AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Which lasts two minutes until Nick joins her, two plates of stir-fry in his hands. He nods at her and his smile widens. ‘Nice pyjamas.’
Scarlett looks in horror at her choice of nightwear, and grimaces. She’d just grabbed the first thing she saw when she got out of bed. Going for her comfortable, baggy Snoopy pyjamas wasn’t her best move. ‘I wasn’t exactly planning on anyone seeing my Snoopy pyjamas. And you can talk!’ Although she’s not complaining. Nick in just an apron, is certainly not something anyone in their right mind should complain about.
‘Maybe next time you should pack an overnight bag in the sleigh? And, I can’t believe I just said that. It sounds so ridiculous!’
He laughs, and then rubs his hand over the bandage on his side. ‘Ouch! Don’t make me laugh. And yeah - it does sound ridiculous. I talk about this stuff every day at home, and it sounds normal. How come it all sounds like complete gibberish when I’m here with you?’
‘I’m sure if I was talking to you in your home about recruitment stuff it would sound weird too.’
He sits down and takes a sip of water. ‘You’d be surprised. Recruitment is a big issue for us. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find people to work for Santa?’
Scarlett laughs at the thought. ‘I can imagine it must be a nightmare!’
‘Too fucking right! But if it helps, I swear the first thing I’ll do when I get back, is pack an overnight bag and put it in my sleigh.’
‘That would probably be a good idea. You don’t want to damage your image by dressing like that.’
‘My image? People think I’m a cuddly, jolly, old guy with a massive beard. I’ve pretty much screwed all that up already.’
‘You might be right. I don’t think people would mind if they found out the truth. I’d hardly call you a disappointment.’
He smiles over at her. ‘Thank you, Scarlett.’
They finish their dinner and move to the chairs by the fire to digest. Much to her disappointment, Nick exchanges the apron for a towel, but she has no doubts he’ll be naked before long. She’ll make sure of it.
Scarlett wraps her hand around her mug of cocoa and looks over at the tall, superbly built man staring into the fire, and laughs out loud.
‘What’s so funny?’
‘This. I’m just thinking of every single image there is of Santa. Of you. You’re a lot less... cuddly than you’re portrayed. I mean, look at you! You look more like—’ She stops herself before she finishes her thought. But she was a bit too late.
He tilts his head and smirks at her. ‘I look like what?’
‘Let’s just say you don’t look like Santa, and leave it at that. I don’t mean that in a bad way. Honestly.’
The smirk turns to a grin. ‘I’ll let you off. Won’t add you to my naughty list for that.’
He winks, and she feels her cheeks redden. The way he says naughty hits her straight to her core every time. Nick holds her gaze for a few seconds, his pale eyes mischievous. Eventually he looks away, and she takes a breath.
‘I get what you’re saying though. My predecessors took advantage of all the milk and cookies and other shit the kids leave out. I decided not to.’ He shrugs and smiles again. ‘I’m also really good at keeping hidden. Don’t want to ruin the image for the kids. The cuddly version is all they know. I doubt this version would have the same sort of appeal to them.’
She nods. This version may not appeal to the kids, but it absolutely appeals to her.
‘Then again, you’ve sort of ruined my track record,’ he adds with a smile. ‘The secret is out. I’m just going to have to persuade you to keep me to yourself.’
Her core clenches at his words. Stop drooling over Santa.
He rests his arm across the back of the couch and hits her with a serious look. ‘Can I persuade you to keep me all to yourself, Scarlett?’
‘Of course. No one would believe me if I told them Santa is six foot tall and built like you are.’
‘I’m six two actually.’
She swallows heavily. ‘Six-two then. And if I knew Santa looked like you, I might have convinced myself to keep believing.’
‘There aren’t many adults who believe in me.’
‘Can I ask you something?’
