Miracle on 34th Floor Page 6

  “Me too. Let’s sit back and enjoy the ride.”

  She nodded, her smile growing.

  “And there’s that smile I love.”

  With a full grin, she scooted over until she was almost in his lap and leaned in close. “I love my smile on you.” She laughed and then pressed her mouth to his, teasing and pulling his lower lip between her teeth. He wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her across him. And then he stopped her teasing hints with a concerted effort to hush all her fears.

  After an hour of driving through New York, lazily looking out windows in between exploring more of what their kisses could do, they pulled up in front of her house. “Thank you for a perfect evening.”

  She slipped her heels back on and patted her hair. “Tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow.” He slipped out and held the door open for her, taking her hand and escorting her up her steps.

  Miss Betty opened her door. “I like to see that you’re bringing her home at a decent hour. You’re way better than those friends of hers from work.”

  “Hi, Miss Betty.”

  “Hello, Joylin. I think your mamma would like this one.”

  Through a new lump in her throat, Joylin laughed and said, “Miss Betty, this is Decker Kringle.” She almost said, “from work,” but that would have been hard to explain to Decker.

  Decker stepped closer to Betty’s front porch and reached out his hand. “I’m happy to meet you, Miss Betty, and I’m pleased to see someone is looking out for my Joylin here.”

  Her body warmed from head to toe at his words. Then she rocked back and forth. They waited for Miss Betty to close the door and head back inside, but instead she said, “Nice night, isn’t it?”

  Joylin moaned softly for only Decker to hear.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He pressed his lips to hers for the last time that night, promising more, always more.

  She stepped inside her house and closed the door, the intensity in his eyes following her. “Good night.”

  Jojo barked in response. She picked up her sweet little girl. “Wow. What am I gonna do about this?”

  As she fell back onto the couch, cuddling Jojo, she didn’t know anything except that she wanted more. Always more.

  Heading into work had her body humming in expectation. The feel of Decker’s hands around her, his lips loving her and tasting her like he never wanted to stop, just wouldn’t leave. And she didn’t want any of those feelings to leave, but she couldn’t be thinking about him at work.

  She couldn’t even so much as walk by his office—it was too likely he’d recognize her. Luckily, her cubicle was on the exact opposite side of the floor from his corner office, but the break room was a different story. It was off the same hallway as his office. Not that he ever went in there. The break room was mostly for the regular employees because they were asked not to have food or drink at their desks.

  She rode up the elevator, nervous he would be there when she walked out. She didn’t even have a ready excuse on her lips. She didn’t want to lie to him or even mislead him. So if they ran into each other, she’d just have to be ready to fess up.

  When the doors opened without any unexpected confrontations, she let out a huge breath of relief. Then she hurried down the hall, away from his office, to find her desk. This path put her in front of Victoria, though, and that was something she’d completely avoided since the woman had started working as their CEO.

  Today, Victoria was hard at work at her desk, with her door open. Every office had floor-to-ceiling windows, but her open door was supposed to represent the open-door policy at their firm. Anyone was welcome at any time to approach her.

  This morning, as Joylin walked by, Victoria called to her. “Joylin.”

  Joylin stopped, shocked, then turned to stand in the doorway. “Ms. Sanchez.”

  “Oh, just Victoria, please. Come in. Sit for a moment.”

  She stepped into the office of the woman most feared and respected in their company. Perhaps her time had come to do something impressive, something important for the company. Then, when she finally told Decker about where she worked, she would look more successful than she felt.

  Victoria nodded at her and watched for a second or two before saying, “I’ve been looking over your resume and your work here in the firm, and I feel like you’re underutilized.”

  Decker’s same words. She wanted to look over her shoulder to check if he was standing there orchestrating this meeting. But Victoria seemed sincere. She shuffled through her papers. “I would like you to shadow me next week.”

  “Excuse me?” Joylin gulped.

  “Will that be a problem?” Victoria’s eyebrows rose.

  “No, of course not. I would be honored.”

  “We will start with some small tasks, get you used to my schedule. Maybe ease you in with getting coffee in the morning and organizing my files.”

  She continued talking, but Joylin’s mind stuttered to a stop. What did she want? “Excuse me, Victoria? Are you talking about bringing me on as your secretary?”

  She inspected her nails. “Personal assistant, I think. If you can rise to the occasion.”

  Joylin bit back every thought that wanted to tumble out of her mouth. “Thank you.”

  “I would think that an opportunity to shadow a CEO, to know the ins and outs of her dealings would be something to aspire to.” She waited, watching Joylin with too observant eyes.

  “Of course. I just asked because I’m not very interested in a secretarial position. I had my eyes set on rising to one of the committees. Maybe in marketing…”

  Victoria waved her hand. “You would not be a good fit in marketing. And as my assistant, you would lead out on my managerial committee. So, let’s start with the shadowing and generate some trust, shall we?”

  “Okay.” Joylin nodded, not totally certain what she was getting herself into. But she had no idea how to say no to this woman.

  “Could you go get me my favorite blend of coffee?” She handed her a card. “I like the stuff from the guy on the corner. The east corner, not the south—that man doesn’t know how to brew a good cup of coffee.”

  She didn’t just want one from the break room? Didn’t she already have someone for this? As Joylin walked out of her boss’s office, she felt the world falling down around her. Was she being demoted to coffee and copy girl? All the old clichés and horror stories from business school flashed in front of her. As she stepped outside to find the coffee vendor, hands around her waist from behind made her smile and set her heart pounding.

  “Beautiful.” Decker’s sexy voice in her ear brought thrills up her back.

  She turned to face him and accept his quick kiss. “What are you doing?”

  “Just heading out for a meeting. You?”

  “Grabbing a cup of coffee.”

  “Ah, you’ve discovered the goodness that is Pedro’s.”

  “Yes, apparently it’s the best.”

  “Absolutely; we’re all addicted to it.” He waved up toward the top of their building. His car pulled up. “See you tonight.”

  She nodded.

  Then he hopped in the car and drove away, leaving her insides in a whirl and some elements of alarm rushing through her. That had been a close call. What if she’d been inside the doors? How would she explain any of this to him?

  After showing the card to Pedro, he put together her regular order, and she carried the hot coffee back up the elevator and to Victoria’s office.

  The CEO nodded and indicated that she should leave the cup on her desk. Her fingers typed, and earphones were firmly planted in her ears.

  Thankful for one less encounter with the woman, Joylin scooted back to her desk.

  Gemma leaned across the divide. “What is going on?” She looked around and then rolled her chair across the carpet until she sat at Joylin’s side. “Spill, girl.”

  Gemma knew everything about Decker and was almost as invested in the news as Joylin was. “Victoria wants me
to be her personal assistant.”

  Gemma’s eyes widened so much they almost took over her face. Then she shook her head. “No way. That would be my answer.” She leaned closer and whispered, “And then I’d run.”

  “What I don’t understand is why me? How is she even aware of my work? I’m so far from her on the totem pole I can’t figure it out. She called me in this morning, recognized me on sight.”

  “That’s crazy. And it makes me nervous.” Gemma’s comically wide eyes scanning the office made Joylin laugh. “There’s spies.”

  “Maybe. But I gotta figure this out. Is being the CEO’s personal assistant a step up from HR? ’Cause that’s all I care about at the moment. When I tell Decker that we work at the same place, I want to be able to say I do something cool.”

  Gemma frowned. “I don’t know. But I think you might be better off not being under her thumb.”

  “I agree with you, but what do I do? Who turns down a ‘privilege’ like this one?” She lifted her fingers to make air quotes.

  Lionel joined them. “What’s going down?”

  “Victoria wants Joylin to shadow her and be her new personal assistant.”

  Lionel frowned. “Is that good?”

  Joylin shrugged. “That’s what I’m trying to decide. Good or bad career move?”

  More than anything, Joylin wanted to ask Decker. He’d know. He was the one she wanted to impress anyway. Maybe she could find a sneaky way of getting his opinion.

  The day continued as normal. Then Gemma threw a paper over the divider, and Joylin ducked. Decker must be in the building.

  “He’s looking fine.”

  “Oh, stop.” Joylin giggled, remembering his arms around her. He was looking fine.

  “You know, he looks way better since you guys started seeing each other. The man literally bounces around and smiles a lot. I even saw him buddy up with Victoria the other day.”

  Joylin hoped that was true. She hoped their relationship was good for him.

  Their relationship. Did they have one? Oh, she hoped so. She hoped they could grow something really special that would last. But would her new position with Victoria ruin things? She certainly wouldn’t be able to hide from Decker anymore. Tonight, she had to tell him. Or maybe she’d tell him at the Christmas party he’d invited her to that weekend. But no, this couldn’t wait. She worked up her courage. Tonight was the night.

  Victoria buzzed her office phone. “Can you come in here for a minute?”

  Joylin stood, and Gemma silently wished her the best.

  As soon as she stepped in the door, Victoria held up a phone. “I’m gonna need you for a few hours tonight.”

  “Oh, um.”

  Her eyebrows rose again. Wow, that woman could do more with her eyebrows than most people could do with their whole face.

  “I have a service I agreed to do at Gimbels tonight.”

  Victoria frowned. “I suppose I didn’t give you enough notice, and we can’t disappoint Gimbels. Did you know they are a client?”

  “I did know that.” She breathed out, relieved that Victoria seemed understanding enough.

  “But I’ll need you on some nights through the holidays so try to clear your schedule.”

  “If you could maybe send me the dates, I’ll let you know my availability.”

  Victoria put her phone down on the table. “Joylin. Now is the time to really prove yourself. Women with CEO potential don’t let outside plans come first. The job is our life. And if you can learn that now, you are the kind of person that can go far. I’d like that for you.”

  Joylin nodded. “I understand. I’ll do my best.”

  “I hope so. I don’t want to think that my trust in you was misplaced.”

  “Of course not.”

  Victoria proceeded to give her lists of expectations and plenty of criticism and then promised to email her the coming schedule. “And please pass off your current projects to the others in your group. You’re going to need to clear your docket for my work.”

  “Okay, I will.” Joylin liked this new job less and less.

  When the woman was finally finished, most of the others had already left for the day, and Joylin really had to rush so that she wouldn’t be late for Gimbels.

  As she moved up the escalator, the shoppers, the Christmas music, and the decorations started to have a relaxing effect. The beauty of the season soaked into her heart, and by the time she walked onto the kids’ floor, she was grinning like a child on Christmas morning.

  And to make things even better, Santa was already sitting on his throne. She knew the minute he saw her. He didn’t change his position, not even a shift of his head, but his eyes were glued to her, and her whole body tingled in response.

  She slowed her pace, swung her hips, and took a minute to slowly move like she was dancing.

  His leg jerked, a tiny movement. But it made her smile. Then she approached and stepped up on his platform.

  “What are you doing later?” he asked.

  “Something with you.”

  “Done.”

  She smiled and then hurried to the back to get changed.

  The manager, Mary, was in a bustling hurry as usual. “Oh, good, you’re here. We weren’t sure if you were coming.”

  “Of course, I was. I said I would.”

  Mary paused. “Yes, I’m sorry. But if you consider our history with workers this year, you can understand why I might be expecting the worst.”

  “True. No apology needed.”

  She slipped on her elf outfit, adjusted her hair under the cap, slipped pointy bits on her ears, and then stepped out to join Decker.

  The families were starting to arrive. They had about ten minutes before they opened up the line. She adjusted the poles and the velvet dividers so that people would know where to stand, and then she moved to sit beside Santa. “Okay, so I’ve been thinking about the gift-giving project we talked about.” She pulled out some cards. “We can give these out to people we want to help. What do you think?”

  He took one and nodded. The cards had a place for their address or, if they weren’t comfortable with that, their phone number or email so they could reach out to them.

  “I think if you see someone you want to help, you give me the signal, and then I’ll give this card to their guardian and tell them a little bit of what we want to do.”

  “I like that. But how am I gonna remember who’s who?”

  “Maybe you keep the cards. You write what the kid asked for and hand the card to me, and then I talk to the parents.”

  “That’s good. Okay, let’s give it a try. But we can’t let word get out about what we’re doing. We have to be subtle about this.”

  “Agreed.” She moved to start organizing the line and passing out pictures to color or games to play. But as she stepped away, he said, “Oh, and, Joylin.”

  She looked back over her shoulder.

  “You look amazing.”

  She winked. “So do you. That look works for you, in a sexy Sean Connery kind of way.”

  “Not bad for an old guy?”

  “Not bad at all.”

  “So, I might be able to convince you to stick around?” His voice was playful, but his eyes grew serious.

  She paused then moved closer. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Their gazes connected, and for a moment, neither moved. He nodded. “Me either.” She thrilled down to her toes. They’d had some kind of a moment, and she never wanted to forget what it felt like.

  The woman who was first in line cleared her throat. She looked at her watch and then pointedly back at Joylin.

  “And here we go.” She stood, talking to the long line. “Who’s ready to come talk to Santa?”

  8

  Decker finished another long night of being Santa. Or he thought he’d finished. Just as he was about to step off the platform, a woman came rushing in, a young girl behind her. She clutched a baby to her chest. “Oh good. We made it.” They rushed up to the
front. Joylin had already gone back to change.

  “You made it.” He sat back down. “Now, who do we have here?”

  The woman nudged her daughter. “We came all this way. Go talk to him.”

  The girl wrung her hands. It was obvious to Decker that she was petrified. He scooted down off his throne and sat beside her, crossing his legs. “Do you know how to sit like this?”

  She nodded.

  “Could you show me?”

  “We have to do it at school.”

  “Oh perfect. Let’s do it together.”

  She sat beside him, crossing her legs.

  “You do that much better than I ever can. I don’t think my legs work the same way as yours.”

  They sat for a moment, then Decker said, “So, Christmas is coming.”

  She nodded.

  “Have you been a good girl?”

  She nodded.

  “Maybe you could tell me what you want for Christmas?”

  She looked down. “I can’t.”

  “You can’t?” He looked up to find her mother. She was a few yards away, bouncing the baby. “Well, why not?”

  “’Cause I’ll get in trouble. I’m supposed to just ask for the toy I’ve been wanting all year.”

  “That sounds about right. What is it?”

  “The new Barbie Dreamhouse.”

  “Okay. Is that what you want?”

  “No.” She sighed. “What I want is for my daddy to feel better.”

  “What’s wrong with your daddy?” He knew it wasn’t his business, and maybe she wasn’t supposed to be talking about it, but his heart went out to these little people who asked him for things all day. He’d collected a few cards already. Maybe there was something he could do here.

  “He’s in the hospital. But he has to come home.”

  “Is he all better?”

  “No. They said they can’t make him better. So he’s coming home. But I just want him better.” Her face squinched in tiny wrinkles, and he knew she was trying hard not to cry. “So I don’t know if Santa does stuff like that. Are you even him?” She squinted up at him. “You look like him.”

  “Yeah, I don’t know. I hope your dad can get better soon, though.” He patted his pocket where he’d stashed his cards. “Do you know your mom’s phone number?”