My Boss's Boss: A Steamy Older Man Younger Woman Romance Page 6

  Aiden had a question about the customer layaway program. “I don’t think the computer system’s working right. Once we get the Happy Hearth & Home system installed, the data entry will be much easier.”

  “Get Nancy to show you how it all works. She’s the point person on the layaway program, both for the customers and the—” I stopped speaking abruptly.

  “The employee layaway system that I cancelled,” Aiden finished for me.

  “Yeah.”

  “The staff around here seem about as pleased with me today as they were with me that day.”

  “They’re just busy,” I said. “It’s a stressful day for retail workers even if they’re not worried that their friend had a heart attack.”

  “Yeah, I know. But I know they wish you were here.” There was a pause, and then he said, “I do, too.”

  I smiled a little at that. I knew he didn’t mean for the same reasons the employees did. But then I looked over at the sight of Mr. Miller with a tube down his throat, covered in wires and tape, and my smile disappeared. “The doctors say he’s doing as well as can be expected, but he doesn’t look good.”

  “It hurts to see someone you care about in pain.”

  “It hurts to know I caused that pain,” I said without thinking.

  “Emma, don’t think that way.”

  “Why not? I did. Or we did.”

  “It was a shock, yes, but you said yourself that he’d been feeling weak all day and rubbing at his arm.”

  Oh, god. I’d forgotten about that. “I should have realized. I should have made him go to the emergency room right then.”

  “You couldn’t have known,” Aiden said firmly. “No one could have.”

  “Yeah,” I said softly, but I didn’t mean it. I should’ve known. I shouldn’t have kissed Aiden right there. Did Mr. Miller take it as a betrayal? I hated thinking that his last thoughts before he collapsed might have been disappointment or anger at me. The thought ate at me.

  “Keep me updated,” Aiden said. “And if Helen can manage, maybe come in for the afternoon? We’re swamped here.”

  But I couldn’t leave Mr. Miller’s bedside. I insisted that Mrs. Miller take a nap in the family waiting room, but once she was back and fretting over her husband I still couldn’t leave. I spoke to Aiden twice more, and each time he asked me to come in.

  But I just couldn’t. Not until he showed up in person.

  “How is he?” Aiden asked after hugging Helen.

  “Sedated, but stable. They’re going to try taking the tube out once he wakes up.”

  “Is there anything I can get for you?” He’d already brought her a soft blanket and a pair of slippers from Miller’s. She’d put the slippers on gratefully and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders.

  “No, thank you.”

  “Then if you’re okay, I’m going to take Emma back to the store for a few hours.”

  “Of course,” Mrs. Miller said even as I protested. But Aiden insisted, and as our voices grew louder, I stormed out into the hallway so as not to disturb the Millers.

  “I’m not going back. I can’t leave him.” How did Aiden not understand that?

  “Yes, you can. It’s the busiest shopping day of the year, and we need you.”

  “So does Mr. Miller.”

  “He’s unconscious. He won’t know whether you’re here or in France. We need you back at the store.”

  “I’m not leaving.”

  “Yes, you are. I’m the acting assistant manger, at least for the next two months, and I’m ordering you to get to work. Get your coat.”

  Shocked, I stared up at him. Did this man have no feelings whatsoever? Was he made of stone? I didn’t say one word to him while he drove me to the store, and for the rest of the day, I interacted with him as little as possible. Our only communication was about business that day.

  And the next day.

  And the day after that.

  14

  “My dear, I’m fine,” Mr. Miller insisted as I offered to fluff his pillows again. Or bring him soup. Or set the radio to his favorite channel. “I’m doing better. You don’t need to wait on me like a mother hen. I get enough of that from Helen.

  My shift at the store had just ended, and I drove straight to the hospital. Mr. Miller was due to be released tomorrow, and I’d spent all my free time the past few days either here or helping Mrs. Miller prepare the house for his return.

  “Tell me how things are going at the store,” he said, and I recognized that he wanted to talk about normal things, not his health. So I caught him up on all the news. The sales totals for Black Friday. The shoplifter we’d caught yesterday. The preparations for the Christmas Festival.

  Mr. Miller seemed most interested about that last one, but as I updated him on our plans, his face fell.

  “What? Are you feeling okay? Should I call for a nurse?”

  “No, no, it’s fine. I was just thinking that it’ll be strange this year not to play Santa.”

  “What? Of course you’ll play Santa. I mean, we won’t wear you out or anything, but surely you can put in a half-hour visit?” In the last few days, I’d wheeled him all over the hospital, and he hadn’t seemed too tired. I’d been careful to make sure that when he met people he knew—which happened frequently—that we didn’t visit for too long. The Christmas Festival was still two weeks away. Surely his stamina would improve by then?

  “I can’t,” he said unhappily. “I don’t even like you seeing me like this, let alone half the town.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, Emma, you’re too kind for your own good. But look at me. I look awful, I can only walk very short distances, and only then with a cane. It’s Christmas time, and I refuse to disappoint the children in town by being pushed onto the stage in a wheelchair. Santa is strong. Robust. Magical. Not injured, pale, and weak.”

  Gaping at him, I made a conscious effort not to let my jaw drop open in surprise. Is that really the way he saw himself? Weak? Didn’t he realize how much people loved him and cared about him? “That’s ridiculous. People want to see you. They won’t care if you’re on your own two feet, in a wheelchair, or flown in my rapid bats. They care about you. And Christmas. Besides, why can’t Santa be in a wheelchair? It would be a good role-model for the children with disabilities.”

  But Mr. Miller was stubborn. “I won’t do it. You’ll just have to find someone else to play Santa this year. Maybe—” He hesitated, and I sense he was trying to bring himself to say Aiden’s name. He hadn’t mentioned Aiden to me at all during his recovery. I hadn’t either. “You’ll just have to find someone else,” he concluded.

  The hell I would. Mr. Miller was Fayetteville’s one and only Santa. I just had to find some way of convincing him of that.

  15

  “This is never going to work,” I said, smoothing the red tunic of my elf costume down over my thighs. It was the day of the Christmas Festival, and so far everything had gone well. The mayor had opened the festivities, and all day long, families had indulged in the rides, the games, the food, and the sing-alongs. But now the town was ready to welcome Santa.

  “It’ll work,” said Chad, a young man who’d been in my year in high school. He was patting the nose of a beautiful chestnut horse, one of two who were harnessed to a gleaming white carriage.

  “Okay, but go change. It’s almost time for us.”

  “All right,” Chad grumbled. He hadn’t been thrilled when I’d told him that in addition to needing his carriage, horses, and driving skills, we’d also need him to dress like an elf. He sullenly walked off, the package of clothing under his arms. I gave the horses a wide berth and moved back to the carriage.

  “How’s it going in there, Santa?”

  “Just fine,” Mr. Miller said. He looked resplendent in his red and white suit. His cheeks were rosy, and unless you saw the slow way he walked, you’d never know he’d had a heart attack a few weeks ago. “Thank you so much for this, my dear. It’s good to kno
w I have a couple more years of playing Santa left.”

  “You’ll have lots more years,” I said.

  “And thank you for everything. For fighting to let us keep this festival. For doing so much of the work this year. For everything.”

  His words made me feel extra guilty. After all, it had been my fault he’d had the heart attack in the first place. It was a subject I’d wanted to broach with him many times, but I hadn’t had the chance. Until now. What was taking Chad so long? It was an elf costume, not science. Which, come to think of it, he hadn’t done very well with science school.

  “I—umm, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. For shocking you that night. So sorry. I’ll never forgive myself.”

  “Don’t,” Mr. Miller said, with an un-Santa-like firm voice. “Don’t blame yourself. I was shocked, yes. But the doctors said it was going to happen sooner or later that day anyway. I’d been experiencing symptoms for quite some time by that point though I didn’t realize it at the time.”

  “Yes, but it was me who—”

  “Seriously, Emma, don’t think that way. Life’s too short for that kind of guilt.”

  Oh. I slumped against the side of the carriage in relief. It was good to know he’d forgiven me even if I hadn’t.”

  “I told Aiden the same thing.”

  What? “He apologized, too?”

  “Yes. The next night at the hospital.”

  “He visited you at the hospital?” I’d only seen him there the night the ambulance brought Mr. Miller in.

  “Yes, quite a few times. It was always when you were working. He said it was important for one of you to be there.”

  Wow. He must have been leaving the store during times I assumed he was holed up in his office talking to corporate.

  “So… do you… like him now?”

  Mr. Miller thought it over for a few moments. “I don’t dislike him as much as I did before. But we’re never going to see eye to eye on a lot of issues.” I nodded. I felt that way about Aiden, too. “The question is,” Mr. Miller continued, “Do you like him?”

  Sighing, I sat down on the step of the carriage. It was a good question, and one that I couldn’t answer myself. Aiden and I were very different people. There was a lot to admire in him, but there was one thing I just couldn’t get past. Couldn’t live with. And that was the way he’d forced me to leave Mr. Miller’s bedside and come into work on Black Friday. There was no way I was ever going to forgive that.

  “You’re young. You have time to figure it out,” Mr. Miller said. And then he frowned. “It’s after two. I’m supposed to be out on stage now.”

  Blinking, I looked around. We were behind the building in the staff parking lot. I walked toward the loading dock, and poked my head inside. There was a handicap men’s room right there. The door was open, so clearly Chad wasn’t in there changing. So where was he?

  Calling his name, I searched for a minute or two, checking another restroom and a few nearby storeroom. No sign of him.

  Mr. Miller was more upset when I reappeared without our driver. He needed to get to the stage as soon as possible. He was in good spirits, but he got tired very quickly these days.

  My eyes fell on the reins tied to the driver’s seat of the carriage. Could I possibly drive the horses? But I didn’t know the first thing about horses except that they were big and scary and looked like they might eat your whole arm rather than just the sugar cube you were holding out.

  Tentatively, I hoisted myself up to the driver’s seat. I managed to unhook the reins from the little latch, but then I didn’t know what to do. Should I flick them up and down like they did in the movies? But what if the horses took off too quickly? I was going to kill Chad.

  And then I saw him. A figure dressed like myself in a red tunic, green leggings, a white shirt, and an elf cap. Blinking, I stared at him as he approached. He was too tall. Too tall for an elf, of course, but also too tall to be Chad. My mouth dropped open in shock as Aiden climbed up onto the seat next to me.

  “What?—I… you… what are you…” I couldn’t seem to form a coherent thought to save my life. Then, out of all the jumbled thoughts in my mind, one impish one took precedence. “Nice legs.”

  Aiden chuckled. “Glad you think so.”

  “But why are you dressed that way?”

  “I found the costume draped over the forklift back in the loading dock. I saw your farm friend swipe a pack of cigarettes from one of the loader’s lockers and head out the side door.” He took the reins from me, smiling at the shock on my face. “May I?”

  “Please,” I said, still amazed that he was here—and dressed like that. And I was even more amazed when he expertly drove the horses forward and around the side of the building.

  “Doing all right back there, Santa?” Aiden called over his shoulder.

  “Never better,” Mr. Miller replied.

  And then we rounded the last corner, and the crowd went wild. Aiden pulled up right in front of stage, so close that Mr. Miller was able to step directly from the carriage onto the platform.

  After that, the rest of the day passed in a blur. Aiden and I hovered at Santa’s side, assisting like good elves. I’d never forget the joy on the children’s faces as Santa spoke to them. Or Nancy rushing up to me, telling me that the all the gifts were back for the employee layaway program. “Even the doll for my granddaughter,” she said breathlessly. “We’re all out of them, but the invoice said it had been sent from another store!”

  I glanced up at Aiden, my eyebrows raised as she said that. He smiled down at me, saying nothing but looking a bit smug. Wow. He’d done that? “You weren’t by any chance visited by the ghost of Christmas Past, were you?”

  He laughed at that and put his arm around me squeezing me close.

  But I wasn’t quite ready to squeeze back. It was wonderful to see this less guarded, less business-only side of him, and he’d been great today, but I still couldn’t get past the fact that he’d torn me away from Mr. Miller’s side on Black Friday. Yes, it had been a very busy day at the store, but everyone could have survived without me. But I couldn’t have survived without Mr. Miller.

  Later, when Mr. Miller had gone home and the festivities had died down a bit, I brought it up with Aiden. We were sipping hot cider and helping pack up the food tent.

  “Sit down,” Aiden said, tugging me toward a picnic table that had already been cleaned off. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about that.”

  “I was so mad at you that day,” I said.

  “I know. But you were mad at yourself more.”

  “What?”

  “You were consumed with guilt, Emma. Every time I called, you were despondent. I knew you blamed yourself for what happened. I knew you were reliving the moment over and over. So I did the only thing I could think of to help you. I made you leave. I made you work. I hope that I kept you busy enough that you didn’t wallow in what had happened.”

  That’s why he’d called me in? It hadn’t just been to help the company’s bottom line? “You—you did because you were worried about me?”

  “Yes,” he said simply.

  “But… you left the store to come get me. Leaving absolutely no managers there on the busiest shopping day of the year. Isn’t that putting personal before business?”

  “Yes. But maybe sometimes the situation warrants it. My friend taught me that.” He smiled at me.

  I smiled back, but inside my brain was still reeling. He’d really had my best interest at heart when he came and demanded I leave? “So you really weren’t just being a jerk?”

  “Not about that,” Aiden said, and he grinned at me. And I couldn’t help smiling back.

  And then I was in his arms, our cold noses pressed together. “One kiss,” he whispered in my ear.

  “What?”

  “Just one more kiss like this. Out in the open. With heavy coats on. With witnesses around. One more kiss like this, and then next one is going to be in private. With no witnesses and no
clothes. Agreed?”

  “Agreed,” I said, and then his lips met mine. And it finally felt right again. It felt damn near perfect.

  Though his stipulations for our next kiss sounded even more perfect.

  I couldn’t wait.

  Epilogue

  Six Months Later

  “Mmm, that felt so good.”

  “I aim to please,” Aiden said smugly.

  “You have really good aim then. Although I think I’m getting sunburned in places that have never seen the light of day before.”

  Aiden laughed and pulled the edge of the picnic blanket over me. The horses munched on grass thirty yards away. The ride here hadn’t been too bad. Aiden had bought me horse-back riding lessons for my birthday. The ride from the farm house had been my longest yet, and I was a little sore. Of course, some of that soreness could be from the rigorous sex we’d just had. I didn't mind that kind of soreness so much.

  “We should do this more often,” I said.

  “Sure, just give me ten minutes.”

  Laughing, I elbowed him in the stomach, shrieking as he tickled me in retaliation. When I could finally breathe without giggling, I elaborated. “This. Getting out in the countryside.” It really was beautiful here. Rolling hills. Green meadows as far as the eye could see. Farmhouses in the distance.

  “We can do it whenever you like,” Aiden said. I smiled at that even though it wasn’t true. Aiden had left Fayetteville for his next assignment months ago, so now we were in a long distance relationship. With all the traveling he did for work, he had plenty of frequent flyer miles, so he usually managed to visit me two weekends a month. Still, it wasn’t the same as when he’d lived here.

  “I’m sure your friend who owns this place might have an objection to us taking out his horses and then doing indecent things in front of them on a regular basis.”

  “He might, but he doesn’t really have any say in it.”

  “What do you mean?” I rolled onto my stomach and rested my forearms on his chest so that I could see his face.