Christmas With the Jerk: A Forced Proximity Workplace Romance (Stuck For the Holidays) by Blakely Stone

Author:Blakely Stone [Stone, Blakely]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blakely Stone
Published: 2024-10-16T00:00:00+00:00

ELEVEN

Woodley

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas / Just like the ones I used to know.

6:49 am

I scroll through my phone, looking for any news on the bombing. Strangely, all I’ve found so far is a mention of it from the AP and a few Tennessee local news outlets, but not a ton of coverage.

The media love to jump on anything salacious. So I find it is bizarre that information on it has been so sparse. Besides that there was an explosion, the thing has not been covered. I’m guessing it’s because of the holiday?

I sit across from Thorne, my fingers tapping restlessly against the table. The early morning lobby is still quiet, save for the Christmas music playing softly in the background. Outside, the snowstorm shows no sign of letting up, and neither does my complete annoyance with him.

Or, maybe the annoyance is with myself for sleeping with the prick. Or, could it be that I'm actually attracted to him even though he is a prick?

All of the above.

Thorne has surprisingly apologized in more ways than one. I should probably let up just a little. But, he should apologize! He was a smug jerk, even if I was admittedly overreacting.

The more I wait, the more my anxiety ramps up. We have to do something. I think this is him waving an olive branch but I'm not ready to concede.

Thorne’s phone rings, the sound sharp amidst the familiar Christmas tunes. I look over and see a flicker of stress cross his face as he glances at the screen. He presses his lips together and stands, sliding the phone out of his pocket.

“I’ve got to take this,” he mutters, excusing himself and walking away toward a quieter corner of the lobby.

I watch him go, the frustration easing somewhat. He does have a cute little ass, even though I hate him.

Pressing hard, I rub my temples, trying to ease the headache that’s been building since we got the text at the butt crack of dawn.

Maybe he’s right. I'm sure there’s a middle ground that I'm unwilling to see…since I'm so certain I'm in the right and he's a hanger-on with no real skin in the game. He has the level head, I have the drive. Together that should be a winning combination.

I glance up as Thorne returns, slipping his phone into his pocket. He looks a little more rattled but seems a bit more focused than he did before he took the call.

“Everything okay?” I ask, trying to keep the edge out of my voice.

He nods. “Yeah, just my dad.”

“Look,” Thorne starts, leaning forward slightly, “I get that you want to push for today. And I see where you’re coming from. What do you say to exploring it without pushing it? I'm thinking we reply to Thom’s text and ask him to jump on a call with us to feel out the options.”

I open my mouth to argue, but he holds up a hand. “And just so you know, I don’t want to just sit around here and do nothing about this, either.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.