She opened her mouth slightly, offended that he would question her memory.
Jack tickled under her chin. “Why did you follow Seth, anyway?”
She turned, lifting her tail:He promised me a good brushing and a bucket of oats.
Jack lifted one side of his mouth in a mischievous smile. “Your coat has a natural sheen, Sparkle. You don’t need brushing to bring it out.”
She ducked her head under his arm and rubbed against his side like a Persian cat:You’re so intelligent.
He dropped his arm around her and held her close to his side. As much of a pain as she could be and vain—she was so vain—he loved this little beauty.
Drake started laughing. “It’s good that Dunder didn’t get a hold of the guy. He would have been an antler kabob.”
Jack chuckled. “Why don’t you go check on him? I’ll hang out with Sparkle.”
Drake shifted his eyes to where Natasha stood, still wearing his coat. “You wanting to stay doesn’t have anything to do with that cute elf over there, does it?”
Jack cuffed his shoulder. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” He walked away, leading Sparkle to Natasha.
“Jack,” she said, relieved. “I’m so sorry about this. I promise I didn’t know Seth was—.”
He held up a hand to stop her apology. “I know you didn’t. I trust you, Nat.”
Her mouth formed an O. “Wait.Youtrustme?”
“Yeah.” He ran his hand through his hair. “You’re probably the only one on set I can trust right now.”
Natasha cupped both hands behind her neck and huffed. “Well, that’s an interesting twist from a cowboy Casanova.”
“Uh...?” A cowboy, what now? Jack stared at her. Is that what she thought of him?
Sparkle walked forward and nudged Natasha for a scratch behind the ears. Natasha turned all her attention to the reindeer and gave her a thorough scratch down. She started harder behind the ears, right at the perfect spot, and then came forward to her eyes, which she did soft circles around, and then finished with a tickled over her nose.
Sparkle sneezed, and Natasha laughed.
Jack watched them. They were quite the pair. Both beautiful. Both strong. Both were mysteries in different ways. He wished she’d answered his question—maybe it wasn’t the right time. They were standing in his front yard, but basically in public.
“We need Sparkle on set!” Will’s bullhorn sounded across the fields.
Jack rubbed his ear. “The North Pole now knows Sparkle is needed on set.”
Natasha smiled at him. “You and Santa—after your mom’s story, I’m thinking you’re all friends.” They began walking quickly—not wanting to hold up production.
Sparkle walked out front like she was on a leash, not a lead rope. She kept glancing back at him:Hurry up.
Jack ignored her diva attitude and talked to Natasha. “We are friends. I grew up playing with his daughters. If you think we’re a handful, you should meet them.”
Natasha shook her head. “I can’t tell if you’re serious or not.”
Jack lifted his shoulders, silently saying:I don’t know how to prove it to you.More often than not, he could tell people the truth about the Kringle family, and they wouldn’t believe him. Most of the time, he was okay with that; but he wanted Nat to believe him. Wanted it more than he dared admit.
Natasha unzipped his coat and handed it back. “Thank you for this.”
“You sure are cute as an elf,” he said.
She rolled her eyes. “If anyone back home sees this movie, I’ll never live it down.”
He laughed as she walked to her place on set. She had a natural grace about her that drew the eye. Jennifer was an idiot for putting Natasha in the background; she stole the show without even trying.
