Chapter 14
Matt
I expect Penny to tear into me, to tell me I embarrassed her, that I was completely unprofessional—which would be an accurate assessment because I nearly busted a nut during my first lap-sitting shift as Santa.
But she doesn’t yell at me.
Instead, the second we get inside this little Santa shack thing, she grabs my face and kisses me.
And you better believe I kiss her back.
Like my life depends on it.
I back her against the door. She stands on her tiptoes to kiss me deeper. I groan when her silk-covered chest presses against my bare one. She runs her fingernails down my back. Whoever came up with the costuming idea to have my Santa coat open with nothing underneath it was a damn genius.
Oh right. That was Penny’s idea. Yeah, I’m a big fan of this woman.
I reach to unbutton her blouse, desperate to feel her skin on mine, but a tiny part of my common sense remains intact, reminding me that while we are hidden from view right now, we’re still in the middle of a fucking department store and there are shoppers everywhere.
But Penny doesn’t seem concerned, so for the moment, neither am I.
I unbutton her blouse.
She undoes my belt.
“Wow,” I say. “Are we—”
“We are,” she says and whips my belt free.
“Fine by me.” I grab a handful of her perfect ass. “By the way, these Penn skirts you wear drive me crazy.”
“They’re called pencil skirts.” She chuckles.
God, I love hearing her laugh.
“I meant what I said, woman. They’re Penn skirts.
” I pull her hips closer to mine. “I also enjoy your Penn shirts...” I slide her blouse off her shoulders.
“This Penn necklace...” I kiss her gold charm necklace.
“…that always rests right here.” I run a finger over the swell of her breasts peeking over her bra.
“God, don’t get me started on this Penn hair…
” I wind her long chocolate hair around my hand and give it a gentle tug, exposing her neck even more to me. “And this Penn neck…”
“You’re calling me Penn now?” She tips her head back, giving me more access as I rain kisses down the column of her throat. “I thought you were stuck on Pennywise.”
“You didn’t seem to like it. I can let it go.”
“No, I like it,” she says in that breathy voice I love. “I like you.”
This has me stopping what I was doing.
I pull back slightly and look into her deep brown eyes. “I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, Miss Whitaker.”
“Apparently, I can be ornery. Or what did you call me at the gym? Angsty? I’m working on that.” She reaches a hand into my pants and grabs my dick. “I promise I’ll be nicer moving forward.”
“You’re certainly being nice right now.” I groan in pleasure. “And I like you too, if that wasn’t clear.”
“Oh, it’s clear.” She smiles that gorgeous smile and starts to stroke me.
What is my life right now? I’m dressed as Santa Claus, grinding all over this hot-as-hell woman who just a few days ago couldn’t stand the sight of me. Now, suddenly, she seems all in.
Halle-freaking-lujah.
We should probably lock this door, don’t you think?” I pant as she continues to stroke.
“Doesn’t lock,” she says. “But everyone’s on lunch and customers never come in here. We’re fine.”
I unzip the back of her skirt, and it falls to the floor. I dip my fingers under the waistband of her barely-there thong and tease the skin on her lower belly.
She groans. “You’re teasing me.”
“I am.”
“We don’t have time for teasing.”
“There’s always time for teasing, isn’t there? What’s the rush?”
“The rush is that we have two very curious coworkers who expect us to arrive in conference room two to eat our Cobb salads in the next five minutes, and they’ll have a lot of questions for me if we don’t.”
“Five minutes?” I slide my hands up and down her back and am pleased when I see goose bumps appear on her skin. “Lady, what I have planned for you will take way longer than five minutes.”
“Matt.” She places a soft kiss on my lips. “You’re being very cute right now.”
“I am, aren’t I?”
“But you don’t have to romance me here. We both want the same thing from each other.”
She kisses me again, biting my lower lip this time. I get lost in her for a few moments, but damnit, my brain just won’t shut up.
“Do we?” I say.
“Do we what?” she asks as she nuzzles my neck.
“Want the same thing.”
“Well, yeah.” She looks directly in my eyes, then lowers to the ground in front of me, taking my pants down with her.
And because apparently I am an absolute moron, I gently grab her by the shoulders and pull her right back up.
“Sorry.” I’m just as shocked with myself as she seems to be. “I really want you to do what you were just about to do, but, um, you said we want the same thing from each other. What is that exactly?”
“Are you serious right now?” She lets out a sound of disbelief and gestures to the floor, where her skirt and my pants are puddled around our feet.
“Yeah. I am.”
And I hate myself more with every word that comes out of my mouth.
“I thought we were attracted to each other,” she says, confused.
“We are! I mean, I certainly am attracted to you. You better believe I am!”
“Okay… so, I thought we were acting on that attraction.” Her eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.
“Penny? Hear me out. I’m all about acting on that attraction.”
“It doesn’t really seem like it right now.” Penny chuckles self-consciously, then bends over and pulls up her skirt.
“Wait, wait.” I tip her chin up to look at me. “Can we talk about this?”
She brushes my hand away. “Ya know what? I’m not really in the mood to talk right now. I’ll just see you at lunch, okay?” She tucks in her blouse.
“Penny, please. Don’t leave it like this. I think you’re amazing. I—”
“No need to explain.” She moves toward the door. “I got caught up in the holiday spirit, that’s all. Won’t happen again!”
“Listen, I want it to happen again. I just feel like—”
The rickety door slams behind her, leaving me standing alone, my red velvet pants still around my ankles.
Damnit. I completely blew it.