Page 45 of Crash

“Two extra vacation days!” Juan waves a piece of paper in the air. I jump up to try and snatch it from him, but he moves out of the way and shakes his head at me.

“Gift card for a mani-pedi,” Colleen says. “What about you, Vivi?”

“A hundred-dollar Macy’s gift card.”

We all fist bump while we order fresh drinks from the bar. Christmas carols play as everyone drinks and laughs. I look around and spot Luke standing with his parents, his mother holding onto his arm while they talk with employees I recognize from the accounting department.

Sandy and Jake are chatting with Troy, Tracy, and several people I don’t know. As usual, Jake’s arm is around Sandy’s waist, but I manage to catch her eye and wave at her. A few minutes later, she extricates herself from her husband’s grip and walks in my direction.

“Having fun, Vivi?” she asks, right before she orders a ginger ale.

I wave my gift card in her face as my answer.

“Nice!” she says.

“Too bad you can’t participate,Mrs. Clark,” I say to her.

“I know. The first year I came, I wanted to so bad.” She does a fake pout at the memory. She hooks her arm through mine as we walk through the room.

Soon, dinner is served, and as I eat the delicious meal, I’m unable to help myself. Every few minutes, I look towards the head table, and every time I do, it’s only to find him already looking at me. I can see the hunger in those green eyes from my seat. At one point, he puts down his fork, picks up his water glass, and takes a slow sip. When he puts down the glass, he slowly licks his lips, all without breaking eye contact. I don’t realize I’ve stopped chewing until Juan says something that causes the entire table to burst into laughter. Unable to take his stare any longer, I look away and pretend to laugh along with the rest of the table.

Stopping the heated looks doesn’t take away my thoughts of him, though. I clench my thighs as I remember his hands between my legs. It’s my turn to drink my cold water as I imagine how it would feel to have his mouth between my thighs. I open my mouth and take a deep breath, and when I look at him again, I could swear that he can read my thoughts.

“Gloria and I met at a Christmas party,” Juan says to the table. We’ve all had dessert and the DJ is no longer only playing Christmas carols. “She was wearing a red dress just like this one.” Gloria blushes and hides her face in Juan’s bicep. She pulls away and he throws his arm across her shoulders, pulling her to him. “And when this song came on,” he continues, pointing at the ceiling. “I grew some balls and asked her to dance. And boy, can my Gloria dance.” He stands up and offers her his hand. She takes it, and without a word, he escorts her to the empty dance floor.

He pulls her so close to him that a piece of paper would have a hard time fitting between them. The entire room watches as they dance toMerry Christmas, Darling. They float across the room, their bodies in constant contact. I’ve heard this song. I’ve danced to this song, but I’ve never seen a couple dance so beautifully and romantically to it before. When they finish, they get a standing ovation, and Josh Clark requests that everyone get on the dance floor.

An hour later, I’m in the middle of a dance-off with the mailroom employees. What started as something small Juan initiated between the few of us now has the attention of everyone in the room.

Once dinner and dessert were over, the DJ mixed Christmas carols with hip hop and pop music. When Rihanna’sUnder My Umbrellastarts to play, I wave Sandy over, and she runs over and joins our group. Sandy smiles at me, probably remembering how we used to blast this song in her mother’s house years ago, challenging each other to dance.

Even though my back is to him as I wait for someone to point at me to dance, I know he’s looking at me. I don’t need to turn around to know that he’s walking towards our group. The temperature in the room increases with each step I know he’s taking.

I feel a huge pair of hands on my hips. I stand frozen in time. Luckily, everyone is too distracted by the dancing to notice my now rigid stance. He steps closer, and I immediately feel his erection on my ass. To torture him, I stick my ass out a little further, and he grinds on me. I let out a soft moan, ready and eager for him to grind on me again, but he doesn’t. Instead, he spins me around, takes me in his arms, and we start to move to the music. I don’t know how much time passes, but we never stop dancing. I don’t know or care what songs are being played. He simply holds me close, my body pressed into his as we move in perfect sync.

As the party winds down, the ballroom begins to empty, but I stay in Luke’s arms. I feel him hard against my thigh. I try to move away, but he holds me close. I don’t fight it. I lay my head on his chest, and simply feel him against me, the sound of his heartbeat making its own music.

“Come to my room,” he whispers in my ear. I look up into his eyes. “I know you want me,” he says, his voice hoarse. He leans down and whispers the room number in my ear. When the song ends, he walks me back to my table. He then walks to the bar and orders a drink, his intense gaze on me the entire time. When he finishes his drink, he shakes hands with a few people and walks out of the ballroom.

CHAPTER 23

LUKE

I cringe as I overhear the conversation my brother is having with his wife as they wait for the elevator.

“I’m going to play find the pink the minute we get back to our room,” Jake says.

“And what are you going to do when you find it?” Sandy asks.

“What aren’t I going to do is the better question.” Sandy’s eyes widen at his declaration. She moves away and starts to press the elevator button repeatedly. He pulls her back and starts to kiss the side of her neck.

I let out a loud cough, alerting them of my presence, but it’s as if they didn’t even hear me.

“I’m right here,” I say. When the elevator door finally opens, I start to follow them inside, only to have Jake shove me away.

“Take the next one,” he says. The door starts to close, but not before I see him pull Sandy into his arms.

Thankfully, I don’t have to wait too long for the next elevator.

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