Page 53 of His Off-Limits Christmas Gift

“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 itover 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 saidI’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 ofNow that’s the ho I’m talking aboutas 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.

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