Page 24 of The Christmas Accomplice

The song ended, but they continued to dance, moving slowly, hands clasped. When the unmistakable bulge of Reece’s erection grazed across his own, Welton let out a quiet gasp. As he stared into Reece’s eyes, his heart pounded and his scalp tingled. There was no denying now Reece was gay and attracted to him. All Welton had to do was move a little closer, close his eyes, and Reece would undoubtedly kiss him.

But why should Welton have to wait to be kissed? Why couldn’t he simply take the first step and initiate the kiss? All his life he’d been waiting for things to come to him: the right job, a nice apartment, the perfect boyfriend. He could change all that right now by taking the lead and kissing Reece. That was all there was to it. One simple kiss, and Welton knew his life would change.

Before Welton could make his move, the radio clipped to Reece’s belt let out a burst of static, and a woman’s voice said, “Reece? You there?”

They jumped apart like two teenagers caught making out in a dark basement. They laughed and Reece grabbed the radio and brought it to his lips. His full, perfect lips that Welton was kicking himself now for not kissing.

“I’m here, Nick. What’s up?”

“Shuttle’s arrived. We could use another hand at the desk.”

“On my way.” Reece clipped the radio to his belt once again, his eyes still on Welton. “Duty calls.”

“Yeah, I should go, too.”

“Thanks for the help with the sound system.”

Welton realized another song had started playing and he hadn’t noticed it. This was “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” and if that didn’t sum up everything he was feeling at the moment, he didn’t know what else could do it.

“You’re welcome. When is the activity?”

“Tomorrow evening at seven.”

“Maybe I’ll drop in and check it out.”

Reece smiled. “I’d like that.”

Welton didn’t know what to say, so he simply smiled in return. When Reece paused the music, the silence seemed to echo inside Welton’s chest as the rest of his day stretched out ahead of him with nothing planned and nowhere to go. Dean was probably just waking up back at the cabin, and Welton had no desire to taint the afterglow of dancing with Reece by talking with or even seeing his ex-boyfriend.

He watched Reece put the cable Welton had found into a pocket of his sport coat, and then helped return the bin to the storage closet. They left the ballroom, and Reece led the way down the hall, talking about his Christmas playlist and explaining the number of songs and the time he’d spent putting them in a specific order. When they entered the lobby, both were surprised by the line at the registration desk. The woman who had waved to him earlier worked behind the desk. Apparently, her name was Nick. When she caught sight of them, she waved both arms over her head at Reece and widened her eyes in mock panic.

“Yikes, I gotta go.” Reece turned to look at Welton as he walked backward toward the front desk. “Thanks again. Don’t use that appetizer coupon without me.”

“Okay, I won’t.”

He stood and watched as Reece let himself in behind the desk and got to work alongside Nick. An empty, somewhat lost feeling swirled to life inside him, and then his phone buzzed in his pocket, making him jump. He checked the display and found a text from Dean.

We need to talk about this arrangement.

Ugh. Every good feeling generated by his time with Reece evaporated in the heat of annoyance at Dean. There was no way he was going to ruin his good mood by seeing Dean. Not yet. He shoved his phone into his pocket without responding and headed for the exit.