Page 40 of Snowed In With The Second Chance Daddy

“Of course, I would.” Jamie looks at the party again. “Listen, I have to work, but maybe after the party…”

I tune her out as I scan the party too. My gaze gravitates toward Iris’s green dressimmediately.

I’m not the only one flirting. She’s talking with a guy in a burgundy suit and a white button down that’s open almost to his navel. An Italian stallion type.

Dammit, Oliver wasn’t just trying to get under my skin. He meant what he said.

Iris wants to get over me by getting under someone else.

I suddenly feel a fire under my ass. I think it’s been there a long time, long enough that now I’m being scorched.

“Excuse me, Jamie, I’m sorry, I have to take care of something.” I drop my plate on her tray. “But great chatting with you.”

The woman’s eyes widen. “Oh, okay, yeah, nice to meet you! Maybe I’ll see you later!”

Don’t mean to break her heart, but no, she won’t.

I stride across the room, all my energy focused on Iris.

Inside me, there is an undeniable pulse.

Mine.

Iris sees me coming, her charming smile shifting to a look of surprise.

I’m tossing out the unspoken rule of ignoring each other.

When I make it over to her close quarters conversation with the guy with the chesticles, I don’t say hello to her, but to him. “Hey, man!”

The guy looks up from Iris to me, bewilderment flashing over his face for a second, only a second. “Man! Hey! I didn’t know you’d be here.”

I could laugh.

I’ve never met this guy, but I’ve made him think he’s forgotten me, and now he’s lying through his teeth, trying to get through this interaction to save face. “Of course I would be! You crazy?!”

I hold out my hand, and he takes it in a hearty handshake.

I take it a step further and pull him in for a bro hug, smacking his back. “Merry Christmas, man!”

“You too, man!”

“I’ve never heard the word ‘man’ used so many times in under a minute,” Iris breathes out before sipping on her red martini.

“Iris!” I exclaim. “Good to see you!”

The man looks between us. “You know each other?”

“You could say that.” Her lips are folded in a thin line as she stares me down. She knows me well enough to know exactly what I’m doing.

“We go way back.” I shove myself in between Iris and the guy.

The guy smirks.

I’m not subtle, that’s for sure. And the fact he can tell what I’m doing doesn’t faze me one bit.

“Do you?”

I nod. “To the stone age.”

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