I can’t have feelings like that though, because this man is now dating my boss.Taking her to lunch. Smiling at her and calling the car to make sure she’s taken home safely. Ugh. I close my eyes. It’s safer this way if I can’t see him. But, his presence being in the room follows me into my dreams where I’m swept away by the feeling of him never leaving my side.
And my mind replays us in the elevator all over again, except this time, the roles change a bit. Instead of that hottie firefighter Chandler being the one rescuing me, it’s now Everest. I’m trapped inside of the hellish ride and calling for help only to have him open the doors with his bare hands, his skin glistening in manly sweat. Did I mention he’s shirtless? Because, oh my eyeliner, he is. And it’s a spectacular sight. Everest has a chiseled body that would make any of the Greek gods feel less than worthy, with his hair all swept up in chaos, those white teeth shimmering like diamonds. I nearly die from how gorgeous he is when he smiles.
“Are you ok?” he asks.
“I’m stuck in this elevator. Help me, please.”
“Don’t worry,” he assures, “I’m here now, you’re going to be just fine.” Everest hops down from the landing and is swiftly on his feet, right before me in the darkened elevator. In this close proximity, the heat of his body rolls off him and I instantly get wet. His eyes are on fire as he takes in my appearance all disheveled and helpless, sweaty, and dying to be free.
“Trust me?” he asks, moving closer.
“Yes,” I nearly moan. “God, yes.”
He hums and then touches the underside of my chin. “Fuck, you’re beautiful,” he says, lifting my chin a little. “And so brave. I bet you were so scared, being trapped in here all alone.”
“I’m not alone now.”
“No.” He nods. “You sure aren’t.”
“How will we get out?” I try to glance around but I’m stuck in the vortex of his gorgeous green eyes as he stares at me.
Everest caresses my face. “Trust me, Ginger. I just need you to trust me.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and bring his face to mine, crashing our lips together. And this time it’s so much hotter than the first time. Our clothes seem to dissingrate from the heat between us and I feel him hot and hard as we cling to each other, lost in a tornado of a kiss that whirls and spins out of control. Everest backs me up into the glass mirror of the elevator walls, deepening our kiss as he hoists me onto his hips, pinning me there without mercy. His hard cock grinds against my wet center and he pumps against me, breathing hard into my mouth as we break for the tiniest moment.
“I want you so bad, Ginger Darling.”
“Mmm, Everest.”
“Baby, oh, please, let me fuck you.”
“Yes,” I cry out. “I need you so much.”
“Fuck yeah, you do. I need to know what that tight pussy is like wrapped around me. Think you can take all of me, Ginger?”
“Give it to me. Yes.”
Everest kisses the column of my neck until he reaches my collarbone. His hands knead my breasts and he sucks on my nipples. I quake under him, begging with my grinding hips for him to give me more. His body’s so hard and muscular as I feel him under my own needful hands. It keeps me from remembering the danger we’re in, as we hang in the elevator without power. Only a sex god like Everest Snow could keep me from thinking about how scared elevators make me. And he does it so damn well.
“You like getting fucked like this, baby, don’t you?” he asks all huskily. “How many fingers can you take, Ginger Darling?”
“Ohh, yes. Mmm. More.”
He plunges two fingers inside my wet pussy and I cry out.
“Yes, let me make you come.”
“Oh, Everest.”
“Say my name, baby. When you come, say my motherfucking name.”
He pumps his fingers inside me, circling my pulsing clit with the pad of his thumb. His mouth attacks mine, his tongue a viper as he expertly laps at me giving me open mouth kisses so I can pant against his lips.
“Mmm, fuck me,” I beg. “Please.”
He takes me up high, like ascending on an epic rollercoaster. Until it comes crashing down. And not in a good way. In the way that I hear serious laughter and I’m shaken until I groggily open my eyes.
And there he is. All smiles and hotness staring back at me. For a minute I try to cling on to the dream, the feeling.
“Ginger…” he’s calling me back to reality. “Open your eyes.”
No. Let me stay here in my dreams for a while. Let me have my happy place. Let me have an orgasm.
He laughs again. I blink. I see him. Oh, shit.
“I’d be happy to, Ginger.” He grins all cocky and smart...assy. “But I need to leave, Darling.”
Did I say ‘fuck me’ out loud? “I didn’t mean to say that. I was still dreaming.”
“Yeah?” He toys with me, curling a section of my hair around his finger. His eyes stare adoringly at me which does weird things to my heart. “About who?”
“Mr. Clean,” I lie.
He bursts out laughing. “Yeah, that sounds totally believable, Ginger.”
“I was. He happens to be quite sexy.”
“He’s an animated drawing.”
“That I’m sure is based off an actual person. Or at least, some kind of fantasy women have about a man not only being willing to clean their house, but also really freaking good at it.”
Everest’s eyes brighten. “I’m sure the marketing department had that very same thought in mind.”
“Of course they did.” I wrap the burrito blanket tighter around me because it feels like it will hold me together rather than turn me into the pile of mulch I feel like becoming when he smiles like that.
“Is that your fantasy?” he asks. “A man cleaning up your house? Doesn’t sound too scandalous to me.”
“You don’t get it. It’s not just any man. It’s a very muscular man that you’d assume does something more manly—according to what society has dictated is a man’s job and a woman’s job. It’s breaking the stereotype.”
He nods like he believes me, but also has a tug of laughter poking him in the cheek that he’s really trying hard not to give in to. “So, you have social justice as part of your bedroom fantasies?”
“What could turn a girl on more than being empowered?”
His eyes flare. Boom. Got him. He tugs the burrito blanket around me like he needs a shield, too. That makes me smile. Big time.
“You’re quite something, aren’t you, Ginger?”
“Depends who you ask. Meredith can’t even get my name right. My bestie thinks I’m an artist. People I don’t know on the internet look to me to give them advice on how they should look. Life is weird. Life is so random. How does anyone trust it?”
He nods. “This we can agree on.”
“What about you?”
“What do you mean?” he asks. Everest sits next to me on the couch, cupping his hands over his knees.
“Well, who are you? I feel like I know nothing about you. Other than the fact that you know my boss and kiss really good.”
“That right?”
“Shut up. You know you do.”
“Maybe I need to know more. What was your favorite part?”
“I said shut it.”
He laughs a little. “Fine.”
“Waiting on the info here, Mr. Snow. Is that even your real name?”
Everest looks away for a moment and then turns back to me. “Do you really like working for Meredith? That’s something you’ve dreamt about your whole life? Working for a lady like that?”
“Listen...” I sigh a little. “She’s not the friendliest, that’s for sure, but you know she’s in an industry that demands having a spine.”
And while I feel like shrugging it off, Everest doesn’t let it go.
“So you think she really has the talent to be where she’s at?”
“What are you suggesting? I thought you had a thing for Meredith?”
“I have a.
..thing for the truth...let’s just put it that way.”
“I’m not spilling what my bestie Bianca calls “tea” about Meredith if that’s what you’re looking for.”
“Good, because I’m not thirsty.”
I smile a bit at that and so does he.
His eyes warm as he inches a bit closer and puts his full attention on me, those brilliant green eyes lingering on mine.
“You’re right about needing a spine in business, Ginger. What about you? What about yours? Don’t you want to protect how special you are? What you bring to the table?”
“I’m just a small fish in a huge freaking pond, Everest. I need this job. I’ll climb my way up eventually. It just takes time.”
He hesitates. “I think you’re not giving yourself enough credit.”
“Meredith asked me to create something. I mean, I’m already doing bigger things than I ever thought I would at my age.”
“Don’t you think that’s a little odd?”
“What?”
He sighs a little, scrubbing his hand across his chin. “Listen, you said it yourself, Meredith is a goddess in the beauty industry, so why would she ask you—a self proclaimed small fish—to create something for her, if she’s so damn brilliant?”
I sit up straighter. Who does he think he is?
“I’m sorry, are you suggesting Meredith is only using me?”
“No, Jennifer. I bet she really believes in you.”
“You have some serious nerve, Everest.” I hop up from the couch and the whole world goes wibbly-wobbly.
Everest’s hands steady me as he rises from the couch, holding me steadfast in his arms. For a moment, I don’t want to despise him, but damn it, he grins and it’s all fire and brimstone again.
“I think it’s time for you to leave, Snow.”
“I’m really only trying to look out for you. I wish you’d believe me, Ginger. I wish you would trust me.”
“Trust you? You? I don’t even know you.”
“You know how I feel though, right?”
And right now, I feel a whole freaking lot of him pressed up against me as we stare in a deadlock stare-off of all stare-offs. Is that even a word? Phrase? Who cares.
I’m gazing deeply into his green eyes as he stands towering over me with his tall frame and broad shoulders. My fingers itch to hook around his muscles and climb up on the mountain of man that is Everest Snow. I run my hands across his shirt, his jacket now flung artfully across the back of the couch, forgotten. I can feel so much more of him, finally. He’s hard as a rock all over. I mean all over, people. His hips thrust a little as he grips my hips tightly, staring down into my eyes. I brace for his kiss, how hot it’s going to feel on my lips. I can feel his breath on my face. I close my eyes.
“Ginger,” he whispers as I feel his fingers strum soft as a feather across my cheek.
“Everest...”
He cups the back of my head.
The front door unlocks. Crap.
Instantly, we pull ourselves away. Bianca comes bounding in, smiles galore as she runs over to me. “Guess who I saw shopping in Times Square?” She shakes my shoulders and I try to smile at her. I don’t think she’s even noticed Everest. She doesn’t give me a chance to guess. “It was Trinity,” she squees.
“Awesome.” I fake a smile. “Um...”
She finally turns to see Everest. “Oh, crap.”
He laughs. “Nice to meet you, too.”
“Bianca, this is Everest Snow.” I smile in a way that begs her to play along like she’s never heard his name before.
Her eyes grow double in size. “Oh. Crap.”
She’s horrible at bluffing. I shake my head but laugh a little.
“I was just making sure our girl got home ok,” he says and my insides rattle.
His girl.
Butterflies invade my stomach in a frenzy. Our eyes meet and he’s all fire. I try to swallow and not act like a total fangirl of this man. But there’s just something about him that sings to me. Ever meet someone and just feel like you’ve known them forever? It’s so easy and familiar with that person? I feel like that but with a serious undertone of attraction that leaves me all squirmy and longing for him.
“Yeah.” That’s all I can muster when he looks at me like this. A wave of heat rolls over me, as if winter was just obliterated by his stare, and summertime is back in full force.
“I should go,” he says. “You’re in good hands now.”
“You can’t leave,” Bianca says. “It’s snowing like crazy right now. Haven’t you been paying attention to the news today? There’s a big storm about to blow through.” She grins a little. “I’m sure you guys have been really busy working, though. It’s totally understandable.”
Holy sugar plum lip balm. I’m going to be stuck here with Everest. Maybe he won’t stay.
He turns to face the window and his green eyes sparkle against the cast of bleak greyish light that filters through the window. It’s a mess out there. I can not ask him to leave.
We stare at each other.
Bianca squeals, not at all keeping her feelings about him being here lowkey.
I roll my eyes but can’t help but smile.
“I guess you’re stuck with me,” he says.
He says it like it’s a bad thing, but damn, why does it feel so good?
* * *
“You have to hold still.”
Listen, if Everest is going to stick around he’s going to help me work. Snow, Hailstorms, lightening, floods, earthquakes...you name it...it has nothing on what Meredith will do if I don’t come through with an amazing collection.
So, I use his forearm for my swatches. I have a first run of colors that have already come back from the lab. It’s quite impressive, even for Meredith. I turned in my choices at lunch and they had already been formulated in just a few hours and shipped right to my office before I even left for the day. Talk about power and influence.
“I need a picture.”
Everest shakes his head. “No, I think I’d rather not.”
“Are you scared to be a man with makeup on his arm?”
“I’m just not into having my picture strewn across social media.”
“You’d be the first.” I chuckle at him but he’s being serious. In fact, he looks pretty stressed about it. My curiosity is piqued. “We could do a full makeover and glam you up big time. What do you think about that?”
“Hard no.”
I laugh. “No one would even recognize you, after I’m done.”
“Still a hard no.”
“Everest,” I protest a little. “This is your chance to hit the big leagues. Being Mr. Muah. Oh, that has a nice ring to it.”
“Keep swiping my arm, Ginger.”
“Swatching, babe. It’s called swatching.”
He smiles and it’s warm. Or maybe that’s just me. I’m tingling too. We’re shoved close together in my mock studio where I film my tutorials. It’s actually just a small corner in my bedroom that I converted into something that on camera seems kind of plush and rich looking, but is actually much smaller than a linen closet.
Everest and I are just inches from the wall, under the heat of the lights, our legs intertwined as we sit on stools in front of the camera.
“Where did you learn all of this stuff?” he asks, shifting in his chair a little. “What made you want to get into the beauty world?”
I shrug. “It’s just always been a passion of mine ever since I was a little kid. I used to steal my mom’s heels and walk around in her bright red lipstick and my church tights. I thought I was so damn cute.”
“Wow.” He laughs. “That’s quite a look.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t.”
He laughs harder. “Well, you’ve grown into your own, at least. Trial by error.”
“That’s a good way to look at it.” I sigh, swiping a bright neon orange across his arm. “My mom thinks I’m wasting my time. She doesn’t understand any of this. I thought it woul
d change after Meredith hired me, but my mom just wants me to be something normal. Whatever that means. I guess, in her world, it’s a doctor or lawyer or something.”
“That must be hard.” He swallows, and I try hard not to look at him but it’s difficult when he’s this close to me. His skin is so warm and inviting as I hold his arm in my hand.
“Yeah, um...”
“Sorry. I’m not trying to upset you, Ginger.”
“No, it’s cool. It’s just that not many people know about it. Because I have like this dual life. In the beauty world, I’m someone cool. Like Bianca thinks my job is awesome, even though, most times, I have to cancel our plans. But still, she understands why I love it so much and gets behind me, supports me. And then all of these people online who follow me and watch my videos, they believe in what I do. Hell, they take my advice and send me pictures of my looks that they have implemented on their faces. That’s epic, you know? But then there’s this whole other side that just feels like…well, like this set. I’m exactly like my film set.”
“Hot and tight?” Everest grins, playfully.
“You bad boy.” I smack him, jokingly. “I was thinking it looks great from the frame but inside, babe, I’m a mess. I’m just faking it, you know?”
“But you’re not.” He turns his head a little, looking honestly like he’s listening to what I’m saying and understanding me. His deep green eyes gaze into a part of my soul as he disputes my insecurities, sending my heart into a tailspin. “This is real Ginger.” He waves his hand over everything around us. The desk filled with all my make-up I have sweat hours away at Guru Girl to get my hands on and brushes that are a colorful array of powers. The lights. The background in cobalt blue. Me. He holds on to me, putting his hand under my chin in such a gentle, yet possessive, way. “Think of it this way...you’re a girl in New York, a city full of dreamers, fucking millions of people who live here all looking for their big break, and you’re doing it. This is not faking it. This set, this gig you have, this is what it takes to fucking make it. It takes someone who believes so much in what they do that they’re willing to take whatever they have, whatever they can do, and make something more out of it. The people who win, baby, look at me, don’t cry, the people who win, Ginger Darling, are the people that treat it like oxygen. That’s how badly you have to want it. And that’s why Meredith hired you. Because she was once that type of girl that needed to catch her breath when she was drowning.” Everest wipes the tears from my eyes, but keeps ahold of my chin.
A Very Merry Alpha Christmas Page 5
