The door swung open, and Raelynn’s nanny stepped in, rubbing her arms for warmth. “This place is colder than the far side of hel—“ her eyes widened at Jack’s presence on the couch. “Hello,” she drew the word out as her gaze raked over his body.
Natasha rolled her eyes. It wasn’t like he sprawled across the leather.
Ashely held out her hand. “Come along, little sugarplum,” her eyes darted to Jack to see if he’d noted her Christmas reference. The wranglers used them all the time. Faith, too, come to think of it. “We need to block out your scene.”
Raelynn took her hand. “I’m ready.”
Ashley wiggled her fingers over her shoulder at Jack as they left.
Jack waved heartily, “Bye, sugarplums.”
Ashely giggled.
Natasha shared a look with Bruno. Poor guy probably didn’t get any attention when the wrangler was here. She filled the seat Raelynn had just left.
Bruno frowned down at her.
“What? Am I too shiny?” Natasha touched her forehead. She hadn’t put on any makeup before leaving her trailer. Ashley was decked out from head to high-heeled boot. No wonder Jack had a nickname for her.
“You’re skin in flawless,” Bruno threw the compliment out like it didn’t mean a hill of beans. “It’s you I’m worried about. They’re taking advantage of you with this internship. They should pay you the big bucks.”
Jack, who had been scrolling through his phone, glanced her way.
She did not want to talk about this in front of Jack. Not only because he was her client, but because she didn’t want him to think less of her for making a wrong decision.
She hadn’t. Taking the lower pay to get her foot in the door was a solid strategy. Bruno began brushing bright red lipstick on her lips. “Can we tal abou this lader?” She said without moving her mouth.
Bruno got her message. “Hold still while I make your eyes look like a cartoon character.” He hardly had to focus as he made big sweeps with the eyeliner. An artist with a canvas, that’s what he was. As he worked, he chatted with Jack. “Yo man, you’re pretty sweet with that little girl. You almost convinced me you believe in Santa Claus.”
Jack smiled easily. “Oh? I’m a believer for life.”
Bruno chuckled. “Whatever floats your boat, cowboy.”
“I believe the official term iswrangler,” Natasha threw into the conversation.
Jack touched his hat. “The lady is correct.”
“Oh ho ho, I stand corrected.” Bruno smiled between the two of them.
“I believe the term is Ho Ho Ho,” Jack teased.
Bruno smirked before contemplating Natasha’s face. “Miss Elf, you are ready to knock their socks off.”
Natasha hopped out of the chair. “I’d ratherput onthree more layers of socks. It’s not like this outfit is all that warm.”
Jack jumped up to open the door for her and followed her outside, shutting the door behind him.
Natasha stared at him for a moment, her heart picking up speed. Had he just waited for her? That was sweet. Also, there wasn’t any mistletoe around. “Do you really believe in Santa Claus?” she blurted in an attempt to find something to talk about that didn’t include shoving him against the trailer, grabbing his coat in her hands, and seeing if he was as good in real life as he was in her dreams.
“One hundred percent. And I’m going to convince that little girl that Santa is the real deal.” He pointed off into the distance.
“Why do you care if she believes in Santa Claus?”
He turned his intense focus on her. Man! It was hard to concentrate when he was close enough to smell pine trees on his skin. Also, where was he getting this pine tree scent because the only trees she’d seen were the fake ones on set?
“Because she’s a child. The magic of Christmas should sing in her soul.” He placed a closed fist over his heart as if he could hear the music now.
“Wow. That was pretty poetic for a wrangler,” she teased.
