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Well. Would you look at that?
“What a good choice Santa made there, huh?” I grinned. “Merry Christmas!” I waved and ran back to the grotto.
I was blasted with a wave of hot air as soon as I stepped inside, and my entire body shuddered as the goosebumps that coated my arms slowly subsided.
Nicholas had removed his hat, beard, and glasses, and as he unbuttoned his jacket, I saw Demi blush.
Here we go.
The last thing I needed was a teenage elf with a crush on Santa.
All right, she was nineteen, but the point still stood. Nineteen. That was a teenager.
“What did you go rushing off for?” Nicholas asked, eyeing me.
“Forgot to give him the photo ticket,” I replied, grabbing my sweater. “Didn’t want him to miss out since it took a while to get her over to you.”
“Mm.”
“Do you need anything else, Quinn?” Demi asked, still looking at Nicholas.
Yep.
She had a crush.
Oh, joy.
“No, it’s fine. I can bring everything else in. Thanks, Demi. You’re good to go.” I paused. “Are you parked nearby? Do you need us to walk you to your car?”
“Oh, I’m meeting Renee in the square and staying with her tonight. Thanks, though.” She smiled at us both, especially Nicholas, and ducked out after grabbing her coat.
Nicholas slipped off the Santa jacket. “I think she has a crush on me.”
“What gave it away?” I drawled and tugged off my own stupid Santa hat. “The giggling? The blushing? The hair flicking?”
“At least someone has a crush on me.”
“Stop fishing for compliments. It doesn’t suit you.” I tucked the hat into my purse and picked up my coat. “You’re being a brat on purpose.”
“Only because it’s so fun to wind you up.” He pulled a sweater over his head and gripped the waistband of the pants. “Are you leaving before I strip off, or do you want to watch?”
“I’ll turn around.” I did just that and made sure I had everything in my purse. There was a lot of rummaging and crinkling from behind me, and after a moment, Nicholas said, “Okay, I’m changed.”
“Good.” I barely glanced over my shoulder to confirm he was actually changed. “Can you give me a hand to bring everything in and wait for me to turn it off? I don’t want to miss any lights.”
“Why don’t you get the lights and I’ll get the ropes?” He shrugged on his coat. “Then you can let me buy you a drink.”
“Nicholas.”
He held up his hands. “To celebrate a job well done. That’s all. I promise I won’t lure you to the backseat of my car to have my way with you.”
My lips twitched. I wasn’t going to laugh at him. “Fine.” I could use a glass of wine to unwind. It’d been a long and stressful day, and I was glad it was over. “I’m not going out dressed like this, though. Go outside and wait for me to get changed.”
“Yes, boss.”
“And no peeking!”
He grinned. “I would never.”
Liar.
I waited until both the curtain and the door were closed and changed at a record speed. Thank God I’d worn leggings and not jeans because I wasn’t in the mood for those uncomfortable contraptions.
It was bad enough I had to wear a bra.
“Are you done?”
“Yeah, come in.” I pulled my boots on and looked up.
Nicholas carted the heavy rope barriers and posts inside like they weighed nothing. If only he’d shared his superhuman strength this morning when I was lugging them around like they weighed fifty pound.
“Hit the lights and I’ll make sure you don’t miss any,” he said, heading back out. “Do I need to take the suit with me?”
I shook my head. “It’s fine to stay here.” I went to the back room of the hut and turned off all the outlets, then poked my head through the door. “Is that all of them?”
“Looks like it.”
“Okay. Two minutes, then.”
***
“That was the longest two minutes of my life.”
“Stop being so dramatic,” I replied, locking the front door to the grotto. “There’s a lot of inside lights to shut off, too, then I had to set the security camera.”
“To witness all the rampant crime that happens in Snow Cove?”
“Hey, you can mock it, but it’s always the small towns that get the serial killers.”
“I don’t think a serial killer is coming to Snow Cove anytime soon. The senior choir would have his identity figured out in a matter of hours.” Nicholas chuckled. “They’re serious up there.”
That was painfully true. If something was happening, the senior choir knew about it. If they knew about it, so did everyone else.
Small towns were not the cutesy things Hallmark movies would have you believe they were.
They were drama, drama, drama, baby.
“Where did you really go? Did you really forget to give him his ticket?”
I glanced at him and stuffed my hands in my coat pocket. “I didn’t give him the ticket,” I said vaguely.
