Gift Wrapped for Christmas: A Contemporary Romance Read Free

up in Vancouver where her parents owned an import/export business on the
fringes of Chinatown.
    Maddie stared into her wine
glass. She’d promised herself to take a day before thinking about what to do
next, but that was easier said than done. She’d always worked. Even in high
school she’d had a part-time job of some sort or the other.
    “So what do you think you’ll do?”
Lily had always had an uncanny ability to sense what was bothering her, and
today was no different.
    “I don’t know.” Maddie took a sip
of wine. “I was going to put off thinking about it, but that’s not working.
Trouble is, I honestly don’t know what I’d like to do next.”
    “You could come to work for me.”
Lily tilted her head to one side. “But somehow I don’t see you working in a
silk screening studio.” Lily owned the premiere textile silk screening studio
in Alberta, and had recently added fabric purses and casual resort wear to her
catalogue. The new items were selling so quickly she was having trouble keeping
up with demand.
    “Thanks for the offer, but you’re
right.” Maddie ran her fingers up and down the stem of her wineglass. “I
suppose with Christmas around the corner I could get something temporary. All
the stores will probably be hiring.”
    “Retail clerk?” Lily’s perfectly
shaped nose wrinkled in distaste. “At Christmas? You’d hate it after five
minutes.”
    “You’re probably right, but
speaking of Christmas, you’ll never guess who I met today.”
    “Come on, Maddie. You know I
don’t like guessing games.”
    “Okay, okay. I met Chase
Drummond.”
    Lily sat up a little straighter.
“Chase Drummond as in Drummond Exploration?”
    “And the Drummond Building.”
    “That’s right.” Lily tapped her
lips. “He owns the building you were working in. What’s he like?”
    Maddie thought for a moment.
“Tall, dark brown hair, greenish gold eyes. Quite handsome, actually. And
nice.”
    “Nice? No guy wants to be called
nice.” Lily wrinkled her perfect little nose.
    “Well, I only talked to him for a
couple of minutes.” Maddie thought back to the scene in the elevator. “I butted
in on his conversation. He was talking about buying a Christmas gift for a ten
year old girl, and I put in my two cents worth.”
    Lily frowned. “I didn’t think he
was married. His picture is in the paper a lot, and he always seems to have an
attractive woman on his arm.”
    “The same one?”
    Lily lifted her shoulders. “I’ve
never paid that much attention. So what about the girl? Who is she?”
    Maddie looked into her empty glass.
She didn’t remember drinking the wine. “I got the impression that she’s a
relative but he didn’t actually say that. He said something about it being her
first year without her parents.”
    “And he doesn’t know what to get
her for Christmas, and you offered to help.”
    Lost in thought, Maddie did not
reply.
    “Well, did you?” Lily was
becoming impatient.
    “Did I what?”
    “Did you offer to help?”
    Maddie shook her head. “Sorry,
no. But you’ve got me thinking. How many people are there downtown who have no
idea what to get their loved ones for Christmas? And if they do know what they
want, they have no idea where to get it.”
    Lily caught on right away. “Not
to mention the gift wrapping. Most men I know would rather eat worms than wrap
a gift. And for the ones who have already bought a gift, you could offer a
gift-wrapping service.” Her dark eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. “You have such
creative ideas when it comes to gift wrapping.”
    “It’s something I’ve always
enjoyed doing...” Maddie’s words trailed off. “What am I thinking? I’d need
somewhere to set up a little shop. There’s not likely to be anything available
at this time of year. And even if there was, they’d want top rates for it.”
    Lily splashed some more wine into
their glasses, her brow furrowed in concentration. “You’d need somewhere
downtown. I think