Holidays with the Billionaire

Chapter 23

Adlee

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T he coffee shop is packed as I wait for Gabe. He’s been blowing up my phone since I got back yesterday, dying for details. How much I’m going to tell him is still up in the air. He’s pretty much my best friend—we’ve been inseparable since high school and he got me the job at Fox Investments, but sleeping with the boss? That’s never a good look. And while Gabe isn’t all that judgmental (except with nearly all celebrities’ fashion choices), I really don’t think I need to burden him with such a secret. Besides, I know he’s just dying for the tea for his TikTok channel.

The bell chimes and I watch him walk in, shaking snow out of his black hair. He wouldn’t dare wear a hat and mess up his perfect ’do. He doesn’t even dress that appropriately for the weather. The black skinny jeans and long-sleeved purple tee don’t look very warm. At least he thought to put on his puffy black jacket.

“Girl!” he says, making me stand for a hug. “It’s been a long-ass week without you!”

I slide over his two-shot caramel-pumpkin spice macchiato with extra whip.

“Ahh, thank you,” he says. “You know my fave this time of year.” He sips and his eyes roll back.

Chuckling, I say, “Of course I do. And in summer, I’ll make sure to have your mango dragonfruit lemonade refresher ready.”

“Only if I don’t need caffeine. Otherwise, it’s—”

“A salted caramel cold foam brew,” I finish.

“You got it,” he says, winking.

I notice his lips left a pink mark on the white rim of the cup. “Is that lip gloss?”

“No,” he replies. “It’s lip oil. There’s a difference. It’s too damn dry out here this time of year for only Carmex.”

“Really?” I grin. “Good to know.” I lift my blueberry muffin and pick at the top, popping a piece in my mouth.

“So, how was the trip? Tell me everything! I’ve been absolutely dying for years to find out what goes on at those annual ski lodge trips.” He sips his drink. “And for the record, it’s bullshit that he doesn’t invite the whole office to go. Lord knows Mr. Foxy can afford it.”

I laugh. “And there’s certainly room. The resort is massive and luxurious as hell. I was in heaven. Except when he made me go skiing and snowboarding.” I roll my eyes for effect, even though I’m secretly glad he forced me. I had fun, though I’ll never admit it.

“Well, that makes it worse! I always look at the bills that come in after the trip. Expensive lunches and breakfasts. A final goodbye dinner. Even a dance event.”

Yes, I remember it all. Especially that dance.

“Spill it, girlfriend. Now,” Gabe says.

I lift my coffee to cover my grin. “Spill what?”

“Your cheeks are bright fucking red.”

“It’s the coffee. It’s really hot,” I lie.

“Liar. Something happened, didn’t it?” He cocks an eyebrow at me over the rim of his cup.

Shit. I really, really want to tell him. Not just to get it off my chest because I’ve been dying to share my excitement, but for advice too. I’m not sure I can trust him to keep this a secret around the office.

As I stare at him pensively, he stares back at me. Then I remember the time that Tanya in marketing was sleeping with Elvis in IT and even though Elvis was married, they kept their affair going. Gabe had caught them in the storage closet making out. He ended up telling me about it, but not until they’d been caught by someone with more zeros in their paycheck. He’d told me that he wanted badly to spill, but didn’t feel like he should, because eventually it would come out. I remember being mad at the time, like how he could have kept something so juicy from me, but then I later understood and even respected him for it. Gabe does love to gossip, but it’s mostly about celebrities and people outside our circle—most of whom I don’t care about at all. That’s what led him to start his TikTok channel about office gossip, which he’s doing pretty well on. He just keeps the names and locations anonymous.

But, I reluctantly decide I can trust him.

“I have ways of making you talk, you know,” he continues, taking my silence as defiance.

“I know you do,” I reply.

“So, what happened? I can tell something happened. Did you hook up with someone?”

I nod and pop more muffin in my mouth, chewing to give me time on how I’m going to tell him.

He rolls his hand in a gesture for me to continue.

“Kelton and I... we... Fuck.”

“You fucked?” He grins.

“I said fuck out of frustration, not to mean sex, but I guess, yes.”

His eyes wide. “Ooh. No wonder you’re on a first-name basis. How was it? Is he big? Nice body?”

“Gabe!” I say, biting my lip and looking around. A couple at the table next to us glances our way at his excitedness. “And yes and yes.”

“Oh, my God. This is sooo juicy! I might need to go order some tea!”

“I got enough tea for the both of us,” I say on a laugh.

He sets his coffee down and laces his neatly manicured fingers together, placing his hands on the table. Piercing me with an intense brown stare, he says, “Tell me everything .”

So I do. I’m vague with the intimate parts because those are between Kelton and me. Once I’m done, fifteen minutes have gone by. My muffin’s gone and my coffee’s lukewarm.

“Wow, girl. Just wow. So what now? Was it a fling, or what? I mean, how do you come back from that and go back to only working together?”

“I’m meeting his family on Christmas Eve. I may have him meet mine, too.” I bite my lip at the confession.

He puts up a hand. “Wait. So this is serious?” Then, he puts his hand over his heart. “Like, meet-the-parents serious? I’m... I’m speechless. Oh, my God, Adlee.”

“Please don’t jinx it. I really want this to work out, but I’m scared.”

He reaches across the table and grabs my hand. “Of course you are, honey. Do you think he feels the same? Like this can turn into a long-term thing?”

I nod. “I do. He says I’m the first for him. As far as wanting someone for more than a couple of nights.”

“He said that?” Gabe asks in disbelief. “Wow.”

“I know,” I reply.

“I’m excited for you, hon. I really am.”

I bite the corner of my lip. “And you’ll keep it quiet? You promise? I’m sure Kelton would kill me if he even knew we had this conversation, but dang it. I had to get it off my chest and talk to someone.”

He zips an imaginary zipper across his lips with his fingers in the air. “Your secret is safe with me, girlfriend. I promise.” Then, he squeezes my hand again, and I believe him.

I pull up to my parents’ house, and I can’t wait to see them. My sister’s car is parked out front and I’m excited to see her and my niece, too.

I thought about bringing my gifts today to put under the tree, but I don’t trust my niece, Bella. She’s only four, but last year she opened a few before Christmas. So now we wait until “Santa” comes the night before. When we were growing up, my mom used to wrap all the gifts and leave them under the tree for weeks, taunting us. Now, we do the whole Santa thing with my niece.

I walk in and see my mom and sister in the kitchen chatting.

“Adlee!” my mom says, wiping her hands on a towel. “Come in!”

“Auntie!” Bella says, throwing down her Barbie and running up to me. I kiss her chubby little cheek and look into her big brown eyes. “Are you being good for Santa?”

She nods. “Yes! I’ve been so good, he’s going to bring me a Barbie dream house!”

I laugh and kiss her nose before putting her down. “Is that so?”

“Yep!” she says, running back to her dolls to play.

“Hi,” my sister Alise says, hugging me. “I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” I say, looking into her green eyes so much like mine. “Where’s Mac?”

“I’m here.” I turn when I see her fiancé coming out from the hallway, where he was probably using the bathroom. He hugs me. “Nice to see you.”

“You, too.”

Mom hugs me. “All ready for Christmas? We’re frosting cookies. Come join us.”

“Absolutely.” I set my coat and purse on the arm of the sofa and join them in the kitchen. “Where’s Dad?”

“Sleeping,” Mom replies. “That surgery took a lot out of him.”

Bummer. I miss him. “I bet.”

“Isn’t there something you want to see?” Alise asks with an excited smile.

“Like...?” I ask, picking up a bowl of green frosting and a knife. I always loved frosting my mom’s homemade cookies when I was young. And it’s a tradition I plan to continue when I have my own kids someday. I picture them with light-brown hair and eyes the color of the sky on a clear day, but quickly push that thought away. I haven’t decided if I’m going to tell my family about Kelton yet.

“The ring!” Alise squeals out.

I yank her hand and look at the huge diamond. It’s absolutely gorgeous. “Oh, shit. Duh! Congratulations, sis!” I hug her tightly. I really am happy for her.

Two years ago, her daughter’s father was hiking with friends and was killed in a freak accident where he fell down the side of a mountain. We were all devastated. They weren’t married but they were talking about it. A year ago, she met Mac when he came to the house to fix a plumbing leak, and he’s been nothing but a prince to her and Bella ever since.

I start to tear up. “I’m so happy for you both.”

“He’s so good to my baby,” she whispers in my ear, and I can hear the emotion in her voice. She pulls back. “You’ll be my maid of honor?”

I wipe my own tears. “Of course!”

I hug Mac. “Thank you,” I tell him.

“I love her, Ad. I really do.” He smiles at me.

“I know.” Then my brow furrows. “Did you ask Dad’s permission?”

He chuckles. “Yes, yes I did. Right before he went into surgery. I had to sneak it in.”

“Of course Dad said yes,” Alise says with an exaggerated eyeroll. “Dad loves Mac.”

“Because he fixed all the broken pipes in the garage,” my mom deadpans, but is smirking.

We giggle and frost the cookies while we continue to chat about the holidays, the weather, and the wedding. Until my mom suddenly freezes and says, “Hey... how was your trip?”

I was hoping to avoid this, but I put on a happy face. “It was great. What a beautiful ski lodge my boss has. If y’all want ski lift tickets, I’m sure I could work something out. He’s super cool and values family.”

“Nice. Does he have a family? Your boss?” my mom asks.

“No, he’s single,” I reply, licking green frosting off my finger.

“Oh yeah?” my sister says, bumping her hip against mine. “Is he cute?”

I chuckle casually. “I guess.”

“Hot for boss,” Mac says, waggling his eyebrows while going to the fridge and pulling out an energy drink.

“Maybe,” I reply vaguely.

“You can’t seriously have a relationship with your boss, can you?” Mom asks, freezing in place with the knife in her hand.

“No, I suppose that’s frowned upon.”

“Well, you’re twenty-eight,” Alise says. “Chop, chop on the husband-finding.”

“Hey, not all of us have to get married and have kids.”

Alise is two years younger than me and obviously well on her way to domesticated bliss. I do want that with Kelton, but I’m too scared to admit it, let alone tell my family about my week filled with hot nights and flirty days.

“Eh, we’ll see,” is all I say, glancing behind me where Bella is still playing with her dolls, talking to them and everything. “Is Santa really bringing her a Barbie dream house?”

Thankfully, my family takes my hint at changing the subject and don’t bring up my boss again.

All in due time.