“Eight.”
“They all depend on him to make good choices for his company. He depends on it, too.”
“I just don’t see how our dating would be bad for the company.”
“Okay, look at it this way,” Corbin said. “If the two of you dated and fell in love and didn’t keep it a secret, how would all of your coworkers feel about it?”
She thought about it for a moment. It had been a natural instinct to keep things with Jack quiet at work. Was it because she didn’t believe her coworkers would be thrilled to know that they were dating? Both Bridget and Lennox had acted a little wary at the slightest hint that there was something between them.
“And how would you feel when you got a raise or a promotion or anything like that—maybe something you had been working hard for since the day you started working there—and everyone assumed that you only got it because you were dating the boss?”
Oh. Yeah, that wouldn’t be awesome. She hadn’t thought about that.
“Jack is smart to have strict rules for himself about dating one of his employees,” Becca said. “Just think about breakups—they can get messy. And if they do, they can take a company down. But not only that, it can be nearly impossible to keep away from the appearance of favoritism. Even if someone is determined to not show favoritism, it can creep in without them even noticing. And that can greatly affect the morale of all the employees.”
Noelle leaned back in her chair, stunned. She hadn’t thought about any of those things at all. Ever since Jack had told her the story about how he’d never looked at his parents’ marriage and felt that he wanted that for himself someday, she had kind of assumed that he was letting fear stop him. She covered her face with her hands. “I judged the situation so wrongly.”
Then she sat up straight, dropping her hands from her face. “And I was the one to kiss him.Iinitiated that. The hand holding on the hayride, too. He had said that he couldn’t get involved with me after the hayride, but I ignored that and still kissed him the next day.”
Becca reached out and gave Noelle’s hand a squeeze. “There was a lot you didn’t know at the time. You can’t beat yourself upfor that. Plus, I think he might have been letting his heart take charge a bit, too.”
“Maybe.” She ran her spoon through and through her ice cream, making designs in the partially melted cream but not really seeing them. “But I do have the power to change things.”
Corbin cocked his head to the side. “Are you talking about your job? Youloveyour job.”
“I do. But if you think about it, it all comes down to one question: which do I love more—my job or Jack?”
sixteen
JACK
Jack walked into the office,unlocking doors and turning on lights as he went. Yes, it was Christmas Eve. No, he hadn’t planned to work. But there was work here he could do, and he couldn’t be at home all day, thoughts of how many people’s Christmas Eve he’d ruined running on a loop.
Or how he had managed to find the perfect woman, the only one he’d ever imagined having a life with, the one who made his entire being happy to be alive, yet lose her just as they were getting started.
Or how he wanted to spend every single occasion with her—extraordinary or ordinary—but he had closed himself off from celebrating Christmas Eve and her birthday with her.
Or was he just not looking deeply enough for a solution? He wandered through the main office area, running his fingers along each of the desks as he meandered. Maybe he could hire a manager to run the day-to-day business, and he could take a step back. Could he give all of this up? Not be a part of it all? Could he find someone who would care about the business as much as he did? And if he did, could he pay them as much as they would be asking?
As he was thinking through the logistics, a thought popped into his mind.Even if you did, you would still be her boss.
A frustrated growl escaped his mouth. There had to be a way. He couldn’t experience a glimpse of what life would be like with Noelle and then just live life without her. She had changed him. Now that he knew what was possible, he knew he couldn’t turn his back on her. He had to find a way.
He turned to head back to his office, then stopped at Noelle’s desk. A single hand-painted card was leaning against her monitor. He picked it up to get a closer look—it must be one of the cards she’d received from her gran-gran. He couldn’t believe she’d left it there over the break. A woman—probably her gran-gran—was with someone who had to be Noelle. Christmas decorations filled the background of the scene. Noelle held in front of her a big cupcake with a lit candle on it. Her cheeks were full of air, her lips making an O as she was preparing to blow out the candle.
He turned the card over.
Only the most special people are born on Christmas Eve. You celebrate the day with all you've got!
Every year.
He put the card back and went into his office.
An hour later, not only had he not come up with a solution, but he had barely made a dent in the emails he was trying to get through. His senses went on high alert when he heard what he thought was a door opening. None of his employees worked today, and the building’s cleaning staff wasn’t in, either.
He was just standing up to go check on everything when Noelle appeared in his office doorway. “I thought I might find you here.”
“Noelle. Why are you at work today?”
