Page 9 of Naughty Santa

“I see you’ve met everyone.”

She turned at the sound of Joe’s voice. He’d shed the Santa hat, boots, and pants in favor of his real clothes. Sadly, that included a flannel shirt that hid the pecs she still had a strong desire to run her fingers over just to see if they were as hard as they looked.

“Uncle Joe.” Jaden raced across the floor, grasping Joe’s hand. “This is Paris, the one Miss Lydia said was going to run the store now.”

“We’ve met,” Joe said.

She looked down at his—thank you, Jesus—nephew.

Then, she checked off the second concern because Joe’s ring finger was bare.

No.

No.

No.

She could not fraternize with a local. That would be a very bad idea. She was leaving.

Or…

Maybe that was the perfect way to fraternize with a local.

They could have a little fun, and then she’d just hop on a plane, back to her real life.

She had a pretty good idea that if anyone could keep her warm in this frozen hellscape, it was Joe.

It would make these few weeks in North Pole tolerable.

Between the unintentional humor of Jaden, the Holly Jolly Seed and Feed, the kindness of Sandy, and the potential for sitting on Santa Joe’s lap, maybe Indiana wouldn’t be so bad after all.

CHAPTER 3

Joe knewthe look Paris was giving him. It was the look that had dropped men to one knee, made them stupid, toppled kingdoms, and launched wars.

It was the look of a woman who wanted something from you.

And more than that, she knew she was going to get it.

Paris wore a sly, flirtatious smile that made him both wary and hard as a rock.

“We’ve definitely met.” Paris’s eyes dropped down to his crotch.

Damn.

The woman was bold, and he was shocked by his reaction to that. He was the guy who went for the sweet girl next door. This woman, with her animal print coat and purse dog, was not his type.

At.

All.

So there was no point in getting involved with a woman like that…no matter how tempting.

Joe turned to his nephew. “Did you get an after-school snack? Grandma should be back soon, and we’ll head home.”

The kid was reason number one why Joe would never leave North Pole. His sister had fallen into addiction when Jaden was a toddler, and he’d been helping his mom raise the sweet boy ever since Jenny disappeared. Jaden was a great kid, and Joe was going to be there for him, no matter what, and not from a distance. Young boys needed a man in their life.

Because if Joe wasn’t around, Jaden would spend all his afternoons with the reindeer statues at the Feed and Seed and his evenings watching Rachel Ray chop onions on TV with his mother. Not ideal for an eight-year-old boy.

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