Page 469 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
I caught Danielle’s eye, who sighed.
“I’ll take her to the bathroom,” Daniella offered
“You’re a gem,” I said.
She looped an arm under Aleena and helped her stagger toward the bathrooms. At some point tomorrow I’d have to check in with Aleena and ask her what the heck was going on tonight. She liked to have a good time as much as anyone, but tonight seemed extreme.
Maybe she got a little carried away and tried to match someone else with a higher tolerance than her, I thought. We’d all been there before.
When nobody was looking, I gave everyone the slip and made my way toward Chadwick’s office. The lights were off but his door was cracked, so I ducked inside and closed the door.
“There you are,” he purred from behind me.
I turned and pressed my back to the door. Chadwick sat in one of his armchairs with his back to the window. He had one foot resting on his knee, and he held his Old Fashioned in the hand resting on the armrest. He looked like a tall drink of water if I’d ever seen one, and he’d already loosened his tie and undone the top couple buttons of his white shirt.
“Here I am,” I said as my stomach fluttered.
How had this man so easily gotten under my skin just ten days ago? Back then, at the meeting where Alastair announced his retirement, I never would have believed that I would be beginning to like Chadwick Bamford, let alone desiring him the way I did. I ached for him to touch me, take me, hold me, kiss me, consume me—I wanted nothing more than to feel his hands on me, and to feel him beneath my hands. I craved him like I’d craved nothing else before.
It almost scared me.
Almost.
“Come here,” he said, patting his knee.
“We shouldn’t do this here,” I whispered.
The whole office shook with stillness. Outside and forty floors below, I heard the muted sound of a car horn. It wasn’t snowing and the night was clear, so the reflection of thousands of Christmas lights from surrounding apartments and office towers danced upon the glass.
Chadwick didn’t move. “Do what?”
“You know what. Don’t play coy.”
“Me? Coy?” He lifted his drink to his lips, sipped, set it back on the armrest. “Never.”
My knees felt like they would buckle at any second, and we were still at least fifteen feet apart. He hadn’t touched me yet—I hadn’t even felt the heat of his breath on my skin—and yet even now I felt like he owned me and this moment.
“This is our workplace.” I knew I was grasping at straws. There was nothing I could say to deter him from his objective, and truth be told, I didn’t want him to be deterred. I loved the risk he was willing to take to have me right here, right now.
“Then I think it would be wise if you locked the door.”
That seemed like less of a commitment than actually walking toward him, so I turned back to the door, locked the handle, and faced him once more with my hands clasped behind my back. Even though he’d seen me naked I felt suddenly shy and vulnerable.
He leaned forward and set his drink down on his coffee table before settling back into his seat and patting his thigh. “Come sit.”
I bit my bottom lip and took a couple steps toward him. “This is going to bring a whole other meaning to Naughty Santa.”
His lips curved in a sly smile. “Some people have a Santa kink.”
“I don’t.”
“Are you sure?”
I continued forward. “Pretty sure.”
“So… it’s just me you’re into then, not the suit?”
He was setting me up and catching me in his net.
