January was when we really sunk our teeth in, but December was for celebrating, eating, drinking, and being merry.
Being merry, I thought as I polished off my drink. The only thing that was going to make me merry was making partner. I’d wanted it too long to fall short now. It had never been so close to being mine before and I was terrified of such an opportunity slipping through my fingers.
The only thing that would be worse than losing partner would be to see Jon hand the title to Ethan. The thought almost made me throw up.
I set my empty glass down and glanced wearily at my desk. There was still so much work left to do and the scotch hadn’t given me the pep I’d hoped. I needed coffee.
So bare foot and beginning to feel the first hints of fatigue, I padded out of my office and down the rows of other offices toward the break room. I passed Ethan’s office. He’d left the lamp on that sat on his desk. I shook my head at his ineptness and carried on to the break room.
As soon as I stepped through the open archway into the dark break room, I walked right smack into someone. I stumbled back. He cursed as hot coffee spilled down his front and mine.
I swore loudly and peeled my soaking-wet and piping-hot blouse away from my chest. “Would you look where you’re going?” I barked, teeth clenched as the burning sensation on my skin faded away.
“Sorry,” he said.
And then I realized it was Ethan. “Oh.”
“Oh,” he echoed, flicking on a light. His eyes darted up and down the length of me. He arched an eyebrow at the sight of my bare feet before dragging his sharp blue gaze back up. “Staying late to swoop in and try to steal partner from me like a little bare-footed vulture?”
I scoffed. “Steal partner from you? How can I steal something that’s already mine, Ethan? I mean really.”
“Has anyone ever told you that cockiness is an ugly trait?”
“Has anyone ever told you that I don’t care?”
He rolled his eyes before staring morosely into his nearly empty coffee cup. He set it down on the counter to my right with a tired sigh. When his attention snapped back to me, he was all fire and ice again. “I don’t think anyone is under the impression that you care about anything besides your career, Kathryn.”
“And here I was, thinking I’ve been woefully misunderstood this whole time.”
“You’re not complicated enough to be woefully misunderstood.”
Damn him. He was quick. Always had been.
I snorted and slipped past him, stepping over the spilled coffee between us. “You’re such a gentleman, Ethan. As always.”
He turned and glared after me as I started making fresh coffee. I didn’t offer him any to replace the stuff he’d just spilled all over the floor due to his clumsiness.
“You’d better pull it together before the Christmas season, Kathryn. Nobody likes a Scrooge.” Ethan made for his office but paused to call over his shoulder. “See you tomorrow, sunshine.”
I grumbled under my breath and willed the coffee to brew faster. “Unfortunately.”
Chapter 4
Ethan
Dana reached for her glass of red wine and we toasted to what we were grateful for, the wine itself.
It had been a long day. Bumping into Kathryn and spilling coffee all over us both had been the icing on the cake. When I remembered at nine thirty that I was supposed to meet my sister, brother, and sister-in-law for a drink tonight, I’d hurried out of the office and left Kathryn in her cave where she belonged.
I wondered if she hung upside down from the ceiling like a bat once the rest of us went home.
Dana, my sweet gracious sister, had forgiven my tardiness when I arrived fifteen minutes late. Our brother, Eli, and his wife, Casey, were running behind too. It was a bit late for all of us to get together but we tried to do this weekly or every second week when we were able.
This bar, Steamworks, was our go to. It was just around the corner from the JDR offices and about a hundred feet from the sky train, so it was easy for everyone to get home afterward if they’d had one too many. I only planned on having one. I had a big day at the office tomorrow.
Dana raked her fingers through her dirty-blonde hair. It had the same disheveled coarse texture as my hair, and her eyes were the same shade of blue as mine. She licked her lips after sipping her wine and rested her elbow on the table. “This is nice.”
“Malbec is always a good choice.”
“I meant seeing you, not the wine.” She smiled. The corners of her eyes crinkled and I wondered when that had happened. When had my baby sister become a woman? “But the wine is nice, too.”
“It’s good to see you too, Dana. Did you work today?”
My sister nodded. Dana worked as a dental hygienist at a clinic in Yaletown, about a fifteen-minute drive from where we currently sat. It was a busy part of Vancouver, always bursting with activity—and wealth.
“It was good,” Dana gushed. “You should have seen this man’s teeth I worked on. I’ve never seen such a perfect mouth before.”
“A perfect mouth?”
“I didn’t think they existed either until he opened up, and oh my God, I almost fainted.”
“Over his mouth?”
“I wouldn’t expect you to understand,” Dana said, waving a dismissive hand. “But it can be incredibly frustrating trying to help people with their oral hygiene when they’re sabotaging all your efforts by not flossing or brushing properly. I mean, how hard is it to listen to your dentist and take care of your teeth? People are truly clueless. They have no idea the health consequences of not taking care of your teeth and gums. It can lead to—”
“Please don’t list it all,” I groaned. “You’ve told me so many times already.”
Dana chuckled and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry. I know I get carried away. But for real, this guy’s mouth was—”
“Clean.”
“So clean!”
I laughed and took another sip of wine. “I don’t know who raised you, Dana.”
My sister laughed and made a pointed comment about how we were raised by the same people. She cocked her head. “Today was the She-Devil’s pitch for that matchmaking client, wasn’t it?”
“Indeed, it was.” I resisted the urge to pour the remaining contents of my wine straight down my throat.
Dana grimaced. “I assume she did well?”
“Quite well. She landed the contract.”
“That just means there’s something better waiting for you around the corner, Ethan. It’s all a matter of perspective, isn’t it?”
She was right, of course. Dana usually was. She had the impressive quality of always being able to look on the bright side. She’d once told me about a patient who came into her dental office after twenty years of not brushing his teeth. They were practically rotting out of his mouth and he needed so many extractions that it wasn’t worth saving any of his real teeth. When I mentioned to Dana how she must find those days frustrating, she shook her head and claimed it was the opposite. She liked helping people, and him taking the step to come see professionals put him on the right track. Sure, they had to do some hard work up front, but at least he was taking care of himself after two decades of neglect.