19. Rachel
19
RACHEL
I spent all day and night with Nate. Saturday brunch and Christmas shopping turned into Saturday evening and dinner. Then into Sunday. We stayed at my place close up to when he felt like he needed to go home and get ready for the workday.
It went without saying that we wouldn’t be able to kiss each other or cop a feel for a quickie in the office. I hadn’t forgotten the embarrassment of Julie walking in on us almost kissing that one time. Nate told me about how she’d asked if we were together, and that question had me curious when I walked into the office the next morning.
Juan wasn’t at his post, and I ironically missed seeing him in his seasonal cheer while still sticking to his doorman’s uniform. If he could get HR to approve an elf hat, he’d pair it with the suit.
Are we together? I had no clear answer. Over the weekend, yes, Nate and I couldn’t get enough of each other. It was a newlywed sort of phase where we wanted to be in each other’s space as much as we could, like getting our fill then before we’d be forbidden to be with each other at the office.
The roles were getting twisted. He was the boss. I was the temporary assistant. Those facts hadn’t changed.
But what if he wants me to stay for more than a temporary gig? His comments lurked in the back of my mind, how he and Brandon suggested that I don’t begin that contract job in January.
Does that mean he wants me to stay as his employee… with benefits?
I sighed as I walked into the elevator car, so lost in my thoughts that Mariah Carey’s over-played “ All I Want for Christmas ” didn’t bother me like it usually did. It had to be a trick that the maintenance department kept that one song on loop in all the elevators.
The other roles that should’ve defined me and Nate weren’t so clear. Things were getting confusing.
He was supposed to be my mentor, but no mentoring had actually happened. When he acted like he was teaching me how to kiss, it felt more like an attempt for him to learn how to fit against my mouth. Then when he tried to give me pointers on how to react when a man expressed interest, we almost ended up kissing at the office. Later yet, his ‘advice’ about what to wear to a romantic dinner had fallen flat because we’d just fallen into each other, into bed.
The only education I was getting from Nate was how he could please me. He had embarked on a lesson in showing me all the ways he could make me come, how quickly he could drive me wild, and every manner in which he could make me lose my grumpiness about life.
If he’s not going to mentor me, wouldn’t that be a renege on our deal?
We’d arranged it so he would be my mentor in exchange for my being his plus-one. But that all seemed out the window now. I would go with him to this holiday party. That was a given. But as what?
“Oh, what do we have here?” Julie later asked when I set my things in my office and stepped back out into the hallway.
Nate was walking through the area, and despite the pitter patter of my increased heart rate at seeing him near, wishing I could kiss him hello, he stayed neutral like me and merely gave a polite smile to me, then Julie. “Huh?” he asked. “Morning, Ms. Brown.”
Oh, my God. He was really acting funny today. Formality? And last names? Like either of those tactics could convince anyone we were only coworkers. Like we hadn’t been fucking all weekend.
I could play this game.
“Morning, Mr. McIntosh.” I dipped my head a bit, like I was some proper lady.
“Look,” Julie prompted us. She smiled as she pushed her glasses back up her nose. Her finger aimed upward, encouraging us to peek at the ceiling. Not the ceiling. The top of my door frame.
Stuck there with a piece of tape was a snippet of a branch. Small green leaves didn’t give off the scent of pine, but— “ Oh!”
“Where’d that mistletoe come from?” Nate asked.
“Gosh.” Julie shrugged. “I haven’t a clue.” She winked at me before walking off.
For a long moment, Nate and I stared at each other. Desire crackled between us, like a live wire lit hotter at the idea of a kiss. Patience faded as we couldn’t break eye contact, but when someone approached, he cleared his throat and snapped out of it.
Oh, boy. I fanned myself as I returned to my office, giddy with the promise of sexy fun I’d seen in his eyes.
Before he walked off, he reached up to grab the mistletoe. A half hour later, he cornered me in the elevator and held it over our heads so we could make out while he had the elevator stopped between floors.
That little sprig of a plant was only the first example of Julie amping up her matchmaking efforts of the day.
In the afternoon, she suggested that Nate and I join in on an ugly sweater competition, holding up a gaudy knitted thing that said I’m with him . An arrow had Mrs. Claus pointing to the side.
“How about this one for you?” She held up one for him that had a pervy looking Santa with a caption bubble of Now that’s the ho I’m talking about as he gawked at a Mrs. Claus in a bikini.
I narrowed my eyes, feigning annoyance. “Are you calling me a ho, Julie?”
“No! I meant… He’s saying…” She smirked, showing the sweater she found for me. “It’s a joke, like they’re together and—Oh, never mind.” She set the sweaters down.
An hour later, locked in a closet with Nate, he had me “try on” the sweater for him while wearing nothing else.
If we kept up with this, stealing kisses and forbidden touches, someone was bound to find out. That was all part of the allure, though, fooling around where we shouldn’t.
Hell, if we never defined what we were doing and we carried on like lovesick, addicted fools for each other, I might never go back to Rockton or switch to any other job again.
I was having too much damn fun. Julie’s naughty jokes and suggestions were too funny to be mad about. Nate took it in stride the same as I did. Besides, with the big holiday party days away, no one was being overly serious at the office.
Except Eric. He was completely serious when came into Nate’s office to go over something. It seemed that he was the middle man, covering the details of something that required Nate’s approval.
I did my best not to interrupt, also in his office while he signed a few forms I needed to file away.
Biding my time, hoping I could have another stolen moment with Nate, I waited for Eric to go.
Before he did, he turned to me. “I’d love to bring you to the party, Rachel.”
“What?”
He was either used to my acting clueless or found it cute. No, adorable .
“The Malley holiday party?” He raised his brows. “I know you’ve heard about it by now.”
I glanced at Nate, who lost a fight with a smile as he kept his gaze down on the papers.
“It’s a big deal to all of us in the office,” Eric added as I stepped closer to Nate.
He slid his hand from his lap to touch the back of my thighs, stroking up and down on the inner side where Eric couldn’t see.
“Is it, now?” I asked, stepping toward Nate again. The movement had me spreading my legs, giving him access.
“Oh, yeah. Everyone remembers how much fun those holiday parties are. Right, Nate?”
Nate cleared his throat, stilling his hand on my thigh.
“Sorry,” I said before Nate could open his mouth. “I’m not available, Eric.”
I bit my lip to hide a wide smile at Nate sneaking his hand further up my skirt, making me wish I weren’t available—ever—because I was his.
“Damn. That’s too bad,” Eric said.
I shrugged. Too bad for him, perhaps. I was looking forward to supporting Nate at this party.
“Better luck next time, I guess,” Eric said with a wink before he walked out of the office.
The second the door swung closed, Nate stood quickly. He maneuvered me so I stood in front of him, then he picked me up and set on me on the edge of the desk.
“Will he have better luck next time?” Nate demanded. He kissed me hard and slid his hand under my skirt again, rubbing with more force where I was still wet for him.
I will never get tired of this thrill.
I smiled against his mouth, tugging his tie, another Christmas colored one, so I could slip my tongue between his lips for the kind of kiss I was in the mood for.
“What next time?” I teased.
I want you, every time.
He growled and chuckled at once, kissing me until someone knocked on his door.
“Yoo-hoo,” Julie sang out. “Anyone in there?”
I laughed as I slid off his desk. Foiled again.
“We’ll pick up right where we’re leaving off,” Nate said.
I nodded. “I’ll hold you to that.”
He growled, kissing me again. “This sneaking around can be fun, but dammit, I want you, sweet girl.”
“I know exactly how you feel.” Another kiss.
“As soon as the day is done, I’m taking you home,” he promised with a whisper before he released me.