Her Secret Santa

by Kelli Callahan

  “Hey!” Elly opened the door with a smile on her face.

  “Hello there. Let’s eat before we hit the road.” I held up the bag from Famous Sid’s.

  “I want something else a lot more than a sandwich right now…” Elly pulled me into her apartment.

  “Can you even call a lettuce wrap a sandwich?” I raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

  “Just kiss me.” She lifted up and wrapped her arms around my neck.

  My lips crushed Elly’s, and the kiss ignited the spark of passion that was always present between us. I felt the desire surge through my body. I pressed her to the wall and ravaged her mouth with my tongue until we were both forced to stop and gasp for air. That brief break lasted less than a full breath before I kissed her again. She felt so good in my arms—and the desires was radiating from both of us, but there was no way that I could let myself get distracted by the woman I craved. I finally forced myself to pull back from our second kiss.

  “We really do need to eat.” I exhaled sharply.

  “Is my shirt okay?” Elly looked down. “It’s not offensive.”

  “Wait?” My eyes opened wide when I took a step back and saw what she was wearing. “Is that a Christmas shirt?”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t notice when you walked in.” She titled her head and grinned. “At least I know you are looking at something other than my boobs when you see me.”

  “Sometimes…” My eyes definitely went to that exact place when she mentioned it.

  “I don’t even remember where I got this shirt from.” Elly shrugged. “It was buried in one of my drawers. I probably got it as a gift one year or something.”

  “It’s perfect.” I smiled and nodded. “Much better than the other one you told me about.”

  “I feel underdressed. You said jeans and a t-shirt were okay—but you’re wearing a suit.” She raised her eyebrows in concern.

  “I’ll change when we get there.” I waved off her concern. “Let’s eat before the sandwiches get warm.”

  “Warm? Oh, got it…” She laughed. “My dining room table doesn’t get much use, but we don’t really have time to watch anything.”

  “We’ll blow the dust off.” I walked to the dining area and put the bag down on the table.

  Elly and I made small talk while we ate our food. I could tell that we were just spinning useless conversation to keep words moving and distract us from what we both really wanted to be doing. It was obvious in our body language, even if we didn’t verbalize it. Elly’s hand brushed against mine a couple of times when she laughed—I did the same to her when there was an opportunity to do so. I had one of those flashes in front of my eyes where I envisioned myself clearing the table with a quick swipe of my hand to make room for the passion brewing between us. I fought against my urges, and Elly seemed to be doing the same. I still couldn’t resist following her into the kitchen when she went to throw away our trash—where I put my hands on her beautiful curves and my lips on the back of her neck.

  “You better be careful…” She exhaled sharply and leaned against me. “I’m about a second away from dragging you into the bedroom.”

  “I wish we could.” I lifted my lips to her earlobes. “I can think of a lot of things I’d like to do to you in there.”

  “So can I.” She turned in my arms and grinned. “Maybe you can come back to my place after we get done tonight? How long is it going to last?”

  “It won’t take all night…” I chuckled under my breath. “But what I want to do to you would…”

  “Then I’ll just have to settle for watching you change when we get to the event.” She pulled away and reached for her purse. “At least I’m going to get something out of this evening.”

  “It’s not going to be that much of a show.” I shook my head back and forth. “What I’m wearing goes on over most of my clothes.”

  “Over?” Her face twisted into a look of confusion. “Okay, well that’s different…”

  “You’ll see when we get there.” I took her hand. “Ready?”

  “Yep.” She nodded and took my hand. “Only because you won’t stay here with me.”

  God, I’m tempted—believe me.

  I led Elly to the elevator, and we ended up making out all the way to the bottom floor. Thankfully, there was nobody waiting on the elevator when we arrived because she had her hand in a very inappropriate place. I had to do a bit of a waddle when I stepped out of the elevator just to make sure that my erection wasn’t pitching a tent in my pants. It remembered what could come after a little fondling, that was for sure—I just had to convince it that what we needed to take care of was more important than the soft, wet paradise it got to experience the previous night. My dick definitely wanted me to forget all about everything else.

  “You’re not going to tell me where we’re going?” Elly looked over at me when we made it to the car.

  “Nah.” I shook my head back and forth. “I think it’s better if I just surprise you.”

  “Hmm.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Can I look in the bag?”

  “No.” I shook my head again. “That’s a surprise too.”

  “There are a lot of surprises tonight…” She tilted her head in disappointment. “I’m starting to get worried. You’re not going to take me to some kind of Christmas costume party, are you?”

  “Not exactly.” I laughed under my breath.

  “Good, because I don’t think I’m going to fit in—at best, I could pass as a big fan of Christmas with this shirt. I just don’t think I could play the part…” She snickered and looked out the window.

  “You’ll be fine. You don’t even have to participate unless you want to.” I waved off her comical concern. “This is just something I do every year. I almost retracted my invitation because I was worried you wouldn’t be that excited about it.”

  “Nah, I meant what I said.” She turned back towards me and put her hand on my leg. “If I get to spend time with you, I don’t mind a few holiday festivities.”

  “Good.” I nodded. “I hope you still feel that way when we arrive.”

  There was a little teasing while I drove, but we kept it to a minimum. The last thing I wanted to do was have an accident that would be difficult to explain. There was some light snow on the road, but the salt trucks were working overtime, so there would have been no excuse for taking a sharp left turn into the sidewalk. I would have to explain myself once we arrived at our destination—possibly when we got closer—but I did want to keep it a surprise for as long as I could. It wasn’t likely to be anything special to Elly, but it meant the world to me. I definitely didn’t want her to look at my outfit before we got there. That would have sent up a few alarm bells and triggered every bit of holiday hatred she could muster.

  Although I’m starting to really think she’s lost that frostbite she used to have. The wreath was forced, but the Christmas shirt wasn’t…

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Elly

  I really had no idea where we were going. Ian was being mysterious, which would have been sexy if I wasn’t already aware that we were doing something related to the holiday season. I was being honest when I told him that I just wanted to spend time with him. I would have even stood outside a store and rang a bell for the Salvation Army if he asked—I might have even turned into one of those vicious people that stared shoppers down until they paid my toll. I had certainly been subjected to it enough to know the routine. All I had to do was ring the bell so hard that they looked at me, then give them the glare that told them they were going to be on every naughty list imaginable if they didn’t drop some dollars in my bucket.

  Your holiday guilt trip—starring Elly-nezer Scrooge.

  “Uh…” I looked at Ian with a hint of concern on my face when we made a turn with only one destination—a hospital. “Hey, what’s going on here?”

  “Almost there.” He looked at me and smiled.

  “I’m pretty sure neither of us are sick.” My concer
n grew. “And if you’re going to give me a blood test this early in our relationship, I may need to voice a couple of concerns.”

  “Neither of us is getting poked with a needle.” He chuckled under his breath.

  “Okay, you gotta tell me what is going on.” I tilted my head inquisitively when we pulled into the parking lot.

  “Do you see that truck?” He pointed to a rather large box truck that was parked by the entrance of the hospital.

  “Yeah.” I nodded in confirmation.

  “That is full of presents.” He smiled. “For all of the patients that are spending the holidays in the hospital instead of with their families.”

  “Seriously?” My eyes opened wide in surprise.

  “Yes, my company does this every year.” He nodded and pulled the car into a parking space. “A couple of years after I started Alexander Software, one of my employees got really sick right before Christmas, and some people at the office came up with this as a way to sort of bring the holiday to him.”

  “I’m guessing you didn’t just bring presents for him…” I looked towards the truck.

  “No, once we decided to do it, we realized that there were a lot of people spending the holidays alone.” Ian reached into the backseat and grabbed the bag. “It just sort of escalated from there, and the next year, we wanted to do it again—even if there wasn’t anyone we knew in the hospital that holiday season.”

  “Wow, that’s really generous.” I stared at the bag. “So, what kind of outfit are you going to wear?”

  “Well…” Ian started unzipping the bag, and I saw a hint of red. “I’m Santa Claus.”

  “Oh my god!” My eyes nearly bulged out of my head.

  I felt like the Grinch because I could have sworn that my heart grew three sizes in an instant. It wasn’t filled with holiday cheer—it was filled with admiration for the amazing man that wanted my heart regardless of how big it was. Every single time I learned something new about Ian, it just made me like him more. I already knew that I had fallen for him—but I was falling a lot harder than I realized. His generosity was as incredible as his sense of humor. He was going to be the sexiest Santa Claus to ever put on a red suit, that was for sure. I wished I could see the world through his eyes and not let the things that impacted me in the past ruin my perception.

  “You don’t have to go with us to hand out gifts if you don’t want.” Ian opened my door and extended his hand. “That’s totally up to you.”

  “No.” I shook my head back and forth. “I want to help…”

  If I would stand in the cold and ring a bell for him, I’m not going to sit in the lobby while he’s handing out gifts.

  Ian introduced me to the people that worked for him, and then we all started unloading the gifts in the back of the truck. Once everything was in the lobby of the hospital, Ian and I walked into one of the side rooms so he could put on his Santa Claus costume. That took longer than it should have because a little privacy led to a lot of kissing. I didn’t even care that he put the outfit on over his regular clothes. I still got a chance to feel him up both in and out of the Santa costume before we joined the rest of the group.

  “How does this work?” I looked at the array of gifts. “Do we just give them whatever we pull out of the sack?”

  “No.” A woman that had been introduced as Ian’s secretary, Samantha, walked up to me. “The ones that have Santa wrapping paper are for the kids—red for the boys and green for the girls. The same colors apply for the adults, but we give them one of the gifts that are just wrapped in basic paper.”

  “Easy enough.” I nodded and started loading gifts into one of the sacks.

  We took the elevator to the first floor, met with the hospital administrator, and then we were on our way to hand out gifts. Ian made a spectacle of it, throwing out a lot of ho-ho-hos and Merry Christmases as we walked down the hallway. I couldn’t help but laugh. All of the people that worked for him seemed to be in a really good mood—they literally looked like children that were finding their own gifts under the tree rather than handing them out to strangers.

  The patients at the hospital were delighted to see us. I had never seen so many smiles on faces that didn’t have a reason to wear one. It might have been a small gift—but it was the experience that made their faces light up with holiday cheer. We even gave gifts to all of the nurses, who were delighted that we were including them in the celebration.

  “You must be pretty special to Mr. Alexander.” Samantha looked over at me as we walked to the elevators that would take us to the next floor. “He’s never brought a date to one of these things before—honestly, I didn’t even realize he dated.”

  “It’s a pretty new relationship.” I looked down and smiled.

  But I’m going to do everything I can to make sure it lasts.

  The next floor was similar to the first. We handed out gifts, listened to a few stories, and then made our way to the next room. Ian didn’t seem to be running out of steam. He was still letting his ho-ho-hos rip every few steps we took. This continued until we didn’t have many gifts left, and it felt like we had covered all of the floors except for one that we skipped—I assumed that was because it didn’t have patients or something. I was rather exhausted, and my feet were definitely feeling it, even if Ian didn’t seem to be losing a step—I was pretty sure my voice would have been shot by the second floor if I tried to mimic what he was doing.

  “Okay, everyone come over here, and let’s talk for a minute.” Ian motioned to the group.

  “Is everything alright?” I glanced at Samantha.

  “Yeah.” She grimaced. “This is just the point where some people don’t want to continue—and Ian understands if it’s too difficult.”

  “Why?” My eyebrows shot up in concern.

  “The last floor is…” She took a deep breath. “It’s the one for the kids that are really sick—the ones that may not be here next year.”

  “Oh…” My heart sank into my stomach. “That’s terrible.”

  “It is, and it can be kind of painful. A lot of them make a full recovery, but some don’t.” She sighed. “It’s hard for some people to put a smile on their face, and they don’t need to see people crying when they come into their rooms to hand out gifts.”

  “Wow. Yeah.” I nodded in understanding.

  Ian talked to the group and basically told them the same thing that Samantha told me. There were some that didn’t think that they could handle the final floor, so bags were consolidated and shifted to those that thought they would be able to put on a brave face. I honestly didn’t know how I would react. I was kind of scared to go with them. My heart might have been hardened to the holiday season, but sick kids were sure to make it melt. As soon as the group of people that didn’t think they could go walked to the elevator, Ian took my hand, and we walked around the corner, away from Samantha and the people that worked for him.

  “You’ve done an amazing job. You don’t have to finish this. It’s really difficult for me, but I just try to remember that they don’t get to smile much—I figure I can hold it together long enough to see one on their face.” Ian squeezed my hand.

  “Yeah, I don’t know.” I looked down at the floor and sucked some oxygen into my lungs. “This…”

  “Why don’t you wait downstairs with everyone else?” He tilted his head.

  “You won’t be upset?” I exhaled sharply and looked up at him.

  “No, not at all.” He pulled me close and gave me a hug.

  I watched as Ian walked back to the group, and then I started to make my way to the elevators. I already felt like I was going to break down, just hearing what Samantha said. Actually going to the floor and handing out gifts felt like more than I could handle. I stood in front of the elevator after I hit the button and looked back at Ian. He was beyond amazing. There was so much love in his heart, and if I could just claim a tiny bit of it for myself, then I would be the luckiest woman in the world. A man like that needed a woman that
deserved his love—and a woman strong enough to put a smile on her face when the worst thing in the world was staring her in the face.

  I can’t leave. I don’t care if he said it would be okay. If he can do this, then I can do it too, no matter how difficult it is.

  “You’re back?” Ian looked at me in confusion when I walked over to the group.

  “Yeah.” I reached down and picked up one of the sacks. “We’ve got more presents to hand out, don’t we?”

  “We do.” He smiled and hugged me. “Thank you.”

  I would do anything for you, and that’s scary considering how long we’ve known each other—but it just feels right.

  Handing out presents to the children on the last floor was rough. My heart broke so many times I was surprised that I had any pieces that could shatter before we handed out the last gift. Somehow, despite feeling like my entire world meant nothing compared to what they were going through, I managed to keep a smile on my face while I put presents in their hands. They were adorable—and in such good spirits considering the circumstance that put them in those hospital beds. They were so excited to see Santa Claus. The delight on their faces and the joy in their eyes reminded me of a little girl that I used to know—a little girl that stopped existing the day her parents split up.

  Oh my god, I’ve been so selfish…

  “Are you okay?” Ian walked up behind me as I took a moment to compose myself after we visited the last room.

  “Yeah.” I felt tears welling up in my eyes. “I just need a minute.”

  “It’s hard for me too.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “I usually need a stiff drink and a little time to myself after I come here.”