Logan’s driver pulled the car in front of Stella’s apartment a little after 2PM on Thursday afternoon. Logan had only been here once before, when he picked her up on their way to Teterboro to catch a private plane down to Miami for a work function a few months ago. It was a nice neighborhood, full of brownstones and right down the street from a park, as tucked away from the hustle and bustle as an apartment in New York could be.

This was completely different from the building he lived in near Central Park. It was cold and stuffy, with a stiff doorman who robotically greeted every tenant by name. There was a little more character here, and Logan found himself wanting to go and knock on the door, to get buzzed up and take the elevator to Stella’s third floor apartment, to see what it looked like. He’d seen her purchase candles from boutiques down the street from the office, he wanted to find out if her home smelled like them, wanted to know if her place was as warm and welcoming as she was.

Stella was always the punctual one between the two of them, and when the car came to a stop at the curb, she walked out of the building pulling her rolling suitcase behind her, a garment bag draped over her arm.

The driver started to get out, but Logan stopped him, wanting to meet her instead.

Stella grinned when she saw him. “Hey, imagine that. You’re on time for once.”

“Only because someone brought me here,” he teased, reaching for the handle of her suitcase and taking her garment bag. He placed it over the one that held his suit for the party, and squeezed her suitcase next to his. There was something about the gesture that made Logan want it to be real, made him imagine a scenario where they were running off for a weekend together that had nothing to do with work. A weekend where she wasn’t going to be locked in a room most of the time, helping him not blow his first big release as head of his company.

Logan helped her into the back of the limo, and made his way around to the other side of the car. He was looking forward to taking her to his home upstate. He’d inherited it from his grandmother, and liked to escape there whenever he needed a break from the city. The thought of having her in his home, of letting her see that part of him, made Logan feel vulnerable and excited all at once.

He’d never brought a woman he was interested in there, although this was definitely not that kind of weekend. He had to keep reminding himself that, had to remember that he’d promised her a day and a half free from interruptions. Maybe if she got a head start in the car, that might free up some time for…

No. Not that kind of weekend.

Once Logan was settled into his seat, the driver rolled up the partition and they began their trip.

Stella immediately pulled out her laptop and got to work while Logan pushed down the niggling disappointment that was creeping up inside of him. She was here to work, and he was going to let her do just that.

Logan pulled out his phone and began responding to emails, then did a little online shopping to get a few gifts he needed for his family. Before he knew it, a couple of hours had passed and their trip was almost halfway over. He looked out the window, watching the scenery as they passed by. He loved upstate, loved the landscape, the calming influence it had on him. It was the one trip where he preferred the drive, preferred sitting back and watching the world go by.

He looked over at Stella, finding her resting her head against the seat, rubbing her temples. He reached forward and pulled a bottle of water out of the cooler by the door, opened it, and handed it to her. She took it with a soft thanks, and he tried not to stare as her red lips wrapped around the mouth of the bottle. Tried not to imagine those lips wrapped around him…what they’d feel like, what they’d taste like.

“Do you have everything set up for your trip?” he asked casually, trying to distract himself from thinking about her, and trying to distract her from thinking about work for a little while.

Stella twisted the cap back on the bottle. “Pretty much. My sisters and I are leaving on Tuesday. I’ve got the accommodations booked, and my sister Sofia took care of all of our train reservations. Maria’s just along for the ride, because she’s never been much of a planner. All we need now are plans for Christmas dinner,” she said, giving him a pointed look.

“Already arranged,” he assured her. “You have this nice annual trip; the last thing I want to do is ruin that by not following through with a promise.”

“You didn’t promise anything.”

“I told you I would do it,” he explained. “That’s a promise to me.”

She smiled at him, the sunlight streaming in through the window making her eyes sparkle.

“This tradition you and your sisters have…it’s nice.”

Stella let out a light sigh. “I don’t know how much longer it’s gonna last. Once everyone gets married off and starts having families, getting away for two weeks at Christmas is pretty much a no-go.”

“You could always make it a family thing,” Logan added helpfully.

“Yeah, I suppose so.” She picked at the hem of her sweater for a few seconds. “I like it just the three of us. We tell stories about Mom and Dad, because the older we get and the further away we are from them…we kind of start forgetting a little. So it’s nice to reminisce, to keep up a family tradition even though we don’t have them anymore.”

“They would’ve been really proud of you three.” Logan obviously never knew Mr. and Mrs. Reyes, but he can’t imagine parents not being proud of children like theirs.

“A doctor, a lawyer, and a personal assistant.” The words came out light and teasing, even though Logan heard the sarcastic undercurrent there. “Real proud.”

It wasn’t the first time Logan felt guilty, like he was holding her back from something great. “I should’ve put you on the app project,” he said ruefully. “I’m really regretting that decision now.”

Stella let out a bitter laugh. “If you did that, there would only be more rumors about me and you.” Her eyes widened, like she hadn’t meant to be that honest, and only just realized what she’d said.

“I know,” he admitted. “I never was sure what to do about that. Address it and—”

“And people will think you’re hiding something.”

“Yeah.”

He realized too late that he hadn’t ever helped when it came to that perception people had of the two of them, no matter how hard he tried to not look at her the way he always seemed to.

“Just ignore it,” she said. “I think I’m going to…” Stella pursed her lips together, cutting off her sentence.

“You think you’re going to what?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. It’s not important.”

The words brought with them a fluttering in Logan’s stomach that made him think whatever she was going to say was definitely important. He didn’t want to drop it and was thinking of a way he could push the subject that would actually make her give him an answer, when:

“We had this tradition on Christmas Eve,” Stella began, the words coming quickly, like she was desperate to change the subject before Logan could ask more questions. “My mom would give my sisters and I one present to open as we all sat around and drank hot chocolate. Mom and Dad’s was always spiked with peppermint schnapps. My dad would sneak us all a sip when my mom wasn’t looking, and she pretended not to notice. He’d play this old copy of Bing Crosby’s Christmas album on this vintage record player that belonged to his father.”

Logan smiled. “Those are nice memories.”

“Sofia has it now,” she explained with a warm smile. “She was the oldest, so she got to pick what she wanted first, and it’s not the kind of thing you can carry around on vacation with you, so it’s been a while since I’ve heard it. But that’s what makes me think of them, what makes me happy this time of year.”

Her eyes were a little glassy, and even her warm, gorgeous smile wasn’t fully able to hide her pain.

Logan was trying to think of something to say that might be able to comfort her—and absolutely failing—when she turned to him.

“What about you? Does the Anderson family have any Christmas traditions?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. Not really anything like people might think, and that was a little difficult to admit to. But he trusted Stella, and he knew he could open up about the less-than-perfect parts of his life, too.

“Impersonal Christmas parties for clients and friends, followed by Christmas morning where we had breakfast that the cook made because my parents were still hungover from the party they threw the night before. And grand gifts,” he admitted, picking at his thumbnail so he didn’t have to look Stella in the eyes. “So, so grand.” He bitterly recalled the desire for a little bit of normalcy in his life back then.

“How grand is grand?”

“Vacations, cars. Talking about it makes me sound like a real asshole, but Drake and I would always have piles of the finest things, when what I wanted most was Operation.”

Stella let out a laugh she quickly tried to disguise as a cough. “You mean…the game?”

“Yeah,” Logan said with an embarrassed laugh. “Yeah, the game. One of our maids would bring her kids to work with her sometimes and let them hang out in our playhouse in the backyard while she worked. I’d go out there and play with them. They’d always have cards, board games…whatever. My mom found out one day and dragged me out of there. I think she refused to get it for me simply because she knew the maid’s kids had it, and if it was good enough for them, it wasn’t good enough for me.”

Logan revealed that last bit with shame. He’d never liked the classism he’d grown up with, always thought his parents were complete snobs.

“Poor baby Logan,” Stella said, teasing.

The exaggerated pout on her lips made him laugh. “Yeah, I had everything I could possibly want or need except for a ten-dollar board game. It was a very sad life.”

She shrugged, her mood suddenly lighter. “The heart wants what the heart wants. Maybe if you’re good, Santa will bring it for you.”

Logan winked at her. “Oh, I’m never good, but I hope he’ll be kind to me anyway.”