Page 10 of Mistletoe Face Off

“Sure am. I’m Holly.”

“Do you know Holly is one of my favorite Christmas decorations?” he asks, and I roll my eyes.

Another Holly joke, only this one’s from Santa.

“Tell me, are you on the naughty list or the nice list?” he asks Macy, although his eyes flick briefly to mine.

Wait. Is Santa flirting with me? I narrow my eyes at him, but he’s focused back on Macy. I must have imagined it. Too many hockey pros around here.

“I'm on the Nice List,” Macy declares with a serious tone. “Aren’t I, Mommy? I've been good all year.”

“You sure have, honey,” I tell her.

“In that case, I have something for you.” Santa rummages in his sack, pulls out a candy cane, and hands it to her.

“Thank you so much, Santa!” she exclaims, and to my astonishment, she wraps her arms around him and gives him a hug.

Usually, my daughter is so shy at stepping forward. So reserved. But there's something about this Santa that she clearly responds to.

“You stay on that Good List now, Macy,” Santa says and my daughter gives him a solemn nod of her head.

“I will, Santa,” she replies, reaching for my hand.

“Thank you,” I say to the man behind the beard.

“It was my pleasure.” The skin around his eyes—those attractive green eyes of his—crinkles into a genuine smile. And is that a prosthetic nose?

My phone chimes and I pick up to see a message from my boss.

Stephen:

There's a rumor flying around that Harrison Clarke isn't the stand-up guy we all thought he was. Find him and interview him. He'll be our lead story.

I tap out a quick reply, wondering what the good looking, popular jock from my high school days has done.

Me:

I haven't seen him here today yet.

Stephen:

He'll be there somewhere. He’s on the list of Blizzard team members attending. He's your story. Deliver it and I’ll support you in your bid for that promotion.

I chew on my lip. How can I interview a guy that I can't even find? But I know one thing for sure, I want that promotion. Scratch that. Ineedthat promotion, because that promotion means moving from the Lifestyle team over to National News and, most importantly, away from Slippery Stephen.

Me:

I'm on it.

As I turn to leave, knowing I’ll have Macy’s hand in mine the whole time I'm trying to interview these self-absorbed jocks, I glance back and see Santa still smiling at me. He lifts his hand in a wave, and I return my attention to my daughter, wondering who the man with the kind words and equally kind eyes really is, and figuring I'll never know.

Chapter Three

Harrison

I watch as Holly and her cute kid walk hand in hand away from me, memories of her in high school Senior Year playing like a movie reel in my mind. She ran the paper and was politically active within the school, always pushing some agenda, always passionate about some cause or another. It shouldn't surprise me she's a journalist these days.

I throw my gaze over her as she stops to talk to one of my teammates. She was always cute back in high school, and that sure hasn't changed. But these days she's a grown woman, beautiful yet understated—not thrusting it in your face in low cut tops and short skirts the way a lot of the women I meet do.

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