‘Okay, Jamie, this is it. He isn’t going to be able to resist you.’ Emma swept a lock of Jamie’s hair from where it brushed against his cheek to behind his ear. He looked good. Dan wasn’t going to be able to take his eyes off him.
A little bit of Woodhouse styling and he was good to go.
The office was having a periodical office bonding session at an indoor crazy golf course. It was going to be perfect, she thought. Tonight was the night that Jamie would seal the deal with Dan. At least one of her plans was going right.
She looked around the cavernous room, the floor was covered in bright green astroturf and a wooden windmill span slowly. She spotted Dan with a group of people who did the publicity and PR for Candy Rebels. Which reminded her, she need to finalise Jessie and Amit’s contract, it had been a week of back and forth, but she’d deal with it tomorrow. Not now… tonight was all about Jamie.
She pushed him towards the gang that Dan was in.
‘Go. Go.’ She waved her hands at him. Jamie wandered over, his walk a little hesitant, his shoulders rounded forward.
‘Stand up straight,’ she whispered.
Okay, this was good, he was almost at the group, Dan would not be able to resist the way that shirt hugged his torso, and if he turned around, well, Dan would be a goner.
‘No.’ She couldn’t stop herself from almost shouting. Where the hell had Rob come from? One minute Jamie had been on course to Dan when from nowhere Rob had stepped in front of him. He was blushing and acting all hesitant, damn it. Jamie don’t fall for it, she thought.
‘Be nice, but don’t let him get between you and Dan…’ She wondered, if she muttered enough, would the vibes from her words somehow get to Jamie.
Okay, Jamie had spotted Rob. The idiot lit up and waved at him. For god’s sake that was how he was supposed to look at Dan.
Were people really dense? How many times had she coached Jamie to get this right.
Emma watched with her fingers to her mouth. Was she going to have to go over there and sort it out?
No, hold on. It looked like Dan didn’t want Jamie talking to anyone else. Excellent, she thought and smiled as Dan turned to him, and effectively blocked Rob from the group. He took Jamie’s arm and started dragging him back towards her.
A feeling of completeness settled on her. See, this was what a plan coming together felt like. Jigsaw pieces slotting into place with a click. Satisfaction.
She couldn’t help but look over their shoulders. Rob’s face looked blank, his face unmoving. But his eyes looked despondent.
She grimaced. He’d get over it. Crushes were a fact of life. You had to get over them, they were called crushes for a reason. The satisfaction, however, started to fade, the feeling pulled away. She clenched her hands together, she hated that sometimes there was collateral damage. Maybe she’d find a nice boy for Rob, she’d sort it out as soon as she got Dan and Jamie together.
‘Emma, just the person,’ Dan said. She jolted back from watching Rob to Dan who was standing a little too close. ‘I have a bet going on with Jamie here that I can beat him. It is a bit mean because of course I’ll win, but we each need a partner as we’re playing pairs…’ And as he said that Dan thrust Jamie away and grabbed her arm. ‘So, you’re my partner and Max will be Jamie’s.’ Max appeared as if it had been rehearsed and choreographed by a movie director. He smiled sunnily.
‘They were trash talking each other all morning, I need this to happen so one of them will shut up,’ Max said.
‘But wouldn’t it be better if Jamie and Dan were paired and Max and I were together?’ She made to move towards Max.
Dan’s hand on her arm tightened. If he held on any harder she’d have bruises.
‘Don’t be silly, you and Max are equally as bad, you are our handicaps. Anyway, this way I can teach you…’
There was something off in the way he said that with his eyebrows raised. Was that a wink? Oh, it was because Jamie was beside her, it was obviously for him.
Although, she thought, there was something not quite right. As if there was something going on just under the surface, and she couldn’t see it clearly. Dan winked at Jamie again. Obviously, it was all the unresolved sexual tension between them.
They really were perfect for each other. She relaxed and let Dan lead her to the first tee.
‘Okay, Emma?’ Jamie smiled brightly.
‘Of course.’ She could do this for him. He deserved to have his happily ever after. And maybe a bit of competition would ratchet up the chemistry between them to explosive levels.
***
Thirty minutes later Emma felt Dan’s hand on her hips for the tenth time that evening. Some people learnt through doing and example, kinaesthetic learning or something, she knew that. But she wasn’t one of them. She was better with watching then doing. And she definitely didn’t need Dan to be quite so hands-on. Her skin crawled, but it was nothing against Dan at all. He was a great guy but not for her, and she hadn’t realised he was quite so… touchy-feely. Hopefully Jamie liked that kind of thing.
‘Don’t you think Jamie has a great stroke,’ she said lining up her shot and trying to get Dan to focus on the right person. She needed to encourage a bit more innuendo, golf had so many possibilities.
‘Sure, his stroke isn’t too bad.’ Dan pursed his lips as if he were about to say something else. Come on, she thought, I’ve lined that up perfectly for a bit of flirting.
‘No, Ems, like this,’ Dan suddenly said and the next thing she knew he was cuddled up behind her as if they were spooning in bed. Her bottom held firmly against his groin.
Maybe he didn’t realise this was such a sexual position, she thought as she tried to put some space between them. He hadn’t picked up on her cue. She’d never taken him as being particularly obtuse.
‘Like this.’ His hand slid over hers.
She shivered trying not to yank her hand free. This was really not what she’d had in mind for this evening.
Dan held her tighter.
She wondered if she would be kicked out of the golf centre if she elbowed him in the groin, or whether the whole office would have to leave? Maybe if she did it and screamed it wouldn’t be heard over the music.
Did he grind on me? She thought. He wouldn’t do that, would he? No, of course not, he was falling for Jamie.
Then a moment later, she felt him nudge her backside again. No, he wouldn’t. Would he? This was verging on the inappropriate.
‘You feel so good like this, I knew you would.’ Dan whispered in her ear and then licked it.