by Lily Harlem
Derek smiled, though I had an inkling it was slightly strained. He wasn’t big on being the center of attention.
“Thanks,” Derek said, color rising on his cheeks. “It’s been a pleasure to be part of such an inspiring company.”
“To Derek,” Ray said, lifting his wine high before taking a sip.
“To Derek,” the room said as one.
“To Derek,” I added quietly, feeling a weight tug at my heart. Out of all the people at The Fenchurch, it was me who’d miss Derek the most. He was part of my daily life and I couldn’t imagine who’d ever be able to fill his shoes.
“May the party begin,” Ray shouted. He clapped his hands and pointed through a darkened archway.
Thumping music suddenly belted out from the room next door. The tinsel-decorated arch came alive with flashing neon lights and the restaurant erupted in a burst of energy. “Dance until you can dance no more—it’s Christmas!” Ray bellowed around cupped hands.
My feet absorbed the pounding beat, which vibrated right up through my body.
“Excuse me,” Shane said, standing.
I watched as he turned and walked away. His broad shoulders shifted beneath his suit jacket with each of his long, ground-eating strides. A sagging hole gaped in my stomach. He’d gone. Clearly he’d been up for the meal and that was him done for the evening. Either that or he had his eye on someone else he wanted to be with.
He slipped from the room and I turned back to the table, heart heavy. Everyone was pushing back their chairs, finishing dregs of wine and hot-heeling it to the dance floor.
“Come on, Jeremy,” Rachel said, grabbing his arm and smiling broadly. “Show me your moves.”
Jeremy laughed. “You reckon you can handle it?”
“Oh yeah, bring it on, big boy,” she giggled, half walking, half skipping toward the archway.
Jeremy dashed off behind her with a broad grin on his face.
The pimply young guy sitting behind the flowers stuck his head around them and looked at me. He gave a shy smile. “Wanna dance?” I could hardly hear him over the music but I lip-read the words.
I didn’t really want to dance with him. But he had a flicker of hope in his eye and his smile was slightly shaky. I didn’t have the heart to say no.
“Sure.” I pushed up from the table. “Just one dance and then I’m going to turn in. It’s been a long day.” Not to mention my heroes and heroines were calling me.
He grinned and stood. He really was very tall, and very slight. His suit hung on him as if he were a wire coat hanger and his neck looked overly long and very pale.
We walked through the arch and my eardrums were blasted with Manic Machines’ risqué Christmas hit, SlipKnot. The dance floor was heaving with gyrating, thrusting bodies. Arms waved and bodies twisted amongst the bright flashing lights.
We began to bop on the outskirts of the group. He smiled again, exposing his yellowing teeth, and jigged from one foot to the other. He stepped closer, or rather lunged, and I hopped back. I didn’t want any body contact. This was a mercy dance and the sooner it was over the better. I was already thinking of Tobias and Saffron and curling up under the duvet on my four-poster bed. I was going to have such literary fun.
I glanced at Jeremy and Rachel. She’d locked her hands behind his neck and he was swinging her around. They were having a wild time. They were both single and it was clear they were going to end up enjoying hot, naked, sweaty activities together. Making their own heat to combat the icy chill outside, doing the sort of stuff my characters got up to and what I longed to do.
A flicker of jealousy lit within me, but it quickly turned to alarm as the music switched to a slow ballad. Pimply guy reached for me. An excuse to escape grew in my mind.
I stepped backward and bumped into an immovable body.
“Excuse me,” a deep voice rumbled over my shoulder. “This young lady owes me a dance.”
I turned and looked up into Derek’s smiling face. His cheeks were flushed and the disco lights reflected in his thick glasses.
“Derek,” I gasped, full of relief. “Sorry,” I said to my skinny suitor. “He is my boss.”
I pulled a semi-apologetic expression and turned away. I didn’t really feel bad. He wasn’t my type. There would be someone out there for him but it definitely wasn’t me.
Derek put a chaste arm on my waist and wrapped my small hand in his big, soft one. I smiled up at him. “Thanks,” I said.
“You looked like you needed rescuing. I’ve seen that look before.”
“You have?”
“Yes, when that supply postal guy asked you out in the spring.” He laughed. “To his mother’s poetry recital.”
I groaned at the memory. I hadn’t known whether to be monumentally insulted or flattered. I think I’d settled on insulted. “Yeah, no wonder he was single if that was his best date offer.”
“Yeah, must have been hard taking a knock back in front of the whole office though,” Derek said with another huff of amusement.
“He shouldn’t have asked me out in front of everyone.”
Derek’s face turned serious. “But what about now, poppet? Is anyone taking you on dates to the West End or for long, lazy walks around Hyde Park on a Sunday morning? Gareth, maybe?”
“Oh no, there’s nothing between me and Gareth, we’re just friends. But I’m a romantic at heart and I live in hope of finding the one.” Why people thought Gareth and I might hook up was a mystery. He was a mate, that was all. There was no spark between us.
“Love and romance will definitely find you,” Derek said firmly. “Probably when you least expect it. Look at me and Janice. There I was, standing in the queue at Covent Garden buying candy floss for my little sister and suddenly there she was, smiling at me from behind a pink, sugary cloud, all shy and pretty with big blue eyes.”
I smiled. I’d heard the story before. It was his “love at first sight” speech.
“We stepped out together the next night and were married six months later,” he went on. “I don’t believe in hanging around. If there is something you want, go for it. Some things in life are worth taking on the ‘terrier’ attitude for even if it’s not really in your nature. Don’t you think?”
I nodded. He was right. Maybe I should take on the terrier attitude. There were things I wanted, no make that needed, and I wasn’t any closer to getting them at the moment.
“You just have to grab hold of opportunities,” he was saying. “Grab hold and don’t let go, it’s the only way sometimes.”
That was all very well, but I needed an opportunity to get rid of my damn virginity. To someone handsome and dashing, someone sophisticated and experienced, and that opportunity just didn’t seem to be coming my way. But maybe with this new look, this new flicker of confidence Dawn had shown me I possessed, I had more chance of achieving my aim in the New Year. I wasn’t so naïve to think that just the look would change me. I needed to change inside too. I needed to be more proactive in looking for opportunities and if I found them, like Derek said, I had to go for it.
The song ended and in its place another slow ballad started.
“Perfect,” Derek said, grinning down at me. “Lady in Red couldn’t be better since I’m dancing with the only lady wearing red in the room.” His face got serious and I noticed a few beads of sweat on his forehead. “Seriously, Ashley, I’m really going to miss the office. Janice is so excited and so am I, but it’s going to be hard not seeing my team every day and sharing a laugh over our morning coffee…” His voice trailed off and he looked over my left shoulder. His arm tightened on my waist and he spun me around.
My feet stumbled as I came face to chest with Shane Galloway.
I looked up.
He stared down.
He’d ditched his jacket and tie and his white shirt shone neon in the disco lights. Where he’d undone his collar a small collection of dark hairs curled on his chest.
“May I?” Shane asked Derek, though his dark gaze s
tayed captured with mine.
“Be my guest,” Derek said, releasing me and stepping backward. “To tell you the truth, I could do with wetting my whistle.” He made a drinking motion with his hand. “I’ll catch you later, Ashley. Don’t forget what we were talking about.” He gave me a quick wink then was swallowed by the crowd.
I stood, arms at my sides, as a rush of joy washed through me. Shane was still at the party and not only that, he was looking at me with the same dark twinkle in his eye he’d had earlier.
“Come here, lady in red,” he said, reaching for me with both hands. I stifled a gasp as he confidently wrapped one arm around my waist and caught my hand in his. He pulled our knotted fingers against his chest and tugged my body close.
My breasts pressed against our joined hands, the exposed flesh peeping over my dress just touching the back of his knuckles and the fold of my own thumb. He swept his tongue over his bottom lip, coated it in a damp sheen, and kept his hand exactly where it was.
Reaching up with my free hand, I rested my palm over his shoulder and felt the hardness of taut muscle beneath his shirt, lean and strong, firm and toned. He set up a gentle sway to the music and I followed his lead, absorbing his body heat. “I thought you’d gone,” I said.
“I had to make a call. My sister was driving back from Scotland after visiting a friend. I wanted to make sure she’d made it okay through the snow.”
“And did she?”
“Yeah, she’s home safe and sound.” His mouth broke into a smile and small creases darted toward his temples. “Sipping cocoa with the cat curled up on her lap.”
“Good, I’m glad,” I said, mesmerized by his handsome face.
He slid his hand up my back and ducked his head to my ear. I breathed in deep as the skin on his jawline came close to my face. He smelled divine, a “fresh from the shower scent” that reminded me of open water and clean air.
“Just as well,” he murmured. “I’ve just looked outside. We’re well and truly snowed in here, not much I could have done to help her if she’d got stuck somewhere.”
“We are?” I asked. “Snowed in?”
“Oh, yes. We’re trapped, no one is going anywhere, in or out of this place.”
As he spoke, his hot breath washed over my neck and generated a tickle over my scalp. I’d never experienced a feeling like it before. It was pleasurable. It was exciting. It was sexy as hell. “At least it’s nice and warm in the hotel and there’s plenty of food and drink,” I managed.
He pulled back and grinned. “Yeah, but if this ancient heating system breaks down we may have to get inventive with ways to keep warm.”
I looked into his eyes. They held a cheeky glint and one side of his mouth twitched, creating a tiny dimple in his right cheek.
“What do you suggest?” I asked.
“Well.” He tipped his head to the side and narrowed his eyes as if contemplating options. “We could always just drag extra blankets on to the beds, make hot water bottles and drink tea or, and this is probably more advisable, we could share body heat, generate our own warmth. I hear it can save your life to get close and cozy with someone on a cold winter’s night.”
“Close and cozy,” I repeated in a whisper, hardly daring to acknowledge in my mind what he was suggesting.
“Mmm.” His face was so near to mine, hovering just a hair’s breadth away. “Close and cozy and…naked.”
My body jerked. It was involuntary. I hadn’t meant to jump within his arms. But his words were like whips of sensation that traveled around my brain then sent darts of pleasure and terror to all the corners of my being. Naked. With him? Me with Shane Galloway?
He huffed and pulled his head back. “Sorry,” he said. “Guess I’m the only one here hoping the heating breaks down, eh?”
“Er, no, not at all.” I averted my gaze from his. My thoughts were spinning. What was I supposed to say to that? If I said I wanted the heating to break down I was saying I wanted to get close and cozy and naked with him—hell, I did. And if I said I didn’t want the heating to break down that was saying I wasn’t attracted to him—and I was. I was so attracted to him I wanted to stay in his arms all night. I wanted to kiss him, lick him, adore him all over. I wanted to do the things Tobias and Saffron did on their first night together, and then the things Daisy and Gray did and…
Heat rose on my cheeks again. Another blush was about to attack. Burying my head into the crook between his chest and his shoulder, I let my hot skin rest on his soft shirt. He smoothed his hand up my back, settling it beneath my hair and stroking a gentle circle.
“Sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to be so full on. It’s just been a long time since I held a beautiful woman in my arms. I’ve been so caught up in work and study and all that.”
“It’s okay,” I murmured, sliding my hands over his shoulders and linking them at the nape of his neck. I tipped my face up to look into his dark eyes. Opportunities, Derek had said. You’ve got to grab them like a terrier and not let go, even if it’s hard to go against your nature, it’s what you’ve got to do. Pulling in a breath, I swallowed a lump of apprehension. “I want the heating to break down too,” I said, beating down a wave of anxiety at the meaning behind my words. We were talking in code. Flirting with each other and testing the water. I’d just told Shane Galloway I wanted to get naked with him.
Suddenly the music switched. A hard rock song came on, deafening me with its meaty base. Couples around us snapped apart and began to jig with gusto, waving their arms and kicking out their legs. Shane and I stayed locked together.
“You wanna get out of here?” he asked, his face suddenly serious and his brows pulled low.
I sucked in a breath. The disco air was hot and the plethora of perfumes and sweat mixed with the smells of dinner suddenly too strong. The music was unbearably loud and the floor overcrowded. ”Yes,” I said, nodding. “Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter Three
As we walked back through the near-empty dining room, Shane scooped up his jacket and I grabbed my purse. Derek and Ray sat in the corner, deep in conversation and deeper in a bottle of Bordeaux. I was grateful Derek didn’t look up as Shane and I slipped out.
“Do you want another drink first?” Shane asked, gesturing at the Champagne Lounge.
I glanced into the bar. It was empty except for staff. Did I want another drink first? First before what? Sex? No, I’d had enough alcohol. If I was going to have sex with Shane then I wanted to be compos mentis. I wanted to feel, experience and remember every tiny detail of our time together.
“No, I’m fine, thanks. I might just nip to the ladies’ though.” I pointed to the restroom opposite.
“Sure.” He shrugged and tossed his jacket over his shoulder.
I pushed into the bathroom, but didn’t use the toilet, instead going to the counter, leaning over the sink and staring at my own reflection. I hardly recognized myself. The lipstick had stayed in place perfectly and a matching rosy glow had settled on my cheeks. My hair was still bouncy and full around my head and it flowed over my shoulders in a soft river. The diamonds in my necklace glistened from the hollow of my neck and my breasts shifted up and down with each breath.
But my eyes had changed since I’d last looked at them. Not the long black lashes or the color of my irises, but the depth, the base. Staring some more, I tried to work out what was so different. And then it hit me. My eyes were filled with desire, real desire. They were brimming with lust for a man who wanted me. Not a fictitious hero in a book, the figment of someone else’s imagination, but a real, live flesh-and-blood man. They sparkled, clear and sure. Shane was exactly what I needed. There was no cause for nerves or hesitation. I’d been waiting my whole adult life for this night and finally it had arrived.
Standing straight, I skimmed my hands into the dip of my waist and over the soft rise of my hips. Red was so good for me, it symbolized my passion about to be unlocked, my female desires and my new “grabbing opportunities” mant
ra.
I pushed through the restroom door feeling sure of my decision and ready to embrace my night with Shane Galloway’s delectable body.
He was leaning against the opposite corridor wall, one leg bent and his jacket hooked onto his finger and hanging down his arm. He looked like a dashing millionaire waiting for the woman of his dreams, confident that his empire was being run smoothly while he saw to other, more carnal needs.
His gaze lifted to my face and he pushed away from the wall. “You okay?” he asked in his soft Northern accent.
Smiling, I dragged in a deep breath. “Yes, fine.”
His attention dropped down my body, unashamedly roaming right to my toes then all the way back up again. “Your room or mine?”
I couldn’t help the tremor in the center of my belly. His appreciative gaze was like a gentle caress, it was as though he was actually touching me all over.
“Mine,” I said quietly then added, “I got lucky and they gave me a suite.”
His face cracked into a grin. “Perfect. Absolutely perfect.”
We rode the lift in silence. I shifted on my heels and stared at the swirling brass motif above the lift buttons. My knees were a little weak and not quite my own. When the doors slid open, I was grateful for the arm Shane offered.
Stopping at the second room on the left, I slipped my keycard into the lock, pushed the door and walked in.
Shane stepped in right behind me and the door shut. “Wow, this is fabulous,” he said, blowing out an admiring breath. “You sure did get lucky with this one.” He walked to the sofa and dropped his jacket over the back. “You’ve got a fire and a plasma screen and everything. How cool is that? And I love that picture.” He pointed to a large abstract canvas above the mantle. It looked like a sunset, pyramids and a wonky camel but I couldn’t be sure.
As he admired the artwork, I glanced around. A maid had been in, tidied up my strewn-about clothes and wineglass and turned the fire on. The four table lamps cast buttery shadows on the floor and ceiling.