Page 40 of The Best Christmas Choir Ever

“I don’t know,” he said, his gaze falling briefly. “I guess I sort of panicked. It had been a long time since we’d seen each other and…”

“What?” Charlie asked. What wasn’t he saying?

“Maybe I was a little surprised, too.”

“At how much we immediately irritated each other?” she said, giving him a coy smile, trying to lighten the mood.

He shook his head; the tension ebbed. “At how good it felt seeing you again.”

Charlie gasped as he pressed closer. “Julian—”

“You’d think something from that long ago wouldn’t linger,” he said, brows drawn together. “You’d think the feelings would…go away.”

“I think it’s a choice,” Charlie said, hugging her arms to her chest even as her body gravitated toward him. “To put the feelings away, to stamp them out.”

“Are you saying you don’t…” He trailed off. “Is this all…” He clutched his forehead. “I mean, dammit, Charlie, you’ve gotta say something!”

“Say what? What are you wanting me to say?”

He gestured awkwardly between them. “You kissed me back, and you don’t regret it, so I’m asking if there’s…anything here?”

Charlie’s breathing grew heavy. Ragged. Anything of what? The spark…the irritation…the desire? There was everything between them still, and it was dangerous. It was going to unravel her.

But maybe she wanted to be unraveled.

Charlie surged forward, wrapping her arms around Julian’s neck, sinking into the softness of him, caving to the pressure of his lips. Everything would be fine, she told herself as he cupped her jaw, nipping at her bottom lip.

This was fine.

The pull between them… It was only because it had been so long since she’d had someone in her bed. It had nothing to do with her heart getting tangled up in something complicated. She’d had enough complicated to last her a lifetime. She didn’t need any more.

They bumped against the metal counter and then the microwave. It beeped in response, demanding to be opened. Neither of them reacted to the noise. Instead, Julian’s hands glided down her arms, and then to the small of her back before dropping to cup her ass.

He squeezed, and she groaned. “Is there somewhere a little more out of the way?”

“Popcorn not doing it for you?” he rasped.

“It’s great,” she teased. “Just hoping for something—”

“Private?” he suggested, nipping at her lips. He took her hand, tugging her out the door and back down the hall to that bank of offices. Charlie had no idea where they were going, but Julian seemed to know the way. He grabbed a doorknob, twisted and dragged her through, closing the door behind them.

The flick of the lock started her heart racing.

Julian twisted the blinds over the door. The room was dim, almost too dark to see anything but the hazy shape of furniture. He collapsed onto a small sofa, pulling Charlie down with him.

She wasted no time climbing into his lap and kissed her way down his throat.

He let his hands wander across her back and over hips, kneading her thighs. Charlie gasped into his mouth, the motion familiar. She ground down against him, and that was familiar, too. She pulled back a bit, breathing hard.

“You don’t have to stop,” Julian said.

He took her hips, guiding her movements more purposefully, and Charlie’s eyes fluttered closed. She remembered this. She burned for this.

“Let me make you feel good,” he whispered in her ear.

He’d been so wonderful at it. She bet he still was.

Charlie’s hands fell to his shoulders, anchoring herself. Her lips grazed his jaw lazily. Julian repositioned, getting his thigh between her legs. She rocked against him, and he flexed, putting pressure on all the right places.