Page 27 of The Wedding Deal
A mix of squeaks and grunts came from her, and he forced himself to keep his eyes down. But then a whimpered “help” drifted down to him, and he looked up to see her stuck, the rail under her gut. She’d started laughing and couldn’t push herself up—anyway, that seemed to be the problem.
“I’m going to have to shove your…backside.”
“That’d violate section three of the handbook. Section four as well, actually.”
“I’m pretty sure leaving you hanging on the balcony violates a couple of sections, and people are starting to give us odd looks.”
“They are?” she squeaked, and he laughed. No one was really out, although there was a couple a few balconies over that undoubtedly thought they were attempting to break into the room—talk about the worst burglars ever.
He braced his hands on her nice round booty and gave her a firm shove, doing his best to keep his hands flat and in “helping” instead of “copping a feel” range.
She swung her legs over the railing and landed on the other side. Her skirt was hiked up on her thighs, and he told himself to avert his eyes again, but they didn’t want to listen. His mouth went dry as she worked her skirt back into place. Then she peered down at him, and for some reason, it made him think of the horribleRomeo and Julietproduction he was in during high school. He hadn’t wanted the role of Romeo, but he was used to memorizing plays and therefore good at memorizing lines.
They were still emblazoned in his memory.
O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?A douchey line by Romeo really, and one Lance wouldn’t dare repeat, although he found he didn’t want the night to end. He definitely felt unsatisfied at it having to.
“Can we pretend this never happened, and that I did the reasonable thing and took the main door instead of saving myself another quarter mile of walking?”
“No way. I’m going to cherish the memory of the night you did something slightly inadvisable and climbed your own balcony. Maybe hang it over your head. Bring it up in meetings.”
“Jerk,” she said, but she said it lightly.
He almost made a joke about how it’d also be faster for him to come in through her balcony and walk to his room a few doors down. But that was courting trouble, and he figured if this night went on much longer, he’d land himself in a mess.
“Good night, Charlotte.”
“Good night, Lance,” she said. When he didn’t move, she added, “Um, are you going to leave?”
“I want to make sure you can get into your room first. You’ve proven you’re not the best at climbing—”
“Ah! In a dress.”
“Which you’re still wearing. So unless you plan on shedding it if you can’t get into your room and have to climb back down, let’s play it safe and make sure you’re not locked out before I leave you without help.”
She sighed extra loudly but swiveled her purse in front of her. She kept digging out different items and saying “not it, not it”, and for someone so organized when it came to forms, evidently her purse was an unorganized disaster. “Found it.”
She slid the card into the key slot, watched the light turn green, and then pushed open the balcony door. “I’m good.”
“Until tomorrow, then. Bright and early, since we’ve got that football game and need to practice your catching skills at some point.”
“Unless I don’t play.”
He backed away, his gaze still on her. “You’re playing.”
“Is that an order from my boss?”
“Yep. And don’t give me some shit about how it’s not part of your job. Section six of the handbook clearly states that team-building drills are important to the work environment and morale, and all employees are required to take part in them.”
She leaned over the railing and adamantly shook her head. “That’s not what section six says.”
“It will after I make a few changes to it.”
“All the employees aren’t here, so…”
“You’re playing, Charlotte, so prepare to bring your A game.” He turned around and walked toward his room before she could argue any further. Not that he didn’t expect her to have a bullet-point presentation about it drawn up by tomorrow morning.
Chapter Ten
