past holidays, but after I'd finished sorting
through everything, I'd felt much better. Some of the things had
gone into the trash, but I'd kept enough that my house would be
very festive.
Now I was starting to feel a little foolish
about my plans for the night. How did I even know that Elias
celebrated Christmas? And if he did, what made me think that he'd
want to help me decorate? I hadn't planned on doing the tree yet
because I didn't have one and I didn't want to go buy a fake one,
but I'd wanted to do everything else after our meal. I'd been so
excited about my plans that I hadn't even stopped to consider what
Elias would think of them.
I set my jaw. If he didn't like them, too
bad. Either I'd decorate after he left or he could spend the
evening watching me, and I'd know that he'd never be anything other
than my bodyguard. I'd be disappointed, but at least I'd know.
It was almost six o'clock. I checked my
reflection one last time. Finding the right balance of casual and
dressy had been excruciating. It was no wonder that I'd barely
slept at all last night. It had taken me three hours to choose what
I was wearing now, and I was starting to feel like maybe I'd made a
mistake. I'd gone with a pair of dressy dark blue skinny jeans and
a sleeveless dove gray turtleneck, finished off by my favorite pair
of ankle-high boots.
The outfit complemented my figure and was
more than just an 'around the house' type thing, but it was simple
and comfortable enough that I didn't think it'd say that I had any
expectations for the night. I stuck with that strategy for make-up
too. The bruises on my face were still fading, so I used a bit of
light powder, and my favorite lipgloss, but that was it. There were
times when I liked having the whole eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara
thing going on, but I didn't want that today. This wasn't a date or
a fancy party. This was just two people spending a holiday together
rather than spending it alone.
I was still telling myself that as I walked
down the stairs. I might've managed to convince myself that I
wasn't hoping that this turned out to be more if, the moment I
heard the doorbell ring, the knot in my stomach hadn't turned into
butterflies. I hurried the rest of the way, skidding to a stop in
front of the door. I took a deep breath and breathed a prayer of
thanks that Elias wouldn't be able to hear my heart pounding. I
just hoped he took the pink in my cheeks either for make-up or
exertion from all I'd been doing.
I smiled, hoped it didn't look fake, and
opened the door. The first thing I saw was that Elias hadn't worn
his typical bodyguard suit and he looked better than ever. He
filled out his suit just fine, but his current outfit definitely
made me think things that were not even close to appropriate for a
boss to be thinking about her employee.
A long-sleeved, fitted dark green shirt that
made his eyes pop, and a pair of dressy jeans that rode that line
between tastefully snug and advertising his goods... wow. It wasn't
until I'd been ogling him for nearly half a minute that I realized
he was holding something towards me. It was harder than it should
have been to pull my gaze away from his body to see what it was,
but I was instantly glad I had because he was holding a pair of
absolutely beautiful flowers.
“Oh.” The word came out in a breath as I
reached for them. They couldn't be what I thought they were. One
was light lavender, the other a bright blue, both flowers that I'd
only seen in pictures before. “Elias, these aren't...?”
“ Cattieya Trianaei and Thelymitra
Ixioides ,” he supplied the Latin names. “Orchids.”
I nodded my head, unable to look away from
them. I knew the names. In fact, I knew a lot about them, including
the fact that they were two of the rarest orchids in the world.
When I was thirteen, I'd landed the movie role of Orchid Lane, an
autistic teenager who goes to live with her mother in a cult
compound after her father dies. One of the ways Orchid coped
through everything, I'd felt much better. Some of the things had
gone into the trash, but I'd kept enough that my house would be
very festive.
Now I was starting to feel a little foolish
about my plans for the night. How did I even know that Elias
celebrated Christmas? And if he did, what made me think that he'd
want to help me decorate? I hadn't planned on doing the tree yet
because I didn't have one and I didn't want to go buy a fake one,
but I'd wanted to do everything else after our meal. I'd been so
excited about my plans that I hadn't even stopped to consider what
Elias would think of them.
I set my jaw. If he didn't like them, too
bad. Either I'd decorate after he left or he could spend the
evening watching me, and I'd know that he'd never be anything other
than my bodyguard. I'd be disappointed, but at least I'd know.
It was almost six o'clock. I checked my
reflection one last time. Finding the right balance of casual and
dressy had been excruciating. It was no wonder that I'd barely
slept at all last night. It had taken me three hours to choose what
I was wearing now, and I was starting to feel like maybe I'd made a
mistake. I'd gone with a pair of dressy dark blue skinny jeans and
a sleeveless dove gray turtleneck, finished off by my favorite pair
of ankle-high boots.
The outfit complemented my figure and was
more than just an 'around the house' type thing, but it was simple
and comfortable enough that I didn't think it'd say that I had any
expectations for the night. I stuck with that strategy for make-up
too. The bruises on my face were still fading, so I used a bit of
light powder, and my favorite lipgloss, but that was it. There were
times when I liked having the whole eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara
thing going on, but I didn't want that today. This wasn't a date or
a fancy party. This was just two people spending a holiday together
rather than spending it alone.
I was still telling myself that as I walked
down the stairs. I might've managed to convince myself that I
wasn't hoping that this turned out to be more if, the moment I
heard the doorbell ring, the knot in my stomach hadn't turned into
butterflies. I hurried the rest of the way, skidding to a stop in
front of the door. I took a deep breath and breathed a prayer of
thanks that Elias wouldn't be able to hear my heart pounding. I
just hoped he took the pink in my cheeks either for make-up or
exertion from all I'd been doing.
I smiled, hoped it didn't look fake, and
opened the door. The first thing I saw was that Elias hadn't worn
his typical bodyguard suit and he looked better than ever. He
filled out his suit just fine, but his current outfit definitely
made me think things that were not even close to appropriate for a
boss to be thinking about her employee.
A long-sleeved, fitted dark green shirt that
made his eyes pop, and a pair of dressy jeans that rode that line
between tastefully snug and advertising his goods... wow. It wasn't
until I'd been ogling him for nearly half a minute that I realized
he was holding something towards me. It was harder than it should
have been to pull my gaze away from his body to see what it was,
but I was instantly glad I had because he was holding a pair of
absolutely beautiful flowers.
“Oh.” The word came out in a breath as I
reached for them. They couldn't be what I thought they were. One
was light lavender, the other a bright blue, both flowers that I'd
only seen in pictures before. “Elias, these aren't...?”
“ Cattieya Trianaei and Thelymitra
Ixioides ,” he supplied the Latin names. “Orchids.”
I nodded my head, unable to look away from
them. I knew the names. In fact, I knew a lot about them, including
the fact that they were two of the rarest orchids in the world.
When I was thirteen, I'd landed the movie role of Orchid Lane, an
autistic teenager who goes to live with her mother in a cult
compound after her father dies. One of the ways Orchid coped
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