Twelve Days The Beginning - By Jade Reyner Page 0,3

cared, she squeezed his hand under the table before reaching for her water.

Celeste was busily chattering across the table from her and, for want of escaping his gaze, Elise turned from Cole and tuned in to what she was saying.

“Anyway, I saw him as I was coming out of the bathrooms and he is hot, hot, hot! I couldn’t stop staring; he must have thought I was a right idiot!”

Turning, Elise followed Celeste’s gaze to the edge of the dance floor and for the first time noticed the stranger in their midst. He, whoever he was, was talking to Stephen, her desk partner and nemesis. They had been sited next to each other for the last three years, and she had never been totally comfortable around him. Stephen was blond and blue eyed like her, and rocked the surfer look. He also rocked the bad boy vibe and was forever regaling Elise with tales of his endless conquests. The fact that he had a fiancée seemed irrelevant and it was for this that she distrusted Stephen. Whilst her relationship with Dale wasn’t great and hadn’t been for some time, she had promised to Love, Honour and Obey and believed that they were vows not to be taken lightly. Although Stephen wasn’t married, he was in a committed relationship and that, in Elise’s mind, amounted to the same thing.

As if he could sense her looking, the stranger glanced across the floor and his eyes locked on hers. He was too far away for her to tell what colour they were, but there was a certain power to them which held her gaze captive. He was older, possibly mid-thirties, and although she didn’t technically agree with Celeste’s definition of hot, hot, hot, there was something about him that drew you in.

Glancing in their direction, Stephen murmured something in his ear and they both headed across the floor towards them. Opposite her, Celeste squealed and started frantically praying to a higher being for the floor to open and swallow her up. Olivia, remained passive and calm, with no flicker of emotion as she watched the two men saunter across the dance floor. Elise felt Cole’s arm tighten reflexively and shot him a glare as Stephen reached their table.

“Ladies... may I introduce our newest off site rep, Vaughn Granger. Vaughn, this is Olivia, Celeste, Amelia, Cole and Elise” Stephen brandished his arm around the table dramatically, encompassing them all with his action.

Vaughn stepped forward and for the first time Elise got a good look at him close up. He was, as she suspected, a little older, but he was in good shape and from what she could tell, his body was pretty good. His face had an edge and he had relatively short dark hair which curled slightly and complemented his almost black eyes. As he leaned forward to shake their hands, Elise caught the waft of alcohol and realised that he had wasted no time in making his acquaintance with the complementary bar. Given her current fragile state, the smell was off-putting and somewhat nauseating and she decided that, despite his obvious charms, she didn’t much care for this new member of staff.

Without asking, Stephen had edged into the booth next to her, pressing his thigh along hers and seeming to enjoy her resulting discomfort. Vaughn took Stephen’s actions as an invitation and slid in opposite her, next to Olivia. Although Vaughn continued to stare at Elise, she didn’t miss the way he sat just a little too close to Olivia, his eyes flicking over her breasts on a regular basis.

After their arrival, conversation was stilted. Vaughn had seriously hit the bar and was struggling to string any useful words together. Stephen filled the gaps with ridiculous stories, which Amelia laughed at just a little too loud, and he annoyingly continued to press his thigh closer and closer to hers. Feeling distinctly uncomfortable, Elise excused herself to visit the bathrooms and caught Celeste’s eye, indicating for her to join her. The two escaped from the table and as Celeste climbed over Olivia and Vaughn, Elise noted the way that Vaughn had dropped his mouth to Olivia’s ear and whispered something to her. She repressed a shudder as she considered what he must smell like up close and thanked all that was holy that all she’d had to contend with so far, was Stephen’s thigh.

“So, what do you think of him?” Celeste demanded as soon as they were out of earshot. Celeste was perpetually