“Um…” I checked the app on my phone. “I’m supposed to singSanta Babyby Eartha Kitt. It’s an old classic. Then say Merry Christmas, you old, surly… uh… cunt. Love from your besties, Rock, Hard and… Dick.”
He grimaced and ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry about that. This has to be some of my friends playing a joke on me. They know I hate Christmas. Their message was crass. You shouldn’t have to deal with asinine fools like them.”
“Well, Iama singing telegram dressed like an elf, wearing candy cane thigh-highs. So, I’ve gotten used to people laughing when I show up on their doorstep.”
It didn’t bother me as long as I got a hundred dollars in my pocket.
He shook his head, then said, “Sing for me then. If that’s what you’re here for.”
Everything about him seemed shut down. It was like his mask had slipped when he’d answered the door, but now he was remote like an iceberg, similar to how he’d been during the sleigh ride.
I shivered, wishing I had my winter coat on. But I’d left it in the car. Something about a faded North Face jacket took away from the costume’s effect.
I started singing, but notSanta Baby.I knew this man wouldn’t report me for going off script. And that song was too flirty. So I sangJingle Bellsinstead.
It felt more appropriate given the circumstances of how we’d met. I could see him fighting to keep the smile off his lips each time I got to the line about a one-horse open sleigh.
At the end of the song, I gave a little hip shimmy and said, “Thank you from the Merry Elf Company. We wish you a merry Christmas from our hearth to yours.”
His brow furrowed tight. “You have a beaut—a really good voice.”
“Thank you.”
“I guess they couldn’t hire an elf who couldn’t sing. That wouldn’t make sense.”
“They make you do a virtual audition for quality control purposes. I’ve always liked singing.”
“Well, you’re good at it. It’s nice that you get to do something that you’re good at.”
I thought about my job at the diner. Being a waitress at a greasy spoon was myactualcalling in life. There was nothing inspiring about that job.
“This is just a side gig. Your friends helped pay my electric bill for the month by booking me. It was worth the long drive for that.”
He looked past me again, out into the snow. It was coming down harder now.
“You came all the way from Fernwood in that little sedan?”
I nodded.
His eyes scraped across my face. “You look cold.”
I nodded again as a tiny shiver rolled through me. The heat didn’t work in my car, so the drive here had been chilly.
“Why don’t you come inside and warm up for a minute while we check the weather report?” He looked back out at the snowy forest again. “I don’t like the idea of you out on these roads tonight. It will be dark before you make it home.”
My Santa grump wanted to invite me inside? It might not have been the first date I’d hoped for with him, but it was something. And the world was getting colder by the minute.
“All right. It would be nice to warm up before I drive home. Let me grab my coat from my car.”
Chapter 6
Tex
She was huddled up at my kitchen table, sipping a mug of hot tea.
Chloe looked like a lost elf in her winter coat. She had a flush of red on her cheeks from the cold.
“It’s cozy in here,” she said as she looked around.
