his pockets. More than once she had wished she could read his mind. In the beginning, it was only because she wanted to know if he thought she was doing a good job. Now that she had a serious crush on him, her curiosity was far more personal.
Why didn’t he date? Or maybe he did go out but in secret. Not likely. What woman would put up with his workaholic schedule?
On impulse, she blurted out a clumsy conversational gambit. “Will you be traveling for the holidays?”
He shot her a sideways glance tinged with incredulity. “No.”
Poor man. She had probably shocked him. No one asked the boss about his personal life. Dani was the closest employee to him, yet she managed to be remarkably circumspect despite the many questions she had. At this point, the deliberate choice to avoid any hint of intimacy, even conversationally, was the smart thing to do.
She wanted to learn everything there was to know about Nathaniel—of course she did. Keeping a professional distance was a matter of self-preservation. By relegating the man at her side to a box labeled boss, she told herself she could keep from getting hurt.
The elevator dinged as the door opened. The unmistakable sounds of merrymaking drifted down the carpeted hallway. “Well,” Nathaniel muttered. “Here goes.”
As bizarre as it sounded, Dani thought he was nervous. Surely not. Her boss was well educated, well traveled and wildly successful at a young age. There was no reason at all for him to dread this momentary formality.
Just inside the doorway of the crowded room, Dani abandoned the man who drew attention with no more than a quick, guarded smile.
As people greeted him, she found a group of women she had known from the beginning of her employment at NCT. Several of them shared a Pilates class. A couple of others had bonded over their young children. Ever since Dani became Nathaniel’s assistant, though, her coworkers treated her with a certain deference.
She didn’t particularly like it, but she understood it.
As she sipped a glass of punch and nibbled on a cheese straw, she noted the men and women who had already imbibed to the peril of their careers. Dani had nothing against alcohol. Sadly, though, some employees lost all circumspection when they enjoyed the office party a little too much.
Nathaniel was socializing, though his posture betrayed his lack of ease. At least it did to Dani. He was playing the genial host, but he would rather be most anywhere else. She’d bet her last dollar on it.
Nathaniel was never too excited about the office Christmas party. He wasn’t a warm, fuzzy kind of guy. On the other hand, he was no Scrooge, either. At his urging, Dani had planned this lavish, catered affair complete with an open bar. The festivities had begun at four o’clock and were still going strong two hours later.
At last, Nathaniel made his holiday toast and passed out bonuses to key players of the various divisions. His speech was wry and funny and remarkably charming. Dani had to step forward when he called her name. “Thanks,” she muttered.
Their fingers brushed briefly. “Merry Christmas, Dani,” he said gruffly.
“Thank you.” Her throat tightened inexplicably. Boyfriends were a dime a dozen. She needed a good job more than she needed a fling with her boss. But for the last year and a half—the length of time she had been fantasizing about Nathaniel—the idea of a physical relationship, no matter how unlikely, had made it increasingly uncomfortable for her to work with him. So much so that she had actually polished up her résumé and sent out half a dozen applications already.
During her five years working at New Century Tech, she had completed an MBA at Emory. She was definitely overqualified for the job she now occupied, however working as Nathaniel’s executive assistant paid extremely well. Not only that, but watching him operate in the business world, learning from him, was invaluable experience.
Time moved on. People did, too, or they stagnated. It made perfect sense to extract herself from the temptation of a possible affair with the boss, and even more sense to pursue opportunities that would advance her career.
Unfortunately, all the pep talks in the world didn’t make it any easier to do what she knew she had to do.
A couple of weeks ago—as soon as she emailed the first batch of job applications—the guilt began. NCT was a great place to work. Nathaniel had been a phenomenal boss from day one. Maybe she was jumping too soon.
Still, something was beginning to change, ever so slightly. She didn’t think she had betrayed her intense fascination. Even so, she was getting a vibe from Nathaniel recently that was more personal than business.
Or maybe it was the mistletoe and her overactive imagination. If those feelings were real, she was in trouble.
A commotion on the far side of the room derailed her wistful thoughts. The maroon and navy drapes had been drawn before the party to shut out the gray December day. The heavy cloth panels, festooned with lighted garlands, gave the room a festive feel. Just now, someone had peeked out and received a big surprise.
A rain/snow mix had already begun to fall. The usually crowded thoroughfare in front of the building was alarmingly empty. Though local snowstorm forecasts were often disregarded because of one too many near misses, apparently this one might be the real deal.
Nathaniel assessed the situation in a glance and acted with his customary confidence.
“Let’s wrap this up, folks. Unless some of you want to spend the holidays sleeping at your desks, I’d suggest you head for home ASAP.”
He didn’t have to tell them twice. It was Friday on a holiday weekend. A number of the staff had saved vacation days so they could be off until after the New Year. Suddenly, there was a mass exodus.
As Dani watched, Nathaniel said a quiet word here and there, making sure that anyone who was impaired ended up in the charge of a designated driver.
In half an hour, the room was empty except for Dani and the boss, who stood in the doorway saying a few last goodbyes. Without thinking about it, she began to tidy the tables. Fortunately, there was not much food left. She chucked it all in a large trash container and stacked the trays. New Century Tech used a nearby catering company for all their events.
As she began folding the soiled tablecloths into a neat stack, Nathaniel startled her by speaking from behind her shoulder.
“Leave that alone,” he said abruptly. “That’s not your job. The janitorial staff will take care of it in the morning.”
Dani turned slowly and lifted an eyebrow. “If the snow does what they’re saying it will, I doubt anyone is going to go anywhere anytime soon.”
“That’s a lot of anys,” he teased.
“Well, I’m right,” she grumbled. “Besides, nobody wants to look at this mess when it’s three or four days old.”
“Do you honestly believe the storm is going to be that bad?”
The Weather Channel was headquartered in Atlanta. Dani knew the forecasters by name. At one time in high school, she had actually thought about going into meteorology as a career.
“They say it’s possible. Moisture is riding up from the Gulf of Mexico and colliding with the cold air. Even
