Page 38 of An Irresistible Force (Vancouver Vice)

Finally, he left my office. I groaned. I could still feel the warm touch of his fingers on me, and I was definitely too young for the hot flash I seemed to be experiencing. I sat down and got to work. Everything was normal, until I noticed I was pounding my keyboard with great ferocity. Ugh. There was no way I could let Chris affect me like this!

That afternoon,Tori waddled into my office with a huge box. “This just arrived for you.”

“For me? I’m not expecting anything.”

“It says for the Marketing Manager. That’s you.”

We both stared at the giant box. Tori passed me a pair of scissors. “Aren’t you going to open it? I’m dying to see what’s inside.”

In no time, we had it open. It was a furry white cube, and there was a white spandex jumpsuit with it. There was an envelope as well, so I looked inside that.

“It looks like the fuzzy dice for a giant’s car,” Tori declared.

“Except with no dots, and there’s only one.” I read the paperwork. “Oh! This is the costume for V-Ice! Greg must have ordered it when he was the marketing manager.”

Tori clapped her hands together in glee. “Oh, V-Ice. He’s a great idea. This team totally needs a mascot. I’m dying to see what it looks like. Do you want me to try the costume on?”

“I guess you could. But the cube is almost as big as you. According to these instructions, it’s been made for someone six feet or taller. Let’s get Gregory. This was all his idea in the first place.”

“Gregory’s gone to that B.C. Sports award luncheon.”

“Darn. We’re not going to get a real sense of what it looks like unless—”

“Hey, ladies. What’s going on in here?” Chris walked into my office. He gave us a puzzled look. “What? Why are you both looking at me like that?”

A small crowdof every single woman in the office had gathered outside the boardroom where Chris was getting changed. He wasn’t particularly excited about becoming V-Ice, but he had been a good sport about it. Chris did have great team spirit. Even though he was Vancouver hockey royalty, he never had any attitude.

“I’d rather watch him getting changed than see him in the stupid mascot costume,” said Brenda, and Tori nodded.

“I know,” Nancy said. “He has the best ass I have ever seen—like in my whole life. You could bounce nickels off it.”

“Ladies, please,” I said. “Not suitable for work.”

“Like you haven’t noticed,” Brenda said with a snort.

Chris poked his head out from behind the door. “I need a little help getting this cube on.”

Three hands shot up. He raised his eyebrows. “Amanda?”

As I walked towards the door, Brenda hissed, “So unfair. She didn’t even have her hand up. But I guess it’s as close to a guy helping out as he can get.”

Once inside the room with the door safely shut, Chris beckoned to me.

“Wearing this spandex crap is making me sweat like a mofo. Help me put this cube on and let’s get this thing over with.”

Holy Hannah. He had his back turned to me and I could see his whole body outlined in white, like a comic superhero. He was so muscular and defined everywhere, and the spandex suit was probably designed for mere mortals. Nancy was not exaggerating, because his ass might well have been the best one on the entire planet—curving out at the back and dented at the sides. Then he turned around.

Oh. Wow. Now I got to see the outline of his, um, member. And it was certainly outstanding. My mouth dropped open, and I had to shut it with my palm like a cartoon character.

“Amanda?”

“Oh, sorry. Yes, I’ll just lift the cube and position it over your head. The one on your shoulders, I mean.” Did I just say that? I felt like an idiotic Victorian maiden, thrown into a swoon at the sight of his manhood. Ridiculous.

Chris laughed at me. “That’s why I asked you to come in here, Mandy. I thought you’d be able to control yourself in the presence of my manly body. But apparently not.”

“Oh, be quiet. I can also try to shove this cube down your throat.”

He kept laughing, and I plunked the cube over his head just to shut him up.

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