Page 33 of The Christmas Accomplice

“Not unless you’ve got some elves in your pocket.”

“Nah, I’m just happy to see you.” Reece gave Welton a wide-eyed look. “Sorry, that just slipped out.”

Welton grinned and, of course, blushed. “Like one of those elves?”

“Yeah, like that.”

They worked well together, and soon the ballroom looked more festive than Reece had initially hoped for.

“Wow, I’m impressed with us,” Welton said, standing beside Reece and looking around the room.

“Me, too. Thanks so much for helping me with this.”

“I really enjoyed it. It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted to get into the holiday spirit.”

“I know what you mean.”

Welton pulled his phone from his pocket. “Oh, wow. It’s almost five.”

“That late? You must be starved.”

“I am pretty hungry. And don’t you need to get back to the desk?”

“No, this would be my dinner break. Did you want to grab some dinner in the restaurant? My treat.”

Welton smiled. “Is that how you pay all your elves?”

“Just the ones I like. Come on, I’ll even let you order off the adult menu.”

“Wow, big spender.”

Reece knew Brianna, the hostess, pretty well, and she got them a corner table away from the bulk of diners. They ordered wine with dinner and talked more about holidays and growing up with siblings and their days in college. Reece couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so comfortable on a date, then had to remind himself that technically this wasn’t a date. It was a dinner to thank Welton for working with him when he was supposed to be on vacation.

Once Reece paid the check, he walked Welton to the main entrance and asked him to wait. After grabbing his coat and personal items from his employee locker, Reece met up with Welton again and waved toward the door.

“Shall I escort you back to your lodging?”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that.”

“I insist. It’s dark and cold outside, and you may accidentally step into a pair of snowshoes and fall on your butt and be unable to get up.”

Welton gave him a gentle glare. “I’m not going to live that story down, am I?”

“Probably not anytime soon.”

“Fine. Let’s go.”

The sky was clear and crowded with stars. Welton stopped in his tracks, looking up and letting out a breath that clouded in front of him. “That’s amazing.”

“It is, isn’t it?”

“There’s so much light pollution back home, I don’t get to see this many stars. It’s amazing. No wonder ancient civilizations created stories about them.”

Reece’s heart pounded, and he really wished he could take Welton in his arms and kiss him. There was no denying it now. He was falling hard and fast, and he didn’t think he’d be able to help himself. Nor did he really want to, no matter that Welton would fly home and out of his life.

Nick has a point. You need to stop worrying about the future and just enjoy the moment.

They started walking again, steps crunching across the few places where the maintenance crew had missed clearing away snow.