His eyes bulged. “You’ve upgraded me... I see. How come?”
“I have my reasons.”
Plus, I think that deep down you might be a dreamy, romantic guy. Because who else would bring his mom chocolate?
Nope. I absolutely did not want to look deep down. I wanted to keep things on the surface. Piercing green eyes, sinful lips. That surface was far too hot to be of any help. I lowered my gaze to the notepad I was holding, focusing on it as if my life depended on memorizing the words I’d scribbled there.
“I’ve got a good enough idea for what we want to ask for a cost estimation, but I’ll stick around to take some measurements. You can go back to your office,” I said.
He jutted his hands in his pockets, tilting his head slightly.
“Why, afraid that I’ll get my way if I stay here any longer?”
I smiled, shrugging one shoulder.
“No. Can’t boss me around in my free time, Winston.”
That amusement grew even more pronounced. “We’ll see about that.” A knowing smile played on his lips. I instantly felt as if he’d come closer, as if there was a wall separating us from the bustle of the food hall. Goose bumps broke out on my skin as he passed me on the way to the elevators. Once he was gone, I took a deep breath.
Yup, Winston was the reason for my jumpiness today, no doubt about that. When I’d accepted his help, I hadn’t banked on this energy between us growing so intense. Canceling our weekend plans now was out of the question. I needed to have the walls ready as soon as possible. There was no getting around that. My fellow Bennetts and Hensleys had gone above and beyond, helping me with the renovation. I hadn’t wanted to hire a team because I would’ve had to take time off to supervise them.
I’d only planned small changes in the beginning, and then I started adding so many things that it became a renovation project.
I’d scheduled everything down to the minute. If it weren’t for Winston’s extra project, I would have been on time with everything.
No, I couldn’t back out of our weekend plans. Besides, the arrangement did have some perks... chiefly, the fact that I’d see Winston do some physical work. I could already imagine him wearing a thin shirt—I was keeping my fingers crossed for a sleeveless one—all sweaty and flexing his muscles in my living room.
There was a real risk I’d never look at him the same after that, but oh hell, that sight was definitely worth the risk.
In the afternoon, Mara approached my desk. She kept looking over her shoulder.
“Mara, hi! What can I do for you?”
“Are we still on for trying to make the boss participate in the Secret Santa game at the Christmas party?” she asked.
“Shhh... don’t say that out loud.”
“Winston’s cooped up in his office with his door closed.”
“Ears of a bat, that one.” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “Haven’t brought it up yet, but I have a good feeling about it.”
I felt as if Winston and I were making progress. But he’d only just accepted the decorations. If I brought up Secret Santa now, I could lose all the progress we’d made.
Baby steps.
Holding the Christmas party the week after Thanksgiving had been my idea. The store usually had the employee party closer to Christmas, but I’d attended it last year, and everyone had been too stressed to enjoy it. The final bonus announcements were the next day, and every discussion had centered around that. Besides, I’d found the party to be a little stiff.
This year, I was organizing it. Secret Santa had also been my idea. We’d done that at the company I worked for previously, and it had been an excellent way of bringing people closer.
I wanted to convince Winston to participate as well. Having the boss join in a common activity would go a long way in everyone warming up to him.
“You do?” Mara lifted her eyebrows.
“Yeah. He’s not the ogre everyone thinks he is.”
Her eyebrows went even higher. “Aha. If you say so. Anyway, any chance you can tell me who’s buying my present? Then I can drop them hints.”
I waggled my finger at her. “Mara! That’s cheating.”