Glass Ceilings by A. M. Madden Read Free Book Online

I needed to do. In the process, I’d save the jackass’s ass.
    “Hey, Mugs, can I take my break at midnight?” Mugs turned his laser beams on me.
    “Fuck, no. Look at this place! I need you serving as many drinks as possible.”
    I offered my dart winnings with a smile. “Fifteen minutes. I’ll pour out all the champagne beforehand and Marce and the others can manage handing out the cups for fifteen minutes.”
    The man thrust his hand out to grab the wad of cash as fast as a lizard’s tongue catching a fly. “Not a minute more.”
    Once Mugs walked away, Jase raised his hands in frustration. “What the fuck? That was a grand!”
    “Worth every penny.” I shrugged.
    “You’re an idiot,” Jase countered.
    “Maybe. Or maybe it’ll be the best fifteen minutes of my life.” My eyes found Angela’s staring at me. That damn current kicked in again just as the lead singer announced it was thirty minutes to midnight.
    “I’ll be back. I have a lot of champagne to pour.” Like a madman, I worked frantically with the other bartenders to pour the champagne, positioning the cheap, disposable plastic cups that Mugs sprung for at the banquet table where the snacks had been earlier in the evening. Mugs had them all standing guard, ensuring no one took any before midnight. They also needed to ensure that everyone received just the one cupful, which was included in their ticket price.
    At a few minutes to midnight, I squeezed my way over to where Angela stood beside Jase and Eve as they made out, obviously not bothering to wait for the New Year. She saw me coming and turned toward me with a stunning smile. Her plump lips begged to be kissed, and I needed to be the one kissing them.
    “Will you be my good luck kiss?” I couldn’t help myself. This may have been my only chance, and my only good excuse. Her smile faded instantly. Undeterred by her silence, I prodded further. “We have to. It’s bad luck not to be kissing someone at midnight.”
    “You’re starting to sound like Jase.”
    “Maybe he isn’t a jackass after all.”
    “Is that why you just handed over a thousand dollars? To kiss me?”
    “That’s exactly why.”
    We stood facing each other with the current bouncing between us. Time was literally ticking by until my opportunity arrived to finally taste those lips. When the crowd around us began counting down from ten, I stepped closer. At five seconds, I wordlessly held her face in my hands. The next four seconds passed by torturously slowly. My eyes were glued to hers, and at the stroke of twelve I whispered, “Happy New Year, Angela.”
    Before she had a chance to stop me, I leaned in and kissed her softly. Her hands gripped my wrists. Her fingertips pressed into my flesh as I progressed the kiss between us. The noise around us was deafening, but all I heard was my heart pounding and my head pleading for her not to end this kiss.
    She tasted fucking amazing. She stopped breathing as my lips nibbled on hers. When the moment came for her to take a breath, it should have been where the kiss ended…except I went right back in. I needed another taste. She parted her lips before I felt the tip of her tongue touch my bottom lip. At the shock of feeling it, I touched my tongue to hers before I chased it into her warm mouth.
    Our tongues danced, slowly, erotically, and purposefully. It was as if our tongues knew this kiss was going to be a brief, rare encounter and they needed to make the most of every second that passed.
    The kiss opened my floodgates, caused blood to rush through my veins, made my cock stiffen between us, and made me question everything I thought I knew.
    The kiss itself became an unspoken agreement to what could have been if things were different.
    The kiss was the best motherfucking kiss I ever had in my life.

Chapter 6
    Nick
    Angela and I remained just as we were while I kissed her, with my hands holding her face and her hands holding my wrists. The intense way her jade green eyes