Aimee Duffy - The Office Christmas Party - A fun, feel good Christmas cracker of a romance!

She waited for him to wave over security, or maybe even a waiter, but all he did was eye her from her silver pumps, all the way to the sequinned neckline of her royal blue dress. He lingered on her chest and she told herself that the increase in her heartrate was down to the stress of almost getting caught plundering, or maybe even indignation caused by the way he was ogling her.

He took another sip of champagne, then winked and she felt her cheeks heat up again. But not from embarrassment.

Now that she was reassured he wasn’t going to come barrelling over and chuck her out, she took a moment to really look at him.

His jaw was dusted with dark hair, black or maybe dark brown. He was lightly tanned, either a sunbed lover or he’d just come back from abroad. The answer to that didn’t matter though, because she and Rose had rules for successful party crashing and right at the top of the list was Do Not Get Personal With Anyone.

And she’d seen first-hand how important that was after Rose met Tom. Her friend had broken that rule, but kept her alter ego. Rachel the Assistant aka Rose had also gone on to break rule number two – Do Not See Anyone More Than Once.

Nicole the Temp didn’t want to see this guy more than once, or find out about his golden glow. She did, however, want to wipe that grin off his face – maybe with some time under the mistletoe or a little indecent grinding on the dancefloor.

And given his unashamed appraisal followed by a wink that suggested he liked what he saw, she guessed he was only interested in much of the same.

Deciding to take the lead, she got up but another man appeared in front of her, blocking the way.

‘Hi, I’m Mark, have we met before?’ he asked, holding out his hand.

Natalie took the offer and shook back. ‘I don’t think so. I’ve just started as a temp. I’m Nicole.’

Mark wasn’t so bad. He was a little thinner than the other guy with the mocking grin, clean shaven and had thick, blonde hair, a little darker than hers. No tan either, but he was quite hot.

‘Ah, I heard they got temps in to update the new systems,’ Mark said, interrupting her evaluation. ‘How are your fingers from all that data entry?’ He pretended to wince, and she smiled.

Feigning stiffness, she clenched her fingers a few times. ‘It’s touch and go.’

‘Well, maybe this will help.’ Mark waived over a waiter and then handed her a fresh glass of champagne.

He pulled out a chair for her, assuming she’d sit with him now and she couldn’t help looking over for the guy who saw her plundering, but his attention was on a pretty, petite redhead who seemed to not only be hanging off his arm, but on his every word.

Well, it looked like that ship had sailed.

She took the lead from Mr Perfect and slid into the offered chair with a flirty smile for Mark, trying to steer the conversation away from work or anything personal. He seemed keen to find out more about her, probably to make her feel more comfortable in her new job, so she went with her rehearsed and fabricated backstory.

This was the part Rose always hated, which was why she’d probably told mostly the truth when she’d met Tom.

Natalie held back a sigh. The worry in her friend’s eyes when she left just reminded Natalie of her own worry that she was going to lose her best friend. The feeling of impending doom weighed heavily on her so much so she had to concentrate to keep up with the conversation.

Perhaps because of that, or because of the five glasses of champagne she drank on an empty stomach, but she found herself saying to Mark, ‘Let’s dance.’

Sliding her bag under the sparkly trimmed tablecloth, she took his hand and he led her to the dancefloor. The live band playing Christmas music made it hard to navigate through all the bodies that seemed to have the same idea.

Little bouquets of mistletoe were strung from the ceiling directly above them and she tugged Mark beneath one, looking up, then at him expectantly. A knowing smile pulled at his full lips before he bent down and brushed them against hers.

The kiss was nice, slow and building, but not the sort she read about in books that turned her body into a furnace and buckled her knees. A long time ago, she’d resolved that fiction was not real life, people didn’t always get happy-ever-afters and a pair of strong hands holding her up as she clung to muscled biceps with a desperate sort of passion was not in the cards for her, maybe not anyone.

But she tried harder to feel more, feel something , throwing everything into the kiss and twisting her fingers through his thick, silky hair. Mark returned her enthusiasm, prying her mouth open with a swipe of his tongue, tangling it with hers. A familiar warmth in the pit of her stomach bloomed and she was about to suggest they find somewhere more private, but it was Mark who broke away first.

‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to maul you like that,’ he said, sounding shocked at himself.

‘It’s okay, I don’t mind being mauled by you.’ Which was true. He was a nice guy and she was single. What was the harm in having a little fun? Especially since she was just getting into it.

Someone knocked her forward, into Mark’s arms and she bumped against the growing bulge in his pants, a reminder of what she’d been hoping for. A little bit of passion, even if it seemed to mostly be on his part. But she was definitely getting there.

Mark swallowed hard. ‘Let’s get off this dancefloor and talk.’

What warmth she felt sizzled out. He was really a nice guy – probably wanted to take her out on a date or ten before there would be any more heated kisses. Which would breach her second rule and be her cue to leave.

When they were back at their table with a fresh glass of champagne each, she discreetly pulled her handbag out from under the table.

‘Nicole, look. I really like you. How about we do this another time, without everyone we work with gaping at us?’

‘Definitely,’ she lied, feeling stupid more than anything. Was she so desperate for a connection with someone tonight she just threw herself at him? He was hot, but a one-night stand was something she’d only done a few times. And she’d only done them with men she’d felt at least a little lust for, not just the warm and fuzzies. ‘Could you excuse me? I need to go to the ladies’ room.’

‘Yeah, of course. They’re over there,’ he said, pointing to the entrance and, luckily for her, the exit too.

She grabbed her bag and made a beeline for the front of the building, feeling annoyed at herself for not realising Mark was one of the few gentlemen left in the city. Holding her chair out for her and asking her questions about herself should have told her everything she needed to know. And he’d only kissed her so intensely because she’d pushed for it.

As soon as she got out into the hall, the redhead she’d seen earlier darted out of the men’s bathroom looking flushed with her hair all over the place and her dress ruffled up one side. She smacked straight into Natalie, knocking them both off balance Natalie had to drop her bag to catch herself on the wall. The other woman’s face went from flushed to scarlet.

‘Oh my god! I’m so sorry. Let me help with this.’

Before Natalie could think or breathe, the woman picked up her bag and handed it over. ‘Are you okay? I should have looked where I was going.’

Natalie took the bag and shook her head to clear it. ‘I’m fine.’

She was about to ask what the woman was doing coming out of the men’s room, when she saw the guy who’d caught her stuffing her bag with canapés coming out of the same door, pressing his lips together as if to keep from laughing at the spectacle before him.

Right, that answered that question. And to think, if Mark hadn’t side-tracked her, she might be the one looking like she’d been thoroughly attended to, not the redhead.