Christmas Secrets Collection. Laura Iding

soup, bamboo shoots and snake meat. Very slimming.”

      “Still, you look pretty damn good, all things considered.” Lin’s sharp eyes spotted Zoe’s ring finger. She grabbed Zoe’s hand. “Omigod. What happened? You and Johnny …?”

      “Long story. Lunch?”

      “You’re on.”

      The rest of the staff was already gathering around to welcome her back. They were quick about it and had left her to power up her computer and start getting her workday under way when the elevator doors slid open and Dax emerged.

      Zoe ordered her silly heart to stop bouncing off the walls of her chest and handed him his coffee. “Good morning.”

      He leaned his cane against her desk and took off the lid, the way he always did. After sniffing it suspiciously, he condescended to a sip. “Good,” he said.

      She had no idea whether he meant the coffee or the morning. She supposed it didn’t matter. He was there, three feet away from her, even if she couldn’t throw her arms around him and take his mouth in an endless kiss.

      She asked, “You got my directions to Bravo Ridge?”

      He sipped again. “I saw you sent them. But I won’t need them. We’ll go together.”

      Joy leaped within her. She wished it would stop.

      We’ll go together. Was that wise? Probably not. But it certainly made sense. No need to take two cars, or to make him find the way on his own. Yes, it was dangerous, the two of them in a car, side-by-side, driving to her family ranch, the way any two people on an actual date might do.

      But she was his assistant after all. They were going to be together a lot anyway. She needed to start getting used to being around him without being with him.

      “I’ll pick you up, then,” she said.

      “No, I’ll drive.”

      She wanted to argue with him, say that she knew the way and he might as well ride with her. But she would only be picking a silly fight over nothing, seeking conflict with him as an outlet for her frustrated desire. “However you want it.”

      “That’s what I like to hear.”

      “Say, two-fifteen?”

      “That’ll work.” He grabbed his cane and disappeared into his office.

      Thirty seconds later, he buzzed her. She got up and went in.

      He looked up from typing something on his computer and his dark gaze ran over her, head to toe and back up again.

      She felt weak in the knees, wet down below. It was absurd and she knew it. She had made her choice and she needed to stop indulging herself, stop wallowing in her own unsatisfied lust.

      He said, “I’ll need the pictures you took in the jungle. We’re moving up a contributing editor’s Spotlight to fill the slot for the January issue. I’ve decided to write the story of what happened in Chiapas as a special feature—don’t worry, just the survival story. Not our story.”

      She didn’t even try to hide her triumphant smile. “And you’re using my pictures.”

      “Yeah, well. Are they any good?”

      “Some of them are excellent. And I do realize it’s a great opportunity ….”

      “But you want to be paid. And you should be. You will be.” He named a very generous price. “That is, if they’re usable.”

      “They are. And the price is right, thank you.”

      “Get with Jeffrey.” Jeffrey Walleghar was the art director and the photo editor. “He’ll give you the contract and see that you get the check.”

      “I’ll do that.”

      He looked her up and down again. He wore the strangest expression. It wasn’t a happy look. “You think you’ll be the next Ramón Esquevar now?” Was he angry, for some reason?

      Or simply frustrated and yearning for something he couldn’t have? Just as she was.

      She sat in the black club chair. “Dax, look. I know it doesn’t work like that. It takes years to get to Esquevar’s level. Most never get near that. And I’m good, but I’ll never be that good. I enjoy photography, but in terms of a job, I like the editorial side better.”

      He leaned back, tossed his pen to the desk pad. “Are you reassuring me that I’m not going to lose you, is that it?”

      “Yes. And I’m telling you that I don’t want to be a full-time professional photographer. I want to be an editor. Maybe someday, an editor-in-chief.”

      “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

      She laughed. She couldn’t help it. “I wouldn’t dream of getting ahead of myself.”

      “Sure you would. Don’t.”

      She wanted to ask him please not to be an ass, but that probably wouldn’t be appropriate. “I’ll have the pictures for you right away.”

      “Ten minutes? And we can do the huddle then.”

      “I’ll be ready.”

      “Of course you will.”

      She left him, put the pictures on a memory stick and brought them back to him along with her laptop, ready for the huddle. He took the stick and they had their huddle, which went pretty smoothly, all things considered. There was a lot to catch up on, but he’d made a good start on it the day before.

      After the huddle, she spent the morning getting on top of his correspondence, fielding the constant calls, dealing with catering for the two big meetings they were having that afternoon. The hours zipped by.

      Before she knew it, Lin was standing over her, waiting to go to lunch.

      They went to the coffee shop down the street. They ordered and waited for the food to come. Once the waitress had served them and left them alone, Lin got down to it.

      “Okay, what happened with Johnny?”

      Zoe told the truth. “There never was a Johnny. I bought a big, fake ring to get everyone off my back about falling for Dax.”

      Lin threw back her blue-streaked head and laughed out loud. “Oh, you are so bad.”

      “Well, it worked, didn’t it?”

      “It absolutely did. So … you busted yourself to Dax while you were lost in the jungle?”

      “Yeah. Under the circumstances, the whole pretense started seeming beyond silly, not to mention no longer necessary.”

      “You and Dax had a thing, huh?”

      Zoe kept a straight face. “What happens in the rainforest stays in the rainforest.”

      “That’s not an answer.”

      “It’s the only one I’m giving you.”

      Lin stuck her fork in her taco salad. “You are no fun at all, you know that? But still, I like you a lot and I’m glad you’re here, safe.”

      “Me, too.”

      “Plus, Dax is getting so he can’t function without you, so I guess it’s just as well that you didn’t fall hopelessly in love with him.”

       Hopelessly in love with him. Was she?

      Lin was shaking her head. “Uh-oh.”

      She scowled. “What do you mean, uh-oh?”

      “You should see your face.”

      “Eat your taco salad.”

      “You know what? You’re right. It’s time to change the subject. Your pictures are terrific.