Authors: LuAnn McLane
Wicked Wonderland (16 page)
“Nikki, guess what,” she whispered. “I figured out why I keep having sex with Justin!”
Or not. He was tempted to lean back into the chair, but he didn’t want to make a move or a sound. He discovered he was holding his breath as he remained very, very still.
“Well?” Nikki asked. “What is it?”
“It’s the holiday stuff!”
There was a pause after her dramatic announcement. Justin frowned. Holiday stuff? What holiday stuff? Could she be a little more specific so he could use it to his advantage?
“Uh”—Nikki dragged out the word—“repeat that again.”
“Everything about the holidays is making me hot for Justin.”
Justin pressed his lips together hard and tried not to laugh. Was she serious? It wasn’t him? It was the freaking holiday? She was so wrong.
“That can’t be.”
“Think about it,” Rachel said. “I jump him during the office party. I have my wicked way with him behind a Christmas tree.”
That didn’t have anything to do with the holidays, Justin decided. If they had been next to a closet, she would have dragged him in there.
“Coincidence,” Nikki said. “You guys are coworkers and this place is crawling with decorations.”
“All right, well how about this? I take a whiff of gingerbread and want to take him right then and there.”
Justin smiled as he remembered that coffee break.The way she had looked at him made him feel irresistible. If only there hadn’t been anyone else in that room.
“Okay, that is a little weird,” Nikki said. “Gingerbread isn’t usually considered an aphrodisiac.”
“And then when I heard the jingling bells ...” Rachel gave a deep sigh. “Well, let’s not get into it.”
“Jingling bells? You’re hearing bells?” Nikki asked. “And you’re conditioned to have sex when you hear bells?”
Justin shook his head. She thought that was why she kissed him? Not because she believed he was sexy, but because of the jingle bells?
Note to self:Wear a bell at all times.
Note to self:Wear a bell at all times.
“No, the bells are Christmasy,” Rachel explained, her voice thick with frustration. “Don’t you get it?”
“What’s the correlation between sex and Christmas?” Nikki asked. “And why Justin? Why not Chuck?”
Justin jerked his head up and glared at the wall. Hey, he was way better than Chuck! At least he’d like to think so.
“Okay, obviously I don’t have all the answers,” Rachel admitted. “But at least I’ve identified the problem, right?”
“Uh, right.”
Uh, wrong.
Christmas had nothing to do with it. It was more like she was flailing for excuses. She was scared at how much power her feelings for him had over her, Justin thought with a wicked smile.
Christmas had nothing to do with it. It was more like she was flailing for excuses. She was scared at how much power her feelings for him had over her, Justin thought with a wicked smile.
“So the solution is easy,” Rachel said, her voice high with relief.“All I need to do is make sure I’m always in a Christmas-free zone until the season is over.”
Justin swallowed back a laugh and almost choked. Rachel Bartlett was in for a shock after the New Year. This sexual attraction wasn’t going to fade that easily. He wouldn’t let it.
“Good luck with that, Scrooge.”
“I’m doing it for survival.”
Justin frowned. He was forgetting one very important fact. It didn’t matter how long this awareness, this need, lasted. Rachel didn’t want this sexual attraction between them. Ouch.
Nikki scoffed. “And you can’t survive wrapped naked around Justin?”
He always had liked Nikki.
“No, I can’t,” Rachel said. “Not if I want some peace of mind.”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
“As of now,” Rachel said in such a haughty tone Justin imagined her thrusting her chin up, “I’m going to go take down the decorations in my cubicle.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s going to make all the difference,” Nikki muttered as he heard Rachel walking away. Nikki paused for a moment before calling out to her friend, “And peace of mind is overrated!”
Justin sat quietly, staring in the direction of Nikki’s cubicle. Rachel didn’t want to desire him. Real flattering.
He knew that Rachel was wrong. This fire between them had been building for almost a year. She jumped him at the office party not because it was the holidays but because she was relaxed and having a good time. She had let her guard down because she was tired of holding it up all the time.
She couldn’t keep her hands off him then, and she still couldn’t. She’d had one taste of how good they were together and wanted more. So much more that she couldn’t think straight. He couldn’t blame her for that.
But blaming it on the holidays? That was just crazy. But she seemed to believe it. Or she was grasping for the easiest, quickest solution. She wanted to believe that this was temporary insanity.That she could get it out of her system by tearing down a few decorations.
Justin leaned back in the chair and rolled the problem around in his mind. It didn’t matter what was true or what was correct. Rachel believed the holidays were seducing her to have sex with him. Fine. If that was what it took to disarm Rachel, he’d use it. He’d take all the help he could get, even if it meant making the Christmas decorations a permanent fixture of the decor.
And if it meant he had to embrace the holidays, then he’d do it. Now that he knew what turned Rachel on, he would put aside the plans for roses, champagne, and candlelit dinner. All he had to do was sing a few carols, spread a little holiday cheer, and wear those Christmas sweaters his mother insisted on sending every year.
But what would he do once Christmas was over? He didn’t want this to end once December 26 arrived. Justin closed his eyes and sighed. He would have to come up with something, but for now he would make this office the North Pole if it meant getting Rachel back into his arms, where she belonged.
Justin was lying in wait for her the next day. He didn’t pounce the moment Rachel stepped into the office. She would be with Nikki, who always gave her a ride to work. He needed Rachel to be alone with as few exits as possible.
He waited in the break room when she usually took her coffee break. She was running late, and he was almost going to give up. Standing by the windows and drinking a rapidly cooling cup of coffee, looking out over the snow-laden trees, he heard her walking toward the break room.
Anticipation flooded his bloodstream. He always felt like this when he knew he was going to see Rachel. She was fun, challenging, and sexy as hell. Rachel managed to fascinate and frustrate him like no other woman.
He turned just as she stepped into the room. She looked simply gorgeous wearing a gray turtleneck sweater, jeans, and black knee-high boots.Today she didn’t hide her slender curves underneath layers or bulky clothes.
Rachel was startled to see him and her eyes zeroed in on his chest. She came to an abrupt stop, her hands up, almost in a gesture of surrender, as she stared at him. Her mouth opened and closed, and nothing but a squeak came out of her mouth.
“Morning, Rachel,” he said as he casually took another sip of coffee.
“Oh, dear God,” she finally said, clapping her hand over her mouth. “What are you wearing?”
He frowned as if he hadn’t expected the question. “A sweater?”
She stared at him. Justin couldn’t blame her. The blinding red holiday sweater was a gaudy eyesore. “Are those ... ?”
“Flying reindeer,” he answered for her. He suspected they were flying, but he could be wrong.The sweater looked like it had been knit by drunken elves.
Rachel dropped her hand, and he saw her fingers curl up into a fist. She took a step closer to him. He felt the aggression shimmering off her, but it wasn’t the kind he was hoping for.
“What?”
“Interesting choice.” Rachel eyed him suspiciously.
“It is the season, you know.” He hid his smile as he took a hurried sip of his coffee.
“You don’t do the holidays.” She gave another quick glance at the sweater and then glared at him. “Where’d you get it?”
“My mom buys me one every year.” Sad, but true.
“Does she live nearby?” she asked, trying her best not to look at the reindeer. “Is she coming over for lunch?”
“God, I hope not.”
Rachel’s jaw shifted to one side as she visibly controlled her temper. “Then why, of all days, are you wearing this?”
He shrugged and tried for an innocent expression.
Rachel gasped and took a step back. She pointed a finger straight at his chest. “You know!”
He was never good at being innocent, but it didn’t stop him from trying. “Know what?”
She wagged her finger under his nose.“Don’t try that with me, Justin. How did you find out?”
He decided to drop the innocent act and go for clueless. He was better at that. “You’re speaking in code.”
Rachel put her hands on her hips. “Take off the sweater.”
“Are you coming on to me?” he asked as he set down his coffee mug.
“I’m serious, Justin.” She motioned for him to whip off the offending clothing. “Take it off now.”
“The sweater is that sexy to you?” He sang the drumroll for a stripper and grabbed the hem of his sweater. As he bunched it up and revealed his bare abdomen, Rachel’s eyes widened. He slowly pulled it up farther, showing off the defined muscles of his chest that she couldn’t get enough of the night of the office party.
Rachel blinked as if she were pulling herself out of a trance. “No, forget what I said.” She held her hands out. “Put it back on, put it back on.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded frantically.
“All right.” He continued humming the stripper song as he slowly smoothed the sweater back in place, all the while watching her response.
Rachel wasn’t as upset as she appeared. She was trying to hide her arousal, but it wasn’t going to work. Her face was too expressive. He saw how her eyes dilated when she saw his naked chest. She was also breathing unevenly. Her cheeks were flushed and that thin turtleneck couldn’t conceal her tight nipples.
As if Rachel could sense his gaze, she crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m surprised you didn’t go all out. Put on reindeer antlers! Wear Rudolph’s blinking red nose!”
“I think the sweater is all that I need.” He patted the neon red monstrosity, pleased that he hadn’t donated it to charity yet.
She leaned forward and her glare deepened.“You are shameless.”
“True,” he said as he retrieved his coffee mug.“But that can be a good thing.”
She shook her head and tossed her hands in the air as if she couldn’t deal with him. “I have to get out of here.” She turned on her heel and started to walk away.
Justin started whistling “Jingle Bells.”
Rachel’s body went still with tension. Or was it indecision? Was she going to turn around and jump him? He hit a high, piercing note as anticipation squeezed his chest.
She squared her shoulders back and marched away.
Justin continued to whistle the song as she disappeared from his view. She was going to crack, he decided as he left the break room and followed her down the corridor to his cubicle. She started to walk faster. Once she got to her desk, she grabbed her headphones and slammed them onto her ears.
Very, very soon. Justin strolled into his cubicle and sat down with a sense of impending victory. All he had to do was keep this up and Rachel Bartlett would be in his bed by Christmas morning.
There was only one more workday before the Christmas break, but she wasn’t going to last, Rachel decided as she hunted for Nikki through the maze of cubicles. If she just looked at Justin, she would drag him to the nearest bed—no, the nearest horizontal surface—and have her way with him.
Rachel saw Nikki step out of the women’s restroom and ran after her. “Nikki, I need a favor.”
“Name it.”
Rachel grabbed her friend by the wrist and dragged her back into the bathroom. The movement took Nikki by surprise and she skidded on the tile floors with her stiletto heels.
“What’s the rush?” Nikki asked as she pulled away from Rachel and regained her balance.
“Wait.” Rachel gave a cursory look under the stalls to see if anyone was around.
“I’m sure Justin isn’t here,” Nikki said, placing her hands on her hips.
“I know that.” Although she wouldn’t put it past him.“I’m just checking to see if we’re alone.”
“Really?” Nikki leaned against the wall. “How very odd. What’s the favor?”
“I need a ride to the airport.”
“Now?” Nikki checked her watch.
“Tomorrow. I have to get out of this place,” she explained in a low voice. “It’s time for a full detox.”
“Honey, I’m sorry. I can’t make it. I’m going out of town to spend Christmas with my parents.”
Right. She forgot about that. Rachel puffed her cheeks and gave an exasperated sigh. “Know anyone who could give me a lift?”
“I’ll ask Danny,” she suggested, her on-again, mostly off-again boyfriend. “He’ll do it.”
“Thanks.” Rachel was already feeling her tense muscles relaxing. This was all going to work out.
“What brought this on?”
Rachel wasn’t sure how to say it without sounding insane. How did one explain that she needed to leave town because of a sweater? “Have you seen Justin today?”
“No.” Nikki frowned. “Why?”
“He’s wearing a Christmas sweater and whistling carols,” she answered as calmly as she could.
Nikki’s mouth fell open and her eyes widened with alarm. “He knows!” she whispered fiercely.
Rachel was glad Nikki said that. It was good to know she wasn’t completely paranoid.“He acts like he doesn’t, but there’s no other explanation.”
Nikki ran her fingers through her hair and looked at the bathroom door. “How did he find out?”
“That doesn’t matter.” Rachel waved her hands in the air, dismissing the question.“What matters is that I need a complete Christmas detox. I’m going somewhere hot for the holidays. Somewhere that doesn’t look like a Thomas Kinkade painting. Somewhere that doesn’t have snow or Christmas sweaters or smell like gingerbread.” Or that included Justin.
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