Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 58211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
“You’re right, Miss Goody Two-shoes. Mine were suave and charming.”
“You’re such a dick.” She slaps my chest, laughing in relief.
It’s risky, kissing in the office, even with her door closed. We do it anyway. She slides her arms around my shoulders and pulls me close. I sink against her, gripping both her legs, opening my mouth and tasting her tongue and her passion and—
“Holly?”
It’s Dan.
Knock-knock.
“Can I come in?”
I jump to my feet and stumble backward. She quickly presses buttons on her computer. “You’re here for the Santa footage. Your mom wants to see it,” she hisses, wiping her mouth.
Are my lips red from the kissing? I wipe my mouth just to be safe.
My cock was growing hard before the knock on the door. Will he notice?
This is beyond fucked.
Dan pushes the door open, double-taking when he sees me. “Hey, Casanova. What are you doing here?”
The impromptu nickname puts me on high alert. “Casanova?”
“Because of the date later …”
“Oh, yeah,” I say awkwardly.
Talking about dating in front of my Snowflake is the last thing I want to do. She doesn’t need to hear any details about another woman and me. Just the idea of being with somebody else makes me uncomfortable.
“I warned you I will not be romantic, though,” I remind him. “I don’t want you or her to get the wrong impression.”
Dan smiles. “Come on, man. Don’t be so pessimistic. What if you like her? You might hit it off.”
Holly stands with her hands behind her hand. I wonder if she’s clenching her fists to relieve the awkwardness. I want to hold her and tell her it will all be okay.
“What’re you doing here, anyway? Hounding my sister for her marketing skills?”
“You know it.” Lying to him sucks. “She’s the best in the game. It’s not my fault.”
I’m getting defensive without meaning to.
“Hey, no argument from me,” Dan says. “Holly, I swung by to ask if I could have your Secret Santa phone. I was thinking about this HR mess. It might be good if they could review any inappropriate texts that he sent you. Since he doesn’t seem to be in the office, yours is the only phone we have.”
Holly shakes her head. “Uh, no.”
“No?” Dan says, confused.
Is that suspicion I hear in his voice? Dan has always been an intelligent, perceptive person. When we were kids, he was the brains. I was the brawn. That changed as I studied more diligently and became engrossed with computers, cell phones, and other electronics.
“Why not?” Dan asks. “Don’t give me this crap about not wanting to get him into trouble. He deserves it.”
“I lost it,” Holly says. “I know it must be around here somewhere. I remember sticking it someplace because I didn’t want to think about it. It might even be in my car. When I find it, I’ll let you know, okay?”
Dan looks at Holly, then at me with a question, raising his eyebrow. “Okay … Asher, want to walk with me? If you’re done here?”
Crap. This is bad.
“Sure.”
I want to look at Holly and share one moment before everything comes tumbling down. She knows I’m her Secret Santa, and she was happy, which is probably a misguided feeling, considering Dan may be about to forbid us from ever doing anything like this again.
“Let’s take the stairs,” Dan says, walking through the office.
He wants to get me alone in the stairwell. My body is still surging with the aftershocks of what I did with his sister.
As I expected, he stops in the stairwell, looking around to ensure nobody is watching us.
“Does Holly seem like she’s acting weird to you?”
“I hardly know her.” I stare at the wall just above his head. I can’t meet his eye.
“Fair enough, but you’ve spent time with her since you came home. The toy drive, your mom’s place. Based on that, is she acting differently?”
“A little, maybe.” I’m a scumbag.
“I don’t believe she lost that phone. I think she’s still hung up on this nepotism crap. It doesn’t matter how often I tell her she doesn’t need to feel guilty. She earned her spot. She still punishes herself for it.”
“She doesn’t want to look like she’s getting special treatment,” I shrug.
“She never has,” Dan says, exasperated. “Listen, if Derek returns, try to find a moment to swipe his Secret Santa phone. It’s not stealing since this is company property, anyway. We need to know what he said to get her so shaken up.”
I can’t do this. He’ll see the flirting and the nicknames, all while thinking it’s Derek. Then Derek will reveal that he took the phone from my desk drawer. Dan will discover that it’s me who’s been texting his sister. When he reads the text about their dad being a traveling salesman, I won’t have any deniability.
He knows I know that story.
I’m trapped in a maze with no way out except lying to my best friend.