Page 31 of Snowflakes and Ice Skates

Love at First Lift

One

I was late. So late. Normally, I wouldn’t be too concerned, but I had a department meeting starting in ten minutes, and I was supposed to be giving the main presentation.

I pressed the elevator button again as if that would make the floors of the building go by faster. Then I sighed and checked the time on my phone again. Three minutes before the meeting starts. If this stupid piece of machinery would hurry, I might make it in time to catch my breath and grab my laptop before people notice my absence.

It wasn’t my fault that I was late today. The subway was running fifteen minutes late, but since the app wasn’t updating, I had no way of knowing that. Not that it would have made a difference anyway. It would have been way too expensive to take a cab from my apartment on the Upper West Side to Midtown. Plus, traffic would have delayed me more than the subway.

Ding. The elevator doors in front of me opened at a glacial pace. I stepped aside to let the occupants exit before slipping inside and hitting the button for floor eight. I groaned as the elevator filled to capacity, knowing every button between here and my floor would be pushed. It was a law or something that whenever you were in a rush, you were stuck in the slowest elevator in the building and it would stop at every floor.

As the sixth floor approached, I shifted forward so I could jump off soon, but a large man bumped into my shoulder, knocking me back. I almost fell, but someone caught me. I glanced over my shoulder and nearly gasped.

The most beautiful man I’d ever seen was looking at me with a concerned smile. “Are you okay?”

His golden eyes hypnotized me. It was as if we were the only two people in the elevator. I memorized his strong jaw, sharp cheekbones, and the tiny scar above his right brow.

His dark-brown brows lowered. “Are you hurt?”

My brain decided to function again, finally, as I straightened and moved out of his arms. “Yeah, sorry.”

His smile grew, making the corners of his eyes crinkle. “Good. I was worried there for a second.”

I laughed, but the high, airy sound sounded foreign to my own ears. “Thanks for catching me.”

He nodded and gave me a smile before looking beyond me. “Is this your floor?”

The doors were open to my office, and no one else was getting off. “Oh! Yes.” I hurried out, but when I turned to thank him again, the doors had already closed.

No.

I only had a second to lament his disappearance before the alarm in my head went off. My meeting!

I ran to my desk and grabbed my laptop before spinning around and rushing into the meeting just as Matt, my boss, stood to start. He gave me a questioning look but didn’t call me out.

“Thanks for getting here early, everyone. I know we’re all in holiday mode still, but we have two days to wrap up our plans for the first quarter.” He continued to ramble, glancing at me occasionally, and I wanted to hug him. He was giving me a chance to pull myself together before I had to present. I’d have to get him a coffee this week.

I opened my presentation and leaned back in my seat, signaling to him that I was ready. He gave me a tiny nod before wrapping up. “Taylor has the mockups for the concepts we discussed last week.”

I stood, moving to the front of the room while sending my presentation slides to the flat screens around the room. With one more calming breath, I began.

Somehow I managed to get through the presentation, questions, and remainder of the meeting without crumbling. A few of the requests for changes would take a while to finish, but I’d be able to get them done once we got back from the New Year’s break.

A white cup hit my desk, making me jump. I looked up to see Cora, my coworker and best friend, smiling down at me. “Peppermint hot chocolate.”

I lifted the cup to my nose and inhaled my favorite drink. “Mmm, thank you.”

She took a sip of hers and gave me a sly smile. “I heard you needed it.”

I glanced toward Matt’s office and sighed. “It was a rough one.”

“Sorry I missed it. Next time we can trade, and you can go to the budget meeting.”

I cringed. “No thanks.”

Once a month, Cora had the opportunity to meet with the company’s controller and finance team to review the previous month’s marketing budget and negotiate the budget for the next month. Matt called it an ‘opportunity’ because he hated going and wanted to pass it off to someone else. Cora called it ‘the monthly battle’. The higher-ups always wanted us to bring in more money by spending less. It a challenge that Cora gets to fight every month.

“Guess what.” I smiled at her before taking another sip.