Page 1 of One Little Favor
CHAPTER1
AVERY
I’m met with a torrent of fresh snowflakes that pour off the ledge of the shop door as I step into the winter wonderland outside. With one gloved hand gripping the thin handles of the paper bag containing my boss’s Christmas gift, I tighten my scarf around my neck with my other hand, and then I pull the door closed behind me.
The frigid air hurts my lungs, and even though the fresh coating of beautiful snow blankets the city in sparkling white, I wish it hadn’t ushered in such a cold snap. By the end of the day, everything will be covered in the gray sludge of trampled snow—the beauty will be gone, but the cold will remain.
I make my way across Rockefeller Center, but the unseasonably low temperature means there’s no one skating on the ice rink. At least the enormous Christmas tree, now dusted with snow, is lit up. I take out my phone and snap a picture, then text it to my mom.
Avery
We should come into the city next week so you guys can see all the Christmas decorations before they take them down.
I wish I could suggest that Dad and I fly around that rink on our hockey skates like we used to every Christmas when I was little, but that hasn’t been possible since his accident.
There’s no way to explain how much I’m looking forward to going home to Brooklyn this weekend. This has beena year, and I can’t wait to relax—to read some books curled up on the couch next to my dad, to cook in my family’s kitchen with my mom, to sit through the Christmas movies we rewatch together every year, to see the delight on their faces when they open the gifts I’ve gotten them, which I already know are going to be perfect.
Aside from my organizational skills, my other superpower is buying just the right gift for people. I glance down at the bag in my hand and wonder again if this gift for my boss, Tom, is the funniest gift I’ve ever given someone, or if he’s going to frown and shove it in a desk drawer. He’s grumpy as hell, which is why the gift is so perfect.
By the time I traverse W 50thStreet and get to the corner of our building, I’ve pretty much decided I’m going to wait until Tom leaves tonight and drop the gift bag on his desk so he finds it Monday morning when he comes in, and I’m already at my parent’s house for my week off.
I’m not sure I have the nerve to watch him open it in front of me. There’s something about how he purses his lips when he’s deep in thought, and how easily they turn down at the corners, that makes me quiver with desire. It’s a weird kink, I know. But somehow his grumpiness makes him even sexier.
Beingthisattracted to my boss is just downright wrong. Especially because he has a reputation for being the office asshole—though, honestly, he’s never been an asshole to me. Before I got promoted to being his executive assistant, he’d been through four in the previous year. So far, I’ve lasted almost as long as the four of them combined.
But it’s been a year of constant vigilance—making sure I don’t ever make a mistake, while also ensuring I don’t do anything that makes my attraction to him obvious. My contract stipulates that nothing can happen between us; it’s a clause that our director of Human Resources made a show of pointing out when she hired me.
Tom has zero interest in me beyond my ability to type, organize, plan, and order him lunch. But even if hewasinterested, getting involved with him would be a risk I can’t take. I need this job too much.
My parents depend on me. This promotion to being Tom’s executive assistant means it’s the first time I can breathe, financially speaking, since Dad was shot in the line of duty two years ago. This job pays some of the never-ending expenses that insurance refuses to cover.
* * *
“Hey, Avery,” the security guard says after I walk through the doors of our office building and approach the bank of elevators that lead up to the law firm.
“Hi, Josef,” I say as I swipe my ID card and watch the glass doors in front of me slide open. I step through and hand him a small white cardboard box.
His nostrils flare as the smell hits him, and his big cheeks pull up as he gives me a toothy grin. Josef is a jolly old grandpa, and working as front desk security in this luxury office building is his retirement job after years as a crane operator. According to him, he worked on this building twenty-five years ago when it was built—which he likes to remind me was before I was even born. He’s off by a few years, but I’ve never corrected him.
“Why you always so good to me?” He opens the box and peeks inside, already knowing what he’ll find. Josef was the one who introduced me to the white chocolate macadamia nut cookies from the specialty cookie store that opened down the street, so every once in a while when I’m out for lunch I’ll pick one up for him.
“It’s Friday afternoon before my Christmas vacation. I’m not going to see you for a week, so I just wanted to leave you with something sweet.”
“There are enough cookies in here for my whole family!” His enthusiasm over the gift loosens some of the knots in my stomach caused by their obscene price tag. I’m trying so hard to save money, but it’s also Christmas and I want to show my appreciation for the people in my life.
“That was the idea.” I pat him on the shoulder as I pass by. “You have a good Christmas, okay?”
“You have a great holiday, Miss Avery,” Josef says as I walk toward the bank of elevators.
“You too,” I call over my shoulder, but I’m already distracted by the buzz of my phone in my hand. I hope it’s not Tom texting to ask where the hell I am. He gets antsy if it seems like I might be late getting back from lunch. Not that I’ve ever been late, mind you.
Mom
The tree looks beautiful! Are you on your lunch break? Call me as soon as you can.
Avery
Everything okay? Just heading back up to the office from lunch. I’ll call you when I get to my desk.
