“Well,” she said crisply, “there’s nothing we can do about it now. If I know Petey, he’s already halfway to the airport, and he won’t answer his phone if he thinks someone’s calling to tell him to turn around and come back.”
Wade’s laugh didn’t sound as hearty and jubilant as a good Santa’s should, but Mira liked it. A lot.
“Sounds like youdoknow Petey,” he said. “I guess we’ll just have to see how it goes. You’ll ... you’ll be here this week, right?”
He made the question sound strangely urgent, like he didn’t know what he would do if she said no. Mira guessed shewasthe only person down here he had talked to so far, so maybe he was hoping she would teach him the ropes. And why not? It would be a good break from explaining her costume.
“All week,” she confirmed.
Wade lit up. It was like he was a Christmas tree, and all the lights had come on all at once, brightening up the silvery tinsel and the glittering ornaments. Even in the middle of a winter wonderland of chaos, it caught all of Mira’s attention.
Too bad it caught the kids’ attention, too. They’d been surprisingly good about letting Santa have a little chat withhis off-kilter elf, but the sheer wattage of that smile made the chanting start up:
“Santa! Santa!Santa!”
“We went Santa!”
Mira cleared her throat. “I think they want you,” she said, with a smile that hopefully didn’t look as awkward as it felt. “Um, the chair’s up there.”
Wade turned his head to follow her gesture, and she knew he took in the lines of hyperactive kids and scowling, impatient parents, all waiting behind the fake-snow-matted garlands that served as Santa’s velvet ropes. He straightened up, squaring his shoulders and entering an obvious “on duty” mode.
But he gave her one last look over his shoulder as he walked to the chair to start his shift, and Mira felt sensation prickle over her skin, delicate and enticing, like snowflakes starting to land.
Was she crushing on Santa?
Well,Mira thought,that’s one way to make the holidays more interesting.
Chapter Three
Why are you walking away?Wade’s polar bear demanded.She’s our fated mate!
I know she is,Wade said.But she also would have thought I was a jackass if I stood there staring at her while the kids were begging to see Santa.
Walking away from her was the hardest thing he had ever done. Life didn’t hand out medals for shifters who managed to play Santa in the face overwhelming romantic epiphanies, but right now, he felt like it ought to. The second he had met her eyes, he had known she was the one for him. His soulmate. His perfect match.
All he wanted to do was get to know her—but he couldn’t abandon a whole Christmas Village full of hopeful kids.
You could have gotten her name, though,his bear pointed out with a kind of internal harrumph.You had time for that.
I wasn’t thinking that clearly! I’d never met my fated mate before!
His polar bear clearly didn’t consider that a very good excuse, and Wade didn’t blame it. He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten either.
In the meantime, he would just have to call her Galadriel. Petey had mentioned that the Christmas Village was short an elf costume, and now Wade knew what they’d done to replace it. It was a strange choice, but on her, it was beautifully eye-catching.
Even if her striking white gown with its long, lacy sleeves wasn’t traditionally Christmassy, she looked incredible in it. Movie Galadriel had looked otherworldly and untouchable, butthisGaladriel seemed ... enticing. The airy confection of the dress was like icing or whipped cream, a delicious embellishment.
Wade forced those thoughts away. Galadriel would be here all week—she’d said so herself—so he would get plenty of time to think about her. Here and now, he needed to think about the job. It might be a sudden, unwanted obligation to him, but it meant something to these kids, and they deserved a Santa who didn’t spend all his time daydreaming.
Luckily, Petey had given him a quick overview of the basics. Ask each kid what they wanted for Christmas, chat with them a little, pose for a picture, hand them one of the cheap giveaway toys, send them on, and pass the word back to the parents. If the kid asked for a toy that Wade knew for a fact was somewhere in the mall, he should direct the parent to the proper store.
“How am I supposed to know that?” Wade had asked.
“There’s a list you memorize at the start of the Christmas season.”
“At the start of the Christmas season, I was just a guy minding my own business, foolishly thinking mybrotherwas going tokeep his job.”
Petey had patted him on the shoulder. “Marsh can get you the list. Don’t worry about it until then.”
