AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That was only four days ago. Do you think you’re forgiven?
“Aren’t I?”
“I…” She hesitated, unsure exactly what to say.
“Because if you haven’t forgiven me yet, then I might as well just add to my sins.”
“Excuse me?”
“You know, in for a penny, in for a pound.” His other hand stretched out, settled on her waist, and drew her close. “Merry Christmas, Maggie,” he said, and then he kissed her.
It was soft and gentle and swift, a perfectly polite Christmas kiss. But regardless, as his mouth touched hers, heat roared through her like an express train and she melted against him without thinking, opening her mouth for more. The smell and taste of him swept over her and pulled her down into a place where she wasn’t thinking, only feeling.
More. More. More. Her body was greedy for him, desperate. So desperate so fast that it scared her into sanity and she broke the kiss off with a gasp like her last breath of air. Alex looked down at her, eyes dark and surprised, his expression somewhat dazed as she imagined hers was.
She pulled away from him, heading toward the sound of people, walking a little bit too fast, feeling like she’d lost her balance. Thank God she’d gone with simple pale pink lip gloss rather than the killer red Hana had suggested. Hopefully it wouldn’t be obvious she’d just been kissing Alex. Alex who was still behind her—she could feel the pull of him like there was a rope between them and he was the anchor. And her body protested its dissatisfaction with walking away from him loudly. So. He definitely kissed like the devil. Which meant the only sensible thing to do would be to flee. She quickened her step. When she passed through the door, she almost collided with Ollie, coming the other way. He steadied her with a hand on her shoulder.
“Hey. I thought I heard your voice,” he said, bending in to kiss her hello. Relief warred with guilt. Obviously he hadn’t seen her and Alex or his greeting would have been far less friendly.
She almost turned her head so that his lips would land on her cheek but just managed to stop herself. Ollie had kissed her hello and good-bye for years now. Friend pecks. He’d wonder what was up if she didn’t want him to kiss her now.
His lips hit hers and she waited for the brief tingle of nostalgia that sometimes welled up when he was close to her. But tonight it didn’t come. Tonight, all she could think was that his kiss didn’t feel anything remotely like Alex’s.
“Something wrong?” Ollie asked, drawing back.
“No.” She straightened her shoulders, drew in a breath. “No. Nothing. Just got stuck in some traffic. You know I hate being late.”
“Yeah, it was a bitch getting here. Must be some construction somewhere, I guess.” Ollie slung his arm around her shoulders, drew her into the room just as Alex came up behind them. “Nice digs though.”
That was something of an understatement. Alex’s condo was massive, the room they’d entered ran the entire length of the building from what she could see. No curtains blocked the windows and Manhattan lay below them, sparkling in the rain like the world’s biggest set of Christmas lights arrayed around the darker spill of Central Park.
She accepted a glass of champagne from a waiter who popped up out of nowhere, took a mouthful, then another in rapid succession, and wriggled out from Ollie’s grasp. “I need to say hello to everyone,” she said when his black brows drew down.
“You just got here.”
“That’s traditionally when you say hello,” she said. “Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of time to hang out later.”
“If the boss man doesn’t monopolize you.”
“Well, he is the boss.”
“Still don’t understand why you’d want to work for him.”
She smacked his arm. “Well, it was either that or go work for another team. Maybe I still will. They probably have hotter players after all.” She smirked up at him. “But I would miss … old Flappy.” Flappy being the nickname for the Saints’ mascot suit. It was big and stinky and the players delighted in stashing it in all sorts of inappropriate places.
Ollie snorted. “Face it, it’s me you can’t live without.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” she retorted. “It’s nice to have a dream.” She took another mouthful of champagne, the wine easing the stew of nerves and butterflies in her stomach little. She watched as Alex joined a group of players standing near a trio of low red leather couches set around some sort of space-age-looking fireplace.
They looked up at his approach, smiles a little warier than normal, but they seemed to welcome him readily enough. Still, she should go and join him, help ease the way.
And she would. Right after she found Hana. She excused herself to Ollie and went in search of the girls.
Hana and Shelly were standing with two of the other players’ wives, all of them laughing at a black-clad waiter with a very cute face who was offering them some sort of canapé involving long bamboo skewers and fried shrimp. They were obviously tasty because Shelly moved to block his retreat as he tried to move on to the next group and secured another four.
“Maggie, hi,” she said, after a rapid swallow. “Grab one of these before you go. They’re divine.”
The waiter offered his tray and she took one, and a napkin, with a grateful smile, then moved out of his way so he could escape.
