Page 42 of Naughty Heart

“His benefit?” I asked, feeling curious.

She smiled at me. “You’re going with him to the party, aren’t you?”

Considering the amount of money she’d just dropped on a dress and shoes for the occasion, I would have to be on my deathbed not to attend. “Of course.”

Mina held her hand out, palm up, toward me as though that explained it all. “Right. And so, we’ve got the dress and shoes taken care of. After lunch, we’ll stop and grab a couple of beauty products. On the day of the party, you can meet me at the hotel on the Westwood campus. I’ll get you all glammed up.”

“What?”

She cocked a brow. “He didn’t tell you?”

I shook my head. “Tell me what?”

Mina audibly sighed. “I love my brother. I really do. But sometimes, he is such an idiot. He means well, and he’s got a great heart. I just wish he’d think before he acts, sometimes. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, considering I could tell the moment I arrived this morning that you didn’t have the slightest clue about this shopping trip.”

“Well, in all fairness, he did tell me he was going to talk to you about having us go shopping, but I hadn’t been expecting it to happen so quickly,” I explained. I wanted to do my best to assure he hadn’t completely hidden it all from me. “And are you sure you’re okay with meeting me at the hotel? I don’t want you going out of your way.”

Waving her hand in the air as though she believed I was talking nonsense, she revealed, “I’m already going to be there anyway. Plus, I like you, and I’d like you to stick around.”

I smiled brightly at her. “I like you, too. Your whole family. And as long as Malcolm doesn’t fire me, I have no intention of going anywhere.”

Mina sent a look my way that made me feel like she hoped that was the case. I couldn’t imagine why she’d ever think I would walk away from such a tremendous opportunity to work at a great company for a family as wonderful as hers.

But the look was gone when our server appeared seconds later with our lunches. And from that point forward, we shifted the conversation to other topics, with Mina telling me a bit more about her personal life and her position within the company.

It was days later now, just after lunch, when I was right at the tail end of wrapping up my work on the new idea I had for the holiday season at Westwood’s. That’s when a knock came at the door.

Malcolm was standing there.

“Hey,” I greeted him.

“I know you’re busy, and there’s nothing I’d want more than to have you finish what you’re working on, so I can finally be let in on the secret. Unfortunately, I need you to run an errand for me,” he said.

“Okay. What do you need me to do?” I asked.

He shoved his hand into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and slid his credit card out. As he held it out to me along with a sealed envelope, he said, “I have something that needs to be mailed out immediately, and our mail has already gone out for the day. I’d do it myself, but I’ve got a meeting in fifteen minutes. I would have gone afterward, but my father called and said he wanted to stop by this afternoon to meet with me.”

I immediately stood from my seat. “It’s not a problem at all, Malcolm. This is what you’re paying me to do, so let me do my job.”

Something that looked a lot like disappointment washed over him. “I really appreciate it, Evelyn.”

I pulled on my coat, grabbed my purse, and walked toward him. After taking the credit card and envelope from him, I said, “You’re welcome. Oh, wait, there’s already a paid label on this. Do you need me to get you something else?”

As I stepped out of the office, he replied, “No. I just wanted to make sure you could fill up your gas tank on me while you’re out.”

Too embarrassed to admit the truth, I held the card out to him and said, “Oh, um, I don’t need any gas right now.”

He pushed it back toward me and suggested, “Then grab yourself a cup of coffee on me.”

I had no intention of doing that, but I didn’t think it was worth arguing with him. So, I gave him a nod, turned, and walked away to leave and make my way to the bus stop. It felt like a miracle that the bus had arrived within five minutes of me making it there. Before I knew it, I was in downtown Landing taking care of Malcolm’s errand as I strode toward the post office. Even in the cold, I enjoyed the walk several blocks there. Since it was already paid for, I was in and out in a flash.

Just as I stepped out and started making my way back toward the bus stop, something caught my eye. Directly across the street from where I was standing was a Christmas shop, and it had a bunch of signs up that indicated it was going out of business. While that part was horrible, the great thing was that there was a massive sale on all kinds of Christmas décor, and right in the window was a huge nutcracker. It had to be at least four or five feet tall.

I grinned.

I didn’t have a whole lot of disposable cash at the moment, but I was going to be getting my first paycheck this Friday. If the price was reasonable, I’d purchase the nutcracker for Malcolm’s office out of my own pocket. It was going to be worth seeing the look on his face.

I crossed the street, entered the store, and was horrified to see that the retail price for the nutcracker was three hundred dollars. Everything in the store was half off, plus there was another forty percent discount on top of that.