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Except I wouldn’t do that. I wasn’t about to kiss a straight man, just because I’d dreamed of doing it countless times during the last few years. Because the consequences of such an action?
I could lose my best friend.
That was no exaggeration. I had friends, acquaintances, but no one who knew me the way he did. No one who could walk into my living room once a year, and get me, trulygetme, balls to bones. No one who understood me the way he did.
The best friend I’d ever had, and I couldn’t tell a soul.
When my tears had ebbed, I shifted out of his embrace. “Don’t think I’m in the mood for a sleigh ride this year,” I told him.
He sighed. “Pity. There was something I wanted you to see.”
“You took me to Italy last time. And Iceland the year before. I’m pretty sure you can’t topthattrip.” The scenery had been breathtaking.
He cleared his throat. “This would be a very different trip.”
Goosebumps erupted, carpeting my arms. My skin tingled. “I see.” My heart pounded. “Then I guess we’d better go to the sleigh.”
He stilled. “But you said—”
“I lied, okay? If it’s a choice between sitting here wallowing in grief and self-pity, and going for a ride with you, well, that’s a no-brainer.” I managed a smile. “Besides, you’ve intrigued me.” Then it hit me. “Wow.”
He frowned. “What is it?”
“You made me smile. I don’t think I’ve smiled for a couple of months.”
He stood and held out his hand. “Then come with me, and I’ll show you something to make you smile again. Something no one has ever seen.” I grasped his hand, he hauled me to my feet, and a heartbeat later we stood next to the sleigh. The reindeer turned their heads, nodding and making happy little noises that made me feel amazing.
“They’ve missed you,” Santa said in a warm voice. He stepped into the sleigh, and I joined him, searching for the thick rug he’d tucked over my legs the previous year. “You won’t need that, not where we’re going.”
“Someplace where it’s summer?” I inquired.
“Not exactly.”
I leaned into him, he grabbed the reins, and the team of reindeer pulled us effortlessly into the sky. Higher and higher we went, until I could see the curvature of the earth beneath us, and my breathing quickened. Then light sparkled all around us as we plunged, heading back down with me screaming like a little boy on his first roller coaster, clinging to Santa, the air rushing past us, stealing my breath, making my heart thump. Thick, white cloud surrounded us, so solid you could imagine bouncing on it, and then we were through—
I blinked at the sight below.
“Oh my God, where are we?”
It was beautiful. Rolling green hills flowed down to a sparkling ocean, and in the midst of that green lush landscape stood a house, low, white, surrounded by fields and trees. There was nothing else for miles. In the distance, jagged peaks rose, topped with white, and far off across the ocean I glimpsed a series of islands set in impossibly turquoise waters.
Down, down, down we went, until the reindeer’s hooves touched land, and we were pulled toward that enticing house. The sleigh came to a halt at the end of a squat wall, a gate across the gap.
I got out of the sleigh, unable to tear my gaze away from the natural beauty before me. “What is this place?”
Santa stood beside me. “You’re in my realm now, and this is my home.”
I gaped. “So all the stories about the North Pole—”
“Are myths, yes.” He gestured to the gate. “Shall we go in?”
I walked along the pink slab-paved path, and a delicious scent assaulted my nostrils. “Whatisthat smell?” It was familiar somehow.
“It’s the grass.”
I’d always liked the smell of newly mown grass, but this fragrance… Then I realized where I’d encountered it before—it had clung to Santa every time he’d appeared in my home. “No wonder I couldn’t place it,” I murmured. “There’s nothing like it on the planet, is there?” Because all my senses told me wherever Santa’s home was, it wasnotof the Earth.
We approached the door, and my pulse sped up at the thought of what might lie beyond it. But when he pushed it open, what met my eyes was a pleasant interior of warm cream walls, red floor tiles, and a rustic fireplace dominating the center of the room. Colorful rugs lay everywhere, and large windows allowed the light to spill into every corner and crevice.
