Free The Christmas Party by Carole Matthews

tell the rest of the staff tonight that you’re leaving?’
    ‘I don’t know.’ Lance sucked on his teeth to show his indecision. ‘It might put a downer on things. I’ve got such a good team at Fossil Oil. They’ve got tremendous respect for me and are so dedicated too. I think they’ll be sad to see me go and it could well spoil the party mood if I announce my imminent departure now.’
    ‘Well, as you think fit.’ If he delayed, at least it would give Melissa some breathing space. She needed to speak to Tyler before there were any shock announcements. And a day’s grace might not seem like much, but it would at least give her time to think and make contingency plans.
    Lance didn’t need to know, but she was looking forward to this party more than she ever had before. And for all the wrong reasons. It had been more than a week since she’d last seen Tyler, when they’d spent a hurried and torrid few hours together in a hotel in Bayswater, and it felt like a lifetime. She hoped that tonight they’d manage to snatch some time alone. Tyler Benson was a fantastic lover and one she couldn’t let go of lightly. He was young, energetic, eager. His body when he held her was firm, hard. The sex was fantastic but, though she didn’t want to acknowledge it, it meant more than that. Much more. Even now, sitting next to her husband in his lavish company car, she wanted to feel the hands of his young pretender on her. If she closed her eyes, she could replay every second of their last tryst in her mind. He’d pushed her to the bed, his mouth hot on hers, kissing her with a passion that had been missing in her marriage for many a long year. She could picture him hitching her skirt, his skilful, tantalising tongue finding places that made her gasp with pleasure.
    ‘All right, honey?’ Lance asked.
    Melissa, mouth dry, forced her eyes open and licked her lips. She was getting all hot and bothered just thinking of Tyler and there was only so much you could blame on the menopause.
    ‘Yes, of course.’
    ‘Here we are,’ Lance said as Martin pulled up outside a spectacular mansion. ‘Are you ready to face the troops, honey?’
    She nodded, unsure of her voice. The truth was that with every fibre of her being, she yearned for Tyler’s touch. Melissa didn’t think she’d ever truly yearned before. Now she was going to have to leave him, and the thought was unbearable.

Chapter Seven
    ‘Who the hell is paying for all this?’ Tyler Benson complained. ‘That’s what I’d like to know.’ He was keen to make sure he took all the credit for it, and equally keen to make sure that none of it came off his budget. ‘Look at it.’
    ‘It’s beautiful,’ Kirsten breathed.
    It was certainly the most spectacular venue yet for the office party. Normally they’d use one of the chain hotels in the area near the London office, something perfectly functional but pretty bland. Anything else had been deemed ridiculously expensive for a staff knees-up. Clearly the budget had gone out of the window this time. Wadestone Manor was stunning, and Tyler had seen some pretty impressive places in his time. This surpassed them all.
    ‘It looks like a French chateau.’ Tyler gazed around. ‘This is the sort of place I’d like to live in. If only I’d been born into a banking dynasty or been the child of a publishing magnate.’
    Instead, his dad had been a lowly electrician, his mum a school dinner lady. No chance of owning a chateau there. Though they had once owned a static caravan down on the coast. They’d thought that was the height of decadent luxury. His dad would have fainted if he’d still been around to see all this.
    ‘It does seem more lavish than the usual Christmas party,’
    Kirsten noted.
    ‘Tonight’s supposed to be a no-expenses-spared thank-you to all the staff for relocating from London up to the wilds of Milton Keynes. Lance’s idea. There was a lot of grumbling about it at the time, but then people grumble