“As you all know,” Michael grinned, “tonight we will have a little surprise after our trivia game. We’ve arranged a bonus game to double the donations. Two members of the lead two teams will battle it out in a game of Newlyweds!” The hall erupted with excitement, surprised gasps, and applause.
“What?” Celeste’s hissed to me.
I put a hand to her knee to quiet her. Our boss continued, “It’s a shame Payton is ill, he was supposed to be the host, as it was his idea. Anyway, let’s begin!”
“What’s Newlyweds?” She whispered as we weaved through the tables to the dance floor where all the chairs and tables were set up for the teams.
“I don’t know. We’ve never done that. Apparently, Payton can keep a secret when he wants to,” I said through clenched teeth and a forced smile.
“I think it’s that game where we have to know things about each other.” I’m sure my expression matched the dread in her eyes.
“I think we’ll be fine.” I reassured her.
“Fine? We’re gonna lose.” I could see the panic in the pounding of her throat.
“Just focus on the trivia, and then we’ll have to…. figure it out.” I pulled out her chair and she took her seat. Our buzzer glared red at us.
CHAPTER 23
Celeste
Isaac and I didn’t trip up once. Every answer we gave increased our donation by one hundred pounds. The teams around us dropped like flies until it was just us, Kieran’s team, and another team. Isaac’s eyes were filled with excited fire. I was high on his approval, on our elation as we inched closer to winning. By the time dinner was served and over we emerged victorious, Kieran’s team in a distant second.
Our boss thanked the losing team and sent us all from the stage. “Let’s all take a break. Congratulations Isaac and Celeste for having raised the most amount tonight for Global Alliance Against Trafficking, and congratulations to myself and my team for coming in second for International Humanitarian Relief Fund.” He laughed at his own joke and the crowd clapped as we bowed to them. “Eat up everyone. You’ll be back in twenty minutes to play our bonus game to double our total donations in a game of Newlyweds!”
The crowd cheered, but Isaac and I shared a tense glance. We returned to our seats. Isaac grabbed my plate and excused us. “Quick, look up newlywed game questions.” He grabbed my elbow and pulled me behind him as we darted through the tables and out into the hallway.
“What’s your favorite color?” I asked, following him down the corridor until we reached an alcove.
“Black. Favorite place to visit?” Isaac replied through a forkful of pasta.
“Mine’s green. Um… I don’t know. Just say Mexico.” I stole the fork from him and stuffed my face, returning the fork.
“Have you been to Mexico?”
“No, but it’s the first thing I can think of.”
Isaac pointed the fork accusingly at me. “Not even as an undergrad for spring break?"
I snatched the fork away from his stupid grin. “Do I look like I partied hard in undergrad?”
“Hm. There’s a lot I don’t know about you, Miss McAlaster. You’ve surprised me before.” Fuck he was so handsome in those jeans. And the adrenaline of winning by his side was muddying my resolve. I was supposed to be keeping my distance. No kissing the boss! It was my new rule.
Yet, here you are sharing a fork and thinking about how sharp his canines are.
“Well, I didn’t,” I snapped.
“So, what's your idea of fun?”
“Isaac, focus.”
“What?” His expression twisted.
“I'm trying to win here.”
“So am I?”
“So, let's stick to google questions because that probably about as far as Payton thought.” I didn’t have the balls to meet his gaze. I’d thrown a heavy cloak on top of the smoldering heat between us. I had spent the better portion of the past week preparing myself to tamp down any of the feelings I had when I caught him watching me. I couldn’t go there with him.
I just… couldn’t.
We quizzed each other rapid-fire, and I tried my best to retain his answers. Our time was up. We were called back to the dance floor, took our seats opposite one another, and pushed the nervous energy down our throats. There were whiteboards and dry erase markers on our seats. I sat next to Kieran, our partners across from us. She grinned wickedly at me.
Isaac and I were at a complete disadvantage. I hoped that the English trope of awkwardly never sharing anything personal would work in my favor and that we wouldn’t be put to shame. At least let us lose by only a little bit.
“First the ladies. What is your partner’s favorite color?”
I scribbled black. Isaac wrote black. We got the point.
“Gentleman, where was your partner born?”
Isaac revealed his answer, “New York.” I held up mine: Connecticut.
“Ladies, where was your partner born?”
The countryside. Isaac revealed some shire I could hardly pronounce.
“Pets name.”
Wrong.
“Favorite book.”
No clue.
“Favorite movie.”
Did he even have a television in his apartment? I couldn't remember.
We flipped over the wrong answers over and over. It was borderline embarrassing how few we got right in comparison to Kieran and her partner, who got about half their answers right. I could see Isaac fuming beneath his forced smiles. I just laughed and laughed at how absurd our answers were. We didn’t know anything about each other. Not really. Not any of the mundane things that come from familiarity and friendship.
“Last question, no wrong answers.” A tiny mercy to our pitiful show of companionship. “What was your first impression of one another.”
I scribbled down, “Short and smart.”
Isaac flipped his board over. Intelligent. Organized.
I let out a triumphant holler, at least we got that one.
It was my turn. I scribbled that my first impression of him—driven, messy.
He flipped his board over. Disorganized.
The crowd laughed. Isaac took the crowd’s teasing more gracefully than I expected.
We lost by well over a thousand pounds. When Isaac took my hand to bow this time his grip was tense and crushing. He led me to the bar across the hall, I felt his head bow to mine. “How did you get cats or dogs wrong? Do I look like a cat man to you?”
“I don’t know. I guessed!”
“And video games? I haven’t played a video game since I was a lad!”
“I guessed! Lots of guys play video games for fun.”
“Well, if you hadn’t cut me off when I asked what you do for fun, we might have gotten that one. And I told you I went to school for history.”
“No you didn’t! You didn’t tell me your major!”
As we approached the bar he ordered two beers. Isaac put a hand to the small of my back, nodded a curt smile at someone as we passed them, and pushed me out onto a veranda. The shadowed balcony lit only by a sconce. “And I prefer whiskey.”
“But you drank beer the other night! And even now!”
He growled, a feral, angry sound that pissed me off.
I scoffed and shook my hand free of his. “Don’t you dare act like I am the reason we lost here.”
“I knew more about you! Explain that!”
“I share more than you do! You never talk about yourself!”
His expression shifted to something entirely different, unreadable. “Last time I checked, you’ve been avoiding me all week.”
I snapped my head to the balcony door. “Oh my God. Quiet down, people are going to hear.” I hissed.
Isaac shut the door to the ballroom and stalked to me, prowling in for the kill. “Why have you been avoiding me?”
“I wasn’t,” I lied. I couldn’t look at him. Couldn’t face the feelings I had about our little tryst and the way my body reacted only to him, thoughts of
him, memories of his tongue to mine.
“Yeah? Look me in the eyes.”
I focused on how close our shoes were, boring holes into our matching black sneakers. Gripped my beer until my knuckles were white. I trembled as his finger and thumb guided my chin up to meet his face. He didn’t look angry anymore, or accusing. He looked… hurt.
“I can’t,” I whispered, my eyes downturned. “I was avoiding you. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I thought we were,” his voice trailed and got swept away by the warm breeze. His fingers brushed my hair behind my ear, and I felt that caress in my heart and between my legs. “What is your favorite movie?” He murmured, just a decibel above a whisper.
I took an unsteady breath and answered truthfully. “I don’t like movies. I like television series because I like to get to know the characters. I watch a lot of dark drama, or magic fantasy-type stuff.”
“What’s your favorite food?”
“I do like pizza,” I referenced his answer during the game, “But I love alfredo anything. I love cheese.”
“I like cheese, too,” he said, breaking his intense gaze to laugh nervously with me. His fingertips had left my ear and were grazing lightly down my arm.
The space between us vibrated with white hot electricity. I wrapped my fingers around his palm as he was about to pull away.
“What’s your favorite cheese?” I asked playfully, his fingers immediately laced with mine.
“Brie,” he replied, taking a half step towards me. He turned my palm up and traced a line down my middle finger and across the lines of my palm. The feather-light touch tickled and I smiled up at him. While our fingertips danced, he brought his other hand to my hair, taking a lock of it and running his fingers down the curled length.
“I love brie,” I added. “Ever have it baked?” My entire body tingled from my scalp to my toes, which curled inside my flats.
“No,” he whispered. I could feel his breath on my cheek. The sultry, woodsy smell of his cologne filled my lungs, intoxicating. He wanted to kiss me again.
I wanted to kiss him.
I’d stayed away because I knew this proximity was dangerous.
“I’ll make it for you one day,” I promised. Isaac licked his lips and leaned in slightly to me, his fingers played with my hair by my waist.
“Are you mad we lost?” I traced the line of his jaw, my heart pounding against my ribs, I was trembling as if I’d never been touched before.
“Furious,” he leaned in, the words touching my lips. He pulled away. His eyes bore into mine, lighting me on fire.
I leaned in, closed my eyes, close enough to feel his soft lips against mine, “Are you going to punish me?” A thrill went up my spine at the prospect. I licked my lips, aching for him to kiss me.
“Would you like that?”
I nodded. I reached for the hard leather of his belt and slipped my fingers into his jeans, pulling him into me by his belt buckle. Our bodies collided. He caught his weight on the banister behind me, pressing the small of my back into the iron. His breath was shaky now, and he kissed my cheek. I turned my lips to his, but he didn’t kiss me. Isaac laced his fingers into the back of my skull and pulled my hair just enough for it to send a delicious prickle of pain down my back.
“Don’t ask me for something you don’t really want,” he whispered into my ear. Hot, pulsing. “I already told you where I stand.”
“Just once,” I begged. To get you out of my system.
“And then what? We act like nothing happened again?”
“Yes.” I ground my hips into his, trying to find relief for the growing pressure between my thighs.
“Because that’s working so well for us.” He pulled his hard length away from me and groaned. “And what if I want you more than just once?”
“You won’t.” I ran my hands under his shirt, his skin was soft and hot against my cold fingers.
“I’m going to fuck that delusion right out of you.” His hand grazed my waist, rising to the swell of my breast. But he didn’t touch me there, he was drawing lines across the perimeter of my body, sending a shiver through me. His hand drifted down to my hip. “No one can know. Not even Kieran.” He pulled away and looked into my eyes.
“Okay,” I agreed.
“And for as long as we do this, you’re mine. Only mine,” he demanded.
“Then you have to give up anyone else you’re with, too,” I retorted.
“Naturally. But just so you know, I’m not with anyone, in any kind of way.”
“Me neither. Are you… clean?” I was horny but I wasn’t stupid.
He nodded. “Just got tested at my yearly checkup last week. Birth control?”
I nodded.
Isaac slid his palm from my hip up the curve of my waist, then behind my back to pull me to him. He wrapped his fingers around my nape and kissed my cheek. I wrapped my arms around him and dared to sneak my palms to the bare skin of his lower back. Isaac’s breath hitched in my ear and he nipped at my neck. I felt those teeth all the way down to my toes. “Let’s go back inside,” he hummed into my hair. The air where he stood was frozen over when he pulled away and shifted his erection. He smirked at me, “Are you going out after?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Good. You know where I live, meet me there at midnight.” He reached for the beer he’d put down on a bistro table and downed it in one gulp.
We re-entered the party. Isaac looked so cool and collected. I was flustered and drowning in the heat of his closeness. We ate dessert with our donors, who made jokes about how distant we were. They assured us that they weren’t angry that we lost the bonus round.
“Next time, I’ll make sure Celeste and I know every last detail about each other,” Isaac laughed charmingly. Under the table, his hand trickled from my knee up my thigh. He gave it a gentle squeeze and I smiled at the donors, concealing my blush with a glass of water. I swatted Isaac’s hand away, and he raised his glass to me.
The event wrapped up close to ten o’clock and everyone exchanged locations to meet up at a club downtown. Kieran wrapped her arm around my waist, “Sorry for crushing your first fundraiser,” she gave my hip a squeeze and threw her head over her shoulder. She smiled wickedly at Isaac, “But watching you two squares squirm was worth it.”
“We’ll get you at Christmastime.” Isaac nudged Kieran with his hip, and I stumbled on the other side of her.
“Ah, but I ruined your streak today and it’s all that matters!” she sang. We all dropped into a cab together, Isaac and I on opposite sides of Kieran. “Did Isaac chew you out?” she asked with a chortle.
“What?” I stole a look at Isaac, who steeled his expression.
“On the balcony,” she looked to Isaac.
“Yeah. He was pissed.” I wasn’t lying. Isaac let out a breath.
Isaac leaned into Kieran a coltish grin on his face. “I’m always nice to Celeste.”
Kieran snorted a laugh. “I don’t believe you.”
“I'm nice to you,” he replied.
“I don’t work for you,” Kieran patted his knee.
We arrived at the club and found our group already settling in at the bar and at a booth towards the back of the club. Music pulsed through the floor, and I took a shot of tequila, letting the burn replace my thundering heartbeat. Isaac smiled wickedly at me from across the table, engaged in conversation with a colleague.
“Let’s dance,” Kieran grabbed my hand and I followed her.
“Isaac is making eyes at you,” she ran a hand through my hair, “let’s give him something to watch.”
“Kieran, no,” I protested, but she pressed into me, giggling. Perhaps it was the alcohol, or the pent-up sexual frustration of being left on that balcony, or the anticipation of having sex with Isaac at midnight, but when Kieran pressed her ass into my groin I felt a familiar throb of arousal. She raised her hands up, and I wrapped my arm around her waist, resting my hand on her navel. We sw
ayed to the Latin music, slaves to the tempo, enslaved to her beauty.
I stole a glance at Isaac and he watched us, a glass of amber liquid to his lips. He winked at me as more of our colleagues joined us on the dance floor. A pulsing mass of limbs and laughter. I closed my eyes and turned my face into Kieran’s hair. I kissed her cheek playfully and she turned around to face me, every inch of her pressing against me, every inch of us being crushed by our mutual friends and coworkers. I allowed myself to become lost to the exhilarating sensation of it all. The bodies, the laughter, the drinking and sweat and dancing.
I caught Isaac watching me, his expression shadowed as he entertained someone’s conversation. He nodded and his lips moved as he replied, but his eyes raked down my body, talons leaving a burning trail in their wake. Isaac turned his wrist and looked at his watch, then wet his lips with his tongue, the small gesture a promise across the dance floor. My insides flipped when our eyes met again, as if he was counting down the minutes till midnight.
“I’m getting really tired,” I said into Kieran's ear.
“Aw, already?” She whined into mine. “We just got here. You have to make friends with these people, you know.”
“It’s been a long day. The next time you all go out, I’ll come. I promise. And I’ll stay the whole night.”
“You better. Have one of the guys walk you out. Be safe.” She hugged me. I slipped away and headed to the exit. My phone vibrated in my purse.
Isaac’s name blazed up at me.
Leaving so soon, Cinderella?
I want to run home and shower. I responded, hailing a cab.
I plan on doing filthy things to you. My heartbeat quickened. The little blue bubble popped up signaling he wasn’t done talking. My shower’s big enough for the two of us.
See you at midnight. I replied. I hailed a cab, there was no way in hell he was going to see my white granny panties.
No. Fucking. Way.
CHAPTER 24
Isaac
I stood in the doorway, waiting for Celeste to finish walking up the stairs. I buzzed her up and the anticipation of tearing her clothes off had my focus pinned to the doorway. It felt like a dream, nervous energy balled up inside of me, praying I wouldn’t wake up before the good part.
See You Monday: An Office Romance (Weekday series Book 1) Page 18