"Three… two… one! Happy New Year!"
Calleigh's living room erupted in cheers and whoops, and everyone turned to peck their neighbor with the customary New Years kiss. Calleigh turned to Eric, who she'd managed to sidle up to in the last minute of 2008, and grinned. Pushing onto her toes, she balanced carefully in her high heels as he brought his mouth down to hers.
Their lips brushed almost tentatively, then – before she could pull back – he cupped the back of her neck and pressed his lips firmly to hers. Calleigh's head buzzed with a giddiness born more of romance than champagne, though she was fairly certain there was still a glass in her hand. Her fingers felt oddly numb, all of her sensory focus zeroed in on where their lips were still meshed together, trading short, sweet kisses that were definitely more than a way to ring in the New Year.
She should stop, she knew. She should pull back before anyone noticed. And then he deepened the kiss even more, tongue teasing gently against her lips, and Calleigh decided the jig was probably up by now anyway. She held her hand out blindly and someone liberated her champagne, so she threw her arms up around Eric's neck and delved full tilt into the kiss.
His soft sound of surprise made her lips curve, and she chuckled into the kiss as someone cat-called nearby. She should be embarrassed, but she wasn't. All she could feel was the tangle of tongues and a freeing feeling of satisfaction in her gut.
When the kiss finally broke, she rocked back onto her heels, giggling at the stunned expression on Eric's face. Ryan slapped a hand on his back and handed him a low-ball of what smelled like straight tequila.
"You might need something a little stronger than champagne after a kiss like that," he teased as Eric took a quick swig.
Calleigh felt the heat rise in her cheeks and pressed her forehead to Eric's chest for a brief moment. She was still waiting for the mortification to hit her. She had, after all, just flaunted a serious lip-lock in front of half her co-workers. Instead, all she felt was relief.
Lifting her head as Eric muttered a soft, "yeah," and stroked his hand up and down her spine in a way that made her want to purr, she turned to figure out who had taken her drink. Natalia and Valera stood together, the latter grinning and offering a thumbs-up as Nat handed back the champagne with a smirk.
"About damned time," Natalia announced, and Calleigh swiped her tongue across her lip once to catch the last hint of Eric before she lifted the flute to her lips and let the bright taste of the bubbly wash him away. "If you two had taken any longer, Valera and I were planning to 'accidentally' trap you in a room somewhere."
"Or slip a roofie in your drinks, and truss you up together in nothing but your skivvies," Maxine piped up, still grinning almost suggestively at Calleigh and Eric.
"Well, I'm glad we avoided that," Calleigh murmured, realizing suddenly, that she was still pressed against Eric, one arm wound around his waist. And she had absolutely no desire to move. So she turned to him, smiled sweetly and clinked their glasses. "Happy New Year."
His mouth curved into a grin to match hers, and he muttered, "Looks that way," before dropping another soft kiss on her lips.
For all the pain and heartbreak and terror that had been 2008, Calleigh thought 2009 was looking to be nothing but sunshine and roses. And even if it wasn't, she had a feeling they'd pull through it all. Together.