IVY
Nick's feast had become unruly within the first hour, and I found myself constantly looking around the room to see who I might recognise. Admittedly, that was mostly because of curiosity, I didn't think it was actually going to be useful information.
"I wish Eloise were here," I murmured.
Laila scoffed and took a sip of her wine. "I'm not good enough for you?"
"You know you are," I assured my friend. "But Eloise would be able to tell us who all the gods are."
"Oh, well that's an easy fix." Laila pulled out her phone and pretended to take a selfie while secretly taking a photo of the room.
"I don't think you're supposed to do that."
"I'm only sending it to Eloise," she assured me as she typed out the message. "Then we'll know who to be shocked about, and who it's okay to drool over."
"I don't think it's okay to drool over anyone," I countered. "Last time you did that, you ended up in trouble."
"Not even Nick?" she asked, her large brown eyes filled with a got-you expression.
I cleared my throat. "I don't know what you're talking about."
" Oh look, your cloak is crooked, let me fix it for you ," she mocked me.
My cheeks flamed with embarrassment. "That's not what I sound like."
"Maybe not, but it's what you did. You're totally smitten."
"I'm not," I insisted. "I think he's hot in a silver fox way."
"Oh, definitely," Laila agreed. "Though he's a bit ageless looking for a silver fox."
I looked over to where Nick was sitting on a throne, his cloak still around him.
He was chatting with a couple of the people around him, and I had to agree that there was something ageless about him.
It wasn't quite boyish, that definitely couldn't be used to describe him when he was definitely all man.
"Really?"
I turned to find Laila looking at me with a got you expression. There was really no fooling her when it came to this. "I think I need a drink. Do you want one?" I scraped my chair back.
"Sure."
"What do you want?"
"Surprise me."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Oh please. The minute Nick sees you heading somewhere alone, he's going to head over to join you and I'm not going to get a drink, so let's not pretend. Just bring me something back when you finally return."
"Nick's not even going to notice that I've left the table," I responded.
"Really?" She looked over to where he was sitting.
My gaze locked with his and I swallowed hard. All right, so that did look as if he was going to notice when I left the table. Now I just had to decide what to do with that. "I'm going to get a drink," I mumbled.
"Have fun." The teasing note in her voice was reassuring that she wouldn't actually mind if I didn't come back for a bit.
Not that I could really entertain that. As much as I wanted to talk to Nick, we shouldn't do anything that would potentially get me into trouble with my company, and I was starting to fear that being alone with him was going to do just that.
I made my way over to the bar, fully intending to just get myself a drink, but stopping in my tracks when I saw the object of my thoughts in the corridor to the left.
Without even meaning to, I found myself drawn over there, making my way over without a single care in the world.
"So you were watching me," I said to Nick once I was in earshot.
"I noticed you'd left the table, I wanted to check you were enjoying yourself. It is my job as host."
"Mmm. Do you check on everyone who leaves?" I asked, leaning against the wall and trying to ignore the fact he was so close to me.
"It depends on who it is and how much I want to talk to them," he admitted, not moving closer, but also not doing anything to put more distance between us. Then again, neither was I.
"You're not wearing your cloak any more."
"I thought it made me stand out a bit. And it's hot in here."
"Mmm. The suit looks good, though." I moved closer and touched his arm. "The cloak made you seem very regal."
"I thought it made me look like a superhero?" he murmured, closing more of the space between us until I was pretty much shielded from view of the rest of the feast's attendees.
"If the superhero is Captain Christmas, then it's hot," I assured him.
"Oh, is that so?" His dark eyes sparkled as they bored into mine, and I couldn't help but want things that I shouldn't.
My breathing hitched and I looked past him, spotting a green plant with white berries hanging from the ceiling. "Is that mistletoe?"
"Not the most inventive way to persuade me to kiss you."
"That's not what I meant," I said hastily.
"Oh?"
"And it's not how I'd persuade you to kiss me." The words slipped out without me meaning them to.
"Mmm, and what would you do to get me to kiss you?"
I held his gaze. "If I had a drink right now, I'd pick it up and very slowly take a sip without taking my eyes off yours," I said. "And then I'd do this." I swiped my tongue across my bottom lip.
His eyes darkened as he watched, and he stepped forward, his intentions written all over his face.
I placed a hand on his chest, feeling the racing heartbeat beneath. There should be a lot of thoughts in my mind right now, but the only thing there was how much I wanted him to kiss me. How much I almost needed it.
My gaze slipped to his lips and my own parted, an invitation that I hoped he was going to take.
The air thickened around us, but he didn't move.
It only took me a moment to realise that I was going to have to be the one to make the first move.
He knew what was at stake for me, and I had to be the one to make the decision.
It was reckless, foolish, and all kinds of other things I didn't normally consider myself to be, but there was really no helping it.
I leaned in and pressed my lips against his.
The gesture unlocked something within him, and he threaded his fingers through my hair, deepening the kiss. It was raw and powerful, full of all the things he wanted to do to me, and all of the things I wanted to do back.
He pulled back, checking my face to make sure that I was okay.
I nodded, not wanting to break the moment. In fact, I wished there weren't so many people here and that we could sneak off somewhere. Somehow, I didn't think that would be possible when Nick was the host.
"I've been thinking about that all evening," he murmured.
"Me too." I trailed a hand over his chest. "I'm not sure it was enough."
He chuckled, the sound vibrating through me pleasantly.
"It definitely wasn't." He captured my lips with his again, pushing me back against the wall and caging me there.
If I was honest, there was a part of me that didn't even care that there were other people in the room outside, I wanted this moment to last so much longer.
A bell sounded from within the room, and we broke apart. "That's my signal to give a toast." His disappointment was easy to read on his face.
I nodded, not really knowing what to say to that.
"This will be continued," he promised.
I swallowed hard. "Yes."
"Good." He lingered a moment longer but then pulled away to return to the main room.
I let out a shaky breath and headed to the bar to get a couple of drinks. If he was going to give a toast, then I wanted to hear him do it.
I thanked the bartender and went back to where Laila was sitting, setting down one of the glasses in front of her.
She raised an eyebrow. "I'm impressed there's actually a drink."
"There's going to be a toast," I said.
"And how would you know that?"
"Nick told me."
"Was that before or after you kissed him?" The knowing twinkle in her eyes made it hard to deny.
"What? How did you know?"
"You didn't reapply your lipstick."
"Oh." I reached my fingers to touch my lips, looking over to where Nick was retaking his seat. His gaze met mine and my breath caught even just thinking about it.
"Must have been some kiss," Laila murmured.
"It was good," I said. "But that's all it was. A kiss." Or two.
"Mmm. For now."
I rolled my eyes at my friend, but mostly because I knew she wasn't wrong.
Nick rose to his feet, his red cloak back around his shoulders. "Good evening everyone," he called out.
The room fell surprisingly silent. But from what he'd told me about tonight, I suspected that made sense. Most of those invited were people known to him, so why wouldn't they want to listen?
"Thank you all for coming tonight. The season is all about celebrating, and this feast is just that. So eat, drink, and be merry. I hope you have all the joy you wish for in this season and the next." He raised a glass.
All around the room, people did the same and gave a cheer.
I lifted my own glass of champagne and then took a sip.
"Thank you for coming with me tonight," I said to my friend, wanting her to know that I appreciated the company.
"Any time. I could get used to going to events hosted by gods. Do you think Eloise can get us a discounted membership to Jinx?"
"You'll have to ask her," I responded. "But it's probably still going to be out of our budget."
"Mmm, true. Well, I wouldn't mind coming back next year if you can keep things good with Nick."
I almost choked on my champagne. "Next year?"
"Of course. This is a yearly event, right? So if you're still on good terms with Nick, he might invite us again."
"I honestly hadn't thought about it."
"No, I don't suppose you have," she responded. "But that's okay, I love you anyway."
I laughed and settled back into my seat. "Right back at you."
I snuck another glance over to where Nick was sitting, but he'd already been caught up in conversation by someone else. I suspected the chance to be alone had already passed, which was a shame, but at least I now knew what it felt like to be kissed by him.
Though that might be a potential problem with the fact that we were supposed to wait to do that until after I was done with the contract that tied me to his company.