Free The Christmas Party by Carole Matthews Page B

be no trace of it. It’ll loosen you up.’
    ‘I’m not sure if I want to be loose.’
    ‘We were going to have fun, dance, kick up our heels, remember?’
    She smiled at him. ‘So we were.’ Without further protest she took the glass and gulped at the fizz.
    He wanted Kirsten relaxed and mellow – preferably quite drunk – not on guard all night. Plus it would be nice to stayover in a hotel, make love in a four-poster bed. It had been too long since they’d done that. He snaked his arm round his wife’s waist and squeezed her tightly.
    He downed his champagne in seconds. It was good stuff, and again he felt his paternal instinct towards his budget take a hit. This was
so
not coming across his desk.
    Lance and Melissa were making their way through the ex uberant crowds, coming in their direction. The chairman was shaking hands and slapping backs as he came; Melissa trailed in his wake, a smile that was just short of sincere pinned on her pretty face. Tyler’s dearest hope was that Lance might, for once, stay sober for this evening – that had a snowball in hell’s chance – but he had no intention of being so himself. He was going to get through this night on a sublime mix of divine benevolence and strong drink.
    Eventually, Lance and Melissa reached them.
    ‘Tyler, my man!’ Lance reached out and held his arm and his elbow in a vice-like grip. He shook his hand until Tyler’s fingers throbbed.
    For someone who abused his body so much, Lance was a strong, fit man. He could drink everyone under the table – and had done so many times at conferences – and still be as fresh as a daisy the next morning. For a man of his age, his recuperative powers were truly astonishing.
    Next to him, Melissa was embracing Kirsten. The ladies air-kissed and he heard them exchange a friendly greeting. That was all fine. Now all he had to do was make sure that he kept them as far apart as possible for the rest of the evening.
    Lance turned his attention to Kirsten. She smiled warmly and kissed Lance’s booze-flushed cheek.
    ‘Hello, Lance, it’s lovely to see you again. You’re looking very well.’
    ‘That’s what I like!’ he boomed. ‘A nice bit of flattery from a pretty young thing. It makes my heart glad, even though you don’t mean a word of it.’ He winked at Kirsten.
    Quickly Tyler grabbed two more glasses of champagne and handed them to Lance and Melissa. With only a moment’s hesitation, he took another one for himself.
    ‘Cheers,’ he said and they all clinked glasses. Melissa brushed her body against his arm and smiled at him.
    This was no good for his heart. Even for him, a man who always liked to follow his impulses, hooking up with Melissa Harvey was a step too far. There was a phrase that he should have heeded about not doing doo-doo on your own doorstep. He’d remembered it far too late, but there’d been something afoot at Fossil Oil that he wasn’t party to and he didn’t like it. Tyler had always prided himself on keeping his finger on the pulse. It seemed only sensible to have an intimate informant on the inside track, and Melissa had proved very useful in converting her pillow talk with Lance into pillow talk with him. If he was honest, it was easier to have a conversation about the business with Melissa than it was with Lance. She was one sharp cookie, and anyone who went to Fossil Oil board meetings knew that nothing was ever passed until Lance had taken it home and run it by Melissa. She’d have done a better job as chairman than her husband did. That’s why initially he’d hooked up with her, but now he was in this up to his neck and didn’t know what to do.
    She was a player, Melissa, and he was too. They had a lot in common. And, for a time, it had been mutually beneficial. It wasn’t just about the sex – though there was a confidence in an older woman that he admired – they also both enjoyed the cut and thrust of Fossil Oil and he could talk to her about his doubts and fears