Totally Smitten: A Cozy AF Christmas 3 Read online

  Totally Smitten

  A Cozy AF Christmas

  Hope Ford

  Contents

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  1. Baker

  2. Tara

  3. Baker

  4. Baker

  5. Baker

  6. Baker

  7. Baker

  8. Tara

  9. Baker

  Epilogue

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  About the Author

  Totally Smitten © 2020 by Hope Ford

  Editor: Kasi Alexander

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  1

  Baker

  “What’s wrong?” I ask Tara, my administrative assistant. She’s sitting at her desk with a pile of tissues around her. She’s obviously added more tinsel and garland since I left this morning even though I’ve told her over and over the office doesn’t need decorating.

  She looks up at me as if she’s surprised to see me standing at the door. She must really be upset if she didn’t hear my dually truck pull up in front of our trailer. The walls in here are pretty thin.

  “Nothing, I’m fine,” she tells me with a sniffle.

  “I’ve never pegged you as a liar,” I tell her, always straight to the point.

  She bursts out sobbing. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I shouldn’t lie to you. I’m upset,” she admits, holding up the wadded-up tissue in her hand as if that’s proof. She must not realize that the way her eyes are swollen red and her face is blotchy is a dead giveaway.

  Tara Scott is one of the most dependable, hardworking, loyal workers I’ve ever had. Most days, I don’t know what I’d do without her. She comes in early, leaves late, gives me things I need for meetings before I need them. She’s a godsend.

  Honestly, the only complaint that I could have for her is her incessant want to cover every bare inch of the office in holiday cheer at Christmas time. Other than that, she’s perfect.

  I sit down in the chair across from her. I’ve sat in this chair a hundred times to dictate notes or to have her help me strategize something. But right now it’s different. I’ve never seen her upset, and to say it bothers me is an understatement. Tara is way too friendly and kind to be hurting. “Tell me what happened. What’s wrong?” I’m already thinking back on the day, wondering who could have been in the office and upset her. The visitors we get are usually the construction workers, but all of my guys know not to mess with Tara. They know she’s special to me. I’ve threatened them enough that it’s comical now when they come to the office. If I’m not here, they stand in the entryway with the door open. Tara doesn’t understand it. But she doesn’t need to. Not yet.

  She takes a deep breath and sits back in her chair. I ignore the clock on the wall that just struck six pm and is playing a Christmas tune. I barely hold back the roll of my eyes and encourage her. “C’mon, you can tell me.”

  “My date cancelled on me,” she half whispers, half sobs.

  “Date?” I asked, surprised. Probably too surprised by the hurt on her face. I clear my throat. “I didn’t know you were dating anyone.”

  Tara is pretty in a plain way. She wears big thick glasses that cover half her face. Her long brown hair is always up in a bun, and she’s curvy. Although I have to admit that I’ve always noticed how sweet her curves are and usually have to force myself to look away from them.

  She’s old fashioned in a lot of ways and uses words that make her seem way older than her twenty-three years.

  “I’m not dating anyone.”

  Confused, I tell her, “I don’t understand.”

  “I hired someone to go home with me… to act like my boyfriend. And well, he has the flu. They’re looking for a replacement, but with it being the holidays, they just don’t know…”

  “Tara, slow down. You hired a stranger to act like your boyfriend? What if he’s a crazy person? A psycho. Anything. What were you thinking?” My anxiety just went up a notch, and I don’t know if it’s because she’s talking about dating or the fact she was going to take a stranger home with her.

  She shrugs her shoulders, and I give her a pointed look. We know each other well enough that she knows I’m not going to just walk away from this conversation now.

  She pulls her shoulders back. “My parents are worried about me and want me to move home–”

  “You can’t leave,” I tell her immediately. I’m not her boss—well, I’m her work boss, but I don’t have any say on what she can and can’t do, or where she can live. But just her saying they want her to move causes me to panic. I’ve tried to hide my feelings from her, but now I’m thinking I did the wrong thing.

  “I’m not. But they won’t let up. They are so worried about me. You’ve met my parents. You know how wonderful they are, but they’re worried, and I hate what I’m doing to them. I was selfish moving so far away, but I never thought they would be this stressed out about it. And I know they’re right. I’m here. Three hours away from home. I have no friends, no one to call if I’m sick or need something. Maybe they’re right. I just need to admit I lied to them…”

  I get lost in her rambling. I know that Tara is different than most women, but I thought she was happy here. I thought we were friends.

  She’s sobbing again, and because I can’t take it anymore, I stand up and circle the desk, sitting on the edge of it and putting my hand on her shoulder. “First of all, you’re not here alone. I’m your friend, and if you’re sick or ever need something, you call me,” I tell her gruffly. I’ve never cared before about being soft or dealing with emotion, but right now, I wish I was better at it.

  “Second of all, what exactly did you tell your parents about your boyfriend?”

  “We’re friends?” she asks me with surprise.

  I’ve obviously done too good hiding my feelings from her. She’s way too young for me and quite frankly not the type of girl that would normally draw my interest. But there’s something about her. I’ve started coming back to the office to make sure she gets to her car safely, I’ve even followed her home a few times when it was after dark. She’s brought out a protective instinct about me, and I sort of don’t know what to do with it. “Yes, we’re friends. I mean. I know I’m your boss, but I’d still call you my friend. So that means if you need something, you call me.” I wait for the words to sink in before I ask her again. “So what do your parents know about your boyfriend?”

  “Nothing. I told them we’d been dating a few months, but I wanted to wait to tell them all about him until after they’d met him.” She shrugs her shoulders. “It bought me time since I wasn’t sure who the dating agency would find for me.”

  She pulls out her phone and opens her internet app. “Maybe there’s another dating service I can call.”

  I barely stop myself from ripping the phone from her hands. Calmly, I take the phone from her and set it upside down on the desk. “I’ll do it,” I tell her.

  She recoils from me like I’m a poisonous snake. “Holy mackerel. What?” she asks.

  I can’t help but smirk at her reaction. In the beginning, I always thought she was joking when she would throw out old fashioned slang. I thought she was trying to be funny. But I’ve discovered that’s just the way she is. She doesn’t cuss. And she always says off the wall things, but I’ve come to love that about her. However, her reaction tells me everythi
ng I need to know about how she feels about me. I thought for sure I had sensed she was interested in me too. Maybe I was way off. She’s just not into you, Baker. Damn! “I’ll go with you. I don’t like the idea of you taking some stranger.”

  She jumps up from her seat and starts pacing the room. “You can’t go with me. You’re my boss. I could never ask you to do this.”

  Still leaning on her desk, I cross my arms and legs calmly. “You’re not asking me. I’m going. Plus, you know me, it’s not like I had plans for Christmas.”

  “You hate Christmas!” she explodes.

  “I don’t hate Christmas. I just never celebrated it growing up, that’s all,” I tell her. Tara doesn’t know a lot about my childhood. I don’t really talk about it.

  She just stands there and stares at me, still looking at me as if I have two heads or something. “What? If you don’t think I’m the type of guy you want – I mean as your fake boyfriend—then I understand.”

  She shakes her head. “It’s not that. No one is going to believe you”—she waves her hand toward me—“are going to be interested in me.” And then points at herself.

  I could tell her that she’s lovely and has the biggest heart of anyone I know. That to me, she’s beautiful, and I’d be lucky to have her on my arm. But I don’t say any of that. I stand up to my full height, grab her by the shoulders, and look down in her open-mouthed, surprised face. “So when do we leave?”

  2

  Tara

  There’s no way I can take my boss home with me. Baker doesn’t have a clue that I’ve been pining over him since the first day I met him when I came in for an interview. He’s the only reason I stayed here in the first place. I was about to give up and leave when I interviewed for this job, and afterwards, I knew I’d stay if he offered it to me. I still am not sure exactly why he hired me. I stammered and stumbled through the whole interview.

  I have a business degree, and I’m very good at being organized and figuring things out. But I had no experience. None. This is my first job since I graduated college, and I’m really surprised he hired me. The only thing I figured at the time was he was desperate. But I didn’t care. I’ve made it my mission to be the absolute best assistant I could be. I knew nothing about construction, building plans, building licenses, nothing. But I’ve worked hard to learn. Now I can truly say I’ve been an asset to Baker and his Miller Construction company.

  If only I could get over my silly infatuation with him, I could see me staying in this job indefinitely. I just don’t know how I’ll handle him ever actually dating someone or bringing a girlfriend to the office.

  In the beginning it was a simple attraction. Now it’s way beyond that. Now I’ve gotten to know him, and I’ve fallen even harder for him. He’s truly a great guy. A fair boss, treats everyone in a respectable manner, worries about me, and is always offering to drive me in the snow or follow me home. He makes it impossible to not like him. There’s just no way I can spend three to four days—and nights—with him. No way!

  “You can’t go with me. I’m not putting you through that,” I tell him as I shuffle back to my desk, hoping this conversation is over.

  “So you’re going to leave me here? To celebrate Christmas alone?” he deadpans.

  “You’re going to be alone on Christmas?” I ask him, about to start crying again. I may not know a lot about his home life, but I do know that he has no immediate family. I do remember him hoping his foster brother would make it home in time for Christmas. I can’t even imagine not having a family. That’s one thing I’ve never had to experience. I have a large one, and we spend every holiday together. Just the idea of him spending Christmas alone makes me want to hug him right here and now.

  “I’m always alone. Who did you think I would spend Christmas with? My foster brother doesn’t know if he’ll be home in time for Christmas.”

  I shrug my shoulders and feel my face heat. “A girlfriend, maybe? I don’t know.” I get all panicky feeling when I think of him dating someone. I’ve never seen him go out with anyone, but I only see him at the office. There has to be someone. I mean, he’s the total package. Well, he is if you can get past the bah humbug attitude at Christmas.

  His lips turn up a little on the sides. “Nope. No girlfriend. I was planning a TV dinner and looking to see if I could find some old Andy Griffith reruns.”

  “Andy Griffith? I love Andy Griffith,” I tell him.

  “See, already we have things in common. It won’t be so hard to convince anyone we’re together. So when are we leaving?” he asks me again.

  I hold my hands up in front of him and almost put them on his chest. I stop suddenly and let them fall. “Wait! So you understand, right? You will have to act like my boyfriend. You’d, uh, have to act like you like me,” I say hesitantly.

  “I can do that,” he says, looking into my eyes. I’m looking for hesitancy or a little doubt, but I don’t see any. For a second, I think I see a flare of interest, but that disappears quickly. “What about you? Can you act like you like me?”

  My mouth drops open. Can I act like I like him? I have no worries on whether I can act like I like him. My family even knows how much I like him. When they came to visit me right after I got my job, they came to the office, and I introduced them to Baker. Right away, my mom knew I had a thing for him. There was no convincing her otherwise. So acting like I like him is not going to be a problem. My problem is that I’m going to look like a fool because I’m sure it’s obvious to anyone that pays attention that I’m already half in love with him. “Yes,” I stutter to him.

  “Good. It’s settled.” He puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes. Like a moron, I look over at his hand, and he drops it quickly, making me wish I’d never even brought attention to it. I like having his hand on me. “So when do we leave?”

  I shake my head, still not believing that this is truly happening. “Tomorrow. I was going to leave after work. And then I was coming back the day after Christmas,” I tell him, thinking he’ll rethink it after hearing how many days and back out.

  “Sounds good. I’ll be ready.”

  He walks into his office and closes the door, leaving me to my thoughts. I still can’t believe what just happened. Did my boss really just offer to be my boyfriend? Well, fake boyfriend. Don’t let yourself forget this is fake, Tara, I tell myself.

  3

  Baker

  “You can still back out. I promise I won’t hold it against you,” Tara tells me.

  All day she’s tried to convince me that I don’t have to go. But I’m going. The only thing that would stop me at this point is if she point blank told me she doesn’t want me to go.

  I stop midway from carrying her bags to my truck. “Do you not want me to go?” I ask her, almost nervously. If she says no, I’ll carry her bags back to her little car. I may follow her to her parents’ house to make sure she arrives safely, but I won’t come in if that’s what she wants.

  She’s twisting her hands in front of her, and she looks everywhere but at me. “It’s just—”

  But I stop her. “Look at me,” I tell her.

  Her big blue eyes look up at me. For once, she doesn’t have her wide-rimmed glasses on, and I can see how long her lashes are. “Now, tell me. Do you not want me to come with you?”

  She doesn’t hesitate then. “I want you to come with me, but—”

  She continues to ramble on about how she feels like she’s putting me in a weird spot, but I don’t stick around to listen. I start walking over to my truck to secure the suitcases in the back. She’s following behind me, and finally I turn toward her. “Tara, listen, I’m going with you. I know it’s weird, I’m your boss and all, but I want to do this for you.” I take a step toward her, and her eyes get even bigger. Her breathing is coming out in little pants, her nostrils are flared, and she’s biting her lip. Because I can’t resist, I put my hand around the base of her neck and run my thumb over her pulse. It’s beating rapidly, and I barely refrain from hol
ding my smile in.

  I worried all night whether I was doing the right thing or not. I don’t want to lose Tara as an employee, but I’m also tired of pretending I don’t have feelings for her. I didn’t want to make things weird if I liked her and she doesn’t feel the same way, but the way her pulse is racing just standing next to me tells me that I may have a chance. And I’m going to take it. “There’s no buts. You want me to go, I want to go. I like spending time with you, and trust me when I tell you, I don’t do things unless I want to. You know that about me.”

  She’s staring up at me, speechless. This is the first time I’ve ever known her to be speechless. I tilt my head to the side and continue running my thumb over her neck. “You okay, sweetie?”

  She takes a deep breath, and I don’t think she realizes it, but she leans into me. I put my other hand under her chin and pull her up to look at me. “Talk to me.”

  She closes her eyes briefly before opening them. “Thank you for doing this for me.”

  She still doesn’t realize it, but I’m doing this for us. I feel good about it and know this is going to be a turning point in our relationship. I just hope I’m making the right decision.

  “You’re welcome.” I reluctantly let her go and walk around to the passenger side and open the door for her. “Now, let’s get a move on.”

  After she’s in, I walk around to my side. “Okay, where to?”

  “Head toward the interstate and I’ll bring the directions for Juniper Junction up on my phone.”