Read Red Hot Christmas for Free Online

things about you. I'm sorry I wasn't able to interview you and greet you myself. My brother decided to take the reins on all this since I've got a little one who likes to interrupt phone conversations.”
     
    “That's alright. Iian and some of the staff have shown me around. I'm feeling pretty confident about my first day tomorrow.”
     
    “Good, if there is anything—”
     
    “I'm two,” Lilly broke in holding up five chubby fingers. They both laughed.

    It had been almost a week since he'd seen
Amber around. It wasn't that he was ignoring her or trying to avoid her, it was that he had a big project going that demanded all his time and attention. The first night he was free, he got dressed up and took his favorite girl out for a fancy restaurant dinner.
     
    “Gran, do you want a booth or a table?” he asked, walking next to his grandmother, holding onto her arm.
     
    “Oh, let's see.” She glanced around. “A table would be nice. Maybe one over there.” She pointed to the section overlooking the water, right by the fireplace.
     
    The hostess walked them to a cleared table and they sat down as his eyes scanned the dining area. Finally, after they ordered, he saw Amber come out of the back doors with a large tray in hand. She helped another waitress hand out the dinner plates for a large group. He noticed her movements were smooth, and her smile was always in place. She looked totally at ease doing the job. Once the table was served, she walked over to the hostess and talked with several people who had just come in. It took her almost five minutes to finally see and acknowledge him.
     
    When she did, she walked over to their table, smile still in place.
     
    “This must be your grandmother. I haven't gotten a chance to thank you personally for the wonderful brownies.” She shook his gran's frail hand.
     
    “Oh, well, aren't you a sweetie.” He watched his grandmother smile at him across the table. He wanted to roll his eyes at her, but he knew better. She had that sparkle in her eye that told him she was up to her matchmaking ways. His gran was part of the town group that had setup so many other young couples in town. At least they liked to think they’d had a hand in pairing them up. There was no way he was going to fall for her tricks. He knew them all.
     
    “How's work going?” He smiled and decided a quick change of subject was in order.
     
    “Well,” she said, looking around, “I can't wait for this training period to be over. I know it's standard to allow me to get familiar with everything, but what I really want to do is get my hands dirty and start making some improvements.” She smiled. “But you don't want to hear about my boring job. Oh, look, here's your food now. You two enjoy your meal. It was nice meeting you Mrs. Crawford.”
     
    With that she walked off smoothly as their food arrived. He smiled at her backside as he watched her hips sway.
     
    “The last time someone looked at me like that... Well, let's just say it was a very long time ago. Now, get your eyes off that pretty girl and on your food and eat up.” His gran smiled across the table at him. He thought he saw a hint of sadness in her eyes.
     
    Reaching across the table, he squeezed her hand lightly as he smiled at her. “What are you talking about? Men still look at you like that.”
     
    She laughed and swatted his hand, then they started enjoying their dinner.
     
    When he arrived home later, there was a slew of messages on his opened chat session. It seemed the new deadline for his current project was in two days. Now, instead of taking his time, he'd have to pull an all-nighter and cram for the next two days to get it all done. He loved his job and working for himself, but at times he wondered why he did it. Then he would sit down and start to create his worlds, and he would remember why he did what he did. Not only was he good at it, he really enjoyed it.
     
    If you would have asked him in high school what