Page 20 of Hot in the City
"Um...phew." Yuki crossed her legs in the aqua armchair in the corner of the office, then fanned her face with her hand. She was a little warm, no denying it. "I just met probably the most handsome man on the face of the earth, he shook my hand, and now I'm sweating."
Melanie raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "Well now. Details please."
Yuki groaned. "He's a guest! Declan Moriarty... Dark wavy hair, eyes like the Pacific Ocean, tall and with this gorgeous smile."
Melanie nodded. "Oooooh. Good, good. He's with the IT conference that's here this week. He owns a hot new start-up. One of the youngest CEOs here, apparently. Not ideal he's a guest, but never mind."
Yuki leaned forward, whispering the most important fact. "And he's Irish!"
Melanie gasped, then covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh no. Did you pee your pants when he spoke to you?"
Yuki rolled her eyes. "Shut up! Okay, nearly. His accent is just soooo cute!"
Giggling, Melanie stood and waggled her finger at Yuki. Dressed in her severe grey suit, she looked like a school headmistress except for her wild curls, bouncing as she moved. "Yuki Yamimoto, I demand that you flirt with this man, and have some actual fun. You've been far too down in the dumps lately."
Yuki sighed, then opened her purse and found her cookie, and unwrapped it. "I know. It's because I'm waiting to find out about that job. It's been a whole month." She jammed the cookie in her mouth and ate it in two bites.
"I know, the flight attendant job would be awesome, even though I'd miss you. But you can't put your whole life on hold, waiting, just in case you get it."
Yuki finished chewing. "You're right. I know you're right. I can't seem to help wanting things I can't have."
Melanie sighed now and sat next to her on the arm of Yuki's chair. "You can have anything you want. You're young, beautiful..." Yuki snorted. "You are beautiful, believe me, Miss Hottie McTottie. More importantly, you're smart. Opportunity will come, and you'll be ready. But in the meantime..."
"Have some fun." She nodded. It was good advice. Melanie was wise, and more experienced than Yuki, in terms of men and life in general. Not to mention, she had a proper career.
Yuki wanted adventure, a life full of excitement. Maybe meeting Declan was a sign of good things coming her way.
"By the way," Melanie said with a teasing note in her voice, "Mr Meyer won't be here for the rest of this week. I heard he'll be in Sydney until after Christmas. If you were to say, flirt with a guest, he wouldn't even know. If you happened to go out with a certain Irishman, what's the worst that could happen?"
Yuki bit her lip. Right. She had a new Christmas wish list and Declan Moriarty was right at the top.
Chapter Two
Grand Ballroom, The Palladian Hotel
The keynote speaker on IT security was a shockingly boring American man, droning on for hours about denial of service attacks and hacking, which was a potentially interesting topic. He cracked a 'joke' about back-door entry being kind of sexy, and it was all Declan could do to stop himself heckling the man, to tell him to get the hell off the stage, like he was at a comedy club. But he needn't have bothered when the entertainment came busting in the door, uninvited.
A noise like...sleigh bells rang out, and Declan turned his head along with hundreds of other delegates. Searching for the source of the jingling, not to mention doors banging, he craned his neck to check out the ballroom’s side doors, standing wide open. He saw a flash of red, a white beard, and yes, it certainly looked like Santa Claus.
"Ho, ho, ho!" A booming voice rang out. It sounded like Santa Claus, too. What was going on?
Declan stood, ignoring the frowns from a sea of men and women in grey and navy suits, and he pushed his way through the row of seats and out into the aisle. The seats were set up theatre style, and he could easily escape through a side door near the coffee station. Striding out of the ballroom door, he stopped in his tracks at a ridiculous sight.
Santa sat in one corner of the large space, on a golden throne no less. A pile of presents sat beside him, along with Mrs Claus and a few elves in full costumes. A photographer had set up his equipment for photos with Santa, complete with North Pole signs. So, IT conference delegates could have a photo with Santa on their tea break? That wasn't even the most ridiculous thing.
He stuck out his hand, blinked several times, not quite believing what he saw. Tiny flakes of white fluttered through the air. Cold, damp flakes. It was snowing in the atrium. Inside the hotel. In Australia. In December. Peak summer, in other words. His mouth popped open, and he craned his neck upwards. A snow machine?
He turned round in a circle, staring at the white flakes falling, swirling around him. When he lowered his gaze, he saw Yuki across the large space, spinning in a circle. Her eyes were wide, and she had that joyful expression, a look of wonder, he remembered from Christmas when he was a child.
Without fully realising what he was doing, his feet were in motion and he walked towards her. He found himself face to face with Yuki. Well, she was still a few metres away, but her gaze found his and they connected. He couldn't describe it any other way. Her eyes lit up and her smile spread into a full-fledged grin, and something inside him melted.
He hadn't seen her yesterday afternoon, hadn't had a spare minute between conference sessions and meetings in the Melbourne city office. When he dropped by Reception in the late evening, she wasn't on duty. He ended up asking for extra pillows and went to bed. After two glasses of whiskey and a hot shower, he managed to sleep. And he had dreamed about a petite, raven haired beauty.
"Isn't this amazing?" Yuki whispered, as if it was a secret. She had come right up to stand beside him, close enough for him to breathe in the scent of her hair, a floral concoction with a hint of coconut. She smelled like a tropical vacation, which was exactly what he needed.
He let his mouth stretch out in a grin. "Aye. Amazing." His gaze drifted to her lips, until she blinked and looked away. He cleared his throat. "But I have to wonder, what about all this slush? It can't be good for the carpet." He lifted his feet, one at a time, inspecting the soles of his now damp leather shoes.
Yuki glanced his way, then around the room. "Oh, that's not good. I doubt if the Events team approved this. I wonder if my friend Melanie knows..."
