I returned his smile and even added a little hip pop to my stance. “How’d we do? Any inside information?”
“Dare I ask you to meet me over there and I can give you a preview?” he teased. “There’s a nice-looking mistletoe waiting for us.”
“I like your style, Brendon. For an elf, you’re just my type.” I blew him a kiss.
He caught it, laughed, and moved on to the next table.
Hayden glared at me.
“What? I told you. I like flirting. I haven’t had a date in years. Wait, I sure have, but I haven’t had a good one. Not one where I can laugh or be myself. If I want to make out with a guy in an elf costume, who cares? I just want to be kissed, dang it!”
His nostrils flared, and he reached toward me. “When you say things like that—”
“Alright, the next competition starts in thirty seconds, folks! We’ll have the scores updated in the app, but we were running a little behind, so we’re moving on to the next round. Get back to your tables and get ready!”
CHAPTER TEN
HAYDEN
Ireally wasn’t a fan of that man-elf. Brendon continued to find the perfect fucking times to interrupt me. It was like he knew I wanted to cross a line with Charlotte and stopped me.
Wait. My parents always believed in signs—was this one? Telling me to back off? Like this wintery, holiday version was my personal hell. I wanted to ask Charlotte if I could be the person under the mistletoe but I stopped myself?
What am I doing?
We legit just agreed to be friends. That was it. I was a single dad without my shit together. I could offer a one-night stand. Charlotte was a relationship kinda gal who deserved to be someone’s main priority. I couldn’t offer her what she wanted, plain and simple. She was off-limits despite my attraction to her.
If I had to tattooKEEP AWAY FROM CHARLOTTEonto my eyelids so I would not forget, that would be great. Because what the hell had gotten into me? Kissing her would be ahuge mistake. Nothing could come of it, and we had already learned our lesson, and I hated not having her in my life. I’d be a damn fool to repeat it. Even if the thought of her kissing someone else made my fists clench when I couldn’t stop fantasizing about her red lips and how full they were. They drew me in every time she spoke.
I had a craving for cherries all of a sudden.
“This is wild,” she said, those lips pursing as she scanned the room.
Bernie and his team of elves were scattered throughout the lobby carrying large bottles of alcohol. They didn’t just walk either. They jogged with jingle bells attached to their hats and socks.Obnoxiouswas too kind a word. They needed to be stopped.
“I’d never judge,” Charlotte said, a cute smirk forming on her face, “but do you think they keep the socks on all the time? Like, in the bedroom?”
I snorted. “Probably. Bernie absolutely does. I’d bet Gwen’s inheritance that he has a full back tattoo of Rudolph too.”
She swatted me. “No. No he doesn’t.”
I shrugged, tilting my head. “One will never know.”
Her quiet laughter made me smile. I loved the sound of her little chuckle. She leaned closer to me with her arm stretched out toward Bernie. “Looks like every table receives one large bottle, two small bottles, and a mini Santa bag. What on God’s green earth are we about to do?”
“Directions, here.” An elf tossed a sparkly scroll onto our table. “Don’t touch it.”
Written in a black font:DO NOT FLIP OVER UNTIL WE SAY GO.
Madness. I ran a hand through my hair just to rid myself of this restless energy. The high from the wrapping challenge never quite wore off. Hey, maybe that was why I wanted to kiss Charlotte. The adrenaline rush. The postgame adrenaline that I always had after a win.
See, I wasn’t a total jerk. Content with my solid investigation into why I had the hots for Charlotte again, I nodded. I wasn’t going to cross a line. I just needed to find a way to release this energy after the competition was all said and done. As I waited for the next round, I checked my phone and frowned at the third text from a random number.It’s me. Hayden, please call me back. This is important.
Who is this?I replied.
No answer.
It almost felt like a prank, but I shoved my phone in my pocket. If it was truly important, they’d call.
