And it’s then that I vow that this year she’ll have the best Christmas ever.
Eight
Kayla
My mood shifts thinking about my dad. Sometimes it feels like yesterday since he left us and other times it feels as though it happened forever ago. We always did Christmas up big before he passed. Now the holiday brings a bit of sadness with it for Mom and me.
I have a feeling it’s why she went on the month-long cruise with her girlfriends this year. She’s skipping it this year. I encouraged her to go. She sacrificed so much of herself after my dad passed to make sure that I was always taken care of. I wanted her to do this for herself.
It might have been too hard on her this year. More so with me having moved out now. When she brought up the cruise, I pushed her to go. She needed to get back out there. Even though I knew it meant that I’d likely be alone for Christmas, I still wanted her to go and have a good time. So far she is having the time of her life.
I’m supposed to go to my Aunt Milly’s for the holidays, but in truth I wanted to skip. Staying at home with my tiny tree and reading sweet romance holiday books while drowning myself in hot chocolate doesn’t sound too awful.
“I think I should order food,” Nathan says abruptly, pulling me back from my thoughts.
“We ate two hours ago.” I glance at the time on my computer screen. Not to mention the other food he forgot he ordered. He sent it all to the breakroom. I bet he’s popular around here if he’s always doing nice stuff like that.
“You pushed your food around your plate. I wouldn’t necessarily call that eating.” I’m noticing that Nathan notices everything about me. Is he like that with everyone? He’s smart so I’m sure it’s not hard for him to recount everything.
“I’m sorry. I can only get a little down when I think about my dad.” It doesn’t help that I’m pretty sure that Nathan was ignoring me the entire way to lunch. It definitely didn’t do anything for my mood. I was starting to think I was already losing his attention.
I go from thinking Nathan notices everything about me to then thinking he doesn't pay attention to anything I say. It is becoming exhausting. He stares at me.
“No food. Got it.” He shifts on his feet.
“Are you okay?” I would almost guess he’s uneasy right now. With the way his moods shift, this could really be a number of things going on with him.
“I’m okay?” It comes out like a question.
“Okay.” I turn back to the computer screen. I'm entering notes he’s made so they will be saved to a document in a dropbox so he can access them from anywhere. I enjoy doing it. He’s so brilliant. I’m getting more out of this than I’ve ever gotten out of any of my classes.
“There’s cake in the breakroom,” Rachel says, popping her head in the door. “It’s Jack’s birthday.” I pop up, never being one to turn down free cake.
“I’m a sucker for frosting.” I make my way around my desk and head toward the door.
“Me too.” Nathan stands from his chair.
Rachel laughs. “Oh, you’re serious?” She gives Nathan a puzzled look. “You normally would give me a reason why one shouldn’t eat cake before complaining about the breakroom. Again.” My eyes dart between them. They are having a stare-down.
“Are we going? Because I really want a corner piece and those are the first to go. They have more frosting.”
“Her mind is amazing,” Nathan says. “I’ll make sure you get a corner.” Rachel shakes her head before we follow her out of the door.
“Any plans for the holidays?” Rachel says, making small talk as we head toward the breakroom.
“Not this year, but I do have a date—”
“A date!” Nathan says in a half-growl, half-shout, making both Rachel and me jump in surprise.
“Yeah, with my Kindle.” I snort a small laugh. Okay, he might have not lost interest already. He sounded angry at the idea of me going on a date.
“That’s my kind of date.” Her lips pull into a smile as her eyes bounce between Nathan and me as we all walk. When we near the breakroom, Nathan gets closer to me. When we enter, I see about ten people. I realize that I haven’t really met anyone else that works here. I spend all my time in Nathan’s office. He even has a personal bathroom.
“Everyone, this is Kayla,” Rachel introduces me. She starts going around the room to everyone, telling me their names. Nathan shifts so that he’s standing right behind me. I can feel the warmth of his body. Being this close to him and breathing in his masculine scent has me getting turned on again. I want nothing more than to lean back and press my body against his. I could simply drop my head back so he could kiss me. How the heck does he keep doing this to my body?
“How is Dr. Amherst treating you?” one of them asks. I missed all the names because Nathan stole my attention. Before I can answer, Nathan answers for me.
“I treat her well. She’s mine.” I know he means I’m his as in I’m his assistant, but my mind takes it elsewhere. Then he pushes the rest of the way into me, and I can feel that he is hard. I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from moaning. I have no doubt I’m flushed. Everyone is staring at us looking the same way I feel: confused.
“Nathan has been wonderful. I’ve learned a lot already.” I smile.
“Nathan?” one girl says, seeming surprised that I used his first name.
“Nathan, you say.” The man smirks.
“Cake, Jack. No candles. It's disgusting to blow on a cake,” Nathan barks out. “And next time, address me correctly. It’s Dr. Amherst to you.”
I turn my neck to look up at Nathan. He’s glaring at Jack. At least I’ve got one name down. I think Jack and Nathan have beef. Oh, it’s my first piece of office gossip! I’ve never gotten to experience that before. I’m going to get it out of Nathan when we get back. Find out why we dislike this Jack guy so much.
“No candles,” Rachel agrees. She walks over to the table where the cake is set out with the two number candles on top. At the same time she starts to sing “Happy Birthday,” and everyone joins in and claps at the end.
“I need a corner piece,” Nathan demands over the clapping. I have to hold back a laugh.
“I’ve got it,” a pretty brunette says as she starts to cut the piece. She only cuts one piece and heads our way. She’s staring right at Nathan with hearts dancing over her head. Not really, but I can see the interest in her eyes. Get in line.
I should move aside as she gets to Nathan, but I don’t. He easily reaches over and takes the plate from her hand. I don’t miss the small glare the woman gives me before heading back toward the cake.
I turn around, and Nathan gives me the plate with the corner piece. “See all the icing?” I say. I grab the fork on the plate and take a bite. I let out a happy moan. It’s not the stupid whipped icing you get sometimes. This is the real deal. I break off another piece, but this time I lift it to offer a bite to Nathan.
The chatter that had been going on dies out as he leans down and takes the offered bite of cake. “We should eat this in our office,” I say in a whisper—one that sounds way too breathy even to my own ears.