His Forbidden Valentine Baby (Festive Flames #5)

Chapter 1

CALLIOPE

“Cal?”

The dreaded, dulcet tones of my boss drift through the doorway, invading the peaceful bubble within my office that I’ve so carefully curated.

It’s New Year’s Eve. He’s not even supposed to be here.

In his own words, these parties are just a waste of time and effort and he doesn’t give a shit about office morale.

I do.

Remaining silent, I focus on untangling the gold Happy New Year banner I picked up from the dollar store. Maybe my silence will trick him into thinking I’ve forgone the party and left already.

“Cal!” He’s basically screaming when he reaches my door and kicks it open, making my heart jump violently as my door crashes into the row of filing cabinets set up along the adjacent wall.

“Jimmy.” I greet him with a practiced smile that hides how my stomach somersaults with dread at the sight of him. Every interaction leaves my skin crawling, my heart pounding, and my self-worth well and truly ground into the dirt.

“Do you care to tell me why the fuck the Onyx bracelets weren’t included in the Christmas subscription box?” His voice fills the entirety of my small office while I carefully step around the decorations box, placing it between us as if it can protect me.

“You told me not to.”

“Don’t be so stupid,” he snaps, brandishing a clear plastic bag in which a handful of our very gorgeous Onyx bracelets rattle around. “I would never tell you to make such a terrible decision!”

“Actually, you ordered me to keep them off the website and out of the subscription boxes, don’t you remember?

” When I first started here, I thought arguing with our CEO was a delicate dance that had to be carefully maneuvered.

I learned quickly that no matter what I say, I’m always wrong.

But he can’t fire me because no one else will fill my spot and I can’t quit because I rely too much on the paycheck.

Especially these days.

“Are you thick?” Jimmy bellows at me, stepping forward and sniffing like a man with a terrible coke habit.

Given how often he sniffles and how he chews the gross toothpick hanging off his lower lip like his life depends on it, I wouldn’t be surprised.

“Look at them! Do you have any idea how many boxes of this shit I have sitting in the warehouse?”

“I do, actually.” Despite my best efforts, my voice trembles and I clench my jaw briefly.

“But you were clear, Jimmy. You said that these bracelets were too good for our subscription customers and you weren’t going to waste such an item on people who couldn’t be bothered to visit the stores.

You also said you were going to put them pride and center in the window displays over Christmas because they were going to sell like hot cakes and make you a lot of money. ”

In that regard, he was correct. The bracelets were beautiful Onyx stones set in a pure white silver bracelet with a gorgeous diamante chain that could be tightened and loosened at will. They would have sold online like they were on fire, but as soon as I got two pre-orders, Jimmy shut me down.

Despite our working for the same company, at some point, he got it in his head that my success in running the online department, complete with subscription boxes, was somehow stealing from him.

To this day, it still doesn’t make sense in my head.

“Why would I put these fucking things on display?” In a fit of rage, Jimmy launches the bag of bracelets and they land softly inside the box of decorations before me, which only seems to piss him off further.

“You haven’t been putting the work in, Cal.

I told you and I told you that we needed these to sell.

I have boxes upon boxes of these things taking up space in the warehouse.

No one wants black stones to start the New Year, and now you’re telling me you didn’t even put them on the website? ”

Louder and louder he yells until my heart thunders in my throat and warmth stings behind my eyes. “You told me—”

“How dare you stand there and lie to my face? You’re running this place into the ground, Cal.

Don’t you have any self-respect? Don’t you have any pride in your job?

You’re a disgrace and you’ve just lost this company more money than you can even fathom.

You’re lucky I don’t fire you right on the spot. ”

“No, sir, please, I—”

“Don’t speak,” he snaps in disgust, silencing me. “I expect you to come up with an incentive to sell those bracelets and make back every cent you lost, understand?”

Before I can reply, not that it would do any good, Jimmy turns on his heel and storms out of my office, leaving silence and the subtle stale stink of sweat in the air.

“It’s Calliope,” I whisper to myself, blinking furiously to stop the welling tears from falling. “I love my job. I love my job. I need this job. I love my job.”

Over and over the mantra swirls around my mind as I focus on untangling the streamer in my hands.

With trembling fingers, it takes twenty minutes longer than it should, which puts my entire party plan behind.

All because Jimmy once again made a terrible decision against my advice and I get the blame for it.

With the untangled streamer over one arm, I pick up the box and hurry out of my office. Several winding corridors later and I make it to the common room where multiple people from every department mill around.

The far corner near the windows is set up with a table draped in red cloth and heaving in cheap party food.

Several bottles of unopened sparkling wine and champagne rest in the kitchenette next to several staff eager for a drink but too shy to take the first glass, and a Christmas tree that’s seen better days hugs the corner near the main door with all the festive bobbles removed in favor of New Year’s stickers and ornaments.

“Calliope!” Victoria, my work wife and the distribution manager in charge of all the stores under the Angelic Jewels brand, rushes toward me with one arm outstretched.

Several bracelets clatter together when she throws her arm around my shoulders and pulls me in for a tight hug. “I thought you got lost!”

“No, just held up by the cockroach,” I murmur into her thick blonde hair, fighting a soft gag as her sweet perfume spears the back of my throat. “Oh, my God, did you swim in perfume?”

“Don’t I smell amazing?” She beams at me and releases me, then gazes into the box in my arms. “Wait, why do you have those bracelets?”

“Oh, shit, I forgot to take them out. Jimmy was furious I didn’t sell any on the website.”

Her fair brows furrow together. “But wasn’t he adamant that they were the key item to bring foot traffic to the stores over Christmas? That’s what he told me.”

“Mmhmm.” I nod. “But he’s claiming he never would have said something so stupid and they didn’t sell because I fucked up.”

“What an asshole,” Victoria groans. “I’m sorry, honey.

Forget about him, honestly. He’s just a sad, pathetic old man.

Let’s get the rest of these up and then it’s party time!

” She claps her hands together then takes the box from my hand and hurries away.

I follow, carefully unwinding the streamer from my arm.

With Victoria by my side and a few other staff from other departments eager to help, the common room is soon transformed from a colorful Christmas haven into a silver-and-gold glitter ball ready for the New Year’s countdown.

Thankfully, Jimmy doesn’t make an appearance and we get the rest of the decorations up just in time for the party to start at nine.

Victoria gets things into full swing by popping the cork off a bottle of champagne and drenching the tiled floor in bubbles and alcohol.

Laughter fills the room and for the only time this year, everyone is friends.

Alcohol flows, food passes between friends with bright smiles and happy stories of how good Christmas was, holiday plans for the next year, and a few drunken apologies about snippy emails.

Angelic Jewels is a nice place to work when Jimmy isn’t breathing down everyone’s necks and pitting departments against one another to cover his own mistakes.

Andrew from Accounting brings me a glitter-covered chocolate ball and apologizes for delaying my paycheck back in March because Jimmy told him I was the one who reported him to HR for flirting with Amy from Sales.

Turns out a week ago, he found out that it was actually his ex-wife who exploded at the Christmas dinner table, accusing Andrew of an affair he never had because Jimmy had told her after running into her in the supermarket.

I’m still reeling in shock when Chris from the warehouse asks me straight to my face whether I’m trying to turn Angelic Jewels into a drop shipping business and remove the warehouse entirely.

I reassure him the best I can, refusing his attempts to get me to drink, and I’m not entirely convinced he believes me by the time he moves on around the party.

“Come on,” Victoria whines an hour later, trying to ply me with a glass of wine. “When was the last time you let your hair down and had some fun?”

“This isn’t the kind of place I want to let my hair down.” I laugh, pushing the glass away. “Besides, I’m driving so I can’t.”

“Get a taxi with me!”

“Victoria, we live in opposite directions. Do you know how expensive that would be?”

“Oh, I don’t care!”

“I do.” I laugh, swerving the next attempt to give me the glass. “Trust me, you have it.”

“Boo.” Victoria laughs. “It’s not like you have anything to go home to.”

That comment sticks in my mind, so I catch her gently by the shoulders and face her. “I have to get home to Nick, remember?”

Victoria rolls her eyes, pouts, and then presses a messy, sticky lip gloss kiss to my cheek. “Fine. If you’re going to be boring, can you be a dear and fetch some more ice? I stored some in the freezer in our break room but I’m not sure I can find it with how much I had to drink.”

She pouts, bringing a bubble of laughter up my throat, and I nod. “I’ll get the ice.”

“Yay!” She hugs me close, tangling me in her long hair for a moment, then she steps away. “Cal saves the day!”

Several cheers rise up, although from the look on people’s faces, no one seems to know what they’re even cheering for. I step away from Victoria but before I can move further, her hand wraps around my wrist and she’s facing me once more.

“You’re not boring, by the way,” she says, her voice serious. “Honestly, I would not survive here without you.”

“Ditto.” I chuckle with a warm smile. “Let me get your ice.”

She affectionately squeezes my arm and then lets me slip away.

If I didn’t have to get home to Nick, I’d definitely have a drink or three to try and forget the horror this year has been. From work and home disasters colliding, there’s no escape from the stress that keeps my hair thin and my shoulders tense.

Victoria has the right idea. I should just take a really long holiday with Nick and forget everything.

The building is eerily quiet away from the party and I follow slightly unfamiliar corridors while searching for the break room assigned to Victoria and her people.

I breathe deeply, quickly calculating when I’ll leave so I can make it home in time, when a voice drifts up from the office I pass and catches me off guard.

“—how much? Surely, we’re worth more than that? You can’t be serious. This deal is supposed to benefit both of us but right now, it feels like I’m the only one getting fucked.”

Jimmy’s name is on the door and the sound of his voice turns the party food in my stomach into heavy acid within seconds. Just as I soften my steps to hurry away, he says something else that makes my blood run cold.

“I’m staying in charge, you hear me? I don’t care what fancy CEO they send down here, I’m staying in charge. Whoever he is will learn that just because he owns us, doesn’t mean he owns me!”