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The elevator banks teemed with people. It looked like every other business tenant in the building had sent representatives down to scope out Britesmith’s party. And help themselves to the drinks.
Then again, it was corporate rush hour, on a Friday night.
“Shall we walk up?” Beck had found the stairwell door and pushed it open.
Bless his heart, in these heels?
“My office is ten floors up.” Nora laughed, her hand stopping his on the handle. Britesmith had its mezzanine-level reception area and conference room, meant to impress. But a sad honeycomb of cubicles in the sky was the fate of its worker bees. “No skyscrapers in your suburbia, I assume?” she teased.
“Of course there are. The sky’s just…a little higher here.”
Correction: he wasreallykind of cute for a Bridge and Tunnel guy. She liked how he gave her a roll of those dark eyes, and how they lit up at her teasing.
“Don’t look now, but…”
Too late. She looked.
More mistletoe dangled from the EXIT sign above the door to the stairwell. April had tried to cajole her into helping decorate earlier in the day, claiming short girl problems. Apparently she had enlisted someone, because the green stuff was everywhere.
When in Rome…or perhaps the North Pole?
Beck’s lips perfectly parted in surprise when her mouth touched down, featherlight. But they soon recovered and claimed her, as did his fingers, threading through her hair and pulling her closer.
“Now I get what all the fuss is about,” he breathed, capturing her top lip between both of his. “This stuff should hang all year round.”
“Shhh, let’s just keep culturally appropriating, please.”
His laugh rumbled deep, and she felt it against her chest as she leaned in. “They did take our latkes, after all.”
“And there’re way more people at the movies and out for Chinese these days on Christmas,” Nora pointed out. “We used to have that all to ourselves.”
Beck was gazing down at her, like he wanted to haveherall for himself. “You’re right, way more crowds. Speaking of which…”
Ah, right. Their quick getaway had turned deliciously slow, pinned against the fire-door. And now the lobby swelled with even more revelers.
A weighted warmth spread across her bare shoulders. “Take mine. Let’s get out of here.” Nora gratefully slipped her arms into the oversized suit jacket. Its silky lining held his body heat and a sweet-spiced scent that she could get quickly addicted to if she wasn’t careful.
Had they both temporarily lost their minds? Making out with a co-working stranger in some dark corner at the office holiday party hadnotbeen on Nora’s wish list for Hanukkah Harry. And Beck, well, he didn’t seem to be the usual B&T guy looking to score with a city girl.
They didn’t even have the excuse of some dark corner – no, they had just gone full-on teenage make-out session in the illuminated exit stairwell, in all its fluorescent-lit glory.
For a girl who barely shared her weekend plans with any colleagues besides April and Parker, she had certainly put on a good show-and-tell tonight.
It was definitely time to get out of there.
“Follow me.”
There was a rhythm to Manhattan crowds, indoors and out. As people tunneled closer, arms pinned at their sides and everyone inching toward the same goal, Nora turned her palm up and reached back. The press of Beck’s fingertips on hers was immediate, as if he had been instinctively reaching forward.
* * *
They had skyscrapers in downtown Des Moines, all right…the Ruan Center, 801 Grand, and the HUB Tower all housed scores of people; but nothing like this.
Alex’s head was spinning, but not just from the Manhattan crowds and bracing wind. That kiss Nora had laid on him was mind-erasing. His name, his legacy, what he was even doing here in the first place…
He certainly hadn’t come to New York to hook up with anyone from the office,inthe office building that would soon have his family’s name on it. He shouldn’t have let that happen. It just complicated things further. Yet at that moment, he would’ve been perfectly happy to send them both back through the revolving door and inside to continue it.
But Nora seemed to have something else in mind.
