“You don’t look like you just finished your second cup.” She narrowed her eyes. “Wait, did you get some before or after Joey spiked it?”

“Uh…” I raised my eyebrows. “It definitely wasn’t spiked.”

“Then you need a third cup.” She grinned and motioned to me. “Come on. Mr. Thornton will notice at some point, and they’ll have to dump the bowl.”

“They’re serving beer, wine, and champagne. Why would spiked eggnog be a problem?” I stood up from my chair.

“You weren’t here when Mr. Thornton instituted the no-liquor policy.” She looked down and laughed. “Trust me; these parties used to be a lot wilder back in those days.”

“I bet…” I followed her to the table and got my third cup of eggnog. “Wow, yeah—that’s strong!”

“Don’t tell anyone.” She nudged me and walked away—to immediately tell someone else about the spiked eggnog.

I’m not sure why I can’t tell anyone if she’s telling the whole room…

I really wasn’t planning to drink at the party, but the eggnog was pretty good, even if I could feel the alcohol burning my throat the first few sips. I finished one cup and got a second before I returned to my seat. I barely got sat down before Mary announced that it was time to open presents. We all gathered around the table, and Mary called our name so we could walk up and pick up our present. Once the present was opened, the Secret Santa had an option to reveal themselves. Most did, so I prepared to step forward when Bob’s name was called.

“Alright, Bob.” Mary smiled. “Come get your present.”

“I hope I get a fancy calculator—just like last year!” Bob appeared to have indulged in more than two cups of the spiked eggnog.

“Your present is right over here.” Mary guided him towards the one I wrapped.

“Okay, let’s see what we have here…” Bob pretended to shake the present and made a spectacle of it before he finally tore the wrapping paper off. “Holy shit—I mean, sorry. Holy crap! Who did this? Seriously?”

“I did.” I lifted my hand and took a step forward.

“Wow, this is—freaking amazing.” He held up the vinyl records. “Thank you so much! How in the world did you know that I wanted these two records?”

“Santa knows everything.” I smiled and shrugged.

Bob seemed thrilled by his gift, so I felt like it was a complete success. My name was called a few minutes later, and I walked to the table. My present was in what appeared to be a wrapped shoebox. I tore the wrapping paper off, opened the box, and found two things inside—a big bag of Godiva Chocolate Coffee and a gift card for Dillinger’s Department Store. I had never tried the coffee, but it definitely sounded delicious, and the gift card was going to be put to good use when I went shopping trip with Ian. Dillinger’s had a huge Christmas section, and I might even be able to get my tree from there. I proudly held both of them up with a smile on my face.

“Okay, who got me my two favorite things?” I looked around the room.

“It was me.” Maggie stepped forward and raised her hand.

“Thank you, Maggie. This is awesome!” I closed the box and walked over to give her a hug.

“I wasn’t sure what you liked…” She smiled after our hug. “I know you really like coffee, and I assume everyone can find something at Dillinger’s.”

“Trust me; it’s perfect.” I nodded quickly.

I would have been happy regardless of what was in my box because I cared more about Bob’s gift than my own. He really did seem to be genuinely excited about the vinyl records. He retreated to the corner of the room after the gift exchange was done, and I overheard him excitedly telling his wife what he got. He even came over to give me a hug after the conversation was over. I was a little awkward since I hadn’t said more than two words to him before the Christmas party, but everyone seemed to be in a pretty good mood afterword of the spiked eggnog made its way around the room.

“Uh oh…” Maggie walked up beside me. “Mr. Thornton is about to try the eggnog.”

“At least the party is almost over.” I looked at her and smiled.

Mr. Thornton took a big gulp off the eggnog, and the look on his face told the story immediately. He grabbed the closest employee and ordered them to get rid of it. He didn’t seem to be upset—it was more like an expression of mild amusement like a father who had just discovered that his kids were misbehaving and wanted to put a stop to it without ruining their day in the process. The party really was starting to dwindle, and I felt like I had enough holiday cheer for one evening. I had a lot of it coming my way over the weekend with Ian.

I don’t feel drunk, but I should probably t

ake an Uber home to be safe…

“Mary, thank you so much for putting together such a lovely party.” I walked up to her as I made my way to the door.

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.” She turned to me and smiled. “If you want to share a little bit of that coffee with the office on Monday, I don’t think anyone would be offended.”

Tags: Kelli Callahan Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net