Despite the laws of physics seeming not to be on her side, the stunt might have worked, had Ginger not been so much bigger than Fred.
The paramedics had been called.
“But at least they had fun! And now look at them,” Nikki said and giggled softly to herself. Before last year’s party, the self-proclaimed nerds had been too bashful to talk to the other. But since returning from the ER, bandaged and bruised, the now inseparable lovebirds had been just about joined at the hip.
They would be celebrating their upcoming nuptials in the spring.
Nikki sighed, thinking of her own love life. It wasn’t like she was jealous of Fred and Ginger—nothing like that—but she had come to terms with the fact that it might be a while...a long while before she found her Mr. Right. Which was why she’d decided that Mr. Right Now would do.
Between school and the job, she had zero to no time for anything serious. The problem was that she was, well...horny.
She felt her cheeks heat, but truth was truth.
She hadn’t had good dick in... She frowned, trying to remember the last time she had.
“That is so sad,” she mumbled to herself, and took another sip.
Nikki squared her shoulders. She had never been the type of woman to have sex for the sake of it, but she had needs. And those needs had cobwebs on them. It had been so long since they’d been fulfilled.
Oh, well, what the heck. ’Twas the season to be merry and all that, she thought, and brought the flute to her mouth.
Deciding she needed a healthy dose of courage, she downed the champagne in one swallow and started coughing. Slow down...slow down, she cautioned herself. The night was young and she was in need. And as she waited for the one she’d set her sights on to help clean her cobwebs out, she didn’t need a trip to the doctor because of choking.
Damn. So much for trying to be cute, she thought as she tried to clear her throat of the liquid that seemed to have gone down the wrong pipe.
A nearby waitress quickly came to her rescue and thumped her so hard on the back she nearly pitched forward onto the table. She held up a hand and signaled the woman to stop her rigorous pounding. Then she handed the energetic waitress her empty flute after mumbling, “I’m fine, thanks.”
Nikki hazarded a guess the woman was simply trying to help, but something told her that the waitress was well aware that all that hard thumping had not been necessary. Nikki had caught the waitress checking out one of the waiters who’d been watching her during the collision. Not a worry. As fine as both waiters had been, neither one was on her menu for the night.
She grew impatient after checking the clock. She chewed her bottom lip. It was still early, but it seemed the entire staff of MagHard Interior Design had shown up tonight, and apparently had brought guests, as they’d been invited to do. The office party had grown into an all-out holiday ball, she thought. There were plenty of men in attendance, and Nikki knew she’d caught the eyes of several.
And she could probably pick one to help her out of her...situation.
But she didn’t want just anyone.
There was only one whose dark emerald eyes she wanted to catch. Nikki bit her lower lip again, hoping he’d actually come to the swanky office party. From what she could ascertain from the office gossip, odds were he was coming. She’d overheard a few of the ladies in the secretarial pool discussing that very fact. She wasn’t the only one who had her eyes him. Not even close.
She hadn’t wanted to get her hopes up too high in case he was a no-show, but as usual her friend Tony had been the one who’d found out the info she needed. Tony had inadvertently given her the scoop when he’d informed Nikki that he’d heard it from Wanda, who worked in Accounts Receivable, who’d heard it from Linda, who worked in Human Resources, who’d overheard Sheila, the assistant to the assistant manager...that he was planning to attend.
Merriment made her laugh out loud at the string of I heard it froms that peppered that particular trail.
Max Stele.
Just thinking his name brought the image of the sexy-as-hell temporary employee of MagHard Interior Design to her mind’s eye.
For two weeks Nikki had both avoided and sought to catch glimpses of the temporary office manager. And she wasn’t alone.
Tall, dark and handsome was such a cheesy description, but that was exactly what he was: six feet five inches, two hundred and thirty five pounds of pure muscle, with dark, wavy hair that sculpted his perfect head and mysterious emerald-green eyes with midnight-dark eyelashes.
She knew his weight and height because Molly from Payroll had given her his stats. She had no idea how the woman knew and hadn’t asked. Molly was odd like that—she knew some of the strangest details about people. But this time she hadn’t chalked it up to the woman’s proclivity to know unique statistics, but on the fact that every woman in the office was interested in knowing anything and everything about the handsome new manager.
Although Max was white, his skin had a deep golden tan, one that didn’t come from any tanning bed but was strictly natural, just man and sun.... She shivered and grew warm just thinking of him. Which was one of the many, many reasons that Nikki had decided he would be the one to end her embarrassingly long drought.
She glanced up and saw one of the accounting managers making a beeline for her and nearly groaned. No damn way, she thought, not feeling the least bit concerned for her lack of kindness. If she got caught up chatting with Tom, she’d never get loose, and she needed to make sure she was free when Max finally showed.
Nikki hopped off the stool and looked for an exit, then blew out a sigh of relief when a woman she recognized from Human Resources put a hand on Tom’s arm, forcing him to stop. She caught the frustrated look on his face and knew she’d been right; he’d been aiming right for her.
She felt bad, really uncharitable. It wasn’t just because Tom was short and bald that she didn’t want to talk to him, but Tom thought he had game and was a bit obnoxious, constantly bragging about his convertible coupe and expensive clothes.
Nope. Not even her type, she thought. Not on her worst day. She might be lonely, but she wasn’t desperate.
Nikki began to walk through the crowd, keeping her smile firmly in place as she nodded her head, casually making eye contact with those she knew as well as the many she didn’t. She took a sip from the glass she held. Tonight was all about the happy...and her mission. Again...there was only one man she was on the lookout for: Max.
He’d come to the office after the last manager’s abrupt departure and would be around only long enough for upper management to find and train his replacement. Other than that, no one knew much about Max. His background was a mystery. Not that it mattered to Nikki. She had one thing in mind.
After she readjusted her girls discreetly inside her new, barely-there demi bra, she glanced to the side and saw the one she’d been looking for, Mr. Tall, Dark and Fine himself staring at her from across the room.
She felt as though her stomach had bottomed out. Dear God. Fine, fine, fine...ooh. The man was unbelievably fine.
She shook her head and bit back the groan...hoping he hadn’t witnessed the coughing and the vigorous thumping that had ensued. Not to mention the dodging of Tom and all that talking to herself. She didn’t want to scare him off.
She took a deep breath and smiled. Directly at him. Game on.
Nikki felt her confidence rise as she realized that although he had a gathering of both women and men surrounding him like bees to a honeycomb, she could feel his eyes on her even as he spoke to one of the other managers.
She stared in his direction. Thanks to the champagne, she felt bold. And thanks to the new dress and sticking to her exercise regimen, she felt sexy. Damn sexy.
And from what she’d gathered from her undercover