A Christmas Proposal: A Hidden Threat Short Story by Sherri Hayes Page A

was horrible. She and Jason had been seeing each other for over two months, and Alvin hadn’t caught on, but his daughter saw them together for less than five minutes and knew. 
    Before Cali could ask, Lisa changed the subject. “You have a meeting with the board at nine this morning. I laid all the information you’ll need to know on your desk for you to review. And Matthew Andersen needs a few hours with you to go over security, so I blocked out your schedule from ten to two. I figured you’d need to catch lunch at some point. And then there’s your meeting with Mr. Carson at three to go over the financials.” When she finally did look up at Cali, the woman looked defeated, and the day hadn’t started yet. “You’ll be fine.”
    Cali took a deep breath. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.” 
    She turned, walked into her office, and closed the door. Cali knew she needed to go over the files on her desk before the board meeting so she’d know what she was talking about, the pile of folders visible from where she stood. But, the only thing she could think about was seeing Matthew Andersen again. 
    Knowing she would spend three hours with him today was tearing at her weak assurances to herself that she’d imagined her reaction to him yesterday. No, she couldn’t think about that. It wasn’t as bad as she’d made it out to be. It couldn’t be. She’d been attracted to men she worked with before and was able to block it from her mind and control her body’s responses so she could work with them. She could do the same thing now. Squaring her shoulders, she moved to her desk and began looking over the information for her morning meeting. She would treat Matthew Andersen like any other employee. She would. 

    Cali was the only female in the board meeting with a bunch of stuffy men old enough to be her father, most of them she’d known since birth. It was pointless as far as she was concerned. No one really said anything new, just rehashed the information she’d reviewed only an hour ago. The board had accepted her position in her father’s stead without question, instantly including her, for which she was grateful. It would have made her job much harder without their acceptance. 
    The meeting finally ended just after ten o’clock, and she politely shook hands with each of the men before going back to her office one floor up. The moment the elevator doors opened, she saw him, and everything she’d told herself about overreacting went out the window. Her heart accelerated just at the sight of him, and then he looked up. Their eyes met. For a moment, she thought she saw something flicker in them, but then it was gone. 
    He waited until she was almost in front of him before getting to his feet. “Ms. Stanton.” 
    She told herself to snap out of it. “Good morning, Mr. Andersen.” She was going for polite and professional but didn’t know if she’d pulled it off. Her heart had not calmed down. “Um…Give me just a minute to…to put these things on my desk, and then I’ll be ready.” 
    He just nodded as she walked passed him and into her office. She needed to get control of herself if she was going to be spending the next three hours with this man. Closing the door, she quickly deposited the folders on her desk. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her heart thudding in her chest. Once it was under control, she left her office. 
    This time, she was a little more prepared when she caught sight of him. Her heart still picked up its pace, but she didn’t think anyone besides her would be able to hear it. Stopping a few feet in front of him, she said, “After you.” Matthew hesitated for only a moment before turning toward the elevator doors. She followed, trying to keep her eyes only on the back of his head rather than where the bottom of his suit jacket was brushing up against his backside. 
    Two and a half hours later, Cali didn’t think there was an inch of Stanton Enterprises they hadn’t