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I fumbled my phone out of my pocket and used the torch function. “Dammit, Miss Kane, could you just wait a minute?”
The light shined up under her chin, throwing her face into stark lines. “I think since you’ve gotten me half naked a few times now you could maybe call me Kay.”
I braced my arm above her head and turned the beam of light to hit the floor instead. “I can deal with Kay, though I have been calling you Hot Elf in my head all day.”
She squirmed. “Great. Just what I wanted your mental snapshot to retain.”
I tugged on her braid. “You have no idea what I pictured myself doing with your braids.”
She slapped my hands away. “Pig.” Her tone might have said disgust, but her eyes were tracking down my bare chest.
I laughed for what felt like the first time in a damn long time. I hissed as her cool hands flattened near my heart. She wasn’t pushing me back though. Instead she coasted her fingertips over the planes of my chest down to my abs. I immediately flexed, partly because of the chill of her fingers. The other part was pure vanity.
I wanted her to touch me. To want to touch me more, so much she couldn’t stop. The tight ball of anger had faded from my gut just because she was in my space. I wasn’t ready to assess that, any more than I was ready to be thankful that someone could finally yank me out of that headspace.
Even if it was just for a moment, I was selfish enough to take it and fucking run with it.
All the way up north.
I lowered my mouth to hers. The kiss was unhurried for once. Desperation had been dispelled for the time being as she slid her fingertips up to my neck and along the nape of my neck.
A light tap came from the other side of the door. A woman’s hesitant voice broke us apart. “Um, I’m really sorry, but I still need to get in there.”
Kay groaned. “This is not the place for this. I kept telling you that and somehow I still ended up with my clothing all twisted.”
I didn’t even notice that I’d tugged at her skirt again until my fingers skimmed the soft flesh of her thigh. Endless legs. Christ, she was one long voyage of perfection. I couldn’t wait to taste every silken inch of her either.
She pushed me back and hopped on one foot. Both of her striped stockings were gone.
I arched a brow at her. “Aren’t you going to be cold without those?”
“I don’t care.” She unrolled a little green tie from the end of her braid. “I’m de-elfing. And you’re going to de-Santa and we’re going to get this show on the road, because if you tease me one more time, I’m going to do something stupid. And well, I don’t want to do stupid. Well, beyond sleeping with a man I barely know because I sold my soul for three days for you to wear said Santa suit.”
“Your soul? A bit dramatic.”
She yanked out the other band on her remaining braid. “It feels like it. Possibly because it was completely crazy to do this, and I still said yes. And do you know why I said yes?”
The knock came again. “As scintillating as this conversation is, I have three bags of rolls in that freezer that I need,” the woman called.
“Just a minute,” we both bellowed.
Kay scrubbed at her hair until it was a mass of golden waves down her back, then bent down and picked up my shirt and threw it at me before opening the door and stalking down the hallway.
I pulled on the shirt and grabbed my foam vest and jacket. The woman in the hall gasped, her eyes going wide. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Murdock.” She tipped her head. “At least I think that’s you under the beard.”
There was no point in asking her to be discreet. I was out of luck on masking this situation. Especially with the half dozen servers in the hallway.
“Merry Christmas,” I muttered and chased after Kay.
I realized just how ridiculous I looked, but I didn’t care. I was getting the hell out of this building and taking her with me.
8
Kay
The back of my ankle boot rubbed against the upper part of my heel, but I didn’t slow down. These stupid boots were made for cute, not for extended wear. I’d been schlepping around behind Santa for the better part of two hours.
Oh, and the Santa version of him was officially killing me.
