This was good. This was the right direction.

“I’d love to,” she murmured before finding his lips again.

Chapter 2

CHRISTMAS BOMB

Liz had skipped the newspaper holiday party the past two years. Walking into the upstairs of a downtown bar that the paper had rented out for the night with Hayden, she realized she hadn’t missed much. Cheap Christmas decorations filled the room, and a tiny tree was set up in the corner. A table was filled with platters of holiday treats and punch. Most people, not surprisingly, weren’t dressed up for the occasion. Some had on tacky sweaters, but Liz had clearly outdone them all.

She had on an oversize sweater that looked like it had stepped out of the back of a grandma’s closet, complete with a Christmas tree with working lights and hand-painted ornaments and presents. She had paired that with tight black leggings and Rudolph tennis shoes she had snagged from the kids’ section. A strand of jingle bells was wrapped around her neck, and she even had a couple red and green plastic bows stuck in her hair. Victoria had jokingly told her that it looked like a bomb went off in the Walmart Christmas aisle.

People mingled around the food table and the bar on the adjacent wall, or danced awkwardly to the Christmas music playing through the speakers. Liz picked out Massey talking to the rest of the Washington division. She was gesturing profusely to her captivated audience. Tristan was tucked into a corner working on his laptop. That kid seriously needed to take a break or have a drink. Liz noted that Brady’s sister, Savannah, wasn’t in attendance yet, and breathed a slow sigh of relief. She didn’t mind that she and Savannah worked together on the paper, but the reminders of her brother Brady were bad enough when it wasn’t the first time Liz was out in public with Hayden.

“Hayden! Liz!” Meagan said, rushing up to greet them. She was wearing a tacky sweater that Liz couldn’t even begin to explain. It was like an explosion of red, green, and white glitter in random designs that was both terrifying and hard to look at without squinting.

“Hey, Meagan,” Hayden responded amiably. “Great job with the party this year. I think this is way better than last year.”

Liz was sure he was just being nice. Typical Hayden.

“Liz, you look so cute. I’m glad you really dressed up! I was worried I was going to be the only one,” Meagan said cheerfully.

“Thanks. I thought more people would be dressed up than this,” Liz said.

“At least some people did it this time. Last year it was only me and a couple other people. I guess Calleigh told everyone else she wasn’t dressing up . . . so no one else did,” Meagan said with a shrug. Then she seemed to quickly correct herself. “Nothing against Calleigh, of course. She looked fabulous as always! Love her!”

“Well, thanks for putting this all together,” Hayden said. Liz glanced up into his face when she heard the strain in his voice.

Huh. Seriously, what was the deal with Calleigh and Hayden? He had said that he and the beautiful reporter had dated briefly and that it was over. Liz had never pushed further than that. Whatever they had been had clearly never been something public, because she was sure she would have noticed that, at least. Maybe she would find a time to ask him that didn’t make her sound jealous. So . . . never.

Hayden wrapped an arm around her shoulders and directed her away from Meagan. They didn’t take more than a couple steps before Massey darted into their path. She was on the shorter side with shoulder-length blond hair. A die-hard sorority girl who even wore her letters to a Christmas party.

“Oh my God! Look at you two! So flipping cute. I can’t even handle the cuteness. So glad you’re not like hiding your relationship anymore,” Massey said, linking her arm with Liz’s and dragging them into the center of the group.

Massey had told Liz earlier that week that she wasn’t going to dress up, because she didn’t want to wear the tacky sweater she had gotten for her sorority date night more than once. She couldn’t be photographed in it or she might die. Liz had just laughed. Oh, the woes of having an active social life.

“Y’all, aren’t Hayden and Liz like the cutest couple ever?” Massey asked as introduction.

Liz smiled, fighting the blush of embarrassment that was surely creeping up her cheeks. Hayden just drew her in closer. Though she didn’t look up at him, she was sure he was smiling. He might have been nervous earlier about how people would react, but not now. Right now he was in his element. This was his paper. These were the people he worked with, the people who worked for him. He was going on four years of their camaraderie and respect. Hayden owned this group with nothing more than a smile.

The total control pouring out of him pulled the tension right out of her shoulders. Why was she worried about what these people thought? It was her relationship, not theirs. She and Hayden had kept the past month of their relationship private. Even though they had snuck glances across the office and left the newspaper at the same time, this was their first official appearance out together. Liz just had to remind herself that it didn’t interfere with work in the slightest, and apparently everyone already knew. She needed to get ahold of herself.

She wasn’t some cowering girl hiding behind a man. She wanted to be editor next year, and then she would be commanding the same respect Hayden had currently. Liz visibly straightened, ignoring the jingles that came from her necklace.

“Thanks for that, Massey,” Liz said.

“It’s just good to see you guys out,” Massey said.

“It’s not like you all didn’t already know,” Hayden said.

The group shrugged and hid their smiles behind their drinks.

“Well, y’all were not subtle,” Massey responded.

Hayden laughed and brushed his hand back through his blond hair. “Why would I ever want to hide Liz in the first place? Just look at her.”

She glanced up at him and swallowed. That was all she had ever been with Brady—hidden—and it had ripped her heart open and scattered it into a million little pieces. But the adoring look on Hayden’s face at least momentarily stopped the destruction and seemed to bandage the wound.

“Okay. Oh my God, we get it. You don’t have to be so flippin’ disgusting,” Massey drawled. “Like, get a room or something.”

“Don’t be jealous, Massey,” Liz said.

“I’m so not jealous, but can we talk about this adorable outfit for a second?” Massey asked. And with that the tension about Liz and Hayden being together dissipated.

Nothing to see here, people. Move along.

Liz sidled up closer to Massey, who apparently was super jealous about Liz’s jingle bell necklace. She promptly handed it over for Massey to wear and insisted she keep it for her date night. Then Liz made her way to Tristan’s table to try to coax him to come out of his corner. He stared up at her doe-eyed and shared a few words with her about the party, informing her he was having a great time. She couldn’t get him to leave the table, though, and as soon as she walked away, he started in on his laptop again.

Time seemed to fly, and Liz realized with a start that she was having a really good time. Her anxiety had been for nothing. She kind of wished that she had come to the event the previous two years. Either way, it was nice to mill around with her friends and colleagues and just relax a little instead of being constantly on deadline.

Hayden was also nearby, never too far away but certainly not hovering. And . . . it felt right.