Meet Me Under the Mistletoe
Page 18
The prospect of attending more events with him snags my interest. “More events? Are you expecting to be stood up frequently?”
He smirks and takes a sip of his champagne but doesn’t answer.
* * *
When we get to the party, it’s unlike anything I’ve experienced before. The gala Lee took me to before was hosted at a public venue, but this one is at a mansion. It feels more like a castle as the limo rolls slowly toward the entrance, stopping every now and then for people ahead of us to get out and head inside. Beautiful people—men in tuxedos, women in glittering sheaths and beaded ball gowns.
No wonder he got me that spa day and bought every item of clothing on my body.
Well, almost every item.
Optimistically, I donned a pair of red lacy panties from my own drawer. Not like he’ll see them, but hey, a girl can dream.
When there are only two cars ahead of us, I start preparing to get out. I slide my phone back inside the clutch and sit forward so I can pull on my coat.
Lee sits forward too, stopping me before I get the coat on. “Wait,” he says. “Before we go in, I want to give you your Christmas present.”
Stunned, I drop the heavy material and fold my hands on my lap. “Christmas present?”
He nods, reaching into his deep coat pocket and drawing out a gift box. It looks like jewelry, but he couldn’t have bought me jewelry. That’s a gift men buy for their wives and girlfriends, not their personal assistant.
I take the box from him, but I don’t open it right away. I wasn’t expecting this and I feel so unsure. “You want me to open it right now?”
He smirks. “That’s why I gave it to you.”
I hesitate, but only for a moment. Nestled on a soft bed of black velvet is a beautiful gold bangle bracelet. I don’t wear a lot of bracelets, but because this one is from Lee, it immediately shoots up the charts and becomes my favorite piece of jewelry.
“Wow, Lee. This is beautiful. Thank you so much.”
He nods, watching as I slide the gold bangle around my wrist and clasp it. It complements my dress really well.
I’m not sure what to do with the jewelry box, but the car rolls forward, so I don’t have long to figure it out. My coat has pockets, too, so I shove the jewelry box into an inside pocket and pull it on.
It feels like we’re at a Hollywood premiere when the driver gets out and opens the door for us. My tummy flutters when Lee follows me out, then places a hand at the small of my back to lead me inside.
This is far from a small party, so I’m a little overwhelmed by all the people as we enter the mansion and check our coats.
Once we check our coats, we head through the elegant marble-floored lobby and into a hall lined with trees. Bare trees, wrapped in lights. I peek into a room with with white twinkle lights forming a forest, with “snowbanks” and snow-dusted topiaries. There’s a pathway through the middle of the room, but we don’t take it, following the main hall down to the ballroom.
The ballroom is even grander. An opulent two-story hall with vaulted ceilings and garlands hung from the railings on the top floor. Beautifully decorated Christmas trees are placed all around the room, and there are so many poinsettias. One huge Christmas tree, lit up and practically gilded, is the main attraction.
The room is enormous, so it seems to be a popular gathering place. It’s packed full of guests chattering and admiring the beauty all around. Servers circulate with trays of champagne.
Lee grabs two glasses from a nearby waiter and passes one to me.
“Thank you,” I murmur, but I’m too busy looking around to take a drink.
He isn’t. He takes a sip, his gaze wandering around the room, too, but it’s not the décor he’s preoccupied with. “There are several people here I need to speak with tonight,” he tells me. “I see Foster now, but I don’t see his date. Let’s do a round so I can see who else is here, then we’ll start mingling.”
We make our way around the room and Lee sees a couple more people he needs to speak with. When the first one frees up, he offers a smile and starts to approach.
In a low murmur, he tells me, “I don’t see his date. If she doesn’t come over here in a minute or so, make an excuse so we can talk alone. I’ll find you later.”
“Oh. All right,” I murmur, trying not to feel too disappointed.
I knew it wasn’t a date. I knew he would have to talk shop from time to time.
I didn’t know I would be wandering around a Christmas castle all alone, but that’s what ends up happening. Room after room, I see other people with their dates. I see a gorgeous blonde in a red backless dress standing close to a handsome man with dark hair. She’s facing him, teasing him, a telltale smile on her face. He touches her waist as if he has to exercise great restraint not to grab her and tug her even closer.
Loneliness drags me down just a bit, so I leave the room and try to find one with fewer people in love.
I wander through every room twice before I make my way back to the ballroom. When I do, Lee is still engrossed in conversation, standing in a group of three men.
I wander back out.
I find a mostly empty room, dimly lit with strands of white lights falling like snow from the high ceiling. There are a lot of places to be alone in this room—dark alcoves I see some people taking advantage of, and a bar set up on the other side of the room.
I don’t really want another drink, but there’s nothing else to do right now, so I head over to the bar to get one anyway.
“What’ll you have?” the bartender asks.
“Blinders,” I joke.
He cocks an eyebrow. “What’s in that one?”
I shake my head. “Sorry, just, uh… rum and Coke?”
He nods and gets to fixing my drink.
I move out of line once I have it and drift toward an unoccupied chaise lounge with a table beside it. I suppose I could sit there for a bit and check my phone while I enjoy my drink.
As I’m reaching into the clutch for my phone, someone sits down on the lounge chair near where I’m sitting. I glance up on instinct and see a handsome, golden-haired man in a sharp crimson and black tux. His watchful blue eyes are fixed on me in a way that unmistakably expresses he didn’t sit there by accident. I have the oddest urge to get up and apologize for taking up his space, only I sat down first, so that would be absolutely insane.
I open my mouth to speak, but I can’t seem to find any words.
The man’s perfect mouth quirks, but he looks unsurprised. Maybe he’s used to women getting tongue-tied in his presence.
“Hello,” he says.
There’s nothing like nervousness in his tone. His voice is deep, his tone cultured even just saying that simple word. He’s not out of place at a party like this one, that’s for sure.
“Hello.” My smile feels a bit timid, almost apologetic. I try to shake off this pervasive impulse to apologize for getting in his way.
If my slight discomfort bothers him, I certainly can’t tell.
“We haven’t met,” he states.
I shake my head. “I’m just a guest,” I tell him.
“Who are you here with?”
“Lee Holden?”
He nods as if he knows him, or at least knows of him. “Oh, all right. I haven’t seen him in a while. How is Lee?”
“Good.”
He nods, but watches like he’s not satisfied with my answer. “And Tess?”
My eyes narrow on his handsome face, his eyes now glinting with something like mischief. “I wouldn’t know,” I answer tersely. “They divorced a while back.”
“Ah,” he says, but I can tell he already knew that. “What a pity.”
I don’t bother pretending to agree. Instead, I take a sip of my rum and Coke and turn my attention to my phone screen.
I get the impression if he still wanted my attention, he would have it, but he has plenty more people to talk to tonight, so he’s finished with me.
He stands, but
before walking away, he says, “It was a pleasure meeting you, Georgia.”
My startled gaze jumps to his. “I didn’t give you my name.”
He smiles faintly, but walks away without another word.
Chapter Six
Lee
The night has nearly reached its end before I know it.
I’ve managed to get plenty of business out of the way, but at dinner, I got the distinct impression Georgia might be feeling ignored. Her mood had dipped considerably from where it was when we arrived.
After dinner, I talk to Lucian. His unlikely Constantine companion is dancing nearby, so I look around for my own date to possibly join her and socialize a bit.
I find Georgia at the edge of the room and wave her over. I’m certain she saw me, but she doesn’t come. Instead, she turns and leaves the room.
Georgia doesn’t get mad at me often, but she must be mad now. As soon as I’m finished talking with Lucian, I head off in search of her.
Before I find her, a woman I was speaking with earlier sees me and waves me over. She has had significantly more to drink at this point. Her tight black dress begs to be taken off as she flashes me an intimate smile and asks for a dance.
I take her out on the dance floor, but I won’t take her up on the rest of her offer. I’d never abandon Georgia to leave a party I brought her to with someone else, and meeting up with Heidi afterward would be sleazy—not to mention, we have a working relationship and I prefer not to mix business and pleasure.
As soon as I’m able to shake Heidi, I continue searching for Georgia, but I don’t have to look far. Unfortunately, she’s in the corner of the same room—where it’s quite possible she saw that dance.
She’s also not alone.
I can’t tell who she’s talking to right away—he’s leaning close with his arm braced on the wall beside her. His stance is almost predatory, but Georgia is no skittish prey caught in his trap. Her green eyes glint with pleasure as she leans against the wall and gazes up at him. Whatever he’s saying, she appears to be having a good time.
The knowledge shouldn’t rankle. It’s not like I wanted her to be bored, but I would have much preferred she have a good time drinking and dancing with Elaine Constantine while I chatted with Lucian than cornered by some man—
My thoughts cut off rather abruptly when I get close enough to realize who that man is.
“Caleb Grant.”
He turns his head, an easy smile on his face as his gaze hits mine. “Lee Holden. It’s been a while.”
Not long enough.
Nodding at Georgia with a bullshit smile, I say, “I see you’ve met my date.”
“Date,” Georgia scoffs. She takes a sip of champagne, but I get the immediate impression she’s already had a bit too much of it. “I am not your date. A date is a person you talk to, maybe even dance with, but I…” She gestures to herself, but her train of thought seems to have rolled on without her. Her forehead creases in mild confusion as she tries to remember what she wanted to say.
“She’s lovely,” Caleb states, a bit dryly.
She is lovely. And drunk. “I think it’s time to go,” I tell her.
She shakes her head. “The party isn’t—” She stops and looks to Caleb for an answer. “Is the party over?”
“Not yet,” he assures her.
With a decisive bob of her head, she says, “Excellent. Then why should we leave?”
“I’ve accomplished all I set out to,” I tell her. “Why don’t we find you a bathroom so you can freshen up? I’ll call the car and—”
“I’m not ready to leave,” she informs me. “I’m finally having fun, and now you want to leave?” She shakes her head no.
I don’t appreciate the smirk on Caleb’s face as my date informs us she only started having fun when she started hanging out with him. If she’s going to be mad at me, she can do it in the car on the way home, but it’s time to go.
Grabbing her wrist, I tug her away from the wall. “Come on.”
She pulls her wrist free, glaring at me. “No.”
I narrow my eyes at her, letting her feel a bit of my annoyance. “I’m not going to argue with you, Georgia. We’re leaving.”
“If you want to leave, go ahead. I’m staying.”
My jaw clenches. I work to unclench it and bite out, “I’m your ride home.”
Taking a step closer and looking me dead in the eye, she asks, “You don’t think I can find another one? Maybe I want to leave with Caleb. He’s spent more time with me than you have tonight.”
Her words spark a white-hot flame of fury deep in my core. Grabbing both her arms and jerking her close, I tell her lowly, “You’re not going anywhere with Caleb.”
Rather than shrink away at my roughness, she leans closer. The rich scent of her perfume wafts up and reaches my nostrils. “I will go wherever the hell I want to go. I will do whatever—and whomever—I want, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
My grip on her wrist tightens, even though she didn’t try to get away this time. “Wanna bet?”
She’s all I can see, all I can smell, all I can think about in this moment. It’s not like this is the first time I’ve seen her tonight, but seeing her with another eligible suitor chafes more than knowing she’s going on some dead-end date. Her skin is flushed from the alcohol and her anger, her perfect lips are pursed in annoyance, her emerald eyes glinting angrily. The dress I picked out for her is liquid sin wrapped around her perfect curves. Her auburn hair is piled in a sexy updo with a few tendrils strategically left down and curled, but all I can think about is messing it up—taking those locks in an iron grip and letting her know just what I think about her challenging me.
Her pert little lips challenge me to do just that, and dammit, I want to. I don’t know why I bought her this dress. It’s hard enough to keep my hands off her at the office, but here, right in my face, dressed like temptation and smelling like heaven?
She’s exquisite.
Why didn’t I tell her that?
I yearn to slide my fingers through her silky locks, to caress her cheek with the pad of my thumb and pull her close, but she’s so damn angry at me.
“You’re not the boss of me,” she says.
I crack a smile. “Actually, I am.”
Her eyes narrow to slits. “We’re off the clock, Mr. Holden.”
“This is a work event, Miss McGowan.”
That seems to aggravate her more. Jerking one hand free and using it to claw at the other, she finally breaks my grip and mutters, “Didn’t look like you were working when you had your hands all over that woman on the dance floor.”
“We were dancing,” I say flatly.
“Mm-hmm,” she murmurs as if disinterested, turning away and looking back at Caleb. “I feel like dancing,” she tells him. “Will you dance with me?”
He flicks a glance at me, but doesn’t hesitate to step forward and grab Georgia’s waist. “Of course,” he says, right before whisking her onto the dance floor.
It’s a special kind of torture standing on the sidelines, watching another man hold Georgia in his arms in the dress I bought her, watching her hold on to his shoulders and smile up at him. The closer their bodies get as they dance beneath the glittering chandelier, the worse the feeling gets.
By the time the song ends, I can’t tell if I’m terrified or livid, but I can’t even wait for her to walk back over; I go to her. I weave through the audience, my gaze locked on her as she smiles and thanks Caleb for the dance. His hand lingers on her forearm and I want to rip it off his body.
I swoop in and cut her off mid-laugh as I grab her arm. I don’t miss a step as I proceed to drag her with me through the crowd.
Gasping, she says, “What are you doing?”
“I told you, we’re leaving.”
“Let go of me,” she says, incensed.
I’m not letting go of her little ass until she’s in my car.
“That was so rude! Lee, stop. At least l
et me say goodbye.”
I don’t.
A few seconds pass and she realizes I’m not going to answer, so she says, “If you don’t care about being rude, maybe you should care that you look like a crazy person. People are staring.”
Unfazed, I drag her pretty little ass through the mansion and out to the car.
“My coat,” she cries, pulling on her wrist to try and stop me. “We have to go back in.”
Fuck her coat. I’ll send Esteban in for it, but she’s not going back to the party.
When we finally reach the car, all I can think about is getting her inside and taking her far away from here. I can’t shake the smothering knowledge that the city isn’t far enough, though. I don’t know if Caleb truly liked her, or if he was merely letting her entertain him for a while. If he actually wanted to pursue her…
He will.
I shouldn’t have brought her tonight.
I should’ve known better.
Georgia finally jerks her arm free as we stop beside the limo. She crosses her arms, running her hands over her bare flesh. She must be freezing.
“This was a mistake,” I murmur, opening the limo door myself rather than wait for Esteban.
Georgia shakes her head. I knew she was angry at me, but I’m surprised when I look over and see the sheen of tears glistening in her eyes. “You’re impossible,” she tells me.
“You’re drunk.”
“I’m always drunk,” she snaps back, turning her angry gaze on me. “Usually I’m drunk on you, and you like that, don’t you? I bet it feels good. But it doesn’t always feel good to me. In fact, it never does. It hurts, and it’s lonely, and sometimes I really wish I had the courage to just—to just tell you to go fuck yourself, and move on with my life—”
“Get in the car, Georgia.”
She sniffles, shaking her head. “No. I’m going back in for my coat. You don’t have to wait for me. I’m going to ask Caleb if I can ride home with him and his friends. He said he could get tickets to take me to The Nutcracker tomorrow since I didn’t get to go tonight, and you know what? I’m gonna say yes. I think I have to. I think that’s what’s best for me, and I don’t usually make decisions on that basis, but I think maybe it’s time to.”