AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No worries,” I said with a smile. “I’m fine.”
He glanced at the clothes piled in my arms. “You’re one of my elves, then.”
I nodded. His sandy-brown hair peeked out from his Santa hat, and his suit was lumpy, a sure sign of a slim frame beneath it. He’d been solid when he’d knocked me, so I suspected there were muscles, too. Part of me wondered what it would be like to peel the Santa clothes off of him and find out, and my core warmed. Heat rose in my face as well. Hadn’t I just sworn off men after Dick? And here I was, batting my lashes at Santa Claus.
I looked closer. I couldn’t tell much about him with the hat and the beard, but there was something familiar about him. My forehead crinkled. I just couldn’t place him. “Do I know you?”
“No,” he said, a sharper note in his voice that made me jump.
This was a man who was used to being obeyed. Hardly something I associated with Santa Claus, but it did do interesting things to my insides.
He continued, “I’m just a friend of the family.”
“Well, it’s nice of you to play Santa. The kids are pretty excited.” I think he smiled but it was hard to tell under the fluffy Santa beard.
I held out my hand. “I’m Lily.”
Noah
“I’mLily,”shesaid.
“I’m . . . Santa.”Smooth moves, idiot.
She laughed.
I liked her laugh, it was sweet and gentle. No one would know she was an evil thief from that laugh, but I expected that was how they usually got away with it. I was lucky she was one of my elves, because it would give me the perfect opportunity to keep an eye on her. Dick said she carried the song with her, which seemed foolish for a thief, but desperate times called for desperate measures. And I was desperate.
“I’m Noah,” I said, wincing at not being able to come up with a fake name. I didn’t like being dishonest. I was known for being cutthroat in our business, but truthful. I didn’t want to lie, but my whole being here was a lie.
We’d had a streak of bad luck at my company, and we were depending on the money Dick James’ new Christmas single would bring in. Well,Iwas depending on it. As CEO, I’d made the decision to buy the smaller label, but I’d expected his name to carry it. The board was not going to be happy with me.
“I haven’t seen you around before,” she said. “How do you know Brant and Charlie?”
“I’m a friend of the family.” More like enemy, but she didn’t need to know that. As long as I kept my Santa disguise on, no one would recognize me. Even when my brother Liam had married our host’s sister Abigail, it hadn’t done anything to cool the animosity between our two companies. I didn’t need to be caught at a Sparks’ family gathering. I shook myself.Play the part, idiot, and get the goods.
“Well, I better get upstairs and changed,” she said. “When’s Santa time?”
“Before dinner, I think,” I answered with what I hoped was a charming smile. “No way the kids would eat otherwise.”
She chuckled again and headed down the hallway toward the bedrooms.
I followed as unobtrusively as I could. It was actually kind of hard to unobtrusively follow someone when one was wearing a big red suit, but I did my best. Lily was easy on the eyes. Her red hair had some golden highlights in the lamplight, and her simple jeans and sweater did nothing to disguise her great figure. She really was a beautiful woman. I could see how she tempted my singer, and he let down his guard. Well, I was doing nothing of the sort.
“Santa?” A little girl ran up to me and hugged me around the middle.
Lily opened one of the bedroom doors and disappeared. Damn. I was going to have to get rid of the child quickly, or I was going to miss my chance to go through her handbag. I pried the child off and squatted down.
“Ho ho ho, what’s your name?” I asked in my jolliest Santa voice, and I squatted down and looked into the eyes of my niece. My brother Liam had married Abigail Sparks, and this was their kid. She was adorable, her hair tied in pigtails and her eyes sparkling.
“Lute,” she said, then looked at me closer. “Hey, I know you!”
I pulled her tight against me. “Hey, kiddo. Good to see you, too.”
“Why are you playing Santa?” she stage-whispered.
Being an uncle was tough. “It’s a game,” I said, hating the lie, but it was kind of true. “You can’t let anyone else know it’s me. It’s a secret.”
“Mommy says we aren’t supposed to keep secrets.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared.
