Page 30 of Naughty Santa

“Whatever you say.” She giggled before turning and putting her hand on the wall to step into the warm water.

Casual sex.

That’s all this was.

But not even she was buying what she was selling.

CHAPTER 8

“And mammain her kerchief and I in my cap.”

“A mamma in her…” Jaden repeated after her. “Hey, what’s a kerchuf?” Jaden looked up from the poem they were reading, “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” He was clearly confused. “And why is the guy wearing a hat to bed?”

He was trying to memorize the poem to surprise his grandma on Christmas Eve. Paris wasn’t convinced he was going to make it all the way through, but she had promised to act it out and help him along the way if he got lost.

Why had she done that?

She had no idea. Except that she liked the kid. He was cute and smart, and Paris wasn’t sure she’d ever met anyone who loved Christmas as purely as Jaden did. It made her love it. Listening to him talk about Christmas and Santa and stockings and his family’s traditions on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning made her want to get into flannel pajamas and fuzzy socks, curl up on the sofa with cocoa, and be there. She just wanted to watch.

Growing up in California, she’d never had a white Christmas like the ones you see in books and movies. There was no snow, no sleigh rides, no roaring fires in fireplaces. They had treesand Christmas music and all of that, of course, but there was a part of her that wanted to go out sledding with Jaden and then caroling around the town with Sandy and then come in, cold and shivering but laughing and happy. Then she really wanted to be greeted by a big, hot construction worker who would wrap her in his arms and rub his hands up and down her back and tell her all the delicious ways he could help warm her again.

“Here.” Paris pulled her phone out and typed KERCHIEF into Google. She turned the phone so he could see an image of one. “This is a kerchief,” she said, pronouncing the word correctly for him. “And this—” She looked up nightcaps next and showed him. “This is the kind of cap they’re talking about. Men wore this to bed in the old days. Like when this poem was written.”

Jaden scrunched up his nose. “Why?”

“To keep their heads warm, I suppose,” she said. “Back in the old days, the houses weren’t heated like they are now. They had to keep warm somehow.”

“Couldn’t they just snuggle up?” he asked with a giggle.

Paris reached down and tickled his side. “Yeah, I bet they probably snuggled too,” she said with a little laugh.

“When I get cold, I go get into my grandma’s bed. I warm my feet up on her legs.”

Jaden was grinning a big grin that she was going to miss when she left.

“Oh man, she must really love you to let you do that. You better keep your cold toes over in your own house,” Paris told him. “I don’t want anyone warming their feet up on me in the middle of the night.”

“No one at all?”

The deep voice rumbled from behind her, and she looked over her shoulder at Joe. She gave him a flirtatious smile.“Well...I suppose there’s a chance that I could get so hot in bed that I might appreciate some cold toes.”

His cheeks were red from being outside repainting the sign. She was amazed how much he’d gotten done over the past couple of days. He’d been working his ass off. For her. She wasn’t sure why either. All of this was important for her to get done so she could sell the place, and he knew that. Paris got the impression he wasn’t thrilled with the whole idea of her selling. Yet, he was still helping her make things look better.

She’d told him this morning that she was very willing and able to repay him for all the work. Clever man had known exactly what she meant by that too because his eyes had gone dark with desire and she’d been late opening the store.

“Are your hands cold right now?” she asked. “I could help you out with that.”

“Put them in your pants!” Jaden told him. “That’s what I do! It’s always warm in there!”

For a second, it seemed that Joe had forgotten his nephew was there. He blinked at the little boy as Paris laughed.

“Is it always warm in your pants, Joe?” she asked.

“As a matter of fact, it’s downright hot in there,” he said with a nod. “Maybe putting my hands in my own pants is the solution for a lot of things.”

Paris lifted a brow. Oh, so he thought he was going to take care of himself instead of expanding on their casual sex? That doing so was just as good as letting her help him out?

She hated to be the bearer of bad news, but using the vibrator she had delivered by Amazon Prime every time she found herself at home alone and thinking of him didn’t help a bit. All she wanted was the real deal.

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