“Anything?” Chris asked.
“Anything,” Winter breathed. She picked up one of the take out cartons and shoved a dumpling into her mouth. “Oh God,” she moaned. Chris wondered if that was how she sounded when she came but instead of calling for God, he wanted his name on her lips. “You’re looking at me funny,” she said.
“I am?” he asked. Chris pretended to be busy filling his plate with food, which was a good distraction from his friend moaning over her food like it was better than sex.
“You are,” she insisted.
“Sorry,” he lied.
“So, why did you call me up here?” she asked. “Let me guess—you want to ply me full of dumplings and then you’re going to fire me.”
“Nope,” he said, sitting back in his chair. His stomach did a little flip-flop and he wasn’t sure if eating and propositioning Winter was the best idea. “My diabolical plan is to feed you your favorite foods and then make you an offer you won’t be able to refuse,” he said in his best God Father interpretation, causing Winter to giggle.
“Well, now I’m intrigued,” she teased. She sat on the edge of his desk so close he could reach out and touch her. His hands itched to do just that but he didn’t give in to his urge. “What’s this proposition you have for me?” she asked.
Chris took a deep breath and let it out, “Let’s give your parents what they’ve wanted for years now,” he said.
“A trip to Hawaii?” Winter teased.
“No,” he said. “You having a boyfriend for Christmas.”
“Well, gee,” she said, tossing her half-empty container onto his desk. “Why didn’t I think of that? I’ll call one-eight-hundred rent a man and have them send me a guy that I can force to attend Christmas at my parent’s house.”
“Pretend I’m your boyfriend,” he offered. Winter barked out her laugh as if what he had said was ridiculous and honestly, it hurt his feelings. Wasn’t he good enough to be with her? “Think about it, Winter,” he said. “Your parents love me and hell, our families have been hoping and plotting something like this for twenty-something years now. Let’s just give them what they want and then, we can break up after the New Year and tell them things didn’t work out.” That last part wasn’t a part of his plan. He was hoping that he could convince Winter to give him a chance but that would mean giving up spending time with Luke over their holiday and Chris wasn’t sure if he wanted that either.
“Come on, Chris,” she said. “My parents know you’re bi. Hell, the whole town does now since you came out about the relationship you had with Luke in college.” Winter was right. Just after he graduated from college and he and Luke broke up, he came out to his family deciding that life was too short to worry about what other people thought—even people he was closest to. He told them and at first, they were hesitant to accept his news. His dad didn’t speak to him for almost half a year. But eventually, they came around, and now, they were so great about his news that he wondered why he had waited so long to be his authentic self around them.
“Bi, Winter. Not gay. I like women too,” he defended.
“I know what bi means, Chris,” she said. “But, isn’t Luke coming to our birthday party? I thought you said you were hoping to reconnect with him while we were home for the holiday.” Well, she had him there. That was the problem with wanting Winter—she knew him too well and he’d never get away with anything.
“Listen, we can put on a show and pretend for your family, and then, when we’re alone we’re free to do our own thing,” he offered. Chris knew he sounded like an ass but he was running out of options. Winter looked about ready to turn him down flat. “Come on, Winter. You deserve a happy Christmas for once. Say yes,” he begged. She paced his office and he worried that she wasn’t going to agree to his crazy scheme. He wanted this more than she probably did and for all the wrong, selfish reasons.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll go along with your crazy ass plan but under one condition,” she said.
“Name it,” Chris breathed, hopeful that it would be one he could abide by.
“If you and Luke, you know—hook up, you’ll fake break up with me first. I don’t want rumors getting back to my family that you’re cheating on me,” she whispered. “That would be humiliating.”
“I’d never do that to you Winter,” he promised. “I’d never willingly humiliate you. I just want to help—I love you,” he said.
“Love you too,” she said back. “You are just a giant pile of mush sometimes,” she teased.
“Yeah, yeah but you would be lost without me,” he joked.
“Sure,” she said. “I need to get back to work. I hear the company’s VP is a real asshole and I wouldn’t want to get on his bad side.” Chris chuckle and watched her sexy ass sway out of his office and he sat back in his chair, grinning to himself like a loon. He was finally going to take his chance with Winter and it was about damn time. Thirty years was a long time to wait for a girl.
Winter
Chris was out of his mind—what other explanation was there for him making the offer of pretending to be her boyfriend for the Christmas holiday? Honestly, he was off his rocker and her parents would see straight through his ruse. Her mom and dad had known Chris his whole life and she was pretty sure they’d be smart enough to know that he was pretending with her. Heck, they probably heard he’s bi and that she wasn’t his type even though she’d give just about anything to be. Plus—there was the whole thing with Chris’s ex, Luke. She knew that Chris was hoping to reconnect with Luke and where would that leave her? She’d be the ridicule of the town and the gossip would most certainly reach her parents. The last thing she wanted was to slink out of town feeling the shame those rumors were sure to bring. But, she had told Chris yes, agreeing to his crazy ass plan and even if she wanted to, she couldn’t go back on her word to him. Chris would never allow her to back out now. He’d do something stupid like double-dog dare her and she was so competitive, she’d take him up on his offer.
For now, she’d have to figure out a way to tell her family that she was bringing someone home with her, and oh yeah—her someone just so happens to be her best friend, Chris. It was now or never, really and if she didn’t make the call home, she’d chicken out and never do it. Winter tossed her jacket onto the sofa and kicked off her heels, groaning at just how good it felt to be home. It had been a long day. It had been a long month and she was going to be happy when the holiday season was over. Bixby’s was always busy but the holiday season had her working ungodly hours and her only consolation was that her paychecks were nice enough to compensate for her aching toes.
Winter’s cell chimed and she fished through her purse to find it. “Chris,” she breathed and smiled to herself. He had texted her, as he usually did every night after work, to make sure she got home safely. It was one of the sweet things he did that made her swoon and wish for things that would never happen.
You home safe and sound?