“The Asche Publishing Christmas party is a week from tonight. I’d like it if you’d go with me.”
“All of us?” Wes’s eyes widened. He smiled like I handed him a gift.
“You said there’s no reason to make decisions now. And we’re all friends, right?” I looked to the three of them to reassure me.
“Right,” replied Arch.
Gray leaned in and touched my shoulder. “Weareall friends, and we’d love to go with you to the Christmas party.”
“Great! It’s a date. A not-date. A nate.”
They laughed at my silliness. “How many of those have you had?” Arch pointed to my pink drink.
“One before dancing and this one. I’m pretty sure I burned the first one off on the dance floor.” I laughed and downed the rest of the sweet drink.
We chatted about what to wear for the company party, and our upcoming plans for the week as I drank one more yummy cocktail. Then I jumped up. “I came here to dance. Here I go.”
Time passed in a blur. I had no idea how long I danced, except, true to his prediction, soon Todd and I danced alone in the middle of a crush of bodies. We weren’t your typical bump and grind dancers, though. We alternated between swing, tango, jive, salsa, and some intricate freestyle. We stopped to take quick shots of high-end liquors brought to the dancers by the servers trying to pad the bills with expensive drinks.
Eventually, we headed to the table for a short respite, and four stern faces greeted us. “It’s time to go.” Rick had his ‘I have to talk like a dad or they’ll ignore me’ voice on.
Todd rolled his eyes. “It’s not even late.”
Arch checked his phone. “Try again Drunky Dancer. It’s midnight.”
“Since when is midnight late?” I snarked.
“Since I have to be at the office at nine tomorrow morning.” Rick handed Todd the rest of his drink. “Finish your drink, and let’s head out.” He leaned close to Todd’s ear and whispered something.
Todd grinned, threw the rest of his whiskey back and downed it. “I’m ready to go!” He and Rick led the way out of the club to the waiting limo.
I was less willing to leave and kept trying to pull Gray out for one more dance. “C’mon,” I shouted in his ear. “We can take a cab! Dance with me!”
He shouted in my ear, but the music drowned his voice. “What?” I asked, tugging on his shirt.
He tried one more time to get me to understand. When I shrugged my shoulders and tried to pull him again, he took matters into his own hands. He bent over, picked me up at the waist, and slung me over his shoulder. I screamed at him to put me down, but of course, he couldn’t hear me. I eventually gave up my protests and enjoyed the sexy ride. He put me down before we walked out the door to keep me from being scandalized in the press. I was grateful, but also, disappointed to lose my upside down view of his rump.
The ride home was a bit of a blur. Even with all the dancing I’d done, I still had a hefty buzz. Once upstairs, I was aware enough to dig my keys out of my handbag and even managed to wash off my severely damaged makeup after Arch kissed my cheek and left me to my own devices in my apartment. Before he turned to his place, though, I watched him standing outside my door until he heard the distinctive click of my deadbolt. I set my alarm, downed a huge glass of water to ward off a hangover, and collapsed on the bed, asleep before I could count the first sheep. I didn’t even notice Satan jump up on the bed and curl up beside me.
The weekend passed in a whirl of shopping fun. Wes tagged along, saying he used to go thrift store shopping with his mom and sister, and it made him nostalgic. We found sixteen prom dresses and a plethora of cocktail-style dresses. Todd said cocktail wasthecurrent style. I took his word for it. Poor Wes, bored, held dresses and bags like a champ.
Sunday, we shopped for the Christmas party. Todd and Rick also had an invitation; after all, they were family. We split our shopping time between the men’s and women’s departments since we needed to find both Rick and Todd a new tux.
Todd must’ve swished a magic, dress-making wand, becausethedress appeared in front of me. “Get over here!” I whisper-yelled as I stood in awe. The moment was definitely a bride choosing the perfect wedding gown type of moment.
Todd sidled up beside me, hand over his mouth. “It’s perfect. It’ll show off your curves, but give you perfect lines. I can’t believe it. We found the perfect dress, and it’s not even lunchtime. We’ll have all afternoon to clean out your closet.”
That’s what we did. Perfect shoes already sat in my closet, unworn, saving us from shoe shopping. We played in my closet, organizing and sorting, until Rick came home from work. We filled my car to the brim with a cornucopia of clothes to donate.
Monday, we took the dresses to their new homes. It made me happy to send all the unused clothes to people that would get good use out of them.
I received a call from my building manager Monday afternoon while we delivered dresses. The security company figured out who supplied my stepmother with the codes. It was our beloved doorman. He’d already been fired, but with my blessing, they didn’t press charges. I was crushed to find out it was someone I cared about. The building super said the doorman had gone through a rough financial time recently. My stepmother probably paid him handsomely for the codes.
To my surprise, Wes turned up Monday evening. “There is something I need to give you,” he said.
“Okay, sure! Come in.” My heart soared with his sudden appearance.
He didn’t give me time to turn and face him before he spun me around and pressed me up against the wall. He trapped me between the wall and his body, and I’d never been so happy to be caught in my life. “I owe you a kiss, friendship be damned.” His voice was husky, laced with desire.
