Come Tuesday morning, Alec and I were just beginning the massive chore of unpacking. The movers had just finished unloading around ten a.m. and I was already exhausted from the drive across the country to Seattle. Organizing my new apartment was the last thing I wanted to busy myself with after almost four days of driving. Luckily, the weather had been mostly cooperative and we'd only had about six borderline heart attacks, typically when one of the moving trucks would round a corner too quickly. By the time we reached Seattle, I felt like a zombie. I wanted nothing more than to put the world on hold and sleep for three weeks. Instead, I'd been roped into helping Alec find his two measly boxes of Christmas decorations.

The perk to both of us renting from Icon was how easy it was to go back and forth to each other's apartments. It was nice to not have to get in my car and meet up at some place where no one would recognize us, or get the stink eye from Mrs. Anderson every time I wanted to see Alec. Now all I had to do was walk down the hall.

So far, the only things unpacked in my apartment were the pieces of furniture that the movers had set up for me, and one box of dishes and mugs in the kitchen. I had yet to determine where the boxes with my clothing were located and Alec had brought it to my attention that about half of my boxes had ended up in his apartment, and vice versa. Unpacking sounded like it was going to be a lot more complicated than usual.

"We made it. Finally," I yawned into the phone.

I'd decided to call Carlie so she wouldn't send the FBI to make sure I'd survived the move. She'd texted me asking for location updates three times a day, every day, and she'd even called me to help me stay awake when we were driving through Montana on a snowy night. I should've napped more between drives. Lesson learned.

"Thank God!" Carlie chimed. "I was about to gather up a search party to go fish you guys out of a snowbank or something ridiculous like that!"

"I'm fine. We're fine," I laughed halfheartedly.

"How is Seattle?"

I glanced out the living room windows at the skyline in the distance. It was a dark, dreary day. Freezing rain had been coming down for the last two hours.

"It's living up to its reputation," I yawned again.

"Girl, you need to get some sleep!" Carlie laughed. "How 'bout I take off a couple days next week and come visit you? I can help you unpack and we can have a girls' night and watch Magic Mike and binge eat chocolate ice cream."

"This is why I love you," I nodded lazily, wiping the sleep from my eyes.

We talked for a few more minutes until Alec knocked on the door and I told Carlie I was going to take a much needed nap and then probably down half a bottle of Pinot Grigio.

"It's open!" I called from the couch, unwilling to budge.

Alec strolled in with a box labeled "kitchen." He set it on my counter and got to work.

"What are you doing?" I asked sleepily.

"I found your coffee maker," was all he said.

A few minutes later, I was handed a coffee mug with Santa's face on it, and Alec was draping a quilt over me. I sipped my coffee, overjoyed by the comfort of the warm liquid soothing my body and the hint of peppermint extract taking away some of my sleepiness.

I smiled at Alec, watching him as he sat cross-legged on the opposite end of the couch. His hair was a mess. He had dark circles under his eyes, probably just as exhausted as me. I wanted to pull him down next to me and spend the rest of the day wrapped up in his arms, sleeping.

"You know what I want?" I mumbled.

"For me to sleep with you." He read my mind.

Alec repositioned himself, lying down and tugging my back against his chest. He draped an arm over my side, hugging me to him. I stretched to set my mug on the coffee table and then cuddled up to his warm body. His breathing slowed to a soft whisper on the back of my neck and I quickly followed suit, falling asleep within seconds. If the world would let me, I'd have stayed like that with him forever.

I slipped in and out of sleep, the icy raindrops occasionally waking me when they pelted the windows. Dreamland came and went as well, bringing with it bits and pieces of work and Alec. On one hand – the good hand – I dreamt of spending this Christmas with Alec, decorating our little four-foot trees in our living rooms and sipping hot chocolate by the fireplace while we watched the old Rudolph and Frosty cartoons. It felt like a perfect little vacation from life. I wanted – needed – that with him. On the other hand, I dreamt about work. Primarily, Rutherford Laurence and Chase Levitt. I dreamt that I never got Rutherford Laurence to follow me to Clearwater and that my bosses were so disappointed in me that I was fired and had no backup plan to support myself or further my career. The sickening image of Chase laughing and saying "I told you so" woke me up.

I blinked several times, the kitchen light blaring in my face when I opened my eyes. Alec was still fast asleep. His breathing was soft and slow. He groaned like a little puppy when he moved. Part of me wanted to stay and watch him sleep. He looked so peaceful and happy. But the frustration stemming from my Rutherford Laurence dream was making me antsy. I needed to get back to work. Cuddles and unpacking would have to wait.

I struggled to slip out from under Alec's arm without waking him. His secure grasp on me made me feel safe and wanted. I'd never felt like that with anyone else.

I tiptoed to the kitchen, pouring out my now cold coffee and refilling it with hot. My workspace had yet to be set up but I made quick work of it, fishing through my computer bag for my laptop, the little portable printer I took everywhere, and all the cables and cords that came with them. In a matter of minutes, I had tapped into the Wi-Fi and I was scrolling through the emails I hadn't had time to respond to during the cross-country drive.

I was thrilled to see that four more clients had agreed to continue working with me. A fifth had said they would like to work with me but they had also received an impressive offer from Abernathy that they couldn't refuse. I responded with a quick but charming email, hoping to persuade them in my direction for future projects.

After filtering through my emails, I logged onto Advertising Today, a website built for ad agents and agencies that kept everyone informed on major developments in the advertising community, supplied us with an ever-changing list of companies and organizations who were searching for advertisers, and various similar subjects. It had been awhile since I'd looked at the site. To my dismay, the featured article was about Abernathy buying up six other agencies in the Southeast and acquiring the universally-desired business of Rutherford Laurence. My blood boiled as I read the article. The writer praised Abernathy, referring to them as the most impressive and progressive advertising agency of the year, reinventing the way advertising works for all of us.

I was disgusted. How could anyone look at what Abernathy was doing and be impressed? They hadn't even earned Rutherford Laurence's business. They'd basically stolen it from Corbin and Hilliard when they gobbled them up. And reinventing the way advertising works? What were they possibly doing that was so re-inventive? I had to hold back from sending the article's writer a nasty email.

"What are you doing?" Alec's sleepy voice jerked me from my trance.

He stood in the doorway of my new tiny home office, his hair even more of a circus than before, gulping down more coffee as he leaned against the door facing. He was wearing plaid pajama pants and a baggy white T-shirt. I instantly wanted to drag him back to the couch and go back to sleep with him.

"I just finished reading an article about how wonderful Abernathy Advertisements is," I grumbled, sneering at my computer screen.

"Advertising Today?" Alec asked, making his way to my side of the desk.

"Mmhmm."

"Yeah, I read that bullshit earlier," he shook his head. "They don't know what they're talking about. Just ignore it. Why don't you come back in the living room and I'll get the TV hooked up? We're overdue for a movie date."

The way he said "movie date" made my heart sing. I'd never imagined there could even be a speck of a chance of this type of relationship between Alec and me. We'd spent so much time competing and feuding, it was hard to believe things had changed this drastically. I wouldn't have changed it for the world though. I loved him. I was so sure of it now.

"Alright," I smiled. "You talked me into it."

"Great."

He flashed his pearly whites and went back to the living room while I checked my schedule for the next two weeks. I'd penciled in unpacking for the next three days, followed by checking out Christmas lights around the city with Alec, setting up our last-minute decorations that I would've normally had up the day after Thanksgiving, and preparing to start work at Clearwater. I made a mental note to go to Clearwater before my first day so I could set up my office there and have everything ready ahead of time. Knowing Alec, he'd probably be juggling setup and work at the same time, but I planned to pester him about prepping our offices together the same day anyway.

"Ready?" Alec asked, leaning in the doorway.

"Yes, sir," I smiled and followed him into the living room.

He'd put two lamps on either side of the couch, got the TV all set up, and the menu screen for Home Alone was waiting on us.

The rest of our evening was spent watching the movie, ordering Chinese, making out, and eventually ending up on my bare mattress. Being with Alec like this made me forget everything that had been bothering me.

"Alec?" I moaned against his shoulder.

We'd been feverishly teasing each other for well over an hour.

He looked up from the side of my neck he'd been kissing. His eyes were glazed over and his breath uneven. "Yeah, baby?"

I motioned for him to scoot over and I found a more comfortable spot on the bed, tugging him back against me, but in a less than sexual way. Right now I just wanted to talk. I wanted to listen to the sweet sound of his husky voice. My inner five-year-old wanted to build a blanket fort and bury ourselves beneath it.

"Do you think we made the right choice moving here?" I muttered, resting my head on his chest.

He frowned, a hint of concern in his glossy eyes. "Why do you ask that?"

"Because I'm overthinking again," I laughed softly, placing a kiss at the dip in his collarbone. "I had a shitty dream earlier about Clearwater firing me because I couldn't get Rutherford Laurence to switch over. I guess it's just kind of fucking with me. I keep thinking about Chase's email last week. I'm just... frustrated, I suppose."

Alec reached behind him for his shirt that I'd slung across the bed earlier. He tossed it over me like a blanket, sliding a caressing hand up and down my bare arm. I tried to memorize everything about him. Every move, every sound he made. Every curve of his body. Every crease of his brows.

"I guess it's stupid that I'm upset about it," I continued. "I surpassed my set goal of bringing twelve clients with me. I think I'm up to sixteen, possibly seventeen now. They've all been so kind about it, telling me how much they loved working with me and they want to keep working with me. They tell me they trust me and that no one had treated them the way I have. One lady told me like three times that I'd gone above and beyond and she'd never been so impressed with an ad agent. So why am I letting Chase Levitt get to me?"

Alec sighed, running his fingers through my hair and pressing a sweet open-mouthed kiss to my shoulder. He looked conflicted, like he couldn't figure out the right words to say. He had no idea how much it meant to me that he'd intently listened to my babbling and that he clearly cared.

"Bree, it's just the stress of the job. We chose high-pressure careers. Frustration is just one of the many emotions that comes along with it."

"That's not it though," I groaned, flopping onto my back and watching the ceiling fan spin. "I never let someone like Chase grind my gears. I always out smart someone like him. I always end up with the prize. I'm always determined. This time, it doesn't appear that there's an upside. Rutherford Laurence completely blew me off. Sean won't even talk to me. How am I supposed to get-"

"Baby. Baby. Shh," Alec hushed me, scooting closer. "Look, you have every right to be mad. He's rubbing it in your face that he got the client you did all the work to get. I'm pissed, too. But you're Bree Laughlin. You got this. Look how many times you've fought me for clients – some of which I'd had for years - and you kicked my fucking ass out of the ring. If anyone can slap some sense back into Rutherford Laurence, it's you, baby."

"That reminds me... what became of your call to Troy?"

A sneaky grin inched its way across his face. "You'll find out soon enough."