Chapter 7 #2
"That sounds like a lot of sneaking around."
"That sounds like dating someone who works the same schedule you do." He pulls me close, kisses my temple. "We'll figure it out."
Back at the lodge, we pack up what little we brought, tidy the kitchen, bank the fire.
Each task feels weighted with significance, like it’s the end of something precious, the beginning of something real.
I wonder if this is what the women on those reality dating shows feel like.
When the show ends and reality begins. I might not have been going on elaborate expensive dates in another country, but I feel the weight of having to return to a normal schedule.
To paying bills and taking care of responsibilities.
To not being together in a sheltered environment but having to face the real world head on.
My phone rings. My mom.
"I should take this," I say.
"Go ahead."
I step into the bedroom. "Hey, Mom."
"Holly! I've been trying to reach you since yesterday. All your text said was that you were safe. Are you okay?”
"I'm fine. I got stuck at the park, but I texted you to let you know I’m safe."
"At the park? By yourself?"
I hesitate. "Not exactly."
"Holly Noelle White. Who were you stuck with?"
"My boss."
The silence on the other end is deafening.
"Mom—"
"Was he nice to you?"
"Very." There’s a pause. She knows me, almost better than I know myself. I have no doubt she’s reading between the lines.
"And you're sure you’re safe?"
"Completely."
Another pause. "Are you happy?"
The question catches me off guard. "Yeah, Mom. I really am."
"Then that's all that matters." Her voice softens. "Just be careful with your heart, honey. Office romances can be complicated."
"I know. But I think this one's worth it."
When I hang up, Justin's standing in the doorway.
"Everything okay?" he asks.
"Yeah. My mom's worried but supportive." I cross the room to him. "What about your family? Will they care?"
"Probably. But they'll deal with it." He cups my face. "You're not some secret I'm keeping, Holly. You're someone I'm choosing. There's a difference."
"Good. Because I'm choosing you too."
We hear an engine outside, it’s loud and close by. The snow removal team, finally making their way up the mountain road.
"That's our cue," Justin says quietly.
He leaves me to warm up the car and then drives it to the gate. We load up his SUV in silence, checking the lodge one last time to make sure everything's secure. As we pull away, I look back at the building through the rear window.
"It looks bigger somehow," I murmur.
"Because we filled it with memories." He reaches over, takes my hand. We pass my car, abandoned in the employee lot, and Justin makes a note to have it towed to a shop.
"I'll cover the tire," he says.
"You don't have to—"
"I know. But I'm going to anyway. Stop arguing."
I grin. "Bossy."
"You like it."
"I really do."
The drive down the mountain is slow, careful, the roads still treacherous in spots.
As we reach the base of the mountain and turn toward town, reality starts creeping back in.
Emails will be waiting. Calls to return.
Explanations to give. Will I be offered another job?
A career? My heart aches thinking about leaving the park, leaving Justin.
"You okay?" Justin asks, noticing my tension.
"Just thinking about what comes next."
"What comes next is we take it one day at a time. We talk to HR together. We're honest with people who matter. And we keep building what we started."
"What if it's hard?"
"Then we handle hard." He squeezes my hand. "Together. That's the point, remember?"
I nod, some of the tension easing. "Okay."
He pulls up outside my apartment complex. It’s a modest building on the edge of town, but I don't move to get out immediately.
"When will I see you again?" I ask.
"Tomorrow. We have a staff meeting at ten."
"That's not what I meant."
His mouth curves. "I know. How about tonight? I'll bring dinner. We'll talk about what happens next."
"That sounds perfect."
He leans across the console, kisses me slow and sweet. "Get some rest. Eat something. Text me when you're ready for me to come over."
"So many instructions."
"You need them."
I can't argue with that. He parks the car, gets out and walks me to the door. Men my age don’t do this. He dropped a kiss on my forehead. “Follow my instructions. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Yes, Daddy.” The words are almost a whisper, an afterthought. He smiles at me.
“That’s my good girl.”
Inside my apartment, I drop my bag and collapse on the couch, pulling out my phone.
Me: I'm home. And I need to tell you all everything.
Madison: FINALLY
Lily: Emergency zoom meeting in 20 minutes
Chloe: I'm getting wine
Amber: I'm getting POPCORN
Maya: I'll send the link
Emily: So excited glad you are home safe, Holly.
Twenty minutes later, I'm on a video call with six faces staring at me expectantly.
"Okay," Madison says. "Start from the beginning and don't leave anything out."
I take a breath. "So. I might be dating my boss."
The screen erupts in chaos—squealing, questions, demands for details. I tell them everything I can without betraying the intimacy of what Justin and I shared. But I tell them enough.
About the conversations. The trust. The way he sees me. The way I feel safe. I even let them know how good he is in bed.
"He sounds perfect," Lily says when I finish.
"He sounds like a Daddy Dom," Chloe corrects. "A real one, not just some guy who read Fifty Shades and fantasizes about a red room."
"Have you talked about it explicitly?" Madison asks. "Like, the dynamic?"
"Yes. We've been very honest. We’ve talked about expectations, communication and safety. Of course we have a safeword."
"And he's good to you?" Emily's voice is gentle. "Like, really good?"
"He's..." I search for the right word. "He's everything I didn't know I needed."
"Then hold onto him," Maya says. "Men like that are rare."
"I plan to."
After the call, I shower and change into comfortable clothes. My apartment feels strangely lonely after three days with Justin. It’s too quiet, too empty.
I touch the snowflake pendant at my throat, and try not to text him. I won’t be clingy. I won’t be needy. I won’t…
I’m overthinking things again. Worried about being too much.
My phone buzzes and as if he can read my mind, it’s Justin.
Justin: Thinking about you.
Me: Good thoughts?
Justin: The best. What do you want for dinner?
Me: Surprise me.
Justin: Bold choice. I'll be there at seven. Be ready.
Me: Ready for what?
Justin: To tell me about your day. To eat a real meal. To let me take care of you.
Me: You're very bossy.
Justin: You like it.
Me: I really do.
I set the phone down, looking around my apartment with new eyes. In a few hours, Justin will be here. In my space. Meeting my life outside the snow globe bubble we'd created.
It should feel terrifying.
Instead, it feels like coming home.
I spend the next few hours tidying up and making my apartment presentable.
I’m a bit insecure as I look around. My apartment is furnished with thrift store finds and my creative touches.
Nothing is expensive or new, but it is homey.
I’ve made a point to cover the furniture with matching slipcovers, to match the throw pillows with the colors in the rug.
Every detail has been carefully chosen to create a safe space for me to escape to after a long day of work.
What if he doesn’t like it? What if it isn’t good enough for Mr. Caviar and Champagne?
When the knock comes at seven sharp, my heart jumps.
I open the door to find Justin standing there in dark jeans, holding bags of delicious smelling takeout and wearing a tight-fitting shirt that makes my stomach flip.
"Hi," I say.
"Hi yourself." He steps inside, sets the bags on my counter, then turns and pulls me into his arms. "Missed you."
"It's been six hours."
"Still missed you." He kisses my forehead, my nose, my mouth. "Show me your place."
I give him the tour of the small living room, tiny kitchen, and the bedroom barely big enough for my bed, a single attached bathroom with a shower that never gets quite hot enough.
"It's not much," I say. “I know you are used to better and maybe we should be meeting at your place instead of mine. I mean, I don’t even know if—”
"Baby girl, stop. It's yours. I see you in all the details. That makes it perfect."
We eat dinner on my couch. He brought Thai food from the place I mentioned during one of our conversations this weekend. I’d mentioned my love for their curry and he’d remembered. He asks about my call with my friends, about my afternoon, about how I'm feeling.
"Overwhelmed," I admit. "In a good way. But still overwhelmed."
"That's normal." He sets down his food, turns to face me fully. "This was a lot. We went from colleagues to... this... in three days."
"Are you having second thoughts?"
"No. But I want to make sure you're not either."
I set down my own food, take his hand. "I'm not. I'm scared of messing this up, but I'm not having second thoughts."
"Then we'll take it slow from here. No rushing. We learn how to do this in the real world."
"What if the real world is harder than the snow globe?"
"Then we work harder." He pulls me into his lap, settling me across his thighs like he did this morning. "But I don't think it will be. I think we just found each other at the right time."
I rest my forehead against his. "When did you get so optimistic?"
"When I met someone worth being optimistic about."
We spend the rest of the evening talking, touching, learning how to be together in normal space.
We watch a movie and when he finally leaves it’s late.
After many goodbye kisses at the door, he orders me to go right to bed, to text him when I wake up and to eat a good breakfast before I come into work.
Even with all of his bossiness, and the anxiety about seeing him at work tomorrow, I feel more grounded than I have in years.
I text the group before bed.
Me: He just left. And I think I'm falling in love with him.
Madison: FINALLY she admits it
Lily: We knew three days ago
Chloe: So obvious
Amber: The best kind of obvious
Maya: Happy for you, babe
Emily: Love is beautiful and love at Christmas? Magical.
Me: It's also terrifying.
Madison: The best things in life are.
I touch the snowflake pendant one more time before climbing into bed.
Tomorrow, we go back to work. Back to reality. Back to being boss and employee in front of others.
But tonight, and every night after, we get to be just Justin and Holly.
And that's more than enough.