by Amanda Adams
But what if Zach doesn’t want me? What if he decides not to show up after all? I doubt a fancy Christmas party is his kind of thing. “You sure I look okay? Not too slutty?” I ask Lindsey.
“You are a spectacular vision. If he has a penis, he won’t be able to resist. Hell, I don’t have one and I almost can’t resist. Your ass looks positively sizzling. If you don’t leave soon, you could be in trouble.”
“You’re so ridiculous.”
“I am so aware of that, so go. You’re going to be late already. You’re beautiful and smart and beautiful and nice and smoking hot and beautiful. Trust me, he’s doomed and doesn’t even know it yet.”
“Thank you so much for coming over to help me get ready.”
“You’re my girl. We’d do anything for each other.” Lindsey grabs my glasses off my dresser and hands them to me. “Here, you won’t be able to find him without these.” She holds up my black glasses and crinkles her nose as she inspects them. “You’re sure this is the all you have? They don’t match the ensemble. They should be red.”
“My other pair broke, this is all I have.”
“Well, I guess black goes with anything. They’ll do.” She puts them on my face and smiles as she grabs my shoulders and turns me toward the door. “Now, go get him.” She smacks me on the ass like a football player. “Yum.”
“You’re so crazy. I love you.”
“Love you back. Good luck.”
Lindsey ordered me a car, and the driver arrives just as I walk out the front door. What would I do without her? I wish she could go with me; she is always the life of the party, smart, funny, bold and loves to flirt. I’m not one for small talk, but when she is with me, I never worry. She does all the talking for me. I begged and begged her to go. Not tonight, she insisted. For some stupid reason, she thinks tonight I need to be on my own. And she is right. I can do this. I must do this.
I take a deep breath as the car arrives at the hotel. A hotel valet opens the door for me and I tip the driver as I step into the cool night air. Unable to move, I stand and stare at the hotel entrance, doubts creep into my mind.
This is all just a huge mistake. What I was thinking? I realize just how cold it is. All the money I spent on this outfit and I forgot a sweater to cover my bare shoulders. I should go back to my apartment to get one. Maybe I should go back to my apartment and forget this whole thing.
I turn around to get back in the car but it’s too late. The car is gone. Damn, I guess I have to go in after all.
I head down red-carpeted hallway after red-carpeted hallway searching for the darn ballroom. Why don’t they mark these things better? Then I recognize several people from the office who seem confident with the direction they are headed so I follow them.
They stop at the coat-check room beside the ballroom and I head through the main entrance and stop. What now? Find someone I recognize? Find a corner to hide in?
I glance across the dance floor and spot the bar. That’s a good place to start; liquid courage is bound to help. And there he is. Zach Steal. And he is staring right at me. My heart jumps in my chest and I freeze. Why is he staring? Is there something wrong with my outfit? Is my dress too short?
My God, he looks great. I start to smile and someone blocks my view. Blue dress. Hot body. Heels an inch higher than the ones I’m teetering in.
Shit.
Alexa.
Why is she talking to him? I am totally freaking out. Please tell me I’m not seeing what I think I’m seeing.
He can’t be here with her. Fate wouldn’t be that cruel.
Is that why he stopped by my desk looking for her? Is that his date?
I turn and walk in the opposite direction as fast as I can in these damn high heels.
Zach
I’m desperate as I search the room while Alexa drags me beside her. Bethany is gone, nowhere in sight. Did I imagine her? Am I losing my mind? How could she have disappeared so fast?
Dinner at Jack’s table seems to drag on forever but for his continual grinning at me. He can tell I’m miserable. He knows, and he’s laughing at me. I can see it in his eyes. The situation is kind of funny. Alexa never stops talking, never stops cackling, all too amused by everything Jack says. I almost burst out laughing several times as he rolls his eyes in my direction. If she only knew Jack well enough to know his low tolerance for social climbing kiss-asses, she would dial it back.
I’m too distracted to stop Alexa from embarrassing herself. I scan the room non-stop, trying to find Bethany, yet I can’t. Did she leave already? Did I imagine the whole thing?
“Zach, honey.” Alexa tugs on my sleeve.
“What?”
“I said, aren’t you excited for the launch of the new model next week? The design team really outdid themselves with this one.”
“Huh? Oh yeah, sure.” Our new bike has all the geeky bells and whistles, but looks like a hard-core rider’s dream. She’s fast, sleek, and can give any street bike on the market a run for the money. But Alexa is looking at me with the glassy-eyed, false smile she uses when she’s making a sale. She has no idea I designed the bike from the ground up. Hell, she has no idea I own a large part of the company.
She wants to fuck a bad boy. Trouble is, I’m not interested in what she’s offering.
“Excuse me. I’m going to the restroom.” I say as I stand up and excuse myself from the table.
“Okay, but don’t be gone long. You owe me a dance.”
As I walk around the outside of the ballroom, I search every table and dark corner. If I see that red dress, it will catch my eye in an instant. But Bethany is nowhere, disappeared like smoke in the wind.
I head out to the lobby to escape the frenzied atmosphere of the party and search for a comfortable place to sit. A solitary large grey chair that looks out over the city through a set of large, plate glass windows draws me in and I sink into its cushions. The clock on the tower outside shows 9:30. If I sit here long enough, I will have exhausted enough time at the party so I can make my excuses and leave. I doubt Alexa noticed I haven’t returned. She’s busy with Jack and is in full schmoozing mode.
As I sit and relax, my mind can only think of going to work on Monday. Bethany will be back at her desk, watching me as I leave the design meeting and I won’t let her disappear on me again. My mind races with thoughts of what I might say.
The sound of laughter from the front desk snaps me out of my trance and I glance down at my watch to see that twenty minutes have passed as I daydreamed. Alexa hasn’t bothered to come find me. I am relieved but I should head back into the fray, make one final appearance so I can leave.
I walk across the lobby and head down the hallway toward the ballroom wondering what excuse I can come up with to leave. As I turn the corner and cross into a wall of sound and flashing lights, I spot the red dress walking along the edge of the dance floor toward the bar.
I didn’t imagine her or that dress. She is here and I’ve never seen anything look so good.
The fabric accentuates every curve of her body. An open back exposes the pale skin of her spine down to her curvy ass. Every step reinvents sex in motion, under sparkling red cover, and I have to get my hands on her. I could spend an entire afternoon on that ass in that dress. I pick up my pace to catch her and reach out when I get close enough. My palm grasps the top of her hand, just as she reaches the far edge of the dance floor.
“Dance with me.” My palm on her hand feels like I’m touching fire. An electrical jolt runs up my arm to my chest. She turns and her face lights up my night with a smile.
6
Bethany
An hour in the bathroom is all it took. An hour, that’s all. Now I’m fine. It took everything inside me to keep from crying my eyes out and ruining my makeup. I spent all my savings on this dress, came to this stupid Christmas party, and now what? I’m by myself and that bitch is with him, that horrible awful woman.
Okay. Fine. He can have her. If that is what he wants, what he likes,
then he deserves her. No, they deserve each other.
That’s what I get for lusting after a guy like that anyway. He’s edgy and dark and barely talks. Tall, dark and handsome. Brooding. The typical bad boy mothers around the world plot to warn their daughters about.
What the hell was I thinking? He is way out of my league. What would I even do with a guy like that? Make him hot cocoa and cuddle on the couch watching chick-flicks on a Friday night?
Had I imagined him grinning at me, telling me I was adorable and wiping the movie-inspired tears from my cheeks with his big, meaty hands before he fucked my brains out on the living room floor? Okay. Yeah. I’d imagined that whole scenario a few too many times. Of course I had, I’m very creative.
It’s time to tell my over-active imagination to knock it off.
Maybe I should just go back to milquetoast Elliott. Sure, he’d taken the ring back and hadn’t argued with me. What if even boring, steady Elliott wouldn’t take me back?
Now I really want to cry.
I wander my way back through the red-carpeted halls toward the beat of the music. I’m going back into the stupid party to have at least one drink before I leave. As I stand in the doorway, I pause to search the entire room. Thank goodness, I don’t see him. Maybe he’s gone. The dance floor is packed and everybody else seems to be having a good time. I head for the bar. I’ll be needing a straight tequila shot, or two, maybe three.
As I near the bar and move toward the queue someone grabs my hand. I turn as my arm tingles, alive with energy for the second time today. I see a large, masculine hand. Sexy. That hand is attached to an arm in a black dinner jacket. I follow the line of his arm up to those eyes. Blue as ice and smiling at me.
He asks me something, I don’t hear what, nor do I care, but I nod and follow him to the dance floor. My entire body is tingling and before I realize what is happening, I am in his arms moving to music I don’t even hear.
“Where did you go? I’ve been looking for you.” Zach stares into my eyes and grins.
“You have?” I want to smack myself. The hottest man on the planet tells me he’s been looking for me, and that’s all I’ve got? Sheesh. I should have practiced talking today.
“Yes, where did you disappear to?”
I lie, “Oh, I just stepped out for a minute.”
“You look exquisite. I saw you come in earlier but then you disappeared.” He lowers his head to mine and his lips graze my cheek. “I’ve been searching for you all night.”
Distracted, my gaze traces the line of tattoos just visible above his collar on the right side of his neck. I would love to find out where they end. As he pulls me closer, pressing his body against mine, I look up to find him staring into my eyes. He said something, right? Something that requires a response… “You, you look beautiful, too. I mean handsome.” I stammer. He’s a god among mortals. Sexy.
“Why is it I find you so adorable?”
“You do?” Wait… that didn’t even make sense. Did it? Why is it that just being around him turns me into a bumbling idiot? I’m not this stupid. But whenever he’s around, I regress to two-year-old, single-word sentence stupidity.
“Yes, I do. Do you have any idea how much I look forward to walking past your desk every day?”
“Me, too.” He smiles down at me and pulls my hips into his. He’s hard and hot and I am trying to figure out what is happening here. “I mean, I look forward to you walking past my desk every day.”
“But you’ve never said a word to me.”
“I’ve been too afraid. You don’t seem like the kind of guy that would be interested in a girl like me.” His cock stiffens against my belly and he knows I can feel it as he presses harder against me.
“You’re exactly the kind of girl a guy like me would be interested in.”
I pause to absorb what he said, what I’m feeling. I’m having one of those moments, the kind girls dream of, and I can’t contain my excitement. Screw it, I say to myself, I didn’t get all dolled up for nothing and I blurt out. “I’ve dreamt of you.” My cheeks flush at my confession and I turn away for a moment, too shocked by my own admission to hold his gaze.
Heat is emanating off his body in waves or is it just me?
And I turn back to gaze into his eyes and confess all. “You might not believe me but I’ve thought about you since the first day you walked by my desk. And I’ve never done anything like this, but I knew I could tonight. I had to. I came here, in this dress, for you, tonight. Just for you.”
A tap on my shoulder breaks my concentration and I turn to find Alexa behind me, staring me down.
“Bethany.” She smiles in her wicked way. “I see you met my date. Zach, you know Bethany, right? She works for me, remember? Thanks for keeping him company while I freshened up, honey. You don’t mind if I cut in.”
“You two are here together?” I ask and turn to Zach. His smile is gone and I see the truth in his eyes, the guilt, and my heart breaks a little.
“Of course, we’re here together.” Alexa practically shoves at my shoulder, but Zach hasn’t released his hold. “The dear even picked me up in a limousine. We’ve planned this date for a month and it’s been divine.” Alexa shoves herself between us. “Zach honey, just one more dance and we can head back to my place.”
I stand, stunned into silence, and she pulls Zach away into the flow of bodies on the dance floor.
Before the tears can stream down my cheeks, I turn and walk straight out the door.
7
Bethany, Monday morning, the office
It’s Monday and I’m back in the elevator listening to awful canned music again. The elevator lurches beneath my feet, shooting me up through space and I dread the opening of the doors. At least I only have to work three days this week. The office closes down on Christmas Eve, which is Thursday, and I can’t wait.
I tried to rally after humiliating myself at the dance, but the rest of my weekend saw little improvement. I sat around my apartment, sulking like a fool, and watched one cheesy Christmas movie after another.
When I ran out of that party like a freak, I didn’t turn back. I’d never been so grateful for a filthy taxi in my life. I jumped in that car like the devil himself was chasing me. I’m sure the driver had been waiting for someone else, but I didn’t care. I begged him to take me, to speed my escape and deliver me home.
The tears must have done the trick. I tried not to cry until I got home, but water kept leaking down my face. I must have seemed pathetic enough for the driver to have sympathy for me because he pulled away from that curb like we were in a spy thriller, squealing the tires like a boss. The poor guy put up with my sobbing the whole way and must have felt bad for me because he didn’t even charge for the ride.
All weekend, the inevitability of Monday morning haunted my dreams, both waking and sleeping.
But honestly, was it really that bad? So what? I dumped my fiancé. So what if I confessed to the hottest guy in the office that I’ve been crushing on him forever? I naïvely told the office bad boy, the leather wearing, brooding, mysterious Zach Steal, that I went to the Christmas party, by myself, just for him. Worse, I admitted wearing that expensive dress, for him, too. All for him.
Oh, and I was grinding on his crotch in happy oblivion right as that bitch, Alexa, tapped me on the shoulder. Perfect. Just perfect.
But he’s so damn tall, and hot, and intense. And he smelled amazing. His hand on mine made me tingle, made me light-headed and giddy. Zach’s attention made me feel like the most beautiful woman in the room.
Okay, so dancing with Zach had been spectacular. I didn’t regret that part. And, if I’m being totally honest, I didn’t regret the grinding, either. In fact, half the reason I was so miserable this weekend was because of just how badly I wanted to do it again.
Naked maybe. In my bed. Or the shower. Hell, the living room floor would do.
Yep. No maybe about that one, definitely naked.
But he asked Alexa to the party, not m
e. Of all people, that vile, wretched, horrible witch, whose life mission appears to be to make me miserable at work.
I had to admit the dirty truth. Alexa is hot, in a skanky kind of way. Her make-up is always perfect. I see her coming out of the gym down the street on a regular basis, every inch of her body toned and smooth and fucking perfect.
I hate her. Just a little. And I have no doubt that they left the party together, drove to her place and started fucking by the time I opened my second box of tissues. And now I would have to face both of them, together.
Unfortunately, I can’t escape reality forever. The elevator doors open and I head down the aisle to my desk only to find her sitting at my desk going through my things. She looks gorgeous, of course. Her long blond hair is in an elaborate twist. Her black skirt is short, tight, and shows off legs that go on forever before they reach four-inch, strappy, cute-as-hell heels.
Resisting temptation is hard, but I don’t glance down at my own black silk pants, dark blue blouse and comfortable, sling-back pumps. I’m wearing mascara and a bit of blush, but that’s it. Per the usual.
Alexa looks like she just stepped out of a salon. And, she got to fuck Zach this weekend. Kiss him. Rub her perfect body all over him.
Yep. I hate her.
“Alexa? What are you doing at my desk?”
“You’re late.” Alexa doesn’t even look my way. She’s sitting on the edge of my desk, rifling through my folders.
“I’m not late, this is the same time I get here every day.” Not that she would know. She never arrives when she is supposed to, always at least an hour late. “What are you looking for?”
“We have a very important meeting this morning. We’re presenting the rollout plan for the new model to the executive team.”
My heart jumps in my chest. Finally! I’ve been working on that project for two months. “It’s not on my desk. I didn’t print anything out. It’s all in the cloud.”
Shrugging, she gets off my desk and sits her perfect ass in my chair like it belongs to her. She lifts a few manila folders, opens them, rifles through my files and puts them down. With a sigh, she looks me in the eye. “I need you in that meeting, Bethany.”
