“Watching you tonight was torture,” Mira said against her mouth. Courtney felt her hand leave her thigh to run up over her chest, briefly palming her breast before cupping her jaw and holding her close. “You are so gorgeous, Courtney. I’ve been dying to kiss you.”

  “Just kiss me?” Courtney parroted.

  “To start,” Mira said in reply, and Courtney gasped when Mira’s other hand pulled the stretchy fabric of her dress up over her hip, then settled on her ass.

  Just then the phone on Mira’s desk rang loudly, shocking Courtney out of her blissful make-out haze. Mira’s mouth left her skin, and a concerned look was on her face, as her hands wrapped around Courtney in an almost protective way.

  “Are you expecting a call?” Courtney asked between pants, trying to wrap her head around what was happening since she was sort of definitely just about to ask Mira to do more than kiss her. But now all flirty, sexy touching seemed to have ceased.

  “No,” Mira replied, her brow furrowed. “No one calls the office line this late.”

  The ringing stopped but started right back up.

  “Courtney, I am so, so sorry, but I think I have to get that.” Mira looked mortified.

  “Of course,” Courtney said as she scrambled off her lap, adjusting her dress so she could sit on the couch with some modicum of decency. She crossed her legs and shifted to relieve some of her built-up arousal, trying to be subtle in the process.

  Courtney looked up to find Mira reaching for the phone, her eyes on Courtney and a knowing smile on her lips. “I’ll fix that, I promise.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.” Courtney shifted again. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this turned on only to have it all come to a screeching halt. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling—it was just one that felt like a lot of wanting and yearning. Which was making her hot all over again.

  “Hello?” Mira spoke in the receiver. “Sarah, hi. Wait, slow down.”

  The concerned look from before was back on Mira’s face. Mira nodded to no one, and though Courtney couldn’t make out what was being said on the line, she could tell the words were coming fast, and they sounded frantic.

  “Okay, okay, calm down. I’ll meet you there. Go. Bye.” Mira hung up the phone, looking two shades paler than a few minutes ago. “I’m sorry, I have to go. Something is wrong with Kelly and the baby, and Sarah needs me to—”

  Courtney’s hand flew over her mouth. The baby. Mira must be talking about her coworker and Courtney’s previous Mirage contact, Kelly. She was off the couch in less than a second. “Of course, go. What can I do? Can I help?”

  Mira shook her head, looking dazed. “No, I think I’m good.”

  “Let me grab my coat. And we’ll walk out together, okay?”

  Mira was already slipping on her leather jacket and fumbling with her keys.

  Courtney followed Mira back to the front of the bar, grabbing her coat as Mira flicked off the lights and made sure the front door was locked.

  “I am so sorry.” Mira helped her into her coat, zipping her in with care.

  “Hey, stop. It’s fine.” Courtney touched her face and kissed her to quiet her concerns. “There will be lots of opportunities for you and me to get into sexy trouble. I’m sure of it. Right now, it sounds like your friends need you more than I do.”

  Mira rested her forehead against Courtney’s and exhaled shakily. Courtney could tell she was upset.

  “Let’s go,” Courtney said as she tugged Mira’s hand toward the rear exit they’d come in earlier.

  Mira nodded and took the lead, holding Courtney’s hand the whole way to her car. She opened Courtney’s driver’s side door and paused. “Shit, your box of stuff.”

  “I’ll come by and get it later.” Courtney kissed her once more. “Go be a super-friend. Text me later so I know you’re okay.”

  “Thank you. For tonight. For understanding. For everything.” Mira still looked shaken, but Courtney was less worried about her passing out now.

  “Don’t thank me. Go. And don’t forget that text, okay?”

  “Than—” Mira stopped herself. “Drive safe.”

  Courtney slipped into the seat, closing the door as she watched Mira race to her car and disappear out of sight. As she started her car and headed home, her thoughts were filled with Mira and how worried she was about her. Everything was going to be okay, right?

  Chapter Nine

  Mira felt like she had aged a decade the last two days. Sarah’s frantic phone call had put her in a tailspin, but thankfully Courtney had helped her pull her head out of her ass long enough to get to the hospital safely. Once there she found a panicked Sarah waiting for answers and for Kelly’s mother to arrive. Things were tense until the doctor filled them in on what happened.

  Kelly had fainted while at home and there was an issue controlling her blood pressure. She was stable now and the baby was fine, but it had given everyone—Mira included—a scare.

  “Will you stop fussing? I’m fine,” Kelly said from the hospital bed, swatting at Mira’s hand on her forehead.

  “I’m just checking your temperature,” Mira reasoned. “How’s that nasty head cut?”

  “I’m at the hospital—that is literally someone’s job. Stop worrying. You’re worse than Sarah. I can’t believe she even called you.”

  Mira feigned offense. “Listen, when my best friend and best employee takes a nosedive into the bathroom sink and opens up her head while carrying my birthday baby twin, I am the first person on the list to call after emergency services and your mom.”

  “That would make you the third person on the list,” Kelly pointed out.

  “Rude.” Mira sat back in her seat next to Kelly’s bed with a huff.

  “I know you’re my designated babysitter while Sarah and my mother finish all the stuff at home, but I don’t need you worrying over me. What I’d like is a distraction from this concussion with some juicy gossip about your Christmas angel dream girl.”

  Mira sighed. She felt awful about how she’d had to jet out on Courtney the other night. But if her texts were any indication, Courtney didn’t share the same concern. If anything, Courtney seemed genuinely worried about Mira. Which was an unexpected but nice surprise.

  “See, you’re smiling just thinking about her. Don’t make me work so hard for gossip—I’m bedridden here.” Kelly nudged her with her foot.

  “She’s great,” Mira said, giving in. “She’s smart and funny and sarcastic—”

  “That’ll help with you and your occasional grumpiness. We need a girl who’s got humor and shade-giving abilities,” Kelly chimed in.

  “I am not grumpy,” Mira argued.

  “Not now that you’ve met your Christmas loving pixie, you aren’t. But you usually are this time of year. She seems to have changed that.”

  Mira thought about that for a moment. Kelly was right. She was a Grinch in every sense of the word, and with her family being away, she should be more like that than ever. But for some reason she wasn’t as agitated by the holiday as usual. She wondered if that had to do with Courtney showing up in her life.

  “So, have you two talked after the near hookup? Which, might I add, I can’t believe happened at the bar when I wasn’t there to listen through the door.”

  “That’s a creepy thing to say, Kelly. Even for you,” Mira replied.

  “I’m joking. Mostly I wish I was there to see all the not so subtle flirtation between you two at the bar like Teagan told me about.”

  “Teagan?” Mira shouldn’t be shocked, but she kind of was. “I’m firing her.”

  “I need to keep my fingers on the pulse of the workplace while I’m out. Do you think I trust you to be my source? You didn’t even tell me this thing between you and Courtney was getting serious when you know I live for such information. You’ve been depriving me. I had to go to my other sources,” Kelly replied.

  Mira got hung up on something Kelly said just then. Was this thing between her and Courtney getting serious? And what did that mean?

  “Hey, this talking thing only works if you also open your mouth and speak.” Kelly nudged her with her foot again.

  “I really like her.” Mira surprised herself with her own honesty. “I feel like we have a real connection.”

  “Even though she’s all holly jolly about your least favorite holiday?”

  Mira nodded. “Yeah, maybe because of it.”

  Kelly looked shocked. “Wow.”

  “What?”

  “That was pretty deep for you.”

  Mira frowned. “You say that like I’m shallow.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way.” Kelly sat up a little but touched her forehead and grimaced before leaning back again. “What I meant was you are loyal and loving and wonderful with your family and your friends. I mean, you are at least the third person to call in an emergency.”

  Mira laughed.

  “But when it comes to women and dating or getting serious with anyone—I haven’t seen that in a very, very long time. Maybe the entire time I’ve known you, honestly. You have flings and bring cute girls around for a while, and then you move on to the next. But it’s been a long time for that, too. I’ve been worried that you were closing yourself off to the idea of finding someone. But this Mira is not the same Mira I left at the bar when I took my maternity leave. This Mira has moon eyes for a Christmas elf. And it’s a freaking miracle.”

  “Don’t start with the miracle nonsense,” Mira said, putting up her hand. “I have my limits.”

  Kelly rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll shelve that obvious rationale, because you are irrational. But I’m right about Courtney.”

  “I know,” Mira admitted. “I think about her all the time. And I talk to her just about all the time, too.”

  As if on cue, her phone buzzed. She grinned when she saw Courtney’s text, checking in on Kelly. She was so thoughtful. Add that to the list of her amazing qualities.

  “Right. So what are you doing here, then? I mean, I don’t want you to leave because I’m super bored and this headache makes it impossible for me to watch TV, but, like, shouldn’t you be courting her or something?”

  “Courting Courtney?” Mira shook her head.

  “Exactly.”

  “She’s working. A lot. I guess she has a few big end-of-year things to finish off at work before Christmas Eve. Then she’s hopping on a flight to Colorado to be with her family for the holiday. So nothing is going to happen until after she gets back, I guess,” Mira said.

  “Oh.” Kelly looked as disappointed as Mira had felt when she’d first found out that Courtney would be out of town over her birthday.

  She had no intention of telling her that she was going to be alone for the first time ever over the holiday, or that it was her birthday, but she had hoped that if Courtney had family nearby that maybe she could steal her for a few hours during the day to do something nice for her since she knew how important Christmas was for her. Hell, she’d even bought lit white garland to surprise her, and that was way out of the norm for her. She knew she’d do anything if it would make Courtney happy.

  Selfishly, she had been hoping to spend some time not alone, and the prospect of spending any time with Courtney made her feel hopeful and alive. Because spending time with Courtney was high on her priority list, and she knew that meant that Courtney was special.

  “I’m trying not to dwell on it. I’m just going with the flow, and so far, the flow has brought her into my bar and into my life,” Mira replied. “It’s just a day like any other day. There will be more of them. Hopefully after this is all over and when Shannon Squared is here, I’ll have someone to bring by to introduce her to.”

  “I could be having a boy,” Kelly noted.

  “Shannon is a boy’s name, too,” Mira argued.

  Kelly laughed. “Okay, I’m excited to meet this Courtney again, this time as your girlfriend. Even if I have to wait a little longer.”

  Girlfriend. That sounded nice. She fired off a quick text to the woman in question and smiled when Courtney wrote back something cute immediately.

  “Man, you are goo-goo over this woman.”

  Mira kept smiling because she felt like she finally had something to smile about. “Yeah, I think I am.”

  * * *

  Courtney checked her company email again. There was still no word from Chet about his promise to fast-track her application for the transfer after the successful holiday party. She checked and rechecked the company website, and the opening remained unfilled, which seemed odd since she was under the impression they wanted that decided before the office closed for the holiday. But maybe they were just a little behind. It had been hectic around here lately, and she imagined the same was true for Philanthropic.

  She looked up her flight itinerary next—boarding was delayed forty-five minutes, but the flight was still almost on schedule, which was good.

  She sighed as she stretched and rolled her shoulders to get some of the tightness out. She had worked late every night since the night of the holiday party, and she was paying for it physically and mentally. But that was all about to change since she was clocking out in a few minutes and about to start her two-week vacation.

  She’d had an epiphany late last night when she finally left, sometime after seven. The darkness of New England winter evenings was not something that usually bothered her because winter also brought snow and hot cocoa, which were two of her favorite things. But when she was cooped up in an office doing mindless busywork to meet a deadline, it bothered her a lot. Last night was one of those nights. The darkness outside had felt like an abyss, and she wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and find herself back at Mirage under the tiny white Christmas lights that hung from the ceiling, illuminating the room with that soft, ethereal glow that framed Mira in a sexy radiance while she mixed drinks and flirted across the bar.

  That was her epiphany. When she wanted an escape from the winter and the doldrums of work, her mind didn’t go to the upcoming Colorado vacation. It went to Mira. Mira was on her mind a lot. She had been since before the party, and now, after their false start of a hookup, she was practically the only thing she saw when she closed her eyes and the work computer screen filled with numbers faded away. She had realized that, over the last week, the only thing that got her through work was the promise of seeing Mira again. She was like a beacon, and Courtney knew that was because she was head over heels for the charming bartender.

  She messaged Mira because she could. When Mira didn’t write back right away, she wasn’t worried. It was Christmas Eve, after all. Mira had mentioned she would be at the bar with a skeleton crew, so Courtney knew she would be busy. But she wanted her to find a text knowing that she was thinking about her, because she was.

  She looked out the window at the end of the row of cubicles and began to worry. It wasn’t quite two p.m. yet, but the sky had grown ominous and dark. The snow had been falling off and on all day, but the heaviest snow was expected in the next few hours, and it was projected to be a complete whiteout overnight and into Christmas Day. Which she normally would have rejoiced about, if she didn’t have to get on a flight during an epic snowstorm.

  She moved her suitcase out of the way to walk to the window and get a better look outside. It was already coming down fast. She decided to pull the trigger and head to the airport before it got any worse. But she frowned as a realization hit her hard—if she went right to the airport, she wouldn’t have the chance to drop off Mira’s Christmas gift. Maybe if she hustled, she could still do both and not miss her flight. All she had to do was check in with Chet, and then she was free.

  She knocked on his door and waited for his reply.

  “Come in,” he called.

  She walked in to find him mid-laugh as he looked at something on his computer screen.

  “Cat videos. I mean, so funny. Right?” Chet chuckled, and Courtney restrained the eye roll she so desperately wanted to unleash. She came in early and worked late to get his projects done, and he was watching cat videos on the internet. What a jerk.

  “Yeah, sure. Look, I’m heading out now. The projects are done, and I want to get to the airport before the roads become undrivable.” Courtney didn’t have time for small talk if she planned to swing by the bar first.

  “Right. Makes sense. Happy holidays. I hope you have a nice break.” Chet gave her a wave as he turned his attention back to the cat videos.

  “Chet?”

  “What’s up?” he asked, not bothering to look at her.

  “Any news on that event planning position?” Courtney had to ask. What was the holdup?

  “Oh,” Chet said as he turned to face her. “I thought you knew. They filled the position from within the company. We decided that Stephanie was the best person for the job. She’ll be starting at the beginning of the year—an announcement should be going out soon. Thank you for your interest, though.”

  Courtney blinked. “What?”

  “I said, Stephanie—”

  She held up her hand. “I heard what you said, Chet. It was a rhetorical what, like, What do you mean you gave the position to someone else after I organized the most perfect holiday party of your life? That kind of what.”

  “Oh, I see.” Chet looked embarrassed. Good.

  She waited for him to expand upon that, but he just looked at her blankly.

  “That was a great party, Courtney. Thanks.”

  That was it? That was all he had to say? Courtney felt like she might scream.

  “Okay, well, you’re welcome. Um, have a great holiday and I…” She noticed an empty box in the corner and pointed to it. “Can I have that box?”

  “Sure.” Chet shrugged. “Need it for anything in particular?”

  “To clean out my desk. I quit.” Courtney gave him her brightest, fakest grin. “Merry Christmas, Chet.”

  “Thanks.” A pause. “Wait, what?” she heard behind her as she closed his door with more force than was necessary.

 

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