The Billionaire’s Christmas Miracle: The Billionaires’ Christmas Gifts Romance

by Hale, Chelsea

  She reminded herself that those who always won could be stubborn when they were playing to win. But he wasn’t going to win, not on this. “I’ll let my realtor know that all offers currently on the table are unacceptable.”

  The look in his eyes changed. “You’re making a mistake.”

  She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. She knew what she was doing. “I’m not. I’m going to auction it off at the Forest Festival.” The words spilled out and sounded ridiculous.

  “You won’t get the kind of offer on it that you already have,” he said.

  She wanted to admit that he was probably right, but that was beside the point. “It doesn’t matter. What I need is trust. And honesty. And both of those things can’t be bought off like it’s no big deal.”

  It was a long moment between them. Sounds of the volunteers on the other side of the wall from them finally hit Hailey’s ears through the blood that had been pounding in her ears. She needed the broom back, only to see that it had been gently set on the floor by Troy long before now. His eyes bored into hers, willing her to take back what she’d just said, but she couldn’t. She started walking toward the door. The hallway was too full of emotion, too full of Troy. Her hand was on the door, about to push through it, when he finally spoke.

  “Wait,” he said.

  She turned back to him, her hand still on the metal bar to let her through the door.

  He exhaled. “I’m sorry,” he said. “For everything.”

  She nodded, knowing if she spoke it would be not come out coherently or steadily.

  He ran a hand through his hair. The hair that she’d once loved to run her hands through. She shook the thought away, knowing that she would never touch his hair again. “So, I’m guessing you’d prefer it if I don’t play Santa this week.”

  Her eyes widened, but then she nodded. He’d heard the speech she’d given at the beginning about what that position had meant to her. At least it sounded like he’d internalized it. Her voice came out hoarse. “I suppose that would be best.”

  He nodded, his shoulders slumping, a defeated look on his face. “If you can’t find someone before tomorrow, I will still do it. I don’t want to let you down … more … than I already have.”

  “I have two other Santas I can call before I resort to asking my ex,” she said, the words were spoken before she could recall them back. She could feel their stinging even as they left her mouth.

  He winced. “I wish our time together didn’t end this way.”

  Wishing wouldn’t change things. He could have actually changed things. But his bet was more important to him. And he didn’t trust her enough to explain. The whole realization felt like a bad piece of fruit cake in her mouth she needed to spit out. “Me too,” she whispered, so quietly she wondered if he even heard her before she pushed through the door to see the progress on the trees being set up.

  The door shut loudly behind her, reverberating in her ears. She shot a text off to her realtor, explaining her change of plans for the house. She pocketed her phone and tried to lose herself in the idea of letting her last Forest Festival be amazing, regardless of her feelings about Troy.

  Chapter 21

  Troy stood alone in the hallway. All the oxygen seemed to be sucked out when Hailey left. He wanted to follow her. He wanted to explain, but he stopped himself. She’d already given him multiple chances to explain and he’d messed every single one of them up. He couldn’t do anything until he could explain the bet. He rolled his eyes. The stupid bet. He’d wanted to see her face when he presented her with the check for three million dollars to donate to the charity of his choice—correction, the charity of her choice. But that hadn’t been worth it. He was willing to spend half that for her aunt’s house for a half-baked crazy hairbrained idea that he’d had, that he’d wanted to talk over with her after the Forest Festival. Stupid timing. Stupid bet. Stupid him for choosing the timing and the bet over her.

  He cringed. He’d set things right—somehow. But first he had to follow through on his promises. At least the ones he could still keep.

  He called his realtor, then hers. He cancelled the deal, confirming multiple times that it wasn’t a prank, and that while his offer had been genuine, that Hailey had asked him to pull out so he was going to respect her wishes.

  She was making a mistake, he could feel it.

  He headed out to his car and texted Cara to meet him in his hotel lobby when she was done with the setup of the Forest Festival. He didn’t want to stress Hailey out by going back into the events center, when it was clear that he wasn’t wanted around. He was smart enough to at least know when to quit.

  * * *

  Troy looked up from his chair by the fireplace in the hotel lobby when Cara walked toward him. He smiled. A face that wasn’t angry with him right now. It was just about the best thing he could imagine at the moment.

  Cara took the seat that Hailey had occupied the last time they’d sat there together. He pushed the image of Hailey out of his mind.

  His assistant tilted her head. “Okay, tell me why my phone has been lighting up like a Christmas tree for the last hour while I was trying to finish decorating?”

  “Hello to you too,” he said, trying to keep things normal. He kept his voice low, though he doubted the couple snuggling on the far couch at the opposite end of the room was paying any attention to the business meeting he and Cara were having.

  She raised her eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

  “It was three text messages. Okay, four if you count the gif.” He really was pathetic.

  She shook her head. “I’m not talking about yours. Four is pretty light when I’m on a business trip away from the office.” She pulled her phone out of her purse, revealing the evidence on the screen. “Your realtor. Hailey’s realtor. Then there was Hailey calling, and then—”

  “Wait. Hailey called you?”

  “Twice.”

  He opened his mouth, not sure what to say. “Why does she have your number?”

  She waved a hand in front of his face. “Troy? Are you okay?” She arched an eyebrow at him but then continued, “You gave her my number, remember?”

  His brain felt muddled, before it cleared, settling on the information Cara had just given him. His eyes widened. “She called you to book my first Santa job?” he asked. This would also come to bite him. He’d never admitted to being the Santa she’d met before. He’d had some elaborate idea that kissing her as Santa under the mistletoe would be an excellent way to tell her, but now he was glad that she didn’t have that ammo of secrecy to hold over his head too.

  She tilted her head. “You’ve got two jobs in Seattle right before Christmas. She booked you for two days in a row.”

  His heart pounded. “My schedule was free for that?”

  Cara rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t have booked you if you’d been unavailable. Besides, I thought that you’d like an excuse to visit her anyway.” She waved a hand in the air dismissing the off-topic conversation. “She actually asked if you were available for this week too. I told her no, of course, since you’re doing the Forest Festival already, but I thought you’d like to know that she must be talking you up to a lot of people that she’s booking for her events.”

  His heart slammed against his chest. “Hailey wants to book Santa this week? For how long?”

  His assistant shrugged. “I didn’t get the details because you weren’t available. She did sound like she was in a panic though. Sounds like her Santa quit on her.”

  Troy nodded, but he needed to know for sure before he got his hopes up. Hailey had multiple events and parties booked every single night in December except for Christmas Day. She had assistants running all of them while she was away, but maybe she was calling Santa, er, him, for one of those events on the West Coast. “Call her back,” he said quickly.

  “You’re booked already,” she said slowly.

  “I want to know where she wants Santa, and if she’s already found someone.�
�� And he wanted to know if he was the first or second choice before she tried her ex who she’d deliberately not given the position of Santa too originally. Ugh. How low had he fallen in her esteem if she was willing to give her ex, the whole reason he’d gotten the Santa job in the first place as Troy, the role of Santa now? He only had himself to blame.

  Cara nodded. “I’m on it. What else can I do for you?” She didn’t make a move to call Hailey during their meeting. Normally he appreciated how well she stayed focused during their meetings, but today, he needed the information.

  He shook his head. “I want to listen in. Let her know that Santa wanted more details about the job. Once she gives you the answer, put her on mute, and tell me the details.”

  She smiled at him, and he could tell that she wanted to ask him what was really going on. Instead of asking questions, she found Hailey’s number in her recent calls list and tapped the screen.

  Troy drummed his fingers on the table as Cara began talking to Hailey.

  “Hello, Miss Waters?” his assistant confirmed. “This is Cara the Elf, from Santa’s Workshop.” She rolled her eyes when Troy smiled at her title.

  She paused, listening to Hailey, then Cara spoke again. “Santa just got back to the North Pole and was interested in learning more about the emergency that you’ve run into for this week and weekend. Can you tell me where you were hoping he could be?” She listened to the response, then made eye contact with Troy. “Oh, in upstate New York … close to the hotel you met Santa in.” She stared at Troy, but all he could do was cringe.

  Troy listened as Cara repeated some of the crucial details. His heart thudded loudly. He flexed his fingers, wishing he would have just been patched into the call so he could hear the whole thing first-hand.

  Cara nodded several more times, then shook her head, all the while she only said, “Hmm,” or “Mmm.” His assistant listened a lot longer, and then finally said, “I’m going to see if I can catch Santa before he … goes to check on the reindeer.” Cara ran a hand over the bridge of her nose. “Would you mind if I put you on hold for a quick minute while I see if I can talk to him?”

  She waited for confirmation and then pushed the mute button on her phone.

  Troy forced a smile. “Quick thinking on the reindeer comment,” he said.

  Cara didn’t look amused. “What’s going on?” She lowered her voice. “The realtors say the deal is off the table, and now Hailey is giving me this huge sob story about what happened between the two of you. I assume she’s making it up so that she can get some sympathy points with “Santa,” but still.”

  “Whatever she said is accurate.”

  His assistant’s eyes widened. “Don’t you even want to know what she said?”

  He shook his head.

  She waved a hand in the air. “Fine if it doesn’t matter. What matters is she needs a Santa, and she’s willing to pay a LOT for one, on such short notice if you’re available for the entire time. She can’t have multiple Santas around. She has to have the same one for continuity.”

  He hadn’t thought about that. “I did say that if she couldn’t find a Santa, that I’d fill in, as Troy.”

  “Yeah, well, hope that you don’t make that mistake right now, because after what I just heard, you’d better hope that she doesn’t discover that you’re Santa this week. So are you going to do it? Are you going to be the “Santa” she doesn’t know is actually you?”

  His heart rate sped up. He’d be around for the entirety of the Forest Festival, and she wouldn’t know it was him. She’d see him, but not see him. But if she found out, she’d be more livid, making the entire Festival worse for her. He didn’t want to hide behind the suit and the wig. He didn’t want to pretend around her. He wanted her to see that he’d been genuine the whole time. Protecting the secret of the bet wasn’t to hurt her, it was to help her. He could explain all of that next week. He cringed. Technically he couldn’t explain it until he got the call on Christmas Eve. “She has other options,” Troy said.

  Cara rolled her eyes. “Not after what I just heard. I mean, sure, send her into the arms of her ex. She hates him maybe slightly less than she hates you right now, so maybe they’ll be a good fit.” She huffed out the words.

  “You know what I mean,” Troy said.

  “Why did you even have me call her back? You knew that this was for this week. Why make her tell a complete stranger her story about it, and then not want to do it? You obviously care for her. Act like it.”

  “How?” Frustration rose inside him. “She doesn’t want to be around me.”

  “She won’t be around you, she’ll be around Santa. You want to fix this, so fix it.”

  “I can’t fix it as Santa,” he said. “I have to tell her it’s me. She has to know who she’s asking or everything will blow up in my face.”

  “When she finds out that the Santa she wanted so badly to play the part at the Forest Festival is actually the same person she just kicked out of the Forest Festival, she’s going to feel more betrayed, not less. So you’ll have to pick your battle. Make her more mad at you, or do your best to solve her current problem right now. You can tell her it was you after.”

  He huffed out a breath. “You’re right. I can’t tell her I’m Santa until I can talk to her as Troy, and get this whole thing cleared up.”

  “That’s logical in an irrational sort of way, but you don’t have a lot of time to fix this before Santa has to make a decision. You don’t have to let her ex play Santa. You know you really don’t want that.”

  He cringed. “You’re right. Tell her I’ll do the entire Forest Festival.”

  Cara beamed at him. “Finally you’re talking some sense.” She said something about a brooding billionaire under her breath, but before he could respond, she unmuted the phone and told Hailey the good news. She’d have the Santa she’d always wanted for the Forest Festival.

  His assistant took a few more minutes on the phone call, glanced up at Troy several times, and finally laughed, before saying goodbye to Hailey.

  “What?” Troy asked, wanting to be filled in on the rest of the conversation.

  “I’m surprised you let her go so easily. She sounds like a good match for you.”

  “I have to make things right before I can think about that,” Troy said cautiously. He’d thought they were a good match too, but if she flew off the handle at everything she didn’t know, maybe he’d have to regroup and think about it first.

  His assistant straightened in her chair. “How can I help?”

  He had to set things right. For starters, he needed to get out of the bet, completely. And he needed to figure out a really great apology gift for Hailey. “Place a call to Kyle Montgomery. Let him know that I’m bowing out of the bet.”

  His assistant’s eyes widened. “Surely a few more days—”

  Troy shook his head. “No. Tell him I’m out.”

  She cleared her throat. “And if he asks for a reason?”

  “Tell him I’m done playing by other people’s rules. I’ll donate how I want to. I won’t be stuck with arbitrary rules.”

  She nodded slowly. “Okay. Anything else I can do for you?”

  “Stay close to the Forest Festival tomorrow. Santa won’t have a lot of breaks, but I’ll need help this week if I’m going to figure things out. Keep me posted on what Kyle says.”

  * * *

  Troy walked into the Forest Festival, decked out in his Santa suit. He had his large sack slung over his back and shook the bells. It was still early in the day. The Festival didn’t officially open for three more hours, but he couldn’t wait any longer to come.

  Volunteers were setting up the ticket table. Finishing touches of wreaths and fresh holly were being hung. Christmas music filled the air. Troy recognized a few of the volunteers as people from local businesses that had made donations. “Ho, ho, ho,” he said, then turned to the man who ran the Tree Farm. “Thanks for coming, Lester. It means a lot to have your support.”


  The guy looked at him. “How do you know my name?”

  Troy realized his mistake, mentally berating himself. He thought quick on his feet. “I’m Santa Claus,” he laughed what he hoped sounded like a jolly laugh. “I know everything.”

  The man was obviously perplexed, looking around him. Troy was about to tell him who he really was when the man spotted his ID card that was strung around his neck with a lanyard. The older gentleman laughed heartily. “For a moment there, I wondered if you were the real thing,” he said. “That was a good one.” He went back to hanging up the wreath.

  Troy blew out his breath slowly, careful not to inhale too quickly and catch white hair between his lips. That was a close one. Too close. He’d have to be more careful as Santa. He needed to ask people their names first. Or just not be so personable. He dismissed the thought almost as quickly as he thought it. It was in him to be personal—to make connections. That was what had drawn him to be the way he had been with the little girl in the hotel. And that had been the whole reason that Hailey had liked his version of Santa in the first place. Hailey would expect that. But he’d be more careful. He didn’t want to give himself away.

  A door pushed open from the Forest Festival room. “Santa?” Hailey came through the door. The same door she’d left through, leaving him in the deserted hallway last night.

  He stood in roughly the same spot as when he’d seen her last. He wanted to run to her, to apologize. To explain everything. He was done with the bet, but he wouldn’t tell her that over the phone. He needed to do it in person, when he was Troy. “Hailey,” he said, breathing out her name. Her scent was in the air.

  She came quickly toward him. “Hi Santa,” She beamed at him. She tilted her head. “How did you know my name?”

  The air rushed out of him. To her, he was only Santa right now. It wasn’t Troy that she was smiling at like she’d just gotten what she wanted for Christmas. He was currently Santa, the person who’d saved her Forest Festival after Troy had realized that playing Santa for her would add additional stress to her over the week. He couldn’t do that to her.