Holiday Escort (5 page)

She put the music on, and I immediately melted into her arms. We danced two songs without comment.

She was stiff, so I said, "
Stop thinking and dance. You have a lovely woman in your arms. You should be enjoying it." She paused at that and I immediately use
d
the opportunity for a leg wrap.

"Vixen," she said. But I could hear the smile.

It took several songs for her to unwind. I could feel it in her dance. But eventually she began to enjoy herself.

Guys tend to freak out at the thought of dancing together, but I've always enjoyed dancing with other women, oftentimes more than the men.
We danced for an hour. It was the best hour I'd had for six months.

When we were finally done, I told her that. She smiled. "Perhaps mine, too
."

* * *

Thursday I met the movers at the apartment. They did all the heavy lifting, and I was back at the house by noon, stopping by the post office on the way. I bought three hundred holiday theme stamps.

The box with the Christmas cards had arrived while I was gone. Excellent. I did some practice envelopes with the printer. Once I was sure I had everything working properly, I began feeding envelopes through the system. While
they were printing, I practiced
Karen's signature. It took me a while until I was satisfied.

I had broken the contact list into groups. Anyone who seemed like an acquaintance would get a card with "Happy Holidays" and Karen's signature. The very closest people, such as her mother, were going to get notes Karen wrote herself. The people in between got a slightly longer message, hand-written by me.

I worked on cards for two hours before my hand decided it was enough for the day.
After that, I puttered around the house for two hours, working on the decorating, then sat for a while and worked on plans for the upcoming parties I'd be helping to host.

The dinner preparation didn't take long. I had everything ready to go onto the stove and only needed Karen's call to start cooking. I dressed for dinner and picked up a book.

Karen called at six
fifteen. "I'm walking out of the office now." I fired up the stove and had everything ready by seven and set it all to simmer.

By seven
fifteen I started wondering how bad traffic had been.

At seven thirty I turned the stove off. At seven forty-five, I ate alone.

Karen arrived at eight thirty.
I was pissed, but I took one look at her and my heart went out to her. She caught my original expression.

"Don't apologize. Are you okay?"

"No."

"Are you physically hurt? Were you in an accident?"

"No. I'm sorry I was late."

I took her things from her and pulled her into a hug. She laid her head on my shoulder and let me hold her.

Even though she was hurting, it felt good to hold her.

I led her to a chair and reheated dinner for her. She sat there and ate numbly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

She looked up at me.
"One of my employees had a personal issue. He stepped into my office immediately after I called you. He was in my office for about fifteen seconds before he started crying.
He just found out his sister had died."

"Oh," I said slowly.

"He thought he was coming in to ask for a few days off, but as soon as he explained why, he lost it. I called his wife. He
hadn't even told her yet. Then I drove him home."

"I take it he had been very close to his sister?"

"Yes." She paused. "I'm sorry I was so late."

I reached out and held her hand.

She stared at her plate for a while before she looked up at me. "I am pathetic," she said.

"You are not."

"I had to hire a girlfriend," she said. "No woman in her right mind would put up with me if I weren't paying her."

"You hired a personal assistant," I said. "Is it always like this, or is this week particularly bad?"

"I told you, the holiday season is rough on me. All the crazy in the world happens between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day."

She ate a little more before she pushed her plate away. I cleaned everything up then pulled her to her feet and brought her downstairs. We switched into dance shows and I found myself in her arms.

I could tell what she really needed was an excuse to hold me. Her heart wasn't in the dancing, but she clutched at me. I didn't mind. She apologized a few times.

"I have a stunning woman holding me," I said. "I'm not complaining."

We danced for about twenty minutes before she pulled away. I walked over and turned off the music then took her hand and led her to her bedroom.

When I started pulling her clothes off her, she woke up from her stupor. "This isn't a good idea, Madeline."

"I'm tucking you into bed, Karen, and will be giving you a backrub before locking the house up and retiring to my own bed."

She let me pluck her clothes off her then used the bathroom. She came out and climbed into bed, making room for me to sit on the edge of her bed. I turned the lights off in her room but let the hallway light spill in so I could see. I gave her a long, slow, gentle backrub, easing the tension from her muscles as best I could.

"Thank you," she murmured when I was done.

"You're welcome," I told her. I kissed the back of her neck and closed the door on my way out.

* * *

Friday morning I found a slow cooker cookbook and ran to the store. I put everything in the slow cooker. It would be available whenever Karen came home. After that I alternated between Christmas cards and decorating.

Karen got home at six. I was still changing clothes when I heard her come in.

We flirted over dinner and I lured her downstairs for a few minutes of dancing. Afterwards she thanked me.

* * *

Karen actually slept in Saturday, if eight thirty is sleep
ing in. She wandered downstairs.

"Madeline?"
She smiled. "I was wondering if you would let me peek through your wardrobe. We need to decide whether I'm taking you clothes shopping."

When I nodded, she led the way upstairs and to my room. She stepped to the closet and started digging through my clothes.

She ignored the casual
and business
clot
hing and focused on the dresses, which admittedly consumed the smallest section of the closet. She turned to me and smiled. "Care to go shopping later?"

* * *

"What is the event tonight?" I asked
on the way back from the stores.
We'd had fun. My
evening wear
had taken a significant upturn with four new dresses, matching shoes, and the associated accouterments.

"One of the company vice presidents hosts an event every year. Some of our top clients will be there, some moves and shakers at companies we're trying to woo, and a lot of people from the office."

"And you really want me to pose as your girlfriend."

She glanced over at me for a moment. "Yes."

"I don't understand why."

"It's complicated," she said.

I paused before responding. "I presume you're gathering your thoughts, not refusing to tell me because you don't think I'm smart enough to understand it."

She sighed. "I've worked very hard to get where I am."

"I imagine."

"I'm tired of everyone else at the company lording their families and
their happy home lives over me. I'd like a break from it for just a little while."

She looked over at me and there was pleading in her eyes. I smiled in understanding. "What's our story then?"

"The truth, mostly. Except the entire you're straight and I'm paying you part."

I laughed. "So we met, there was an instant spark, and I begged you to take me home with you?"

She laughed with me. "That is the lesbian
cliché
, isn't it?"
She paused. "Can you do it?"

"I'm going to be so convincing even you're not going to be sure it's an act." I paused. "Especially if there's dancing."

She grinned at me. "Ryan, the VP, fancies himself a tango dancer."

"Ryan Freeman?"

"You know him?"

"Yes." I sighed. "He'd be a good dancer if he would stop trying to show boat."

"I know!" Karen said. "And he hangs on too tight. I'd accuse him of cop
p
ing a feel, but he's actually a gentleman most of the time. How do you know him?"

"The local tango community isn't that big." I paused. "If you tango, why haven't we met before?"

"Jessica and I didn't go to local
milongas
very often."

* * *

For the event, I dressed in a little black dress. It was an amazing dress. It was cut low in back with an asym
m
etric hemline. It was below my knee on the left and halfway up my thigh on the right.
I applied suede to the bottom of the new shoes so they would pivot better on the floor.

Karen wore a simple red sheath dress with black heals. She looked amazing.

I was done getting ready before she was and waited downstairs for her. I sat at the dinette table, working on Christmas cards. I looked up when she came downstairs.

"Hello, Honey," I told her.

"Honey?"

"Babe.
Snookie-kins
. Love munchkin."

She offered a severe look. I laughed, rising from my seat, and crossed to the room. "You look amazing, Babe," I told her, moving up and sliding under her arm.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting in character," I said, smirking.
I batted my eyes at her.

"Stop that!" she said, laughing. "That looks utterly ridiculous."

I stuck my lower lip out, pouting
,
then
lowered my head to her shoulder. She tried slipping away from me. "Oh honey, what's the matter?" I asked her. "Don't you like me anymore?"

"You're not really going to act like a vacuous bimbo, are you?"

I smiled up at her.

"Madeline," she said. "I'm serious. If this is how you intend to act, then this entire thing was a bad idea."

"Relax, sugar bumps. I won't embarrass you."

"You really don't want to go, I take it?" She looked annoyed.

I sighed. "So, you don't like your girlfriends pushing your buttons. Got it."

I stepped away from her and gathered my coat. I turned around and she was glaring at me. "Karen, I get it," I told her. "I'm sorry. I will be charming and brilliant and utterly, utterly professional." I paused. "But holding my hand will cost you extra."

She looked away. I stepped up to her. "I'm sorry," I said quietly. "I'm nervous, so I'm teasing you. I'll stop, I promise."

She looked back at me, pain in her eyes.

"Karen, I'm just trying to flirt. My favorite way to flirt is with verbal wit, although I am clearly not very good at it. I promise I won't embarrass you."

She didn't say anything and didn't look remotely convinced. I stepped away. "Fine. Have a nice time."

I stepped past her, heading for the front closet to hang my coat up, but she caught my arm to stop me.
We stared at each other for a moment. I was about to shake her off when Karen said, "I'm nervous too. Please come."

"I expect to be pampered."

She laughed. "I promise." She started right there by helping me into my coat before putting on her own. We then stepped through the kitchen and into the garage, where she opened my car door for me before walking around to her door.

As soon as we were on the road, I began flirting shamelessly with her. I started by turning to face her as she drove, staring at her. When she noticed, she asked me about it. "I'm sorry, honey, it's just that you're so gorgeous, I can't take my eyes off you."

She didn't say anything, so then I put on a distant, dreamy expression. She glanced over at me,
then
glanced again. I offered a big sigh. The corners of her lips twitched at me. I sighed again. "Do we have to stay long? After what you did to me last night, I don't know if I can wait before we come home again. I have something special in mind for you."

She gave me a hard look. "You better be getting this out of your system."

"Oh honey, I don't think I'm ever going to get you out of my system."

"Madeline, please tell me you're pushing my buttons again."

"Oh honey bunny, you're my first girlfriend in a very long time, and I've forgotten how to behave."

"Honey bunny? Seriously?" But her mouth was quivering again.

I slid my hand onto her leg. She stiffened. "Karen," I said quietly. "Thank you for the dress. Maybe later I can show you just how appreciative I can be."