Chapter 139 The Christmas Party 1
Byron’s company Christmas party was a fairly boring affair. Emily didn’t expect anything different. However, she did have a surprise for one of the guests.
Byron had taken her advice and made it more of a mingling party with no assigned seating. People moved around, bringing snacks and drinks back to their tables and chatting with everyone in sight.
Emily sighted the woman she had been looking for. Stacie, the one who only dressed in black and white. Even though it was a Christmas party, Stacie wore a typical white collared shirt over black trousers. She was selecting some pieces of cheese with a somber face when Emily came up to her.
“Hi Stacie,” Emily said. “I got you a little Christmas present.”
“Oh, you shouldn’t have.” The woman looked terrified and perplexed. “I didn’t get you anything.”
“I know,” Emily said, “and that’s perfectly fine. I just really wanted to give you this…” She pulled out a cherry red scarf from her bag. “I thought it matched your brown eyes.”
Stacie looked at the scarf the way someone on a diet looks at chocolate ice cream.
“I talked to Byron, and he said he would love to see his employees wear more color. It shows that they have personality.” Emily gave her a winning smile and since Stacie was hesitating, she tied the scarf around her neck and arranged it to gracefully along her lapels. “You look really good!”
“I do?” Stacie beamed, breaking into a beautiful smile.
“Yeah, let’s go check it out in front of a mirror.”
They walked to one of the mirrored columns of the hall, and Stacie’s smile grew even wider.
“Thank you so much,” she said. “I really missed wearing color!”
Emily felt like attending the party had been worthwhile just for that. It seemed like it was her mission in life to bring joy into people’s lives through color and style.
When it was time for Byron’s speech, she was in for a bit of a surprise. She admired his appearance, distracted by his athletic body filling out a forest green sweater, that she nearly blanked out on what he was saying.
“This Christmas, I am very pleased to announce I’ve chosen a special charity here in Vancouver: Ocean Sanctuary. Specifically, I’ll be donating money to help house and care for stranded and orphaned otters.”
Emily had completely forgotten how Byron said he would do something about the otter situation. She nearly jumped from her seat, feeling the impulse to hug him.
She remembered the first time she witnessed Byron giving a speech, hearing him talk about how animals mattered in people’s lives. She had definitely fallen for him, hard. And now she didn’t think it was possible to love him even more, but she felt like she was falling even deeper in love. How could this man be so alluring and so caring at the same time?
She almost forgot to look over at Monty to see how he would react to the otter fund announcement. When she zeroed in on him where he sat at another table, he gave her the thumbs up, congratulating her on the initiative which he correctly guessed came from her. Emily returned the gesture, hoping that he had a sincere change of heart regarding the animals. Even if he didn’t, at least Byron’s fund would help save more otters.
This time, Emily was far from regretting her attendance at the event. On their way home in the limo, she opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate.
“Wow,” Byron said, “I guess this means you enjoyed the Christmas party more than my last event?”
Emily poured the champagne, enjoying the luxurious fizzing foam as it engulfed the top of the glass.
“You can probably guess why,” she replied. “Thank you for the otter fund!”
“I read up on them. Apparently, otters are the key to balancing out marine eco-system.” There was something so irresistible about Byron when he sounded confident and knowledgeable. “They feed on sea urchins, helping to control their numbers and maintain the kelp forests in prime condition.”
The flavor of the champagne mixed with the taste of his lips as she indulged in a long, passionate kiss with her husband-to-be. He responded with even more hunger than Emily expected. Usually they were both tired after these events, but this night held a promise of much more action. The skin around her mouth burned from the scratching of his stubble. She gasped for breath, clinging to his strong shoulders while her mouth drank delicious nectar from his.
“I didn’t know an otter fund could be so sexy,” Byron said, caressing her back as his hand slid over the light silk of her dress.
“It’s you who is sexy,” she replied, breathless.
“I have another gift for you,” he said, as if his gorgeous looks and sensuous kissing were not enough of a gift.
