Her Pretend Christmas Date: A Lesbian Christmas Romance

“I…”

“If you don’t know how to use it, it’s not a big deal. It’s probably more complicated than I’d have time to show you, but you can take some weekend courses. You should ask David. They might even cover that too.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah.” Laney figured out how to bring up the photos and clicked on the first one. “The company likes to invest in people if they think their work is worth it. I bet David thinks yours would be. It can’t hurt to ask. He gave you this gig because he wants you stick around. I don’t know if that was clear or not.”

“I guess so.” She had never thought about it that way.

Morgun’s chest felt all fluttery. She was jittery too. She didn’t know where to put her hands and she could barely sit still. She wasn’t sure if she was more flattered at Laney’s statement, or if the wild energy had to do with how close Laney was sitting. So close that Morgun could feel the heat pouring off her body.

She was wearing a black blouse and black skinny jeans which were in such a state of ripped up that it was hard to believe someone could sell them, and probably for a shit-ton of money too. The ankle boots Laney had on, black with silver buckles down the sides, didn’t look cheap either. Her dark hair was pulled into a messy bun that she managed to make look like it had come straight from a hairdresser’s professional hands.

Morgun gulped.

Thankfully, Laney started going through the photos, talking about each one. The building was an old warehouse. It used to be a bread factory and Morgun had taken her time with all three floors. There were some pretty neat things inside and she was afraid she’d gone into too much detail with the ancient doors, the hardwood floors, the metal ceiling tiles, the loading bays, the huge ovens, the glass panes in the windows, and hadn’t taken enough time with the actual rooms to give a good overall feel for the ancient brick building.

She was so apprehensive that she almost stuck a finger between her teeth and nibbled at her nail. She never bit her nails. She’d done it a few times as a kid and had bitten straight into the pink and walked around with sore fingers for a few days. That had ensured she used nothing other than clippers and a nail file in the future.

“These are really, really impressive. Who are you reporting to?”

“Amanda Howards.”

“She’ll like them. She might not use them all, but I know she’ll get excited about them. The rooms are good, but you went into details that everyone else would miss. You made the place look like it’s not just a dump, which is good, because I bet they’re asking some insane price.”

“I think at least a couple million. They want to sell it to be converted it into condos, but the cost of taking out all the stuff in there would be substantial. I tried to capture the beauty and elegance of the building. I think it’s worth saving, instead of just tearing it down and building up something soulless and modern in its place.”

Laney blinked her long lashes a couple of times. “You like old things too?”

“Yes! I love antiques, but I can’t really afford them.”

“Are you kidding me? You like antiques?”

“Umm. Yes…” Morgun wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing because Laney was suddenly acting really weird.

“I do too,” she said softly, like it was the most monumental discovery in the world. “I’m really into history, and I have tons of antiques. My whole place is done up with old crap, as Jason and my dad like to call it. They’re not fans. Mostly because it’s heavy and I usually end up calling them to help me move it around. I think no matter what it was, old or new, they’d complain, but the new stuff doesn’t weigh as much because it’s usually constructed out of garbage.”

Morgun just nodded, feeling even more self-conscious about her place. Most of the furniture she owned was constructed out of garbage. She was going to offer to show Laney her dresser, but she backed out of that, relieved that she hadn’t. If Laney collected or liked antiques, the dresser probably wouldn’t impress her. She’d probably just laugh at it.

Laney stared at her. She kept staring, trying to read Morgun’s expression until she squirmed in her seat under the scrutiny.

“Sorry. Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” Morgun quickly assured her. “No. You didn’t. I was just thinking about something.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t know.”

“You were thinking about something, but you don’t know what it is?”

“I forgot.”

“Do I make you nervous?”

Morgan swallowed hard, feeling her cheeks heat up. “Of course not.”

“Can I kiss you?” Laney asked. Her eyes darkened as she studied Morgun, but other than that, there were no visible signs that she was turned on.