It was no use. Jess stared openly at Rhianne’s chest. Well, at one side of it, anyway. Luckily, Naomi picked up the thread of conversation and introduced herself. She seemed completely unbothered by Rhianne’s appearance, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
Rhianne wore a red tank top, but part of it was missing. One of her pale breasts was bared, and it was…decorated. Like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Freaking Reindeer.
A sparkly red pastie covered Rhianne’s nipple, but attached to the tip was a round, glittering red “nose.” Above it, two googly eyes had been stuck to Rhianne’s bare skin, and abovethosewere a pair of brown felt antlers.
“I need a drink,” Jess muttered. It was the only way she’d survive this night.
“I’ll show you where the bar is set up,” Rhianne chirped, and herded them toward the dining room like a good reindeer hostess.
“I don’t think I can do this,” Jess whispered to Naomi, who had the nerve to laugh.
As they moved through the party, Jess scanned the crowd for familiar faces, waving to the people she knew as she followed her friends to the bar.
One face in particular caught her eye and she froze, breath seizing in her chest.
Unbidden, a hot flush of desire unfurled in her belly.
She grabbed Naomi and Rhianne to bring them to a halt and spoke from the corner of her mouth. “Remember that guy I kissed at New Year’s Eve?”
Naomi frowned. “Yeah?”
“And remember how I said he’s been leaving heart emojis on all my social media posts over the last few months?”
“So romantic,” Rhianne said with a sigh.
Jess didn’t say so, but she thought it was sweet, too. “Well, he’s here.”
Rhianne squealed. Like, straight-up squealed with delight. “Ooh, where is he? Do I know him?”
“Um, yeah.” Jess squeezed her eyes shut. “He’s Dimitri Kovalenko’s younger brother.”
“Nik?” Rhianne grabbed Jess’s arm, bare left breast jiggling. It took all of Jess’s power not to stare at her friend’s Rudolph boob, despite the fact thatitwas staring ather. “Nik is the one who kissed you last year?”
“Yep.” Or was it this year? Technically this year, since it had happened after the clock struck midnight.
“Where is he?” Naomi craned her neck, grilling everyone at the party with an eagle-eyed glare.
“Over there.” Jess pointed surreptitiously across the room to where Nik chatted with his brother, Dimitri, one of the former judges onThe Dance Off.
Rhianne leaned in close, and that damn Rudolph nose tapped Jess’s elbow. She held back a flinch. She had no problem with boobs, but boobs dressed up with reindeer faces were creepy as fuck. “Are you going to kiss him again?”
Naomi leaned in on the other side. “You should totally kiss him again.”
Jess scrunched up her shoulders and stepped away from both of them before Rudolph could bite her. “How the hell do I have devils on both shoulders? Isn’t Christmas about angels or some shit?”
Rhianne scoffed. “No. Christmas is about parties and presents. Obviously.” She gestured at the revelry around them.
Despite her defensiveness, Jess eyed Nik speculatively. No, she definitely wouldn’t mind kissing him again. He wasn’t very tall, maybe five-foot-ten, but she was so petite that super tall dudes made her look like a child when she stood next to them.
Nik was a nice, normal kind of tall, with a body that was anything but normal or nice. He had the kind of build that would make her grandma drool. Broad shoulders, lean muscles that were cut and sinewy, and a sense of boundless energy about him. The ballroom guys she’d grown up around were strong but slim, and the ones onThe Dance Offtended to bulk up more for TV. Nik was a different sort of dancer, one used to leaping and bounding across the stage. He seemed to take on shows that required a ton of physicality and movement.
Okay, so she’d looked up his work history. And fine, yes, she had stalked his social media, too.
It wasn’t just his body that appealed. He had a nice face, too. Amber brown eyes that could easily be described as “soulful,” if one were the romantic sort, which she wasnot. Brown hair with a tendency to curl. An olive-toned complexion and an easy smile, bright against a few day’s growth of dark facial hair. He kept it trimmed neat and short, but she’d seen from his pictures that he sometimes shaved it, depending on the role.
She knew the beard was soft, though. And his lips. Mmm, his lips. Those were soft, too.
Liquid heat rolled through her. Damn it. Yes, shesowanted to kiss him again. And maybe more.
