Page 1 of Dance with Me on New Year's Eve

Chapter 1

As I arranged my hair over my cheeks to curtain my face as much as possible, I spotted his form through the corner of my eye, even through the thick, dark strands.

Jeff Chamberlain.

The bane of my existence.

Now it all made sense … Jeff’s terse email requesting that I meet with Hazel on Monday morning. Given thatI’mher assistant, not Jeff, I’d found it peculiar to hear this from him, but I tried not to worry about it. Because thinking about him was bound to ruin my weekend, and I’d resolved on New Year’s Day to make every weekend agreatone. Reading. WatchingCast Afarreruns. Maybe even sipping a little wine or making strawberry shortcake if I felt adventurous. Like I said, a great weekend by any standards, right? OK, maybe only by mine.

“Roxanne,” he said briskly as he came to a stop several feet in front of me, nodding slightly as his face formed his trademark frown.

A flash of long, shiny black hair caught my attention. My boss rounded the corner into the floral-themed waiting area where we stood, and she eyed my nemesis curiously. “No one calls her Roxanne.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s fine.” Roxanne was better than Ms. Swan, which he’d called me for the first two years after we met. I was 99% sure he was mocking me because my short, thick neck was nothing like a swan’s. After all, he’d decided to dislike me from our very first meeting years ago.

Jeff shook his head. “Nicknames are for family. We arehardly even colleagues, barely acquaintances.”

Flustered, I felt my cheeks redden. Still, he was right that we were barely colleagues—although we both worked for an elite lakeside resort on the edge of town, my event planning role was rather distant from his finance role within the broader corporate structure. And unlike Jeff, I also worked for Hazel.

Hazel’s eyes danced in amusement. “I suppose you shouldn’t take offense, Roxy, as he insists on calling Mari ‘Mariana’ too, many years after she hired you two at the resort.” She laughed, although neither Jeff nor I was smiling. “Well, anyway, you’re about to become much more than acquaintances. You’re going to be close colleagues.”

My heart rate doubled, and I glanced at him in confusion. I doubt it was possible for his face to become stonier and his posture stiffer as he spoke. “Pardon?”

“Follow me,” Hazel said with a wave of her hand as she turned toward the dining room. “I got us the best table.”

I glared at Jeff, whose jaw clenched as we followed her past the vacant hostess station. When we stopped behind her at a dark, polished wood table by the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the icy lake, he muttered, “Hardly.”

Hazel whirled around. “You don’t like it?”

She scooted into the booth and placed her oversized red handbag on the seat next to her. After Jeff sat across from Hazel, I reluctantly sat next to him. He scooted closer to the window, and I tried to sit as far from him as possible.

“This is a business meeting, is it not?” he asked, folding his hands in front of him. When Hazel nodded, he added, “The glare and the draft near a large window are not ideal. Plus, the view may be distracting for some of us.” He shot a sideways glance at me.

Hazel’s dark eyebrows rose as she looked between us. “A distracting view? Jeff, I had no idea—”

“Thelake.” He waved his hand briefly in my direction. “It’s an objectively appealing view, and some people are easily distracted.”

I inhaled sharply as my face heated again. He was accusing me of being easily distracted? “Ah—I—” I attempted to clear my throat. “I have an excellent attention span. A neurologist once told me I—that is, I once heard … um.”

Stop, just stop talking.

Why, why would you mention a neurologist? As if they need another reason to think you’re weird!

I clutched the water glass on the table, wondering when it had gotten there as I took a long swig. I tried to think of something else to say, but I managed only a few more awkward vocal-like sounds.

“Jeff, that was unfair. I’ve known Roxy for years now—we both have! She’s not flighty or constantly distracted.” Hazel shook her head, frowning at him. “I don’t know where you got that idea.”

But I knew.

Sometimes I got flustered, or anxious, or I just … froze. Often all of the above, basically any time I was with any other person. It wasn’t distraction exactly, but I got stuck in my head, battling with my anxiety and nerves … it wasn’t that ludicrous to assume I was daydreaming.

In fact,thatassumption was better than the reality, which I tried so hard to hide: the social anxiety that was debilitating at worst and humiliating at best. I sometimes feared my pitiful attempts at concealment only made it more obvious.

So this idea of me being prone to distraction? Maybe it wasn’t the worst thing. Nope, the truth was the worst thing. Sure, let them think I’m just a daydreamer.

I forced the corners of my lips into what I hoped was a polite smile and glanced at Jeff briefly, summoning my calmest voice. “It’s all right. You’re probably right, Jeff.”

His light-brown eyes settled on me, his face unreadable for a moment. I held my breath until he turned to pick up the menu in front of him.

---