muttered something that sounded an awful lot like “I have a plan,” but I wasn’t sure I’d heard her right, and then I caught sight of W.B. standing by himself near the wall. He was dressed in a suit that fit his tall, muscular form perfectly and he was holding a drink. He was also completely alone.
As I watched, Joy, the ornament designer, walked by. She was in a strapless black cocktail dress that was sensational on her generous figure. She passed W.B. without looking at him, and he broke away from the wall to follow her.
“Those two,” I said, nudging Sophie’s arm discreetly. “No, don’t look, he’ll see.”
“W.B.?” Sophie asked, swiveling her gaze obviously.
“Yes. Him and Joy. There’s something going on there, don’t you think?”
She gave me a knowing look. “I think Joy is into him, but she says she isn’t.”
“She seems mad at him.”
“Why would she be mad at him?”
I shrugged. I had no idea what the answer was, and besides, I was the new girl here. Sophie had known these people longer than I had. “It’s just a hunch.”
Sophie saw something past my shoulder. “I gotta go,” she said, distracted. “Welcome to the family and all that.” She walked briskly across the room, heading for someone I couldn’t see.
I looked around for Wes, but he was already coming toward me, his blue eyes fixed on me. And just like that, my body went warm, my blood flowing faster. He looked so gorgeous in that suit, but now that I’d seen him naked, I could picture that, too. I knew exactly what he looked like under all of that expensive fabric. I felt a little shiver because I wanted to see it again.
He put his arm to my waist and bent to speak into my ear, and I caught the familiar scent of him. “I know exactly what you’re thinking, Penny,” he said in a low voice. “It’s written on your face.”
I could have argued, but that would be a lie. “I can’t help it,” I said, leaning into him a little more so that I was talking into his ear like he was talking into mine. “You look delicious.”
He didn’t seem to need another invitation. He took my drink from me and set it down on a nearby table. “Let’s go to my office,” he said, taking my hand. “Right now, while no one is looking.”
From Wes’s office windows, I could see that the snow was coming down hard. The lights from the nearby buildings glowed yellow in the darkness, and the streets were quiet. Wes turned on the small lamp on his desk, and the glow from it gleamed on the old-fashioned mahogany. It was hushed and quiet. We couldn’t hear the party upstairs from here.
When the door clicked closed behind us, Wes pulled me to him and kissed me. I was ready and waiting. When it got hot and heavy, I took off my glasses and started tugging off his tie.
“You seem awfully sure of yourself,” Wes teased as he kissed down my neck.
I got rid of the tie and started unbuttoning his dress shirt. “Do you want to get this dress off me or what?”
“Oh, I definitely want it off you.” Now the humor was gone. He shrugged off his jacket and reached behind me for my zipper.
I swatted him away. “I went first last time. You have to go first this time.”
His eyes gleamed in the dim light as he looked at me. “Everything?”
I hadn’t thought it through, but I knew the answer right away. “Everything.”
Wes shook his head. “I’ve never been naked in my office before. Thank God we gave the cleaning crew the night off.” But he kicked his shoes off and undid his dress pants. I stood back and sat on the edge of his desk, watching the show.
“You know,” he said when he was down to just his unbuttoned shirt and his boxer briefs, “I’m going to make you strip naked, too. Then we’ll both know what it’s like to be naked at work.”
“Keep going,” I prompted him.
He smiled at me—that gorgeous, mischievous smile that I loved—and tossed the shirt. Then he hooked his thumbs in the waist of his boxer briefs. “You may want to brace yourself. This part’s really good.”
Oh, I remembered. And he was definitely right, it was good. “I’ll let you know.”
He tutted. “You’re hard to please. But I’ll do my best.” His thumbs hooked under the elastic and pulled down an inch. Now I