Page 20 of Santa Loves Curvy Girls

Neither of us got up.

She looked as worn out as me.

“In two more minutes,” I said.

Our reward for the hour it took to get the kitchen back to spic and span was getting to sample the cooled treats. We had a mix of perfectly shaped sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies on the cooling rack.

Belle took a bite of her cookie. I noticed she could hardly stop admiring all of them. “I think these are the best cookies I’ve ever made. They look perfect.”

They sure did.

I finished my sugar cookie. “You really do make the best cookies. You’ve got real talent, Belle.”

She blushed a little but didn’t look away. “Thank you.”

The way she said it made me think that no one ever told her that. Well, I’d never let her forget it.

11

NICK

The first time I put on this suit, it was great. Getting to be anonymous. Getting to be someone other than Nick St. James for once.

The guy everyone had figured out.

But now that I’d gotten close to Belle, the one thing I craved was leaving this suit behind so she could get to know the real me.

Even if I could, though, wouldn’t that complicate things?

I carefully put on my fake white eyebrows and placed the beard over my face.

I had no idea.

What if she didn’t like Nick St. James like she liked the guy behind this suit?

But I didn’t want to think about that now.

I pulled on my boots, already running late to meet her.

As I headed out the front door, I narrowly avoided running into Mom.

“Nick! Give me a hug before you leave. I won’t see you until tonight. Where did you say you were going after work?”

Already halfway down the hallway, there was no way I was going to be able to hide in time.

Thankfully, her cell phone rang at just the right moment. She turned around to go back and grab it. I heard her go into the kitchen, taking the call that had come in.

I took my chance and made a run for it.

Before I closed the back door behind me, I shouted a quick, “Bye, Mom! I’ll text you later. Love you!”

I dashed into the tree line just in case she had followed me, but it looked like I was in the clear.

This was a well-known path for me now. It would lead me out near Rudolph’s place. He was an odd fella, famous for his sleigh rides around town. And the perfect way for me to sneak into town.

By the time I made it to Santa’s Elves, Belle was already there.

She smiled when she saw me enter one of the large back rooms. “Hey, you. Did the reindeer hit traffic?” she teased.

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