The Office Christmas Party: A fun, feel good Christmas cracker of a romance!

‘Rose?’ she asked, but Rose just shook her head, leaving a pang in Natalie’s heart.

Natalie tried to tell herself that Rose’s idea of doing something terrible would be standing on a puppy’s tail by accident, and not getting it to a vet for a full check-up quickly enough, but the heavy feeling in her gut told her this was worse. All she could do was wait until Rose was ready to talk, and comfort her any way she could.

And to think, that wasn’t even the weirdest part of the evening. She was actually beginning to feel sorry for Tom, and even understand why he acted the way he did, in front of Natalie anyway.

It seemed like this was a week for firsts, and she couldn’t wait to get it over with.

***

Monday rolled around far too soon, as always, and Mick the Dick was spending a rare day in the office. Unfortunately, that meant he had just taken on a new client, which in turn meant dumping more work on her already packed desk.

After work, her day didn’t get much better. Tom had decided he wanted to get married at Christmas this year (which would mean he and Rose would be completely occupied with planning for the next few weeks), which would force Natalie to celebrate the day in a way other than staying in bed watching horror movies on DVDs with a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates. Oddly, Rose’s spirits seemed at an all-time low, and though she didn’t want to leave her friend, she’d never get to talk to her properly with Tom there in full wedding planner mode.

At least he was attentive to Rose’s gloominess and seemed to be making an effort to cheer her up, which made Natalie dislike him a little less. Still, she just wanted to get away from them this evening – and luckily for her, she knew a party that needed crashing.

When she arrived at the hotel overlooking Hyde Park, she was glad she came. The party was in one of their lounges with a balcony and the view of the Winter Wonderland bustling through the park was breath-taking. Swiping a glass of mulled wine, she wrapped her poncho round her shoulders and went to get a better look.

She turned her head to the sound of footsteps on the balcony next to her and quickly wished she hadn’t. Mr Smug was there, looking none too pleased to see her but there was the edge of something else sparkling in his chocolatey eyes.

‘I suppose you’ve urinated on the boundaries here, too?’ she asked, lacing the question with as much sarcasm as she could muster.

‘I thought you might try being nice this time, Nicole. Or is that name just a cover?’

Her breath caught, and without thinking she asked, ‘How did you find that out?’

The smug smile was back and she wished she’d kept her mouth shut.

‘I just checked to see whose name kept popping up and there you were. Or there was Nicole Porter anyway. I doubt that’s the name on your birth certificate though.’ He folded his arms and waited.

But if he thought she was going to deny it, or give him the pleasure of asking how he managed to get into any of the systems, he was wrong. Instead she shrugged. ‘That’s none of your business, is it?’

‘I disagree. Like I said before, too many unfamiliar faces and people are going to start asking questions. I quite like this set up, so I’m asking you one more time to reconsider.’

She wasn’t just hearing this guy though. Mick the Dick’s demands to get one pitch after another to his desk had been driving her mad all day. What was it with pushy men thinking women were only there to do what they wanted?

Well this woman wasn’t about to bow down, especially not to someone who didn’t pay her salary – even a pathetically low one. ‘I’m not leaving any time soon so you’d better get used to it.’

She polished off the last of the mulled wine, then turned to leave but he caught her arm and dragged her around to face him again. ‘Let. Me. Go.’

He did, but didn’t back away. ‘Maybe I could let them know all about your little stunt, Nicole.’

‘You wouldn’t! I could just do the same to you.’

‘You’d never get the chance. Then again, maybe it doesn’t have to end like this with us.’ Something flickered in his eyes and her mouth dried up. ‘Maybe we could take advantage of this situation and work off the tension between us a different way.’

He pointed above her head to a bunch of mistletoe dangling from the roof of the balcony. Her heart started to hammer and she stopped breathing altogether. He couldn’t possibly be suggesting that if she didn’t snog him, or go further, then he’d have her chucked out, was he?

Rage burned away the surprise and her heart slowed to a steadier beat. ‘Not if you were the last man alive. No scrap that, the last person alive. I’d rather change my sexuality than be with a creep like you.’

He didn’t look offended, just gave her a hot look that suggested she didn’t know what she was missing and even though her stomach clenched, she refused to feel anything other than dislike for this idiot.

‘Your choice,’ he said, as she turned and stomped back into the party.

Let him try and get her chucked her out. She wouldn’t go down without a fight.

***

Dean blew out a huge breath and ran a hand down his face. What had he been thinking? He’d never tried to blackmail a woman before – he’d never had to.

After he’d looked into the previous parties, found out the name she used to get in and noticed she’d be here tonight, he’d printed out a list of restaurants and bars having added her name to the guest list of them all. That way, she could go to those instead of risking them both being caught.

It wasn’t even about having two unfamiliar faces there. He and his brother used to come to these things together all the time. But they hung out at the bar, separated themselves from most of the guests and only chatted up women who approached them.

His little thief nicked food, mingled and danced in a way that could draw the attention of every man in the room. Even his. Though that didn’t give him a pass for what he just did.

But there was something about the way she glared at him, the way she didn’t take any of his crap and fought him tooth and nail for what she wanted that triggered an insane need to spar with her. He’d seen her arriving in a cute, red dress and he’d felt the same way he had that first night.

He wanted her. There was no denying it at this point. And so, instead of offering her an alternative to showing up where he was, he delivered her an ultimatum.

Better to move on than risk any more arsehole statements coming out his mouth. A while later, he got talking with Casey, an assistant to the head of HR, which would have normally been risky. Except she never questioned his identity, and who would remember everyone’s name in a company with five offices and thousands of employees?

She wasn’t anything like his little thief either. Casey was bubbly and fun, suggesting they head to her room after they take advantage of the free food and nibbles. She was exactly his kind of woman – relaxing to be around, easy to talk to, and up for a good time. And he’d long since gotten used to the feeling of repetition. It was a much safer option than the alternative.

Casey excused herself for a bathroom break and he pulled out his phone to check for any messages. Jeffrey hadn’t spoken to him since their fight, despite the fact they were supposed to be running a company together, and earlier Dean had decided enough was enough and tried to call him before he came out, but there had been no answer.

There was an email though, but not from his pissed off brother. Worse, it was from his parents. They were inviting him to Jeffrey and Alana’s engagement dinner this weekend at a posh restaurant Dean and Jeffrey would be expected to foot the bill for. And he knew the reason for the invite wouldn’t be because they wanted him there. Nope, they wouldn’t have cared less under normal circumstances. His parents were all about appearances, and the invite could only mean one thing. Jeffrey’s future in-laws were coming.

God forbid they had to admit they weren’t perfect parents with perfect sons.

He shook his head. He wasn’t even fazed by the formal way they addressed him anymore. He’d gotten over all that shit a long time ago.

However, he was annoyed at Jeffrey. His brother owed him better than letting him find out from his parents that he was about to get a sister-in-law. Then again, after the way he’d acted when Jeffrey had been about to propose, he could hardly blame his brother.

He caught sight of Casey pushing her way through the mingling crowds, but something had changed. Her lips were tight and her eyes were like daggers as she stormed over to him. When she was a nanosecond away from barrelling into his chest, she lifted her hand and slapped him full force on the face.

‘You bastard!’ she screamed, then went for another swing.

Dean caught both her hands, wishing he had one free to rub the sting out of his jaw. ‘What the fuck was that for?’ he whispered, trying not to attract attention. But it was too late for that. The room had silenced and all eyes were on them.

‘You know what it’s for. Nicole told me. You’ve slept with half the office and given them all crabs!’ she shrieked.

At least there was one plus in what she’d said. Half the party was eyeing each other suspiciously and edging away from what he assumed to be the single females.

Casey tried to head butt him but he dodged it, let her go and took a few steps back.

‘I would never sleep with someone as low as you!’

With that she stormed away leaving him gaping at her retreating back. He felt all eyes on him again. At least this story would thaw Jeffrey out – that is, assuming they didn’t quarantine him for a good de-lousing.

The cause of his public ridicule was easy enough to spot. She was across the room, right by the exit, almost vibrating with laughter and holding one hand over her mouth to mute the sound. He smiled slowly at her and had the satisfaction of seeing her eyes widen before she cleared off.

It seemed his little thief had just declared war.

Game on.

Chapter 4

By Friday she was desperate to get out of the house. Between spending the days trying to meet Mick the Dick’s impossible deadlines and the nights with a quiet, unresponsive Rose, she just wanted to forget about her troubles and let her hair down with a bunch of strangers who didn’t expect anything from her.

It also had something to do with the fact that, deep down, she was still reeling from her victory on Monday night. Finally, she’d gotten her payback on Mr Perfect and it had been a doozy. She’d also managed to get guest lists and names from the previous events to try to figure out who he was, and the only name that kept recurring was ‘Dean’. It was a common enough name, but the surname was always different. So she wasn’t exactly sure.

No doubt this guy, whoever he was, had a lot more experience crashing parties than she did. She just couldn’t understand why he’d bother. If he could afford all those tailor-made suits surely he could fork out for drinks at a bar if he just wanted to pick up women.

Still, she wasn’t going to spend any more energy on him. As far as she was concerned, they were even. If he happened to show up tonight, she’d ignore him and get on with enjoying herself.

All good in theory, but when she did see him, his silk burgundy shirt and black suit combo was hard to ignore. It seemed to work to highlight the colour of his skin and his dark, melting eyes, to the point she was getting annoyed with herself for ogling.

After all, she’d worked all hours planning this party, from the reindeer ice sculptures set in the window archways, to the band. She’d even sourced the gourmet chef and approved the finger hors d’oeuvres being served, and she planned to take full advantage of every last inch of it. She’d started the evening by stuffing her bag with enough grub to see her through the weekend, making sure to take the least odorous items.

Despite the worry that he was going to try something to ruin her night, the guy just mingled with both men and women, striking up the longest conversation with a short, overweight and balding man whose face was so red and sweaty, she worried he had an ulcer churning under his spare tires.

And she really needed to pay attention to what the girl next to her was blabbering on about, not to what Mr Perfect was doing.

‘So that’s how I got into advertising. What about you?’ the girl asked.

Er, what did she just say? Right. Why we’re here. ‘I love temping, it’s a great way to try new things but I don’t really want to get into advertising …’ That would just be too hard a conversation to carry, even with a girl who looked no older than an intern.

‘But aren’t you worried? I mean, people usually pick what they want to do in their twenties, they don’t wait until they’re old.’

She was in her bloody twenties! There were still two whole years before she hit the big three-oh. ‘I still am.’

The intern got all apologetic then, but Natalie didn’t want to hear it. She left the table to go mingle with someone else, snatching a flute of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter and downing half the glass in one motion.

She was stopped in her tracks by the short, sweaty man she’d been worried about earlier.

‘Let’s dance, sweet thing,’ he said, snatching away her much needed alcohol and taking one of her hands in his sweaty, chubby palm.

‘No thank you,’ she said.

‘You are a feisty one, aren’t you,’ he said, ignoring Natalie and hauling her along to where the band was playing a mix of Christmas and chart songs.

She tried to tug free again. ‘I said I don’t want to dance.’

He just pulled her so close, she could smell a mix of meat and beer on his breath, and feel the perspiration on his shirt soak into her lacy, white dress. That was the last straw. This dress was couture and had cost her more than she paid in rent. Her temper simmered. ‘What’s wrong with you? I said I didn’t want to dance.’

His hands slipped down and cupped her bum, then squeezed hard. ‘Dean’s right, you’ve got a tight little arse. If you don’t want to dance, follow me to the men’s room and I’ll take care of you, sweet thing.’

Natalie fisted her hand and was ready to lamp this guy a good one, ulcer or not, but then what he said sank in. ‘What exactly did Dean say?’

The man’s face turned puce. ‘Er, well, not much, just that you were good with your tongue and wanted … well … sex so bad you’d do anyone.’

She clenched her teeth together and wrestled out of his hold.

‘Sweet thing, I can show you a good time. We could even get a room,’ he called, but she’d already spun around and headed for the bar.

Dean – if that was even his name – wasn’t even being discreet about his amusement. She heard his bellow over the music, and her temper reached critical level. She didn’t look at him, didn’t have to. She knew exactly where he was in the room.

‘Hi, I’m Rick.’

An older man with skin like leather pushed into the bar next to her. She glared at him, having a horrible feeling what was going to come out of his mouth next. ‘I don’t have time to chat, Rick.’ Turning to the bartender, she said, ‘A bottle of merlot, please. And a glass.’ Making an exception, she put a bottle of red wine on her credit card – champagne just wasn’t going to cut it this time.

While she got served, Rick got handsy, sliding his arm around her hips. ‘Come on, love. We can get a room. There’s a Travel Lodge not too far from here.’

She snatched his hand before it reached her bum, then spied the gold band on his wedding finger, so held it up to his face. ‘I am not interested, you scuzzy bastard.’

At least he looked abashed before sliding off the ring and pocketing it. ‘How about now? I’ll just be a dirty bastard.’

The waiter brought her the much-needed Merlot. Natalie filled a glass, quickly drained it, then poured another. ‘Let me guess, Dean told you I’m the office slut.’

‘Not in so many words,’ Rick said. ‘Don’t be offended, I can—’

‘If you say anything that insinuates you can give me great sex I will smash this bottle over your head then stab you in the balls with the shards. Now get lost.’

He took her less than subtle hint, grumbling ‘bitch’ as he went. Natalie grabbed her wine and the glass, then made as if to go find an empty table. That’s when she spotted Dean, grinning a victorious grin that was going to be short-lived.

He made his second mistake of that evening and approached her, still laughing.

‘Don’t declare a war if you can’t handle one little battle,’ he said.

Oh, she could handle the battles, and she was going to win the war too. When he was close enough, she pretended to stumble, guessing his reflex reaction would be to catch her.

She was right.

He was conned.

Her glass ‘accidentally’ slipped, pouring the contents down his silk, burgundy shirt. There was no way that’s coming out ever.

He let her go, then frowned down at the damage. Sweat on her favourite dress deserved some payback in her book. Not to mention telling all the old, sleazy bastards that she was easy.

‘I’m so sorry,’ she lied. ‘I hope that comes out. You should probably rinse your shirt before it stains.’

His eyes narrowed at her. ‘You’ve just changed the game.’

Natalie glared back. ‘I told you, I don’t play games. I just get even, and now we are.’

He smirked. ‘We’re not even close, Nicole.’

‘Then bring it on, Dean.’

With that she left the party with the bottle of wine and her hearty plunder. There was no point hanging round getting hit on by a bunch of horned up ancients who probably had pockets filled with little blue pills.

And even though her night had been cut short, the anticipation of how he’d retaliate together with her second victory of the week left her on a bit of a high.

***

Nobody was up when she got in, so she took off her shoes, pulled out her phone, and started googling all the variations of Dean’s name she’d read. After all, it was true what they said. You had to know your enemy if you had a hope of beating them.

But nothing came up that she recognised, not as her Dean anyway.

Rose’s bedroom door opened and to her surprise, Tom came out and headed straight towards her. He usually grunted a hello and went to the bathroom or something, but he clearly had other plans tonight.

‘Good, I’ve been waiting for you to get home,’ he said, sounding relieved.

Natalie couldn’t keep the surprise out of her tone. ‘You were? Why?’

He sat on the chair across from her before answering. ‘I’m worried about Rose. I know you love her as much as I do, and I just wanted to know if she’s said anything about having cold feet to you, or has she changed her mind about me? I know we haven’t always gotten on, but something’s tearing her apart and if I’m the reason, I promise I’ll back off. I’d do anything to keep from hurting her.’

Natalie didn’t think she’d heard Tom say more than two sentences before, and she’d certainly never seen him looking so vulnerable. She remembered what Rose said, about Tom having been hurt and that it wasn’t him driving the distance in their friendship, but that it was Rose’s choice so she wouldn’t worry him.

Then later, Rose’s revelation about having done something awful and worrying she’d hurt Tom too.

‘She hasn’t said anything like that to me, but you’re always here, so …’ Nat shrugged, then as his expression crumpled, she backtracked. ‘I don’t think it’s you, she told me she loves you so much.’

He seemed to relax a little. ‘Thank God. I don’t know how I could go back to a life without her.’

‘I’ll try to talk to her, but I’m not sure when. I mean …’ She didn’t really want to point out the fact that he was there all day, every day, but how did he expect her to get any alone time with Rose when he never left?

‘You never get the chance with me here, right? I know, and I’m sorry about that too. I don’t know how much Rose told you about me, but I have, well, let’s just say I’m not as trusting as I’d like to be.’ He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. ‘Why don’t you take her out tomorrow, either to a bar or one of your parties? I don’t want to stop her from living her life, or having friends and enjoying herself. Maybe spending all this time with me is suffocating her.’

Natalie was stunned. She’d thought of Tom as her adversary for a while and figured he was a bit of a controlling bastard too. But now it was obvious he didn’t want to be, and she decided to start giving him the benefit of the doubt.

‘Okay, we can go for dinner and a few drinks. Nothing too wild,’ she said, now she knew he’d worry.

‘Thanks, Nat,’ he said, getting up. ‘I hope we can start getting on better, for Rose’s sake if nothing else.’

‘Me too’, she said and really meant it. Which was not something she’d ever have expected to be saying to Tom. Scrap the week, this was turning out to be a month of firsts.

***

This was going to be nothing if not a shitty way to spend his Saturday night, Dean thought, as he took his place at the table in the restaurant. It’s not that the food was bad. In fact, it was one of the best à la carte restaurants in the city. And just happened to be his brother’s fiancée’s favourite place to eat.

What made it shitty was who he was spending it with. Not that he knew Alana’s parents, they seemed nice enough. But directly across from him were his parents, and they’d yet to even acknowledge him.

Luckily Jeffrey was so dumbstruck that Alana had agreed to marry him, he’d forgotten about their argument, even if Dean hadn’t. But he still forced out the appropriate congratulations, even when he wanted to shake some sense into his brother, and warn Alana that if she broke Jeffrey’s heart he’d do everything in his power to make her regret it.

And he might have, if the Wicked Witch hadn’t flown in on her broom for the evening, dragging his dad along with her.

The first poison dart came as soon as the starters were served, and it was the first time she acknowledged his presence.

‘I see your girlfriend couldn’t make it tonight, Dean.’ His mother’s disparaging gaze didn’t fit with the sweet, doting mother act she was working for the in-laws’ benefit.

He was about to tell his mother he’d had two separate women this month, but had gotten bored of their skill in the bedroom already (not that it was true, he just wanted to wipe the smug look off her face and humiliate her for a change), when he caught Jeffrey throwing him a warning glance. Dean couldn’t screw up his brother’s night and not just because his parent’ would never let him hear the end of it. He hadn’t exactly been a supportive sibling lately. Even if he thought Jeffrey was making a colossal mistake, he should be there for him no matter what.

‘I’m not seeing anyone at the moment,’ he said instead.

His mother tutted, and shook her head with a pained expression. Turning to Alana’s parents, she explained her disappointing eldest son. ‘Ten years ago, he was engaged to be married. I thought by this point we’d be surrounded by grandchildren. But Dean just can’t keep a woman. Luckily Jeffrey’s loyal. We’re so proud of him.’

Dean fisted his hands reflexively, then pulled them under the table. He couldn’t believe the witch was making it sound like he’d been unfaithful, when he’d been anything but.

Jeffrey jumped in before Dean could erupt. ‘Mum, Dean’s so busy with our business he doesn’t have time to date. He’s creating an updated version of our hospitality program, and we’ve already lined up thousands of buyers.’

But their mother just shook her head. It was their father who spoke. ‘You were forever on that computer as a boy. Now you’re a man, son. You need to get out of that office and find yourself a nice wife like your brother. You’re not getting any younger.’