“I’m just getting ready to go to work,” he said as he approached slowly and held out the coffee.
She eyed it as if it were poison. Sheesh. His first attempt at giving a woman coffee was an epic fail. Sure, it was mall coffee, but it still had caffeine in it.
“You work here?”
She still didn’t take the offered cup, so Tanner set it down on the bench next to her before heading over to his assigned locker and reaching in for the costume. When he pulled out the Santa suit, her eyes widened.
“You’re Santa?” she gasped.
“Yep, been working with you all week,” he replied, and he began stripping down to his boxers and tank top before piling the padding on.
“I…uh…didn’t know,” she said as she stood up stiffly. Tanner couldn’t fail to notice her shooting him what she thought was a covert glance. She didn’t look to be too horrified by what she saw, either.
He knew he was a bit arrogant about his looks. Yes, the basic looks might have been the gift of good genes, but the body was something he worked hard for. He ran regularly, at minimum five days a week, and he lifted weights at the gym as often as his schedule allowed.
“Like what you see?” he asked with his field-tested seductive smile.
She pressed her lips together into a grim slash as she took him in, starting with the bottom of his feet, thick socks covering his ridiculous ankle device, and then moving her eyes slowly upward, pausing pointedly on the padding he’d just placed around his middle. Her only reply was an unimpressed raised eyebrow.
“Hey, you’re the one who said you had a Santa fetish,” he reminded her with a wink.
“I also said that it wasn’t going to happen with you,” she replied.
“That was before you knew it was me.”
“Oh, and I should be wowed because I met you for two minutes the other day?”
“Well…yeah,” he said, pulling up the large Santa pants.
She laughed. Actually laughed at him.
Tanner didn’t know how to handle that reaction.
“You are quite sure of yourself, Tanner.” Kyla walked into the small bathroom, he assumed to change. Too bad she wanted to hide. He wouldn’t mind seeing her without much on — he’d prefer nothing at all, actually.
When she returned, he gave her an appreciative look, which she ignored. She eyed the coffee as if she really wanted it but was unwilling to take the chance the contents might be poisoned. So he blew out a breath of frustration, walked over and picked up the cup. Pulling off the lid while looking straight at her, he took a gulp before putting the lid back on and holding the coffee out to her. “See, it’s not poisoned.”
“OK, then,” she said. She accepted the cup and took a long swallow, sighing. “Mmm, you obviously pay attention.”
Yes, Tanner was very observant. He’d listened as the elves all spoke before they went on coffee runs. He knew she liked extra caramel in her coffee.
“I always pay attention to what a woman wants,” he said, using his best come-hither voice. She sauntered toward him with wantonly flared nostrils, parted lips and drooping eyelids, and Tanner was about to start doing backflips.
When she ran a finger up his padding, Tanner cursed the layers between them. “Good. I like a man who listens,” she purred, and leaned closer. He also leaned forward, getting ready to connect their lips.
The flat of her hand slammed against his chest.
He looked at her and waited. Huh?
“Not gonna happen.” With that, she turned and sashayed from the room. He was sure the added wiggle in her hips was just for him.
Instead of being angry, he allowed a huge grin to spread across his lips. She was obviously playing hard to get. But if she wanted to be chased, he could certainly accommodate her.
With a whistle springing from his lips, he followed her out the door. He didn’t even mind that he was about to be accosted by smelly kids. His eyes would be glued to her sweet ass the rest of the day.
Well, maybe that wasn’t the best idea while holding kids on his lap. He’d save the looking for breaks.
*****
When the day was coming to a close, a small boy climbed onto Tanner’s lap. He had only this last kid to appease and then he could go home. Let’s do this, he said silently with what little sarcasm he had left after a full day of every sarcastic comment he could think of running through his brain.
“What do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?” Tanner asked with a half-assed attempt at a Santa chuckle.
The boy peered up with wide eyes and a trembling lip.
Great. Just great.
“Come on, kid. How is Santa going to know what you want if you don’t tell him?”
The boy whispered something beneath his breath that Tanner couldn’t hear. He leaned down. “What’s your name?”
“Billy,” he whispered.
“Well, Billy, what is it that Santa can bring you this year?”
“I don’t want any toys,” he said as a tear slid down his cheek.
Tanner’s stomach tightened as he looked at the grief on this child’s face. He didn’t understand why he cared. The kid was obviously just having a bad day. Where in the hell were his parents? He looked out and couldn’t see anyone likely.
“Of course you want some toys. Don’t all good little boys want toys?”
“I haven’t been a good boy,” he whispered, a sob coming up from deep down inside.
“How old are you, Billy?” Tanner asked.
“Five.”
“Well, don’t you want a set of Legos or maybe a Transformer?” Tanner hoped to speed this along.
“No.”
“Maybe a racetrack and some cars?”
“I just want my mommy and daddy back,” Billy choked out.
“What?” Tanner was stopped cold.
“They went to heaven, my grandma said, but I don’t want them to be in heaven. I promised my grandma I would be a good boy, that I wouldn’t chase Mary around the playground with my fake snake again. I promised to eat my vegetables. Grandma said it wasn’t my fault, but it has to be my fault. I just want them to come back home. I miss my mommy and daddy.”
The devastated eyes of this small child left Tanner speechless. How was he supposed to respond to that? What could he possibly say to ease the child’s pain?
Nothing.
There was nothing he could say or do. This wasn’t something that even his money could fix; it wasn’t something tangible that he could put his hands on and twist until it got better. This was grief, and there was nothing but time that would heal it. If even that.
“Billy, it was nothing you did. Sometimes, the people we love the most have to go away. I don’t know why, but I bet they are watching out for you every single day, and they’re so very proud of you.” Tanner just hoped he didn’t screw up this child for the rest of his life.
“Why did they have to leave?” Billy asked, looking with wide eyes at Tanner.
“I don’t know, Billy. Even Santa doesn’t have all the answers. I do know that they love you very much, though. You are one special little boy.”
Billy gave him a watery smile, then leaned against Tanner’s chest and wrapped his arms around him, his little head resting beneath Tanner’s chin.
“I love you, Santa,” Billy whispered, and Tanner’s heart felt as if it were going to break. What was this small child doing to him?
“I love you, too, Billy.” His voice was slightly strained. He cleared his throat as he felt an odd sting in his eyes.
Billy held on for several more minutes before he climbed from Tanner’s lap. He walked over to a woman who mouthed a thank-you to Tanner, took Billy’s hand and led him away.
As the pair disappeared into the mall, Tanner just sat there, emptiness filling him. He’d never experienced a pain like what Billy was currently going through. He’d been too young to feel the impact when his mother had walked out on him and his siblings, and his family was close — or they had been
close until the last few years.
But even that was changing again and he was speaking to his siblings more, even his father. To top that off, he now discovered he had all of these cousins. He’d never been alone and afraid like the child who’d just looked so trustingly into his eyes.
If he was alone, it was by choice. Tanner rose to his feet and walked through the mall to the changing area. He needed to get as far from this place as he possibly could.
This Christmas couldn’t come and go fast enough.
Chapter Five
Unable to shake the image of the boy with tears falling down his little face, Tanner decided to walk back to the apartment building. As he entered the creaky front door, he found himself looking at the building through new eyes. A couple of kids were playing in the hallway, laughing as they chased marbles on the dirty floors.
Just yesterday, he’d growled the words noise pollution to himself as he passed other children in the building. Now the laughter almost cheered him. Almost, but not quite. These people considered this their home, their place of safety, but he’d done everything in his power to take them away from it. He never looked at individuals, just the whole of a situation.
Was it profitable? What could it do for him?
But, hey, he was a businessman, trying to make a lot of money for a lot of individuals. That didn’t make him a monster. He was just living the American dream. Wasn’t that what everyone wanted?
So he wasn’t the bad guy here. Businesses weren’t charities, and it would be insane to start thinking that way. This punishment was taking its toll on him. He had to get out of here before he had a meltdown, or became empathetic. He didn’t know which would be worse.
Coming around the corner, he heard voices raised and went on instant alert. What in the hell was going on now? This place was just a barrel of fun each time he stepped into it.
When he saw two men pinning Kyla between them, fury rose within him.
“Stop!” she cried as one of the men leaned in and mashed his lips against hers.
“Come on, baby. I saw the way you were looking at me in the mall,” the man in front of her said as he leaned back to ogle her panicked face. His accomplice laughed as he held her arms pinned behind her back and ground his hips against her. Both men had their hands all over her.
“Please stop,” she cried.
“Not until we’re finished. Grab her key, Mike.”
Why hadn’t anyone come out to help?
Tanner moved swiftly forward, and before the guy holding her arms knew what was happening, Tanner grabbed his shoulder, spun him around and slammed his fist against the man’s eyes.
His friend instantly released Kyla, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. “Ah, ya think you’re gonna be a hero today, do you?” the man taunted him.
“I know I will be,” Tanner said, keeping his eye on the weapon the man was swinging around. Kyla had backed away and was also watching the flashing blade.
“I got no problem spilling your blood,” the man snarled as he lunged forward.
Tanner stepped to the left, then kicked the man’s knees, making him scream in pain as he dropped to the ground, losing his grip on the weapon.
One more swift kick to the guy’s head and he was moaning on the hallway floor. “Call the police,” Tanner told Kyla as he kept his eye on both men.
With trembling fingers, she pulled out her key and wrenched her apartment door open, then rushed inside to grab her phone. Tanner waited for the police to arrive.
Kyla didn’t reappear immediately, probably terrified that they’d try to attack again. Soon, the officers showed up and hauled the men out to their police car, then came back in and knocked on Kyla’s door, to interview her about the assault. When Tanner saw her again, he noticed the bruise forming on her cheek and, for the second time that day, his stomach clenched.
How could any man hit a woman? He might not have treated all his dates with the utmost respect, but he certainly had never abused them. The women he dated knew the score, knew he would wine and dine them. He didn’t expect sex, but if that’s how the evening ended — and it always did — it was mutually pleasurable.
He was repelled by the thought of what those men had done and tried to do.
“Come on,” he told Kyla when they found themselves standing alone in the hallway, the dirtbags gone in the back of a police cruiser.
She looked at him warily when he held out his hand. He didn’t want to scare her further, so he gave her his most trustworthy smile and waited.
Finally, she took his hand and he led her into his apartment. After sitting her down at his dining table, he got a washcloth and put some ice in it.
Kneeling in front of her, he paused as he brought his hand up and gently ran his fingers across her swelling cheek. “I’m so sorry this happened, Kyla.”
Damn security!
It wasn’t something he’d even thought the building needed, which was foolish on his part. There were single women and children here in a less than respectable area of Seattle. A front lobby area was available. It wouldn’t be that difficult to have twenty-four-hour security present and keypads on all outside doors.
“They followed me home from the mall. I don’t understand guys like that,” she said, obviously upset, but holding herself together extremely well under the circumstances.
“They aren’t real men,” he said, raising the washcloth and gently placing it against her cheek.
“No, they aren’t,” she agreed, and her lips turned up just the tiniest bit.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I’m sorry they had the opportunity to hit you.” I’m sorry I was too cheap to add security to the building, he added silently.
“I’m just glad you showed up when you did, that it wasn’t worse than it was. I’ve never had a problem here before — not to that extent. The worst that’s happened in two years is the occasional drunken neighbor trying to talk me into a date. I just…” She stopped when tears filled her eyes. He was amazed she was able to sit there so calmly.
“How did you end up here? From what I’ve observed over the last few days, you seem smart, too smart to be working as an elf and living in a dump like this,” Tanner said, watching her flinch at his question.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said, squirming in the chair in front of him.
“I want to know.”
“I…life happens,” she said vaguely.
“Yes. Sometimes situations are beyond our control, but I have a feeling there’s a lot more to you than meets the eye.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said, her eyes met his with a challenging gleam. He respected her bravery.
“Sometimes it can help to speak to a stranger.” He didn’t know why he was pushing her, why it mattered. He should just give her the ice pack and walk away. This woman was obviously too complicated, not his usual type at all.
He was stuck in this place, though, stuck here for another eleven days. And he found himself wanting to know her story, wanting to connect with her. It was just because he was bored, he told himself, that she’d piqued his curiosity, but there was something there, something he couldn’t identify.
“A couple of years ago, I was with my family on vacation and there was a wreck. I lived. They didn’t,” she said with a shrug, as if she were over it, as if it were no big deal. But the pain radiating from every pore of her body contradicted her words.
“I can’t imagine,” Tanner said, completely out of his element, not knowing what he should say.
For the second time today, someone was telling him about losing parents way too soon. Was this fate that they met?
No!
He didn’t believe in fate or any other hogwash like that. It was merely a coincidence. That was all.
“Did you have siblings?” He knew he should shut up, let this go, but he couldn’t seem to control his mouth.
Her eyes flashed raw pain as she looked at him. “A little brother,” she whi
spered.
“Oh, Kyla, I’m sorry,” he said lamely.
“Those are the standard words I hear. It’s OK, Tanner. It happened almost two years ago. Almost to the day.”
“Christmas?” he asked, horrified.
“Two days before.”
Damn. He really had no clue what to say to her, no clue at all.
She looked down at the floor as she tried to compose herself. “I need to get back to my place,” she whispered. She brought her hand up and pushed at his fingers, which were still holding the ice to her cheek.
Tanner pulled them away, wincing slightly at the sight of her delicate cheekbone; the slight bruise marred her features. At least the swelling had gone down. He was glad he’d arrived when he did, or he feared it could be so much worse. He set the washcloth aside and slid his finger across the mark before resting his hand against her neck, his thumb stroking her flesh.
She shivered as her gaze locked with his. Almost against his will, Tanner found himself leaning forward, coming closer to her as his other hand lifted and his fingers wrapped around the soft strands of her hair.
When Kyla didn’t pull back, Tanner closed the gap and kissed her, just a slight brushing of his lips against hers. When her sweet breath fanned out across his mouth in a shocked gasp, he deepened the kiss, tasting her lips with his tongue as his fingers tightened on her scalp.
Kyla’s lips moved beneath his and her hands came up to grip his shoulders. When her breasts brushed against his chest, blood raced through his body, instantly rushing to one very sensitive location. The simple sigh that escaped her throat wasn’t helping; hell, it was far more erotic than the full-on striptease his last partner had treated him to.
He pulled back and looked into her eyes. “Kyla,” he whispered. He wanted her in his bed — right now.
She smiled, her eyes glazed, and she ran her tongue along her bottom lip, making his groin tighten even more painfully.
Then, as he leaned forward, the spell was somehow broken. Her eyes opened wide and the hands that had been resting against his shoulders stiffened; she pushed him back.
He wanted to lean against her, take her into his arms, and show her how good it was going to be between the two of them. But that would make him no better than the monsters who’d just tried to force themselves on her.
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