The Unlikely Santa by Leigh Michaels

Author:Leigh Michaels
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: christmas, humor, department store, mall, shopping
Publisher: Leigh Michaels
Published: 2014-09-03T00:00:00+00:00

BRANDI WAS RUNNING late and feeling a little frazzled when she turned her car over to the valet in front of Ross Clayton’s lakeshore mansion and started up the long walk to the immense carved front door. Under the circumstances, she’d rather be almost anywhere than here, tonight. If it wasn’t for Whitney Townsend’s order to attend, she’d probably have found a last-minute excuse.

Brandi had never been particularly fond of business events which masqueraded as parties. It seemed a waste of time to get dressed up to go out with the same people one saw regularly through the course of the job. If people were going to talk about their work anyway, she thought, why not just put them in a boardroom and let them get on with it? And if they weren’t going to talk business, why were they bothering to get together in the first place? The only thing all these people had in common was Tyler-Royale.

No – most of these people had only the stores in common. There was Zack, of course, and whatever other friends the Claytons had decided to include tonight to liven things up. Though even Zack had ties to the store...

Suspicion flickered once more at the back of her mind, and resolutely Brandi extinguished it. He had reassured her, and she had no reason not to believe him.

She might not even see Zack tonight, anyway. She’d be busy with Whitney Townsend. Besides, there were so many Tyler-Royale executives that it was quite possible to circulate all evening and still not see every single one of them.

Every leaded-glass window in the Claytons’ Tudor Revival mansion was aglow. Standing guard at each side of the walk were huge evergreens, crusted with snow and golden lights which reflected from the snow-covered grass.

Before Brandi reached the house another car pulled up; she recognized the manager of the San Francisco store and paused on the sidewalk to let him and his wife catch up. She’d done part of her training in the San Francisco store, but she hadn’t seen much of the couple since.

The night was cold and still; her breath hung in a cloud, and the manager’s wife scolded her for waiting outside.

Brandi smiled and kissed her cheek. “I’m used to this kind of weather. And I wanted to say hello before we got into the crush inside.” It was true; the fact that she didn’t particularly want to walk into the party alone had little to do with it.

Why should she be feeling sensitive about that, anyway? The crowd wasn’t going to pause and hush to admire her new black velvet dress. All the Tyler-Royale people were used to Brandi appearing by herself; they wouldn’t even notice.

But Zack would. And even though she’d told the truth about having a date, if he saw her coming in alone, he’d have good reason to wonder.

Not that he’d be looking, she reminded herself. So it was silly to go to any extra effort for his sake.

Just inside the massive carved oak front door, Ross Clayton and his wife were greeting their guests.

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