Into Santa: A Secret Billionaire Christmas Romance

by Barnes, Becca

  I didn’t get to finish my thought. When I turned to head toward the elevators, I almost ran headlong into Annie’s Great Aunt Millicent. She enveloped me in a hug that was a haze of wintergreen Lifesavers and enough White Diamonds perfume to kill an ox.

  “Jennifer!” she bellowed. “It’s been so long. And what have we here?”

  She jabbed Nate with the edge of her pocketbook.

  “This is Nate. My, umm . . .” We hadn’t discussed any labels. I was at a loss when Nate interjected.

  “We’re dating.” He lifted his eyebrows in an unspoken question.

  “We’re dating.” Good heavens, was it possible for my cheeks to literally split in two from grinning so much?

  We had been one of the last to arrive, so there wasn’t much time before the ceremony. I dropped my bags off and went to help Annie get ready, leaving Nate to explore the main building, a converted quaint Southern mansion, by himself.

  The set-up was identical to their wedding--simple and elegant white wooden chairs on the beach. A magnolia leaf-covered circular arch framed a rough-hewn altar that Evan had carved out of cedar himself. The dry December seagrass rustled in the wind along the dunes behind us, and the salty turquoise sea stretched to infinity. It was, in a word, perfect. Again.

  There wasn’t a dry eye among the guests while Evan and Annie reaffirmed their vows. Even Nate, who hadn’t met either of them yet but knew their story through my telling of it, got choked up. The ceremony wrapped up right as the sun dipped into the horizon.

  Nate slipped his hand around my waist to steady me as we made our way to the white canopied tent set up further down the beach. I could smell the mouthwatering scent of whatever meat the caterer had managed to work out at the last minute. It took me a few minutes to find our seats, and when I lifted my place card, there was a note from Annie stuck underneath that read, “I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up to you somehow.”

  “Sorry for what?” asked Nate, reading over my shoulder at the same time that I glanced around the rest of the table.

  “For putting us at a nearly empty table, I guess.” And then I saw the place card directly next to mine. Oh, for the love of crap.

  Eight

  Crap, crap, crappity crap.

  I let out a beleaguered sigh. “She put us at an almost empty table along with--”

  “I was hoping we’d get the chance to really catch up.” Great Aunt Millicent shimmied up next to me. “I told my Annie, ‘put me next to that Jennifer friend of yours. None of those stick insect pals of yours who don’t have an ounce of fat to share amongst all of them.’”

  She paused long enough to whack me on the rear. “Glad to see you haven’t lost any fluff in your duff now that you have a boyfriend.”

  “As am I,” murmured Nate.

  I swatted his thigh, and he shot me a what? look.

  “Good birthing hips, that one,” Great Aunt Millicent added in the loudest whisper known to mankind.

  Oh, my gosh. I wanted to slaughter the woman on the spot. That, or melt into the floor. Instead, I grabbed a roll off the table and shoved a bite into my mouth before I said something I’d regret.

  I knew why Annie had put the woman next to me. She couldn’t trust her obnoxious, nosy aunt around anyone in her family because a yelling match was likely to begin. And she couldn’t seat the lady next to any of her other friends because they’d know Annie’s business inside and out by the end of the meal.

  As I already knew Annie’s business inside and out and possessed some magical ability to patiently tune Millicent out, I was the only option.

  I searched for Annie in the group, and I noticed she was surrounded by a flock of well-wishers. As she shook hand after hand, accepted congrats after congrats, she looked like she was about to keel over from exhaustion.

  I caught Annie’s eye and mouthed, “You owe me.”

  She blew a kiss in response, then her face contorted into a roar of a yawn.

  “Why don’t I sit next to Aunt Millicent?” Nate deftly switched our place cards and pulled out my chair to sit.

  I started to protest, but Millicent had brought out her phone and began flipping through pictures of Fluffles, her geriatric Pekingese. I’d heard every one of her dog stories five times. Nate helped her sit down and then started asking questions about the toothless little tyrant. He even managed to look riveted by her detailed description of Fluffles’ special dietary needs and exactly what the dog’s poop consistency would be if that diet wasn’t followed to the letter.

  As he kept up the conversation with Millicent—and miraculously even managed to steer the topic to something less nauseating than her canine’s bowels—his free hand drifted under the tablecloth until it found my knee.

  And then the sensitive skin just above my knee.

  The deejay switched from the upbeat jazz he’d been playing to some slower songs.

  Millicent kept droning on and on about her wait at the DMV to prove that her eyesight was still fine even though she technically couldn’t see the big letter E.

  And Nate’s palm brushed its way up my thigh, his long fingers curving their way under my skirt, his attention still seemingly elsewhere. But then he reached an especially delicious spot. His lip quirked up as I let out a tiny gasp and arched my pelvis involuntarily toward his hand, but he pulled it away just as the tip of his pinkie brushed against my most sensitive nerve endings.

  “Miss Millicent,” he said, “it’s been so nice talking to you, but I’d like to take Jen for a spin around the dance floor if that’s all right.”

  “Oh, of course,” she said.

  You could have picked my jaw up off the table. I’d never been able to pry myself out of a conversation with her in less than twenty minutes. All Nate had to do was flash her that dazzling smile, and she was putty in his hands.

  Before I had a chance to pout, though, he twirled me out of my seat and led me over to a quiet spot, a few yards away from the lights of the tent. We had kicked off our shoes, leaving them at the table, and settled our feet into the sun-warmed sand. Nate dug his heels in deep so we were closer to the same height. He wrapped his arms around my waist as I clasped my hands behind his neck, and we swayed to the beat, like we were two kids at a high school dance. My eyelids drifted closed, in a contented trance.

  The first song ended, but his hold on me didn’t loosen in the slightest.

  “There’s something I need to tell you.” He leaned forward and spoke in a hushed voice just above my ear.

  “Hmm?”

  “I like you,” he said. “A lot.”

  I pressed my face against his chest to hide how big I was smiling. Finally, I didn’t bother to conceal it. I looked up into his face, which held a grin as wide as mine.

  “I like you, too,” I couldn’t even keep the smile from shining through my voice. For crap’s sake, I was like a horny, hormonal teenager who melted just being near him. I really should stop—

  He dipped low to kiss me on the edge of my mouth, tentative and tempting. My lips parted, inviting him to a deeper connection. I twisted my fingers into the curls at the nape of his neck and pulled him closer.

  At some point, we had stopped our pathetic semblance of a dance. My body was more in tune with the cadence of Nate’s heartbeat than the rhythm of the song anyway. Every thump of my own heart held against his torso repeated the same thing. More...more...more. I tugged on his arm, leading him farther down the deserted beach, into the shadows behind a palm tree, far from the bonfire that the wedding guests had started gathering around.

  I shivered, more out of pleasure than chill, but Nate still shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders.

  I drew his body close against mine, bracing my back against the tree trunk. I couldn’t help but marvel at how well we fit together despite our difference in height.

  Nate grazed his thumb against my cheek, and I nipped at his lip. He chuckled as he slipped his hand around to the back of my head to protect it from the rough tre
e bark as he molded his lips to mine, beckoning me to join him as his tongue explored and claimed my mouth.

  I was struck by the sheer force of the attraction between us. I hadn’t felt this before with anyone. Ever.

  He teased his free hand along the lacy hem of my skirt. I strained against him, remembering the feel of those deft fingers from his earlier flirtation, and he grew hard beneath me.

  “You’re making it really difficult to be socially acceptable,” he murmured with a chuckle.

  “Prove it,” I said before taking another nip at him.

  “Oh, I intend to.” He grasped my butt with both hands, and I wrapped my leg around him, laughing.

  We got down to some good, old-fashioned necking. For a moment there, with the waves crashing in the background, mixed with the light strains of jazz that clung to the night breeze, I forgot where I was.

  Nate’s arms. That’s where I was. And it felt so perfectly right.

  Perfectly right, that was, until…

  “Ahem.” Someone coughed softly in the background.

  Busted.

  It was one of the waiters, holding a tray of drinks.

  I twisted away, blushing. Nate, on the other hand, simply turned his head to the side, completely nonplussed.

  “Sorry to, uhh, interrupt,” said the waiter, “but the toasts are about to begin.”

  “Thanks,” said Nate, and then just for me, he added, “I’ll finish with you later, ma’am.”

  He wrapped his arm around my waist and ushered me over to the waiter. We each took an offered glass of champagne and headed back to the tent where the small gathering had reassembled.

  “Thanks so much for coming, guys,” said Evan into the mic. “Annie and I have had quite a year.”

  A wave of laughter burst from the crowd.

  That was the understatement of the millennium.

  “Through the highs and the lows, the ups and the downs, the beginnings and the new beginnings, I couldn’t be more thankful to have this amazing woman by my side.” He lifted his glass, and she snuggled into the crook of his arm as she lifted her own glass.

  A glass that was full of water, I noticed.

  Huh.

  The crying jag over pork tenderloin.

  Her extreme exhaustion.

  And those boobs of hers were looking mighty perky, weren’t they?

  I caught my best friend’s eye and squinted at the glass then back at her, cocking my head to the side in an unspoken question.

  Was she…?

  She pursed her lips and dipped her head in a nod that only I would notice.

  I couldn’t help but bounce up and down on the balls of my feet.

  Squee!

  “What is it?” asked Nate.

  “I’ll tell you later,” I said.

  After pretty much everyone at the party had given their toasts—including me, although I didn’t trust myself to speak without spilling their secret, so all I could do was say, “I just really love you guys, that’s all,” at lightning speed—we all headed back toward the hotel.

  I could tell that Annie was about to pass out from sleepiness, so I ran interference with overbearing relatives while Evan scooted her off to bed.

  Nate actually did more than his fair share of schmoozing as well. He was a natural at it. You would think he was the type who was used to juggling boardrooms and black tie events, rather than just a regular guy who drove an old pickup truck. I guess that was one of the things that made him such a good Santa, the ability to respond to people as they were.

  After Annie and Evan had made a safe getaway and we’d extricated ourselves from all the conversations, Nate leaned over and wrapped his arm around me.

  “Want to head down to the shore before bed?” he asked.

  “Sure.”

  He got us a couple hot chocolates at the bar, grabbed a blanket to ward off the chilly night air, and we headed down to the beach.

  “I promise to behave myself a bit better than before,” he said.

  “I don’t.”

  He laughed and bundled the blanket around my shoulders. I snuggled up next to him as we walked down the path through the dunes to the edge of the tide where it touched the sand.

  We stopped and spread the blanket out across the beach, just out of reach of the waves. Nate sat down first and pulled me down between his legs to lean against him as we watched the glowing moon rise over the water. I couldn’t help but let out a wistful sigh. The night was perfect.

  Nate was perfect.

  And I was falling for him so hard and so fast that it made my brain feel like it was filling up with marshmallows.

  For the first time in months, I wasn’t preoccupied with worry about making rent, paying medical bills, finding a job.

  I was just...happy.

  A happy little elf.

  I chuckled.

  “What is it?” Asked Nate.

  “Nothing.” I sat up and rolled around to face him. “Have you ever wanted to bottle a moment? Not a life-changing, earth-shaking moment. But a simple one? Like, right now. If my life were a movie, I would want to hit pause.”

  “Well, if we’re going to pause the frame, then…” Nate pulled me onto his lap and kissed me, gently at first but building to a hungry edge. “How about this one?”

  “Mmm.”

  “Or…” He traced his thumb sensuously down my shoulder and arm, then along the underside of my breast, eliciting a tiny gasp from me. “This one?”

  I couldn’t trust my vocal chords as he dipped his mouth toward my chest, pushing the neckline of my dress out of the way. In the chilly evening air, my nipples drew taut through the wispy lace bra. A bra that wasn’t serving much purpose at the moment other than providing friction as his tongue flicked across its peak.

  “Or…” His hand drifted from my chest, over my abdomen, and down to—

  “Oh, sweet Saint Nick.” It was like every nerve fiber in my body lit up like a twinkling Christmas tree as he stroked and grazed. I writhed in indulgence under his touch.

  I attempted to shift my arm so I could return the pleasure, but he shook his head and chuckled as he murmured, “Nuh unh.”

  The heat of his breath against my exposed flesh set off a new ripple of thrilling sensations. Air rushed into my lungs as I strained against his hand and thigh, silently begging for more. Nate had apparently had enough lace barriers. He wrestled with the clasp at the front of my bra, and then growling, used his teeth, ripping the lace in the process.

  “Buy...new,” he mumbled as he swirled his silky tongue around each of my eager nipples.

  But I didn’t give an elf’s ass cheek about my bra or really anything other than the most potent waves of pleasure that I’d ever felt that were building inside me.

  I lifted his face to my own. I wanted to see him. And I wanted him to see me. The moonlight reflected in his eyes, making his irises a velvety purple, as a relaxed joy spread across each of our expressions. He continued his deep caresses, capable and commanding.

  As I crested over the edge, he drew his lips to mine and caught them into a kiss, right as I cried out.

  We pressed our foreheads together, and he gathered the edge of the blanket over us as one last shiver ran over me.

  “So that was, umm--” Words formed in my mind, but when I tried to form them...poof.

  “Yeah,” he said. “It was.”

  I quirked an eyebrow at him. As far as I could tell, I had received the oh-so-long end of that awesome-stick. There was no way he could tell how amazing I felt in that moment.

  I raked my nails down his chest, ready to share. But a dog barked down the beach, and a pair of flashlight beams sliced through the black sky, heading our direction.

  “Want to take this party inside?” I asked.

  “Mmm.” He nibbled at my ear, and I practically purred.

  We meandered back to the hotel holding hands. Again, I was struck by that feeling of fizzy happiness. We dropped the sandy blanket at the front desk. On t
he elevator ride up to my room, we couldn’t keep our hands off of each other. Stumbling down the hall giggling, I started to pull my key out when Nate spun me around and pressed me up against the door. He left a trail of kisses down my neck and chest and...

  We needed to get in that room. Fast.

  I blindly rubbed my key against the sensor, and the lock had just begun to whir when the door flew open on its own. I flew backward, tripping over the carpet and landed sprawled across the bed in the most unladylike spread eagle position imaginable.

  “Well, you’re certainly getting home late,” said the door-opener. Aunt Millicent had an inch-thick layer of cold cream and a sour expression on her face.

  “What are you doing in my room?” I practically yelled. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”

  Not to mention a seriously stubbed toe.

  “You’ll survive,” she said and wandered back to the bed from which she’d apparently just emerged.

  Wait a minute. My bed.

  “What are you doing here, Millicent?” I repeated.

  “A skunk sprayed outside my window. Obviously, I couldn’t stay in my room.”

  “You’re not answering my question. What are you doing in my room?”

  “Well, I clearly couldn’t go to Evan and Annie’s room.” She sounded scandalized at the thought. “They’re in the middle of their wedding night.”

  “Vow renewal,” I grumbled. And Annie was probably snoring like a freight train at this very moment.

  “So I went down to the front desk,” said Millicent, “and demanded that they give me another room. But they’re all filled up. So I told them to just let me stay in your room since we’re practically family and we checked in together.”

  “We didn’t check in together. We checked in around the same time.”

  “They said they’d clear it with you.”

  Sure enough, when I pulled my silenced phone out, I saw fifteen texts from the hotel manager, each growing more and more desperate. I could only imagine the scene Millicent had caused in the lobby.

  “Besides,” she added, “I’m eighty-three years old. They couldn’t very well let me wander the halls at all hours. With it being so late, I can only assume that your gentleman friend here was giving you a chaste goodnight kiss at the doorway.”