Page 42 of A Cozy Kind of Christmas
THIRTY-NINE
JOHANNA
A timid knock sounded on Johanna’s door. Her heart kicked up a beat.
Connor was here.
She took her time answering, stopping to check her appearance in the mirror.
She’d showered after her morning outing with Meg.
The sage green sweater dress accented her curves in all the right places.
Her hair fell in loose waves to her shoulders, tied back on one side with a silver barrette and a sprig of holly.
Her cheeks shimmered with an iridescent powder and matching eyeshadow.
The effect was simple but made a statement.
She looked good.
Sexy.
Powerful.
Strong.
Take that, Connor.
Eat your heart out.
She swept to the door, holding her stomach in place with one hand and forcing her face into a calm and composed glower.
Connor stood on the porch with a bag slung over one shoulder. Multiple bouquets of red roses obscured his face, and a box of expensive chocolate was tucked under his other arm.
He looked like a lost boy searching for his house or a kid going door-to-door selling candy for a school fundraiser.
“What the hell are you doing here? This is absolutely absurd,” Johanna said, not giving him a chance to be the first to speak.
She needed to make it crystal clear who had the upper hand here—her.
“Come on, don’t start like this. Can I come in?” He motioned to the crack in the door with his head. “I flew to Oregon for you. Can we at least talk, Jo?”
“Don’t use that nickname with me, and for the record, I didn’t ask you to fly to Bend. You did that all on your own. Without my knowledge, by the way.”
“Take these. You said every flower on the planet. I couldn’t quite do that, but I bought out the local florist.” He thrust the flowers and chocolate at her. “It’s your favorite—dark chocolate and orange.”
“You stole my promotion from right under me, and you think some roses and a box of chocolates are going to fix it?”
“I didn’t steal your job,” Connor said with more than a hint of exasperation. “You’re so damn stubborn sometimes, Johanna. Just let me in. Come on, otherwise, I’m going to beg.” He started to lower himself on a knee, nearly dropping the flowers and chocolate in the process.
“Oh, my God. Do not,” Johanna hissed, yanking him up and dragging him inside. “You have five minutes, but you’re not staying. I don’t know why you brought a bag.”
“Call me an optimist.” He flashed her a hopeful smile before he stepped inside.
He glanced around. “This is cute. Very cabin-ish.”
“Cabin-ish?” she shot back, closing the door behind them. “You’re the guy—the wordsmith—who’s going to run my department? Great. Insult to injury.”
“Oof, brutal,” he said, still smiling. “But fair.”
“I’ll say.” She moved to the living room with a purpose.
“Okay, first of all, you can add ‘ish’ to anything these days without getting an infraction from the grammar police,” Connor said, adjusting the flowers. “It’s perfectly acceptable. And for the hundredth time, I am not running your department.”
“Oh, right, sorry. My bad.” Johanna patted her chest twice and glared at him. “You’re taking over the entire operation.”
“Johanna, come on. Don’t be like that.” Connor trailed at her heels and surveyed the cozy space. “Where should I put these?”
“There.” She pointed to the coffee table. “Anywhere. It doesn’t matter. I’m going to trash them anyway.”
Connor carefully rested the flowers and chocolate on the coffee table. Then he propped himself on the edge of the couch and pressed his hands together, giving her his best puppy dog stare. “Can we please talk about this?”
“What do you want to say? You interviewed for a job you knew I’d been preparing for for weeks—years, honestly—without bothering to tell me.
You went behind my back and interviewed for the job I’ve been working my ass off for, landed said job, and now for all intents and purposes, you’re my boss.
” She threw her arms across her chest. “How did I do? Does that pretty much sum it up?”
“Yes, but no.”
“There’s no such thing as a ‘yes but no,’” she snapped. “Need I remind you of the rules of English grammar again?”
“Yes, you nailed the summary of our situation,” he said calmly. “But no, that’s not how everything went down. I didn’t apply for the job.”
“Oh, sorry. Forgive me. You got me there. So you got handed the job without jumping through dozens of hoops, perfecting your pitch, without the months of playing office politics like me. And now you’re upset because I’m mad and not going to slip back into bed with you? Is that more accurate?”
“Sleeping with you would be a major HR violation if I were your boss.” He narrowed his eyes seductively, running them from Johanna’s head and letting them linger on her chest for a moment.
“Exactly!” Johanna’s voice turned cold. “You just proved my point. This is why there’s nothing more for us to discuss.
” She stepped back, giving him a hard stare.
“It’s a shame you wasted your hard-earned promotion cash and a full day flying all the way across the country for what? One more ego trip?”
Connor flinched.
Then he exhaled slowly and stood up.
“No, you still don’t get it.” His voice was solid and controlled now. “I turned it down, Jo. I’m not taking it. I never was.”
Her breath caught.
“I’m not going to be your boss because I didn’t take the goddamn job.” Connor flung his hands in frustration as he spoke. Then he paused and took a slow breath, meeting her eyes. “I said no, Jo. I told them no. I don’t want the job. I want you.”