Jingle Balls: A Holiday Romantic Comedy Anthology
Page 49
But Miss Maisie The-Caterer-Is-Not-Really-a-Chef Gartner had other ideas. When my fabulous snowball dessert was laid out on the table during setup, she snatched the little sign I’d requested and glared at me.
“What is this filth?” she hissed.
“It’s my best dessert. Everyone will love it. It’s called a snow— ”
“I know what it’s called. There is no way my guests will be exposed to your larrikin humour. I knew I should have booked a chef instead of a caterer.”
“But they have to lick them. People won’t know wha— ”
“Enough!” She tore the sign into dozens of tiny pieces and let them flutter to the ground as she fixed her watery green gaze across the room. “Geoffrey! What does that band think they’re doing?”
An apologetic look from Miss Maisie’s assistant followed as she bent down to pick up the red and gold pieces of card. Then she scurried behind her tormentor, quickly put to work on the next detail Miss Maisie deemed lacking.
So here I am, hiding in a tree, trying to make sure the guests lick but don’t bite the paper-thin chocolate delicacy I spent three days making for this event. The thought that they’ll miss out and all my hard work will be for nothing tears me up. I was counting on the reviews from tonight to ensure more bookings for next year.
This is the first year of my version of the life plan I stole from a friend back home—a woman I’ve never been able to have. Peggy got a job travelling the world right about the time I started bringing a new girl around. It was my backward attempt to get her to act on the attraction I swore we’d both been feeling for years. Instead, she disappeared. Now she spends three months every year in the US, and I barely see her. So, here I am, booking contracts from home and doing something similar.
I thought it’d be more fun, but all it’s made me realise is that I should have tried harder. Time spent here with Peggy is what would have made me happy.
In my wildest dreams, I could have never imagined that the perfect angel who approached the dessert bar would turn out to be the woman I’ve worshipped from afar for the past three years. I also never could have imagined the smirk that graced her lips when she heard my whispers, or the challenge she threw out by pretending to bite into the dessert I’m here to protect.
The sight of her tongue sliding toward the milk chocolate coating of my masterpiece shoots straight to my actual balls—a reminder of the effect I’d hoped to have on the guests. It's that moment of decadent enjoyment when you know you have something astounding on your tongue. I didn’t expect it to happen to me.
“That’s it. Lick it gently.”
I can’t help it. I don’t seem to be able to stop now that she's so close to putting her tongue right where I want it. Sweat breaks out down my back as I hear her giggle. Peggy, that giggle, and her delicious tongue have starred in many of my late-night fantasies.
She makes contact with the sweet and lets her tongue glide along the sphere. My eyes are glued to her, and I have to remind myself not to lean forward in case someone sees me. She licks again and I watch, fascinated, as the dessert activates and her face lights up. I swear I can hear the crackle from here.
She groans and closes her eyes, her tongue now exploring the inside of the snowball.
“Oh my. That’s the most amazing…” She breaks off and glances toward my hiding place. “What is it?”
I chuckle and whisper, “It’s a mix of popping candy and trade secrets.”
“I have to have another one,” she says, pushing the last piece of chocolate into her mouth. She swallows, picks up a new ball, and repeats the whole process, killing me with the slow slide of her tongue. Her head tilts to her right as she licks, and I’m certain it’s for my benefit, even though her eyes are closed. “Oh my god. It’s orgasmic. What are these things called? I want to order hundreds of them.”
I keep my whisper low, still worried about being discovered by Miss Maisie. “They’re snowballs.”
Her eyes pop open. “Oh, that explains it. I thought you were getting intimate in there.” She’s doing a version of her own stage whisper now, and it’s all I can do to keep in my shout of laughter. Any minute now, another guest or three will wander into our orbit and our moment together will be broken.
I don’t want to risk it, so I whisper-yell, “Turn around and face the room.”
“Why?” She wrinkles her face as she finishes the last of the dessert. After roaming the table, her eyes settle on the bowl of snowballs again. “Are there plenty of these? Can I have another?”
“Sure.” I chuckle again. Peggy Best has always had the sweetest tooth of anyone I know. Her luscious curves squeezed into that angel outfit are a testament to her sugary preferences. “Take one and turn around. Take two, if you want. I have a surprise for you.”
“You sound Australian when you whisper,” she muses as she does what I ask.
When she’s facing the room and her giant wings are lined up flat against the table, I step forward, wrap my hand around her waist, and pull her neatly behind the tree.
3
Peggy
“Oh!” My tiny yelp isn’t enough to draw attention as the man attached to the voice from the tree pulls me in and leans me hard against the wall.
Big blue eyes smile down at me. “Hello, Angel Peggy. Long time no see.”
“Adam!” I have chocolate on my lips and my hands each hold one of his amazing snowballs, but I don’t let that stop me. Without thinking, I throw my arms around his neck and squeeze like he’s the last man on Earth. Once or twice I’ve daydreamed about spending the holidays with him and now here he is right under an actual Christmas tree. “I can’t believe it’s you.” Laughter bubbles up from my chest, and I’m sure he feels every giggle as I hold him close. It’s so great to see a familiar face, his in particular—the one that haunts my dreams far more often than it should. “What are you doing here?”
“Miss Maisie deigned to allow me to cater her quaint get-together.” I snicker. Miss Maisie has never thrown a quaint event in her thirty-five years of fundraising. “I took a leaf out of your book and decided to try my luck overseas. A month of catering gigs, and then it’s back home next week.”
“You’re here another week?” My excitement is hard to hide, and my grin stretches from ear to ear. “Do you have plans? I’m here another ten days, and then I go home too.” We both realise I’m squealing at the same moment, and we peer together through the branches toward the buffet. We confirm we’re alone, and I quickly turn my full attention back to Adam Grossman, my full-time crush.
“I want to go everywhere and see everything. I don’t plan to sleep a wink.” His grin mirrors mine, and he brushes a lock of hair off my forehead. I’m certain that movement, and my amazement at finding him here, is why my mouth betrays me.
“Oh my gosh, I’ve dreamed of showing you around New York so many times.” The band is playing Christmas carols at a very high volume, but as my words fade, you can almost hear a pin drop back here, behind the heavily decorated tree.
“You have?” His chest stays against mine, but he pulls his hips away slightly.
Oh no. Now I’ve done it. Three years I’ve kept my secret, and now I’ve embarrassed him by blurting out the words he obviously wasn’t expecting. I pull back and drop my hands from his shoulders.
“Oh. I mean, you know, I’ve wanted someone from home to show the sights to. It’s no fun eating bagels on your own in Central Park. You need a playmate sometimes.”
“Hey.” He leans against me again, his body taking up its original position and covering me with his warmth. The chocolate balls are melting in my fingers, but I don’t have the brain capacity to give them any attention; my thigh detects movement and a certain firmness I’ve only dreamed of, and when I look up at Adam, he’s smiling at me. “Don’t do that. I didn’t move away because I didn’t like what you said. You might notice I’m having a physical reaction to the sight of you in all that glitter.”
“You are?”
“You can?” I raise a chocolate ball, lick the edge, and then shove the whole thing in my mouth. “Sorry,” I mumble. “Melting.”
The hardness against my thigh increases as Adam takes the second ball from me and slowly slides his tongue across the chocolate coating. It opens under the warmth, and we grin when we hear the crackles. He dips his tongue into the coconut centre, not taking his eyes from mine, and my knees go weak and I groan.
His grin grows wider, as though he’s satisfied with my response, and he throws the sweet into his mouth and chews.
“You said no biting.”
“Only at the start. Once that chocolate melts away, people can do what they want.”
“They really are the most amazing dessert.”
“I know.” He sighs and glances at the buffet again.
Guests dressed as elves and nutcracker soldiers have moved into the area and they’re loading up their plates, including his snowballs, but we both know there’s no way they’ll lick them and get the full experience. It’s a shame. Those balls should have been the talk of the night.
He turns his attention back to me, then lifts my hand and licks a drop of chocolate off my finger. “You want to get out of here?”
I’m sure my eyes look more hopeful than I want them to. I give myself a second to take a deep breath and calm the crazy that’s spinning around in my belly. I have no idea what he’s offering. He could be suggesting we go for a coffee, even if our bodies are pressed together and my fingertip is on his lips.
Before I can muster a non-shaky answer, a male voice right beside us says, “Any idea why there’s mistletoe on top of that giant Christmas tree?”
A woman laughs and replies, "Don’t you remember last year? There was mistletoe hanging from every arch in the ballroom. Miss Maisie nearly had a fit when people spent most of the night making out. It was almost an orgy! This year it’s up there so no one can kiss under it.”
Adam’s chest heaves as he silently laughs, and for the second time tonight, I do something without thinking about the consequences.
4
Adam
Peggy’s lips on mine are better than I could have ever imagined—and I’ve imagined them a whole lot more than is healthy for a guy who isn't hers. They’re soft and willing, and she lets out little gasps every few seconds, as though she can’t believe we’re doing this.
She’s not the only one.
The chocolate makes her mouth sweeter than sweet, and the friction of her hard, glittery costume against my clothing has my mind drifting once again to seeing her naked. Oh, how I want to see her naked.
I bite her bottom lip and pull it into my mouth while letting my hands creep over her ass. Her arms slip around my neck again and, before I know what I’m doing, I’m grinding against her, owning her mouth. We’re only feet from the other guests at this two-thousand-dollar-per-head Christmas fundraiser, and here we are, making out like teenagers.
Only I never got to make out with Peggy before—not as a teenager and not as an adult. We came close once, right after we met, but her parents arrived home and we quickly shot to opposite ends of the couch. We never spoke about it again, which is hilarious considering we’re both now in our late twenties. We're way too old to be lost for words, or to be awkward.
Peggy takes a shuddering breath and pulls back, her eyes seeking mine. “Well. That’s the best Christmas surprise I’ve had in a long time.”
I laugh and rub my nose against hers. I can taste her sweetness, and I like it.
“I’d be prepared to up the stakes on your Christmas surprise, if you’re game.” I search her eyes, looking for the invitation I hope to find. I want her to know I’m serious, even if my words are flippant.
“I don’t know how you’ll top knowing we were the only ones at Miss Maisie’s party to kiss under her forbidden mistletoe.” She laughs up at me, the easy-going Peggy I've always known right here in front of me.
“True. That’s a tough act to follow.” I lean forward and press my lips against her earlobe. “My mouth thinks there are many more forbidden things to explore than mistletoe, though.”
Her body shudders and I pull back, satisfied with my efforts. There's no confusion about what I mean, and her bright eyes confirm that for me.
“Are you sure? You didn’t have plans for tonight?”
“Nope. If I’d known I would run into you, I’d have blown off this whole event.” Peggy smiles, her eyes sparkling in the glow of the festive lights, and I'm reminded that I worried earlier about getting electrocuted back here. Now there are two of us to worry about. “Why don't we at least get out from behind this tree?”
“Deal.” She laughs and reaches down to take my hand. The knot in my stomach unfurls, and I squeeze her fingers between mine as she side-steps in those giant wings to emerge on the opposite side to the buffet. No one even glances our way as we disappear into the kitchen through the swinging door.
My jacket lays across the nearest stainless-steel counter, and I pick it up, ready to slide it on. “So, where shall we go? You’re in charge.” Before I can get the jacket on, however, Peggy turns and joins her lips to mine again. My hands slide around her as though we’ve done this a thousand times, and I lean her against the counter, our mouths exploring with a sense of urgency.
“I’m…in…charge?” she asks between kisses.
I nod, moving my lips to her jawline as she tips her head back. “Totally in charge. I’m at your mercy, Angel.” She shudders, and I grin against her ear. “Lead me wherever you want.”
Her fingers find mine, and she steps back with a shaky laugh. “Okay, you asked for it. I am dressed like an angel, so it’s only fair you get to go to heaven—at least for a little while.” She pulls me across the room, grinning back at me as we move toward a door in the corner. She throws it open, ducks through the opening and pulls me inside, quickly flicking on the light and closing the door. She leans against it, and we both look around.
The storage room is small but clean. More important, there’s a lock. I try to place my hands on the door at either side of her head, but those giant wings don’t allow it. Instead, I lean in for a gentle kiss while using one hand to slide the lock into position. Peggy lets out a tiny groan against my lips, and my hands slide down her back, trying to get a grip on the glittery material so I can pull her dress up.
She leans forward, giving me room to work, and her hands quickly find their own task of working on my pants and sliding my belt out with a whoosh. We chuckle together, and she slides my fly down just as my hands find the elastic of her very flimsy underwear. It’s my turn to groan as I bend and remove something that can’t even be called underwear, her silver heels stepping out one by one in two dainty motions.
She grins as I stuff her panties into my pocket and we resume our exploring. My shirt soon sails across the room, and the zipper on the back of her dress kindly cooperates when my shaky fingers slide it all the way to her bottom. I pull the dress forward, my eyes glued to the expanse of skin the fabric reveals as it falls away. Our kissing becomes more frantic as our hands traverse flesh, tiny sighs and groans filling the air as we make up for years of lost time.
She pulls back slightly, and I kiss her forehead. “Help me get the wings off.”
“No way.” I shake my head. “I’ll help you out of the dress, but those wings are staying on.”
Peggy laughs as I carefully lay her dress on a table at the far end of the room and then return to her, almost tripping over my sagging pants. She points to my bright red underwear with an eagle positioned front and centre.
“What are those?” she giggles.
“These are the most comfortable boxers on the planet. Look.” I drop them to my knees and point to the pocket in the front. “They separate my meat and potatoes and keep everything nice and cool. I thought they were appropriate for
tonight’s fundraising theme. Not that I could have imagined anyone from the party would see them.”
She laughs and shakes her head, but her eyes are nowhere near my comfy red boxers.
5
Peggy
I can’t believe I’m standing in a tiny room, naked except for shining angel wings, with the man of my dreams. I’m certain this is not angel-like behaviour. Adam Grossman is right here, and he’s looking at me like he wants to devour me. He’s the only one I’ve ever dreamt about—a man my mother adores and treats like a son. He's the reason I have to remind myself to keep my hands in my pockets whenever he's around.
And his lips feel amazing on mine, it turns out.
His boxers gave me a laugh, but the surprise waiting inside them soon wiped that smile from my face. I’m in total awe of his hard cock jutting out proudly. Waiting for me.
I step forward at the same moment he reaches out to wrap his arms around me. He bends his knees, and suddenly I’m lifted above him and he kisses the round curve of my breasts. First on one and then the other, he drops feathery light movements against my sensitive skin. He leans us against the door, his mouth finding mine again, as my fingers dig into his shoulders and the glitter from the wings scratches my back. He bites my lip and then adjusts my weight until I feel his silky softness between my legs.
I gasp, and he pulls back. “Are you sure, Peggy? You can change your mind any time.”
“Are you crazy?” I shake my head and drop my lips to his again. “Do you know how long I’ve waited for this?” I hold him close, and he laughs into my cleavage.
“Oh god. Me too. So much me too.”