“I’ve never seen this side of you before,” Daniel breathed into her ear. He smelled like an overturned wine bottle in a brand-new Porsche—something stale and musty over the scent of expensive leather.
“Me neither,” Lauren said, dancing out of his grip until she was next to Kiki again. “I think I need water.”
Kiki fanned her face with the collar of her shirt. “Good idea. Would you bring me one?”
Lauren made her way to the cooler of bottled water and sodas that had been set up near the bar. When she’d retrieved two sweating bottles, she spun around and bumped right into Daniel.
She gave him a small, polite smile. “Excuse me.”
“I have a confession,” he said, taking one of the bottles from her hand, uncapping it, and taking a giant swig before she could stop him. “The wrapping contest was a setup. Even if you won, my plan was to take you on a date just so I could pick your brain more about the snow slopes idea.”
It wasn’t much of a confession, in that Lauren could’ve guessed that even without the conversation she’d eavesdropped on between Daniel and his mother earlier that night. Dolores must’ve forgotten that Lauren’s résumé had included her working knowledge of conversational Spanish, because she hadn’t held back when admonishing her son for stringing Lauren along. There’d been even more to that discussion that Lauren knew she’d have to unpack later, but for now her head was swimming and she didn’t feel up to it.
“That was my water,” she said, but then shook her head when he tried to hand it back. “Never mind. Keep it.”
“My point is,” Daniel said, leaning in, “I find myself thinking about another kind of snowy slopes. If you get my drift.”
His gaze dropped to her cleavage, what little there was of it, just in case she didn’t. Suddenly that third cup of punch didn’t seem like such a great idea. She could feel it sloshing in her stomach.
Daniel looked back up at her face and smiled, like she was supposed to be flattered by his honesty. Watch out for the ones who only make eye contact when they want something. Asa had warned her away from Daniel back when they’d barely known each other, but she’d been too fixated on Daniel as some sort of symbol. It hadn’t even been about him, but about wanting to be the kind of woman who got noticed by someone like him. And now that she was, it felt . . . gross. Wrong.
There’s nothing wrong with being Lauren Fox. Even when their interactions had been limited to minor scuffles in the break room over the coffee machine, Asa had always made her feel seen in a way Daniel never could.
“This is not a date,” Lauren said, drawing herself up as tall as she could. “I have no interest in dating you, or in helping you to bankrupt Cold World with your ludicrous proposal to pump manufactured snow into the parking lot. And not that it should need to be stated, but I definitely have no interest in being on the receiving end of any further disgusting commentary on my body or other sexual harassment.”
She thought it was a pretty good speech, and she’d overenunciated each word, trying to make sure she didn’t trip over one.
“Whoa.” Daniel put up his hands in a gesture of mock surrender. “How much have you had to drink? In no way was I”—he stuttered on the word, as if he couldn’t believe she’d even used it—“harassing you. You’re the one who’s been panting over me for years. Everyone knows it.”
There was enough truth in that statement to make Lauren burn with embarrassment. She really didn’t want to cry—not at a work party, and definitely not in front of Daniel—but she could already feel the adrenaline from her earlier buzz sliding into something much more melancholy. And then she finally spotted Asa, standing over by the band, where they were already bringing up Kiki as the first person who’d signed up for karaoke. John was crouched down with his guitar, adjusting a pedal at his feet while he listened to something Asa was telling him.
She didn’t want him to see her with Daniel and get the wrong idea. She wanted him to look up and see right through her, down to the part of her that just wanted to go home and cry. But then Asa was running his hand through his hair, turning as if to leave, and it hit her all at once. John’s car. He was probably arranging to head home early at that very moment.
“I don’t have time for this,” she said to Daniel without bothering to look at him.
She headed over to Kiki, handing her the water. “Can I take your spot in karaoke?” she asked.