“No, sir.” Pat sounded subdued.
“And where can I find this Billy person?”
Pat bit his lip. “He lives in a cottage on the west side of the castle. If you ask one of the snow globes for directions, it will tell you where to go.”
Nick was confused. “Snow globes?”
Pat nodded vigorously. “You can have mine. I can just make a new one in the workshop tomorrow. Here you go.”
Pat stepped forward and handed Nick a tiny snow globe. Nick took it and held it between his thumb and forefinger, turning it over and examining it. The layer of white snow on the bottom of the globe filled the dome as Nick spun it upside down.
It looked just like a normal snow globe. Inside there was a fat little Santa dressed in the traditional Santa’s costume.
“How does it work?”
Pat took a step back. “Just tell it who you want to find and thesnow inside will start moving in the direction you need to go. It’s really easy.”
“Find Billy,” Nick said, holding the snow globe up in front of his mouth and feeling silly. The little globe seemed to vibrate, and the next thing he knew the snow inside was blowing against the left side of the glass. Pat was right: it was easy.
Nick decided that he might as well go talk to this Billy character now. When he ordered one of the elves do something, even through an intermediary, he expected to be obeyed. That needed to be made clear from day one.
In fact, Nick should probably thank this Billy for giving him an opportunity to set the tone for his new reign as Santa.
“Thank you, Pat. That will be all. I’ll be expecting you in the morning.”
“Yes, sir,” Pat said. He bowed, flinching when his eyes landed on Nick’s bountiful crotch, and quickly took off down the hallway in the opposite direction of where the snow inside the globe was pointing.
Nick shook his head in amusement and watched Pat scurry off. He then squared his shoulders and puffed out his chest, making sure he looked as big and tall as possible, and marched off to find the troublemaker who’d tried to blow up his castle.
Billy dropped his book and very nearly spilled his tea when he heard the loud knock. It came from high up on his door, making the whole front wall rattle, and it soundedangry.
If Billy didn’t know better, he’d almost think that it was one ofthe abominable snowmen who guarded the castle come to pay him a visit. The creatures were fierce and strong, but surprisingly pleasant to talk to.
Wondering who it could be, Billy tiptoed to the door. The knock came again, almost blowing the door off its handle, and Billy squeaked and jumped back.
“Open up!” A deep, rumbling voice commanded. Billy’s eyes widened at the low-pitched sound. He put his hand on the doorknob andpushed, his gut-feeling telling him that in this instance obedience was the best course of action. Once the door was swinging open, he scrambled back.
A big leather-clad hand grabbed the door and pulled it all the way open. Billy watched as the figure on the other side of the door was revealed.
Holy shit.
Billy felt his mind grinding to a halt, his mouth going dry, and his knees turning to jelly. Standing in front of him was the scariest, and hottest, alpha Billy had ever seen in his entire life. Towering over him, at least a foot and a half taller than Billy, the man was a veritable mountain of muscle.
“Are you Billy?” the giant growled, holding his belt on either side of the buckle and drawing attention to the huge bulge underneath. Billy didn’t say anything, standing there frozen and drinking in the sight of the stranger.
Was he dreaming?
The alpha was dressed in the most bizarre outfit Billy had ever seen. He wore a dark red suit that clung to his body like a second skin, every ridge and vein on display, leather gloves, and a huge pair of knee-high leather boots. On his head, he wore a Santa’s hat, the little tuft of cotton on the end danglingdown and coming to rest on his shoulder.
Nick wanted to reach out his hand and touch the apparition before him.
The alpha was ruggedly handsome, with a strong nose, a wide jaw and cheekbones that looked like they were cut from marble, and the whole package was pretty much every secret fantasy Billy had ever dreamed of all rolled up into one glorious package.
“Well?” the giant growled, crossing his arms and scowling down at Billy like he wanted to murder him.
Murder face.Billy remembered the phrase like a punch to the gut, but his mind rebelled at the very idea. This couldnotbe the new Santa. It just wasn’t possible. Santa was jolly, fat and easy-going. This man wasnot. He had the body of a finely honed warrior and the facial expression of a cold-blooded killer.
“Did Tulip put you up to this?” he asked. The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. He knew that Tulip hadn’t set this up. Even she wouldn’t go this far just to trick him.
