Like she was floating, somehow.
Logan’s lips had been on hers, and it had felt…real.
She wanted to ask him if it meant anything, and she also desperately wanted to ignore it, afraid of what his answer might be. She wanted to get back to Logan’s immediately, to bury herself in her work, in a world where things made sense and she didn’t have to worry about putting herself out there. About getting her heart broken if she did.
Once the Abernathys moved on to talk to another couple, Logan looked over at her, nervously moving his hands like he wanted to touch her but thought better of it at the last second.
“We should talk about this,” he said with a little inflection at the end, like it was a question.
Stella nodded absently, hoping he didn’t mean right then and there…when someone walked up and said his name.
Logan looked to her, and it took her a couple of seconds to pull herself out of the daze she was in and recognize who it was that was talking to him. Luckily he remembered the man’s name, and they carried on a short conversation before moving on.
She had to pull herself together and stay sharp at least until they could get back to the house.
She had a job to do, and she could think about what this meant later.
* * *
They didn’t spend much more time at the party, but what little bit they did was plagued by this awkward, charged pull between them that they both actively ignored. Logan was able to talk to the party guests like he was relaxed and normal, but his exchanges with Stella were fraught with underlying uncertainty after they’d kissed.
That kiss was amazing, but by the end of the evening, Stella was really regretting it.
They rode back to the house in silence, the driver’s partition down probably as an excuse so that neither one of them had to address the awkwardness in the back of a limo. Stella shoved herself all the way against the door, as if distance was going to solve her problems. It was also an easy way to keep herself from reaching out for him like she wanted to. Despite the awkwardness, that desire was still there. She wished it wasn’t; that would make everything so much easier.
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