The effects of the alcohol had all but worn off. The orgasm that shook me from head to toe seemed to have sucked the poison out of me and replaced it with energy. Kaci felt the same way, and we agreed to take a few preparatory shots before we embarked on our trip to the makeshift BDSM dungeon that was known as the sixteenth floor.

She raised her shot of Patrón.

I did the same.

She tossed her blond hair over her shoulders. “Here’s to the sixteenth floor.”

I touched my glass to hers. “That was crazy.”

“Crazy fun,” she said.

We drank the shots and set the empty glasses on the bar.

She handed me another and then raised her glass. “Here’s to the old phrase, two is better than one.”

I wondered if two was in fact better than one, or if Randy was a handsome prude that was simply going to make matters awkward. I raised my glass in hope of the former and smiled. “Hopefully it won’t be weird.”

She downed the shot in one gulp, then giggled. “We’re about to find out.”

I winced at the fiery taste of the tequila and secretly hoped that things didn’t get awkward. If at all possible, I wanted to ride Santa’s big dick before the night was over.

“How are my two favorite financial wizards?” a familiar voice asked. “Having a great time, I hope.”

I turned away from the bar.

Dressed in a tailored red suit and bright green tie, Mister Shirley looked us over and grinned. He was a wealthy man that wanted desperately to fit in with his employees, but couldn’t seem to ever do so.

“I like the suit,” I said, even though it was a lie. “It’s awesome.”

He beamed with pride. “I had it made for the occasion.”

“It fits nice,” Kaci said.

It did fit nicely. But, he looked like a fifty-five-year-old tomato with a spray tan and a sprout of salt and pepper hair.

He smiled. “You two look like the black dress sisters.” He took a long look at each of us. “You both look remarkable. Are you having fun?”

“A blast,” Kaci said.

“Have you tried the buffet?”

“Not yet,” I said. “We’re focusing on the Christmas cheer.”

“Thank God for Uber,” he said. “We’ll all have safe rides home.”

“I’m sure we’ll need it,” Kaci said.

He glanced over each shoulder, and then turned toward the party. After scanning the room, he shook his head. “There were some people I wanted you to meet, but they’ve escaped me again. Combining these parties has proven to be a mess. There are people everywhere, and I don’t know half of them.”

He faced us and offered a festive smile. “Before the night’s over, come see me. I’m at the far table. In the corner by the dance floor.”

“We will,” I said.

“I need to introduce you to them before the night’s over.” He tugged the wrinkles from his red blazer. “And I have a little something for you both.”

“We’ll come see you before we go,” I said.

“Very well.” He gave us each a cheerful nod and then turned away.

“Hopefully this year’s bonus will be like last year’s,” Kaci said.

“If profit has anything to do with it, it’ll be the same,” I said. “This year was a mirror image.”

She crossed her fingers. “Fingers crossed.”

The year was good for the company, but another ho-hum twelve months for me. It seemed each year that time simply passed, and I made no progress in life. I smiled and crossed my fingers in return.

“Here’s hoping two thousand eighteen is better than two thousand seventeen,” I said.

“Let’s have one more shot, and then grab their beers.”

One more shot couldn’t hurt matters, so I agreed. It needed to be something other than tequila, though. Before I could make a suggestion, Kaci barked out her order.

“Patron,” she said. “Two more. And, two Bud’s and two glasses of Moscato.”

“Two shots of Patron, two Budweiser’s, and two Moscato’s coming right up,” the bartender chimed.

If things got weird, it really wouldn’t matter. After three shots of tequila, I suspected discerning weird from normal would be impossible. If that were the case, it was exactly what I needed to make it through the rest of the night.