Wedding Bell Rock: Christmas of Love Collaboration

by Dawn Sullivan

  “What’s that?”

  “Penelope Harris.”

  I threw my head back and laughed, harder than I had in a long time. The idea of Noah pulling one over on his sister the way he was, coming out ahead on all ends, was hilarious. When Noah grasped the side of his dark red velvet pants and hitched them up, I asked, “So, what’s up with the Santa suit?”

  Shaking his head again, Noah glowered at me this time. “Same little sister. She has two weddings today. First one, the couple getting married works with children in a hospital near here, so I get to play jolly ole Saint Nick. We are handing out gifts at the reception to the kids.”

  “I take it you aren’t as happy about this one?”

  Noah shrugged. “It’s not that I mind doing it, but I have a lot of things I need to get done here at the shop.”

  Which reminded me about the real reason I was there. “What did you find out about our bus?”

  “Your driver was right. It’s a fuel line. It’s going to be a few days before I can get one in. Sorry, man. I’m sure you want to get on your way.”

  “No problem.” And it wasn’t. Even though I’d originally wanted to go and hide in the city, I found myself looking forward to some downtime in the small town I was stranded in. I frowned, my gaze roaming around the building. “Do we need to get it out of here so you can work on something else?” There was only room for one more vehicle, and just barely.

  “Naw. I pulled it in to try to give you some time before everyone realizes we have someone famous in our midst.”

  Holding out my hand to Noah, I thanked him. He had no idea how much it meant to me that he would give me the reprieve he had.

  Saying my goodbyes, I left him to finish getting ready for the wedding reception. Making my way down the sidewalk, my gaze was on the scenery around me, and I missed the small tornado heading my way until she smacked into me. I grabbed her just before she fell to the ground, holding her by her upper arms, and it felt as if the whole world turned on its axis when our eyes met. Her beautiful golden-brown ones widened in shock, then seemed to go even wider as recognition filled them.

  Her lips parted, her mouth opening slightly in surprise, as she breathed, “Xander Scott.” My gaze went to those lush, light pink lips. The bottom one was slightly fuller than the top, and I found myself wanting to lean in and taste them to see if they were as soft as they look.

  “Alex,” I said quietly, raising a hand to slide a wayward piece of honey blonde hair back from her face.

  Her face clouded over in confusion, and then a small smile tilted up the corners of that captivating mouth. “Alex.”

  I let my gaze wander down her small body that had curves in all the right places, and I couldn’t hold back my laughter. The tiny tornado was dressed as an elf, and it didn’t take me long to put two and two together, realizing who she had to be. “Evie Chase, I take it?”

  Her cheeks blushed a pretty pink, and she ducked her head shyly before meeting my gaze again. “Everly, but you can call me Evie or Ev.” She tilted her head to the side, her eyes narrowing on me. “How did you know who I was?”

  “I just left your brother at his shop, dressed up like Santa. He said you were handing out presents to children today, so it would only make sense that you were an elf.”

  “True,” she said softly, her eyes leaving mine to look toward her brother’s shop a couple of blocks away, before coming back to me. “So, what are you doing in Santa Claus, Indiana, Xander…” she paused, “I mean Alex?”

  I trailed my fingers lightly down her cheek before taking a step back. “Right now? Trying to figure out a way to ask the cutest little elf I’ve ever seen out to dinner.”

  Everly’s cheeks darkened even more as she said, “I have to work.”

  I nodded, my gaze once again raking over her body. “Well, seems like I am going to be around for a while, so we have time.”

  Everly’s lips turned up into a wide, beautiful smile, her eyes bright with excitement, as she whispered, “Yes, we do.”

  Then, she turned and was off, the bells on her elf shoes jingling loudly. I chuckled as I watched her go, only realizing once she was out of sight that I had forgotten to ask her how I would find her later. There was no way in hell I was giving up the chance to take that little elf out on a date, so I turned and headed back to Noah’s shop, ready to do whatever it took to get her number.

  The second I entered the shop and saw Noah leaning over the car in his dark red pants, an idea sprang to mind. “Hey, Noah!” He looked over at me, his eyebrows raised. “You think that Santa suit would fit me?”

  4

  Everly

  “Noah Chase, you better be on your way. It’s almost time to hand out the gifts.” I hung up the phone, frustrated that my brother was running late. I knew he was busy running his business, but he promised me he’d be a part of this wedding reception months ago. I even penciled it in on his calendar in the garage office.

  I was just about to call him again when I saw Santa walking through the door. “Thank God.” The wedding would be ending any minute and the guests would start filling the hall. Matt and Loraine requested that their patients each leave with a Christmas gift and Santa pictures. It was the most unique request I’d ever gotten from a couple, but I absolutely loved it.

  The reception hall looked like the North Pole, complete with a gingerbread house groom’s cake and a winter wonderland mountain of snow-white frosting on the bride’s cake. It was perfect for the couple and completely spoke of who they were and how they met.

  “You’re late, jerk face. What took so long?” I called out when he was halfway to me. Dani, the photographer, laughed and snapped a picture of me sticking my tongue out at him.

  He seemed taller from across the room, but I figured the boots were probably adding to his height. Plus, I was on a platform, so it was probably a trick of my mind. I’d been having a lot of those today, because not only did I run into Xander freaking Scott on the sidewalk in town, but he flirted with me!

  The man I’ve been drooling over for years was flirting with me in my town. It was too crazy to wrap my head around.

  “Sorry, I had some shopping to do, and I got turned around.” My head shot up at the sound of Santa’s voice. It was a low baritone and smooth… and it didn’t belong to my brother. When I met his smiling green eyes, I knew exactly who was hidden under that long white beard and red velvet suit.

  Don’t fangirl. Don’t fangirl, I chanted internally, trying not to make a complete fool of myself again. A little heads up from Noah would have been great, but he bailed and sent a rock star in his place—a rock star he knew I had a huge crush on.

  “Ummm, hi,” I said, both confused and flustered. I had no idea why he was here dressed as Santa, or what possessed him to switch places with my brother. I was going to make Noah pay for this.

  “You got turned around?” Dani asked, confused as to why Noah would be lost in a town where we lived our whole lives.

  “Yeah, I’m not from here.” He turned toward Dani and gave her a smile beneath the thick white beard. “I owed Noah a favor, and he called in his chip, sending me instead. I’m Alex.” She took his offered hand while I stood there in shock, not really sure what to do.

  “Excuse us for a moment, Dani.” I grabbed his gloved hand and pulled him to the alcove where the Christmas tree was set up. When we were face to face, I had no clue what to say. My tongue didn’t work anymore, and my pulse was racing as butterflies danced in my stomach.

  “I hope you don’t mind me stepping in,” he said, seeming a little unsure of himself. It took me by surprise that he didn’t act cocky and confident all the time. I’d seen him doing interviews on television, and he didn’t come off as shy, but I guess you never really know people. He was a private person and didn’t ever talk about his family. He focused on his music or the charity work he did with foster kids. Xander Scott came off like a down-to-earth guy, which was one of the reasons I loved him as an artist. It didn’t seem
like the fame had inflated his ego.

  “I don’t mind. I am curious as to why, though?” Why would he want to be part of a wedding reception, dressed as Santa?

  “When I caught you on the sidewalk, I told you we had time.” He gave me a crooked grin. “No time like the present. Plus, I’m here with nothing to do and can be anonymous in this outfit, so why not?”

  “Hey, you two,” Dani called out, raising her camera. “You’re under the mistletoe.”

  I looked up quickly. Fuck. I forgot I placed it there. What if he thought I pulled him over to this spot on purpose? I felt my face heat up.

  “It’s tradition,” Dani said, laughing. I was going to kill her later.

  “It’s tradition.” Alex grinned, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me against his pillow-stuffed midsection. He tugged the beard down before settling his mouth lightly on mine. It was over quickly, but that small meeting of our lips sent desire and need straight to my core. When my eyes opened and our gazes locked, I saw a hunger in his eyes that took me by surprise.

  “Got it,” Dani called out, breaking the spell that I seemed to be under, and I reluctantly pulled out of Alex’s arms.

  “Let’s get ready,” I murmured. “The wedding should be over, so guests will be arriving any second.”

  Alex replaced the white beard, but a promise still burned in his eyes. “We’ll finish this later.”

  I shook my head and smiled. It was nothing, but it felt so much like something and my heart ached for more. But he was Xander Scott, famous rock star and singer for Rebellious Dynasty. This was a small town and not anything like what he was used to. I wasn’t a size zero supermodel like the ones he’d taken to award ceremonies or was speculated to be dating. My small town in Indiana was home, and I wasn’t sure I could see myself going to a bigger city. I loved this town. I loved Christmas. My family and my business were here. It was pointless to hope for more with him, but I felt myself sliding down a slippery slope toward inevitable heartbreak.

  Alex was a great Santa. As each of the kids came up to talk to him and take a picture, he treated them like they were the most important thing in his life. The reception was in full swing; kids were playing with the toys we passed out while they talked with Santa, and everyone was having a good time.

  The happy couple were grinning from ear to ear as they mingled with their guests and stopped to play with the children while they went about the room. When they finally made their way over to me, Loraine embraced me in a big hug.

  “Thank you so much for doing this for us—for them.”

  “You’re welcome. Thank you for trusting me with your wedding and the reception.”

  Matt sent me a thankful smile over her shoulder.

  “Are you sure we can’t do anything to pay you back for all of this?”

  I looked away from her, embarrassed because I knew that Xander was watching and listening.

  “No. It was truly my pleasure. I didn’t do much, anyway.” I shrugged. The set up was borrowed from the school’s decorations from their annual Christmas play. The presents were donations I collected. Most of it was just a matter of time, which I was happy to donate.

  “We appreciate it, Evie. The kids mean the world to us, and we really wanted them to be involved in the celebration.”

  “You’re welcome.” I smiled and gave her another quick hug. “Congratulations to you both. I won’t be here when you leave for your honeymoon, but everything is arranged and ready to go for you.”

  “You’re amazing.” When Loraine said her goodbyes and left to interact with her guests, I looked at my watch, noting that time was going by fast. I had another wedding to go to in a little over an hour and was going to have to wind things up on my end soon.

  “That was nice of you,” Alex said after she left.

  “It’s no big deal.” I shrugged it off. “They are good people, and I liked the fact that they were including the kids.”

  “It is a big deal to them.” Alex nodded toward the happy couple. Suddenly, his phone rang, and he fished it out of his pocket.

  “Yeah?” I signaled to the next child that we would be just a moment. “Aww, perfect. Give me a minute.” He hung up the phone and leaned over. “Can we take a small break?”

  Confused, I looked around. “Yeah, sure. I guess so. Everything okay?”

  “Yes.” He smiled. “Come with me.” Taking my hand, he pulled me toward the front doors. When I walked outside, I was surprised to find my brother standing next to his truck, that was loaded down with several children’s bikes. A man I’d never seen before was leaning against the truck next to him.

  “Noah?” I was shocked to see my brother at the wedding, since he didn’t show up to play Santa.

  “Hey, Sis. I’ve got a special delivery.”

  “Where did these come from?” I had a suspicion, and it was confirmed when Noah hitched his chin at Alex.

  Smiling at him, I felt a rush of gratitude for the man and his generosity toward the children. “Thank you, Alex. They will love it.”

  We helped unload the truck and took all the bikes inside to surprise everyone. I’m sure Alex cleared out every store within three towns to get that many bikes, but it was so worth it to see all the smiles on the kids’ faces.

  Turning to Alex, I gave him a smile. “So, you ready to take off the Santa suit?”

  5

  Xander

  “That’s a loaded question,” I teased, grinning when Everly’s cheeks flushed a pretty pink. I loved it when they did that. The woman was beautiful, and those lips had been just as soft as I thought they would be when I kissed her earlier. I wanted nothing more than to close the distance between us and do it again, but decided that might not be the best idea when I noticed her brother seemed to be watching us closely.

  “The party is winding down, and I need to get to my next wedding.” Everly ducked her head, then met my gaze again. “Thank you for everything, Alex. You were wonderful with the children. I really appreciate it.”

  Disappointment flooded me at the thought of her leaving, but I shrugged it off. As much as I wanted to spend time with her, she had a job to do. I couldn’t interfere with that. “What about tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “I’d love to spend the day with you, unless you have plans?”

  “Like, on a date?” When I chuckled softly, she bit her lip, then nodded slowly. “No. Sure. I mean… I don’t have plans and I would like that.”

  “Meet me for lunch at that diner with the huge Snowman out front around noon?”

  “Noon at the diner.” Everly nodded, taking a step back from me. “I’ll be there.”

  I glanced around, smiling with satisfaction when I noticed Noah had gone back inside, leaving me alone with his sister. Before she could move farther away, I stepped forward and cupped her chin in my hand. Tilting her head up slightly, I placed my lips on hers. Taking it a little further than before, I tentatively licked at her fuller bottom lip, groaning at the sweet taste that was all her.

  When Everly’s mouth opened in surprise, I slipped inside, past those addictive lips, finding her tongue with my own. Her hands came up to clutch at the velvet material of the Santa suit, and she leaned into me, a low moan escaping.

  “Mama, why is Santa kissing the elf?”

  Everly pulled back with a gasp, her hand going to her mouth, hiding her luscious lips from sight.

  “Come on, Aria. It’s time to go home.”

  “But, what about Mrs. Claus?”

  “Oh my God,” Everly whispered, closing her eyes and bowing her head in shame. “I think we traumatized that poor child.”

  “That’s just one of Santa’s helpers,” the mother explained, their voices leading away from us. “The real Santa is at the North Pole getting all of your presents ready for Christmas.”

  “She’ll be fine,” I said gruffly, sliding my hand around to cradle the back of Everly’s head. “And Everly?”

  “Yes?”

&n
bsp; “Tomorrow is definitely a date.”

  Her eyes rounded, that pretty golden-brown hue pulling me in. Lowering my head, I gave her a short, quick kiss. “See you at noon.”

  Letting her go, I turned and walked back toward the venue.

  “Wait! Where are you going?”

  Glancing back, I winked at her. “Santa has some bikes to give away.”

  Everly was late. Only fifteen minutes, but late enough for me to question whether or not she was going to stand me up. Which reminded me that once again, I had failed to get her phone number.

  Shoving my hands deep into my pockets, I shivered at the cold wind that cut through my jacket. I would give her another ten minutes, then I was going to Noah’s shop. Hopefully, he would tell me how to get a hold of her.

  “I am so sorry, Alex!”

  I swung around to see Everly rushing toward me, her long blonde hair flowing out behind her, her eyes clouded with worry. She came to a stop beside me, out of breath as she gasped, “I woke up late.”

  I let my gaze rove over her, taking in the black leather jacket that was similar to mine, the jeans that hugged her curves in all the right places, and the ankle high black books. The woman was sexy as sin. Bringing my eyes back to meet hers, I gave her a small grin. “It’s okay. You were definitely worth the wait.”

  Everly giggled, sounding slightly unsure and nervous, as she reached up to shove a piece of wayward hair behind her ear. “You, too.”

  I frowned when I noticed the light bruising under her eyes, indicating a lack of sleep. Unable to stop myself, I brought my hand up and lightly ran the tips of my fingers over it. “Maybe I should let you get more rest, Ev. We can do this later.”

  “Oh, no!” She grabbed my hand, holding it as she shot me one of her beautiful smiles. “I’m already up and ready to go. Let’s eat, and then I have plans!”

  “Plans?” I was intrigued, not only by the woman herself but also by what she could find so exciting that it lit up her face the way it did.