Gift for the Boss (Managing the Bosses 3.50)

Chapter 1

Christmas Eve

The holiday season had snuck up on her, and this year it seemed like it was far more hectic for Jamie than she ever remembered it being before. Most likely it had something to do with having a fantastic job, reconciling with her family for the most part, and having a boyfriend who actually cared about her as a person. He would probably pull out all the stops in terms of gift-giving, but she wanted to find something really special that maybe didn't come from a store or cost a chunk of money. Alex had the means to get anything he wanted for himself anyway.

Jamie turned as the door to her office opened. The black sweater dress she wore matched her boots perfectly, and was accentuated with a red belt and a bit of Christmas jewelry to match. Her black leggings kept her warm and business-like. The staff had been given the day off, and had been asked to stop by any time after two that afternoon to pick up their Christmas bonuses and gifts from Gina.

Alex poked his head into her office, the smile on his face warming Jamie to the center of her soul.

"What's that big grin for?" she asked as her handsome billionaire boss-turned-roommate-boyfriend walked in and closed the door behind him.

"Just feel like I've got everything in the world to be grateful for." He pulled her into a tight hug and gave her a sexy smile. "Especially you."

She beamed and squeezed him tightly. The slate grey sweater he wore fit him perfectly and felt good under her fingers. A soft growl left her as desire pumped through her due to his nearness.

His eyes widened and his smile grew naughty. "Oh yeah? My kitten in the mood to be petted?"

"Always, but..." she pulled from him and turned back to face the six tables stacked with random gifts they'd gone out to buy. "Looks like sexy time’s going to have to come later. My boss is generous to his staff."

"Especially in the bedroom." He wrapped his arms around her from behind and nuzzled her neck.

A smile covered her face. "In the bedroom? All your staff gets to see your giving nature in the bedroom?"

He stiffened. "What? No. I meant... What I meant was..."

She pulled from him and laughed heartily. "I know what you meant, handsome. I’m just teasing you."

"I wish you would tease me... in the bedroom." It was his turn to laugh. "Do you think we got enough for everyone?"

Jamie picked up a DVD player and glanced over her shoulder. She couldn't help but smile as Alex readjusted himself; simply touching each other left him aroused. "I think we’ve got more than enough, Alex. Each gift in this pile is at least a hundred dollars. It's going to be pretty cool to have it be a random gift-giving event too. I'd love to draw any of these bad boys." She set the gift down and turned toward him once more as Gina walked into the room. She winked at her friend. "What I don't want to do is wrap all these things."

"Right?” Gina rolled her eyes. “This is going to take forever! We need to ask Santa where his elves have gone." Gina put her hands on her hips and paused beside Alex. Her long chestnut hair was up in a messy bun, and her Christmas sweater was beyond cute.

Jamie glanced toward Alex. "Hey, Santa, where are all of your intern helper elves?"

He glanced at his watch. "Actually, smart-butts... they should be in here thirty minutes. I had one of the finance managers coordinate getting them in here at eleven today. The only ones who got off the hook were the ones who were headed out of town."

"Who's managing all those crazies?" Gina asked as Alex walked toward the door.

"You two are." He paused, seeming to ignore the grumbling as his eyes glazed over. "Oh, man, I totally forgot something."

Jamie turned from Gina and lifted her eyebrow. "What's that?"

"A tree! We have to have a tree in the house. It's Christmas, for shit’s sake," he chuckled. "Alright, girls. Get your whips cracking on those elves when they get here, and let's get these gifts all wrapped up. I'll be back soon."

"Whips? Sounds like an HR nightmare," Jamie mumbled as warmth spread up her chest to cover her cheeks.

Alex's eyes grew wide for the second time that day. "Not you. You're all mine. Let Gina whip them. I don't want one of them falling for you."

"Got it, boss." Jamie turned back to Gina, and playfully rolled her eyes as Alex left them alone. "You know what I hate more than anything during the holidays?"

"Wrapping gifts, for sure." Gina moved to pick up a roll of paper.

"That, and crazy people. Gift-wrapping extremely large numbers of presents make them crazy. It takes forever to get everything wrapped and pretty, and then people rip into the stuff like it holds the secrets to life. Two seconds later, your masterpiece is all over the floor." Jamie walked to the door of her office to watch Alex get on the elevator.

He turned and pressed his shoulders to the back of it, his eyes on her as his hands slid down his stomach and gripped himself.

"Not fair!" she yelled as the door closed. "I swear that man is going to be the death of me."

"He's going to be the death of all of us. Interns or not... this is torture." Gina worked to separate like-kind gifts into piles.

She laughed, knowing Gina hadn’t seen Alex’s action. Half a year ago, she swore Alex would never have done something like that. She giggled again. The holidays made people crazy. "I love how Alex is in such a good mood. It's almost like the Christmas spirit has gotten a hold of him."

"It has, and I've honestly never seem him so excited in all our years of working together."

"Really?" Jamie stopped from a minute. "He's not usually this jolly during the holidays?"

"Hell, no; he's a regular Scrooge," she chuckled. "I think having a Mrs. Claus is helping the mood - a lot."

Jamie chuckled. "I like the thought of that."

***

She crossed her arms over her chest and glanced around the room two hours later, every single gift having been wrapped perfectly and beautifully. The seven interns who had come to help were worn out, and Gina didn't look much better.

"Great job, guys. Incredible." Jamie nodded toward the gifts. "Pick out whichever one you want, and then you can get out of here and start enjoying your holiday."

"Are you sure?" One of the smaller of the girls pointed at the stacked tables. "Seems like you should just randomly give them to us. We know what's in them."

Gina wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders. "Exactly. It's part of the 'thank you' for being here today. Grab one and get the heck out of here."

"You don't have to ask me twice." One of the guys picked up a medium-sized box as he beamed. "I've been wanting a Play Station since these new ones came out. I assume Mr. Reid picked this out?"

"Nope. I did. I'm a gamer in disguise, but don't tell anyone," Jamie responded, and let out a resounding chuckle as the boy's eyes widened.

They grabbed their gifts, said their goodbyes, and left. Not a second later, Alex walked back into the office, bits of snow in his hair and covering the shoulders of his black wool coat. His expression was downcast compared to earlier.

"What's the matter?" Jamie set down the bag of bows she was holding and walked to him, sliding her

arms around his middle and glancing up to watch him closely.