Stocking Stuffer

by Jisa Dean

  By:

  Jisa Dean

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Epilogue

  Code Blue

  Coming Soon

  Keep In Touch

  Copyright © 2019 by Author Jisa Dean

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording,or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email to jisadean@yahoo.com

  http://www.jisadean.com

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locals and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events institutions, or locals is completely coincidental.

  Dedication:

  To my own Santa, you can jingle my bells anytime!

  Chapter One

  ____________

  Paige

  "So tell me, what do you want for Christmas this year, little girl?"

  I hear the deep timbre of the Santa in the middle of the mall and before I hear the squeal I can guess where we are going. My little six-year-old sister takes me by the hand and pulls me along the wide halls of the mall. I thought taking her window shopping would be fun and I thought we might be lucky enough to see a Santa.

  I laugh and follow Melanie over to the line of people waiting for their turns. Mom has to work a lot and so I try to help when I can. I pick Melanie up from school and watch her until our mom comes home later. Normally sisters aren't close like me and Melanie, but I love her. I've been taking care of her since before I could take care of myself. Mom has never had to ask me to look after her or go do things with her; she's a cool kid and I love being with her.

  Our tiny little apartment isn't much but it's crammed full of love. Mom is the best. She loves with her whole heart and works like a dog so that we don't ever go without but things have been tough lately. She's had to work a lot more hours and I can tell she needs a break. One of the reasons I wanted to come today is to do something nice for mom. I thought between me and Melanie we could come up with something small and nice to put under the tree for her this year. I've saved some of the money from babysitting. It's not a lot but it’s enough to buy her maybe a spa package or something. I still have a week before I have to settle on something for her either way.

  When the same low pitched question as before reaches me, I tune back into the line and the Santa at the end of it. He's got a nice voice, deep and rumbly but not weird rumble where he's trying to fake it. I think his beard might be real too, nice and thick and soft looking. As far as Santas go he is one of the better ones. He doesn't look half bad either. Not that I'm lonely enough to hit on the Santa at the mall.

  I turned eighteen six months ago but I'm not sure what to do with myself. I'm going to graduate this spring and then after I don't know. I mean, I would love to go to college and I understand there are grants and scholarships to help, but I might have to go to a school that's too far away to help my mom take care of my sister. I figure I'll take some online classes and try to muddle through my first couple of years that way. I don't even have a clue what I want to do. I just know I can't leave my mom and little sister, not when they need me.

  Taking care of Mel doesn't really help my social life either. I would rather hang out with my baby sister than most of the kids I go to school with, especially the boys. They are always talking about sex and who they’ve banged lately. I'm not okay being on a list of girls they fuck at a party and then move on to the next.

  As the line moves along and I struck by the full brunt of the man dressed in red. His eyes are an icy blue that I am sure could freeze a person if he chose to but, when the little boy on his knee starts talking to him, crinkle lines break out around them. He looks up, his eyes scanning the crowd around him. Our eyes meet and for once in my life I understand what it feels like to want to be seen by another person, to want to linger when they are near.

  I jerk my head down so I don't have to look at him anymore or watch as his eyes scan the line for a hot mom to look at while he's taking notes for Santa. Not that he's a creep or something. The guy might be married and got a shitload of elves at home waiting on him for all I know. I just don't want to look at him anymore. He unnerves me and makes me feel funny. I don't like it.

  "Do you think we could ask Santa to help us find something special for Mom? Maybe he'll go with us to help us look for something." Her little voice is so musical and filled with so much hope that I can't tell her outright that I wouldn't be alright with that.

  "Um, I'm sure he's really busy this time of year and it wouldn't really be fair to ask him to do anything extra like that, would it?"

  "You're right, Paige. He's way to busy and me and you can handle that all by ourselves." She's way too serious for a little girl her age. I hate that she has to be this serious but love that she is smart enough and kind enough to understand how things are. We're the next people in line so it's harder now to act like I'm not watching the guy in the suit.

  My hands are starting to sweat and my mouth is dry. I want to focus on Melanie and not screw this opportunity up for her but the minute his eyes are on me I have trouble breathing or thinking. When he looks at me I go all stupid or something. A bead of sweat runs down between my breasts. The little girl in front of us has a mother who hasn't missed the fact that Santa is hot this year. She smiles at him and pushes her boobs forward right into his face. He leans back as far as he can go before giving a loud laugh that ends in a deep growly ho, ho, ho.

  I have to look away in order not to laugh. Guess she isn't going to be putting her cookie in his milk this season. It makes me respect the guy more. I start thinking about the scenario that made me so sad before. His wife and kids loving him and him doing this for them because it makes them smile or maybe he's done it every year so his kids can see how one person can make a difference even just a little bit.

  The woman gets huffy and hurries the little girl up who is talking about being extra good this year and only wanting five things. He listens to all five things, nodding every now and again so she can tell he's focused on her and only her. Honestly, it's cute as hell that he treats the children the way he does.

  She gets finished and hops off his lap without a care in the world now that she got to tell Santa what to bring her. Melanie is next and the elf standing at the rope entrance lets her through. She holds my hand for most of the way up but when she gets to the steps I hang back a little more. I don't want to be the boob woman who gets too close or tries to flash Santa for an extra gift or two.

  When Mel crawls on his lap his eyes snap to mine. "Is your mom going to come up here with you so she can tell me what she wants for Christmas?"

  My eyes widen and I try to swallow the lump in my throat. Shit, I get the Mom thing a lot when I'm out with Mel so that isn't what has me all flustered. No it all has to do with light blue eyes and laugh lines and smiling wide lips that should not belong on a beloved children's character.

  Mel motions for me to come closer so I go up on the raised dais his chair is sitting on. She laughs as she sets him straight "She's not my Mommy. She's my sister. But she takes care of me a lot. Our mom works a lot so I'm left with Paige. She's the best big sister in the whole world."

&nbs
p; My cheeks go pink at the praise and give her a smile.

  "Maybe she'll want to stand right here beside us so she can talk to me too." The deep voice behind the beard sends tremors through me and even though I try to fight them I can't.

  Mel bounces up and down and giggles while nodding her head. I move to step closer when his gloved hand comes out and takes mine. The man's grip is strong and confident. He knows I'm not going to pull my hand away from him when Mel is watching us so closely. I expect him to let my hand go when I move beside him but he doesn't. His strong grip around my hand sends more shivers down my spine. I try to play it off like its because of the cold. I push my sleeves down and try to put more space between us by pulling a little away but he doesn't give me any slack.

  "What do you want for Christmas this year? I can already tell you’ve been an extra good girl this year." I push my hair back behind my ear. I'm not even going to think about why him saying the words 'good girl' makes me so...twitchy. I shift my weight from foot to foot and wait for this whole experience to be over.

  "I've tried really hard to be good. I guess I want..." She thinks about it very hard before answering him. I tense up a little bit worrying about what she will wish for and how me and Mom will come up with something close to it.

  "Um, I want mom to be at home more and I want us to all be together on Christmas."

  God, if she gets any sweeter I don't know what I'll do. I give her the biggest smile.

  "That's good. I'm not sure if I can do anything about your mom working but I do know that she thinks about you all the time. I bet she wants to be with you too for Christmas even if she does have to work. Is there nothing you want that I can have my elves make though?"

  She gives more thought about what she might want. "I guess I wouldn't mind a jewelry box with a little ballerina in it. The one that goes around and around when you twist the little thingy on the back. SarahMay has one and she says hers has secret drawers where you can put things you don't want anyone to find. That's pretty cool."

  "That is pretty cool. I think my elves can do something like that." His eyes slide to me. Damn, I wonder how much one of those costs. I wonder where the hell I'm even going to find one of them. She opens her little mouth again and I'm already fighting the sense of dread in my stomach knowing that I won't be able to buy her anything else.

  "Oh, and can you bring a boyfriend to Paige. She really needs one." She leans in and talks behind her hand like I can't hear her if she does that. "I mean I love having her with me but she's lonely and she needs someone to love her other than mom and me."

  "Oh my God! Mel, no!" I close my eyes for a second to regroup. Me and Santa have a brief tug of war with my fingers before I concede and turn all of my focus on Mel again. I guess the one thing I can be thankful for is that all of the other people are too far away for them to hear my sweet, big-mouthed sister. "You don't ask Santa for a person, Mel."

  "Oh I don't know about that. I'll see what I can do about getting her someone special just for her." He looks at me the entire time he is speaking to Mel and the ice blue has vanished from his eyes. Now they are burning blue like the heart of the hottest flame.

  "We have to go, Mel." I try to pull my hand out of his grasp again and this time he lets me. "Mom will be home soon and we have to start dinner."

  "Oh Paige, can't we stay a little longer, please. We can catch the bus back and it won't take so long."

  Yes but then it will take almost all of the money I have saved up for Mom and Mel's gifts. I shake my head, we can walk, it isn't that far from the mall. I do want to get started before the sun starts sinking behind the clouds that look to be promising snow.

  "Actually, I might be able to help with that too. Can you give me about ten minutes? You can wait over there by the coloring station."

  Mel hops off his lap and runs over there leaving me with Santa. "I...um, we have to go so, um..."

  "Jordan," Santa waves the elf over and whispers something in his ear. The elf nods and goes back to the start of the line talking to all the people there. I turn to talk to Santa and tell him that we are leaving now but he is nowhere to be found.

  By the time I bribe Mel out of the coloring station the line is moving again. I step out of the station and lean as far back as I can to take one last look at the hottest Santa I have ever seen. But the guy sitting on the big plush chair is not the same guy as before. This one is younger and I don't think his beard is real.

  I heave out a big sigh for the lost opportunity to eye molest the Santa one more time before I have to go home and have everyone ready for the next day. Oh well, maybe next year.

  I don't even understand why I'm so let down that he isn't there. It isn't like Mel didn't embarrass me enough in front of him. I cannot believe she did what she did. I thought I was going to combust. I kept hearing all the people that say they wished a big hole would open up and swallow them. It really is something you wish for when a kid rats you out to the sexy Santa.

  I lean back one more time to make sure I wasn't wrong about the Santa change but the person in the suit this time is definitely not my hot Santa. Hands land on my shoulders and a deep rumbly voice whispers close to my ear.

  "Looking for someone?"

  I look up without even turning around because Santa is fucking huge. He has to be six and a half feet tall. I can literally look straight up and see him without having to move my head. I must look like a fucking child standing next to him.

  "Santa!" Mel spots him and comes running towards us. When she finally gets to us the man puts his hand to his lips and gives her a wink.

  "Shh. Wouldn't want everyone to know who I am? Then I couldn't tell who is naughty or nice." He looks over at me when he says the whole naughty and nice part and I swear my heart is beating so hard I think it's going to beat its way out of my chest. Now that he's kneeling in front of Mel I see he's changed out of the big red suit and into a soft tan sweater and jeans that look like they are having the best Christmas ever being wrapped around his thick thighs.

  I was right, his beard is real. A part of me wants to reach out and run my hands through it to feel how soft it is. I bet it's soft. It just looks soft but somehow hard-assed too. Just like his eyes, I guess it depends on who is standing in front of him which Santa you wind up with - hard and cold or soft and melty.

  He straightens back up, looking at me the entire time, "You ready to go?"

  "Excuse me?" I think I might have missed a whole conversation while I was ogling the Santa.

  "I offered to take you guys home and Miss. Melanie has agreed that it is a fine idea. We're just waiting on you to give us the okay on it."

  Oh crap! I don't know this guy. What if he's a psychopath or a creep? Does he do this with a lot of people? I open my mouth to give him some excuse about not going with him. "Thank you, but we really couldn't inconvenience you or take you away from your job."

  "Good, it's settled then." The smile drops off my face. Did I agree without realizing it?

  "It's no inconvenience at all and I have a stand-in so I'm free for the next couple of hours. And since those were the only reasons you had for not going with me you must be agreeing to go."

  Is this guy a lawyer? What the hell did he just say? What did I just say?

  I look away trying to think of some plausible excuse not to go with him. I have to think of Mel's safety and getting into a car with someone you met at a mall ten minutes ago is not safe. The more I look around the more things start to blur into one. Noise, color, smells all collide in my head to make so much noise I can't think of a good reason to say no. I know how stupid it is but I actually look to the man standing in front of me for help.

  He bends down and whispers something in Mel's ear and she goes running back to the table. Then he stands up and takes me by the upper arms and turns me away so that his big body is between me and my sister. I don't like that at all. He must sense it too because he turns us again to where I can see her around him just slightly.

&nbs
p; "I promise I'm not a serial killer. If anything did happen to you so many people would be crawling up my ass wanting to know where you were." Hearing Santa cuss is weird. I mean I understand he isn't the real Santa but it still sounds weird, like when you hear your teacher cussing. "I can show you my driver's license if that will make you feel any better or I can Google myself. If you're into that sort of thing." He wiggles his eyebrows at me and the corners of my mouth turn up. In one minute Santa has dropped the A word and made a sexual joke. Too weird.

  What he says finally sinks in. "Google?"

  He takes out his phone and pulls up Goggle right in front of me. When he turns the phone so I can look at what popped up I can't stop my mouth from falling open. He's Liam Owens, the billionaire. Oh good Lord, I think he owns this mall and several other stores and businesses and probably a small country somewhere.

  "See, probably couldn't kidnap you even if I want to." The look he gives me for just a second makes me wonder if he wants to.