What started as a conundrum turned into a very easy decision. Because when it came down to the night of the company’s holiday party? Both Lincoln and Donovan were indisposed.
That left Brody, who was staying with me anyway. Brody, my breathtakingly handsome classmate that not one of my co-workers knew. A date so young and fresh-faced he was carded every single time he went to the bar to fetch us drinks.
“Holly, who is he?”
The question came time and time again, from those who knew and liked me as well as the same assholes who couldn’t normally stand me during the average workday. I laughed it all off, giving different answers to each. Sometimes Brody was a friend, or a boyfriend, or just a lover. Other times he was a second cousin. A friend of a girlfriend. Even, after several drinks, my brother.
It all made the party a lot more interesting, as we danced cheek to cheek. Brody turned out to be an incredible dancer, possessing more natural rhythm and groove than my last five boyfriends combined, including Malcolm.
Malcolm. Ugh!
That was an introduction I’d been avoiding all night, although luckily, it seemed like my ex-boyfriend had the same idea. He watched me from afar though. More than once I caught him stealing sideways glances, always when he thought I wouldn’t be looking, once even while Brody had both hands firmly planted on my dress-covered ass.
“These people are nice,” he smiled at one point, pressing his face against mine.
“Yeah, well they’re drunk.”
“So?”
“So the drunker they get, the more tolerable they all are. That goes for any party, any wedding, any event.”
The overly-decorated venue my company had picked was oddly dark, the music unreasonably loud. Either they were compensating for some run-down decor or they were just plain cheap with the lights. Either way, it made it all the more fun hiding off to the side as the party wound down. Brody and I stood with our arms around each other, watching my co-workers get drunker and bolder as they wandered off into their little cliques and groups.
“Wanna get the hell out of here?” I asked.
“If it means getting you out of that dress, yeah.”
Ten minutes later were in the back of a cab, laughing and poking fun at my co-workers and generally fooling around. Once back at my apartment, we kept the party going. Brody poured me some wine while I jacked the heat up to a comfortably naked level. Then I put on some Christmas music to maintain the mood.
In no time flat we were sitting on the couch face to face, kissing like lost lovers. It was soft and beautiful. Tantalizingly slow, yet full of pent-up passion and promise.
“Holly…”
Gradually I opened my mouth for him, moaning sexily as his tongue slid against mine. He held my face in his palms. I blinked dreamily, and found him staring back at me with those piercing, emerald eyes.
“I think I love you.”
My heart felt like it weighed a metric ton! My whole body surged with adrenaline, as goosebumps took over every inch of my skin.
“I… I love you too,” I murmured, realizing the truth. We never broke eye contact. It was like I was staring right through him, straight into his soul. “I do,” I smiled. “I so toally do.”
He kissed me harder, his hand sliding deftly through the slit in my dress. It was warm and insistent as it traveled up my thigh.
Oh Holly…
Brody reached his goal, and I spread wide for him. I whimpered as he probed me with his fingers. Chewed down on his lip, as I felt him touch me inside…
“Now…” I purred, sliding my arms over his shoulder. “You said something about getting me out of this dress?”
My lover smiled and stood up, bringing me along with him. I spun around on my heels so he could unzip me. Seconds later I was stepping out of my shimmering green dress, leaving me naked except for a Santa-red bra and matching G-string panties.
“So you never really told me what you want for Christmas,” I teased, biting one of my fingers.
Brody’s hands went to my hips, gripping me with authority and possession. He pulled me against him, and my body overloaded with tingles of pleasure as his lips brushed my ear.
“I just got it,” he whispered.
Thirty-Four