Jingle Spells

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  Either way, in the end, Belle was left with nothing. Well, not nothing. She still had a job to do. They needed a Santa, and Nick needed to make a choice.

  Nick turned in her direction and noticed her watching him. He waved, and all the elves at the table turned and waved, too. Despite the pain of losing Nick, Belle knew she had to smile and wave back. She didn’t want her feelings on the situation to influence Nick’s decision. This was his life on the line, not hers, even if it felt that way at the moment.

  Nick said a few things to the elves, and then stood up from the table with his lunch tray. He weaved through the tiny tables to where she was standing. “Afternoon, Belle.”

  “Hi, Nick.”

  “I was thinking about you when the glockenspiel chimed ten this morning.”

  Belle couldn’t help the blush that instantly colored her cheeks. “Shh…” she whispered. “No one knows about all that.”

  “We’re in a crowded, loud room. Who’s going to hear us?”

  “Elves, Nick. Those big ears aren’t just for show. If you’re done eating, dump your tray, and we can go somewhere more private to talk.”

  They went out into the hallway, and Belle gestured for him to follow her to the nearby Cranberry conference room. She shut and locked the door behind them. Nick immediately rounded the large meeting table and walked to the wall of windows that looked out over Gingerbread. “It’s hard to look at this town and see things the same way I did three days ago. I drove by this building every day and never imagined there was a toy production facility run by elves fifty feet below my tires. And do you know how many times I’ve gone hiking or mountain biking on Mistletoe Mountain? And to think there’s an entire wizard village up there, and I never knew it.”

  Belle sat at the edge of the table and crossed her arms over her chest. “You weren’t supposed to know. Not everyone is allowed to see.”

  “That’s a shame,” he said, turning from the window to face her. “Most people could use a little more wonder and magick in their lives. Adults, especially. They lose the childhood wonder too soon.”

  “We do what we can,” Belle explained, “but most adults have lost their ability to believe.”

  Nick nodded and took a few steps closer to her. “Despite all the wonderful things I’ve seen and learned, I’ve still missed you these last few days.”

  Belle straightened up a bit, stiffening at his approach. She had wanted to keep this discussion professional. “I’ve been here the whole time.”

  He leaned into her, pressing his palms into the hardwood table. Nick loomed over her with his large frame, forcing her to lean backward or find herself in a compromising position on the conference table. If she caught one of her employees like this, they’d find themselves in her office getting a reprimand.

  “It’s not the same,” he said, his dark eyes focused on her lips while he spoke. “I’ve been able to touch you, taste you, nearly every day for months. Then all of a sudden, everything changed.”

  His voice was low, his words like a verbal caress. Belle was too close to Nick not to respond to him. The warm scent of his cologne teased at her senses and took her back to his house. To the smell of him on the pillowcases. It made her want to inhale deeply and keep that part of him with her when she lost the rest. An ache of need gnawed at her center, forcing her to clamp her thighs tightly together. A lot of things may have changed in the last few days, but her body hadn’t gotten the memo.

  Nick frowned at her silent rebuff of his advances. “What’s the matter, Belle? Have I lost my appeal now that I’m not the unsuitable boy from the wrong family? Is the thrill gone if I’m a part of your world permanently?”

  She had thought that once. The thrill of seeing Nick had to be because of the secret, forbidden nature of it. Belle swallowed hard, and his eyes focused on the movement of her throat. Her breath was rapid and quick, moving in time with the desperate beating of her heart.

  She was wrong. Nick knew all her secrets, had nearly become an integral part of Evergreen operations, and she wanted him more than ever.

  Nick leaned in closer, his lips a whisper away from her own. Any movement would bring them together, and Belle knew that if she kissed him, she wouldn’t be able to stop.

  “I’m sorry, Nick.”

  “For wha—?”

  Before he could finish his question, Belle vanished and reappeared on the other side of the room. Nick stared at the empty table in front of him for a moment, not quite sure what to think.

  “For that,” she said.

  Nick jerked to face her direction. She expected him to be angry, but his lips twisted with amusement. His dark eyes watched her with appreciation, although he didn’t approach her again. “You know, our affair could be that much more interesting for all the new tricks you could bring to the bedroom.”

  “Nick…” Belle began, not quite sure what to say to him. I can’t date you if you’re Santa seemed silly.

  He didn’t wait for the words. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance. “So if you didn’t come to see me for a jolt of caffeine, what do you want, Belle?”

  “I need you to make your choice.”

  “You said I had time.”

  “I said that two days ago, Nick. It’s December 21. You have to choose. The suit or the cocoa.”

  “That depends,” he said. “You said the cocoa would make me forget you.”

  Belle was afraid he would focus on that. “And everything else you’ve seen and heard while you were here,” she reminded him.

  “So if I go home, I won’t remember anything I’ve seen, and you and I are done.”

  She nodded.

  “And if I stay?”

  “You and I are still done,” she said, as much as the words pained her.

  “Why? Is there some sort of conflict of interest? Are we forbidden to be together if I’m Santa Claus?”

  “No.”

  “Okay. I know it’s not a human-witch thing. I’ve seen two of your brothers roaming around the building with human women. So what is the problem? Will my hair turn white and my belly get flabby the instant I put on the suit?”

  “You’ll age normally. Your appearance will be a direct result of your lifestyle like anyone else.”

  He ran his fingers through his dark hair in irritation and considered her words before he spoke again. “So I was right before. You were just using me as an escape from your world. Now that I’m a part of it, you don’t want me.”

  “That’s not true.”

  His dark gaze pinned her in place, his voice low. “Then you do want me.”

  A shiver of desire ran down her spine at the deep rumble of his words. She did want him. But that didn’t matter. “It’s complicated, Nick. Once you become Santa, things will change. I would be the village outcast if people found out that we were having an affair.”

  “What if we were dating?”

  Belle narrowed her gaze at him. “You’re splitting hairs.”

  “No, I’m not. Meeting up for sex once a day in secret isn’t dating. Dating involves dinner. Talking to one another and getting to know each other.”

  “To what end?”

  Frustrated, Nick threw up his hands and turned his back to her. “What, Belle?” He spun back and took a few large steps toward her. “Do you think that if we really date and people know about us that we’ll end up married? Is the idea of being Mrs. Claus so terrifying that you won’t even consider it?”

  “Being Mrs. Claus is different than just being Mrs. Nick St. John. It’s not what I’ve pictured for my life.”

  “And you think being Santa Claus is what I pictured for my life? Come on, Belle. My whole world changed with a flick of your wand. Don’t you think I’m having a hard time adjusting to this new reality, too?”

 
Belle dipped her head and gazed at the berry-hued carpet. He was right. She wasn’t taking his feelings about this into consideration like she should. “You’re right. I’m sorry. But I don’t want your choice to be a reflection of whether or not we’re going to be together. Being Santa is a huge commitment. You can’t just change your mind and return to your normal life. What if we break up a year down the road? Then what? If you choose to be Santa, you need to want to be Santa in your heart, with or without me.”

  Nick’s brown eyes looked her from top to bottom as he processed her words. The heavy inspection brought heat to her cheeks and her belly. How would she survive life with Nick here, unable to touch him the way she craved?

  “Okay. I’ve made my decision. I will accept the job offer on one condition.”

  Belle’s breath caught in her throat. This was the moment. Yes or no, Christmas depended on his answer. “Yes?” she managed in a hoarse whisper.

  “You have to agree to go out to dinner with me tonight.”

  Dash offered to drive Nick back to his place that afternoon to pick up some of his things. After Christmas, they would worry about selling his house, moving all of his belongings up to the lodge, and dealing with his company.

  Nick called the members of his crew, gave them paid vacation through the New Year and had Ben close up the house they were working on. They were thrilled. It didn’t cross their minds that he wouldn’t be back. He was hoping to sell his company to one of the guys. That way everyone could keep working. “Are you going to miss construction?” Dash asked from the living room.

  “Not really. I was getting tired of it, but I’d worked too hard to quit.” Nick tossed handful after handful of clothes into the large duffel bag Dash gave him. No matter how much he put in there, the bag still had room for more. “What’s with this bag you gave me? It won’t fill up.”

  “Yeah,” Dash chuckled, coming down the hallway to peek into the bedroom. “It won’t. It’s the same kind of thing you’ll use at Christmas. How do you think we get toys for every child into one little bag?”

  It would take Nick a while to get used to having magick as a part of his daily life, but it certainly was handy. He moved faster, not being as discriminating about what he put in now. For his own amusement, he grabbed a lamp off the dresser and watched it disappear into the bag. “Amazing.”

  “What are you going to tell your family?”

  Honestly, he hadn’t given a lot of thought to it. “I’m not very close with my family. We don’t get together much. I think the snow globe knew what it was doing when it chose me. No one is going to miss me.”

  “No one? Were you dating anyone?”

  Nick eyed Dash to see if he was fishing for information about Belle, but he seemed genuinely curious. “No.”

  “Okay. That sucks for you, but it’s fewer loose ends for us to deal with. I’m sure you’ll find some attractive and willing witches interested in you before too long.”

  Nick tossed the last of his shoes into the bag and lifted it up. It was ten pounds at the most, and it had nearly all of his clothes, shoes, suits, belts and toiletries in it. And the lamp. “Speaking of willing witches, can I ask you something just between the two of us?”

  “Sure,” Dash said. “Shoot.”

  “It’s about your sister.”

  At that, a grin spread across Dash’s face. “Good luck with that, man. Belle is probably the least willing of them all.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My sister doesn’t date. She says it’s because Cole, Ethan and I chase all her suitors off. I think we just have high standards for our little sister. I haven’t seen her so much as flirt with anyone for months.”

  If nothing else, that made Nick feel good. They made no promises of exclusivity, but in that moment, the thought of her being with someone else while they were involved made him want to punch his fist through the drywall. “I asked her to dinner tonight. She said yes, but I feel a hesitation. Do you know why she’s so—” he searched his mind for the term at least one woman had flung at him in anger “—emotionally unavailable?”

  Dash reached out to pick up the duffel bag and gave Nick a pat on the back. “My sister is like a tiny drill sergeant. She’s a lot like our mother that way. She could probably run Evergreen single-handedly if she tried. But don’t let the suits and tight ponytails fool you. I think if you get to know her, you’ll find she’s a marshmallow on the inside. For a while, Ethan and I thought she might actually be in love and keeping the relationship a secret. We could never figure out who the lucky guy might be, but we might be wrong. You might stand a chance with her.”

  Dash’s words haunted Nick all the way to the lodge. There was a nervous excitement in his stomach as they made their way up the mountain. He couldn’t tell if it was because he was getting to see their home at the top of Mistletoe Mountain for the first time, or realizing that Belle might be harboring secret feelings for him.

  Both thoughts vanished from his head as they approached a dead end. The road ended at a sheer rock face that stretched up a hundred feet in front of them. Hikers typically pulled over and parked around here. But instead of slowing down, Dash turned to him with a wicked grin and slammed his foot on the gas. Nick clutched the armrest of the SUV and braced himself for the impact, but it never came.

  When he opened his eyes, they were in a dark tunnel that ran through the mountain itself. “You scared the crap out of me, man.”

  “I know,” Dash said with an evil laugh. “I love doing that to people.”

  Reaching the end of the tunnel, the road curved to the right and revealed a small cabin, similar in size to the bungalows he built in town. He expected Dash to drive past it to the lodge, but instead, he parked at the house.

  “Home sweet home,” Dash said, getting out of his SUV to unload Nick’s bag.

  “This is the lodge? Where all the Winter clan live? Are there more than three of you?” Nick had expected something massive and grand like a resort in Aspen.

  “The thing about magick is that you can’t always trust what you see.”

  Nick eyed the house with suspicion. It looked just as real as that wall of rock they drove through earlier. He followed Dash through the front door and froze dead in his tracks. He’d stepped into a small cabin, yet he found himself in a massive five-story open atrium. Dark wood beams arched across the ceiling, framing a stone fireplace that roared on the far wall. It was large enough that he could stand inside it without hitting his head. There were people everywhere, sitting at leather couches talking, having drinks in what looked like a lounge. It was incredible.

  “Now this is more like I was expecting. Although in my mind, it was made of gingerbread with candy cane beams and gumdrop roof tiles. How does all of this fit into a tiny little cabin?”

  Dash smiled. “Magick. Your room is on the third floor now, but that’s temporary. Santa’s suite is on the sixth floor with the other Evergreen suites. We’ve got to track down Kris and ship the rest of his things to him before we can move you there.”

  Nick followed him to the elevators and down the hallway to his room. His badge from Evergreen opened the door, and Dash sat his bag just inside the doorway.

  “There’s a red button on the phone. If you need anything, press it, and the front desk will help you out. I’m sure Belle will be by shortly to continue your orientation.”

  Nick noticed a thick notebook sitting on the kitchen counter with a yellow note that said “Read this” stuck to it. “I think she’s already left me my homework.”

  “Good. Read up. Tomorrow we’re going to do some work with the reindeer and check out your skills driving a sleigh.”

  What skills? Until that moment, Nick hadn’t really, truly, considered that he would be flying the sleigh. Being Santa was still a nebulous concept to him, but reality got clearer with every day. F
lying. He hated airplanes, but wouldn’t admit that to Dash. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be turbulence. “Thanks, Dash. I’ll see you later.”

  “Good luck with dinner tonight,” Dash added, his voice heavy with doubt, before slipping out the door.

  Left alone, Nick roamed through the two-bedroom apartment. It was nice. Well furnished. It had a massive plasma television mounted on the wall, so he couldn’t complain about that. He walked to the sliding glass door that opened to a small balcony. From there, he had a view of the entire Winter clan settlement. In the distance, he could see the chimney smoke and rooftops of the elf village. Several small buildings and businesses lined the tiny streets with wizard-owned shops and specialty stores. Elves and witches mingled in the streets below. In a clearing to the right, there were reindeer grazing on fresh hay. They were a lot bigger than he imagined, even from a distance.

  It was amazing. He wanted to blink his eyes and make sure it was real. But it was. And now it was home. He had signed on the dotted line and was officially Saint Nick now.

  But his agreement came with a price, and he intended to hold Belle to her end of the bargain. Tonight they were going to the Crystal Snowflake for dinner. It was the nicest restaurant in Gingerbread and the place to go for a romantic evening. He hoped it would be just the thing to melt Belle’s resolve. If Dash was right, and she was hiding her feelings for Nick, she might warm up to the idea of seeing him again. He’d never taken a woman there before, but if he was only going to get one date with Belle, it was going to be a good one.

  Fifty-Four Hours until Takeoff

  Belle was falling fast and hard.

  She’d agreed to this dinner because it was a small price to pay to have a Santa for Christmas this year. But she would be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that at least a small part of her wanted to go on the date with Nick. Belle just hoped she would be strong enough to resist him while she did what had to be done.