Page 43 of Naughty Santa

Dammit. She was feeling less defensive. That wasn’t good.

“The name must stay the same. The inventory must stay the same. The employees must all maintain their jobs with the same salaries and benefits. You even have to continue to play both Christmas music and country music at the same time inside the store,” Paris told them.

Todd rolled his eyes, but he nodded. “That’s one of my father’s favorite parts.”

“Me too,” Paris said.

That was all Joe needed to hear.

These guys were buying the Holly Jolly, and Paris had no reason to stay in North Pole.

The cold ball of hurt and dread in Joe’s gut was completely his own fault. She’d never said she would stay. They’d gone into the whole sex thing knowing it was just sex. At least, that’s what they’d said. It was nothing new that he had fallen hard and quickly, so the fact that he wanted to put his hand through some drywall or drink a bottle or two of whiskey or yell and rage was not her fault.

He still felt all those things though, so he turned on his heels and headed for the door.

He had to get out of here.

Paris’s heart was pounding.

Frank Winters wanted to buy the Holly Jolly.

He wanted to keep it exactly as it was. He was agreeing to all her stipulations. Even the super-crazy ones.

Hearing his son, Todd, point those out made her realize just how crazy they were. She hadn’t thought about that when she’d insisted her lawyer put them in there because keeping everything exactly as it was in the Holly Jolly right now was a must. However, when Todd started talking about how ridiculous and over-the-top a lot of it was, she realized she’d put those stipulations in because she thought it would prevent any serious offers.

But Frank had just made a serious offer. Not just an offer. He was willing to pay the stupid high price she’d also set. In hindsight, that had probably been to discourage buyers too.

And his last name was Winters.

It felt as if hehadto own the Holly Jolly. The man talked about the place with an affectionate wistfulness in his eyes thatParis could completely relate to. It was exactly how she would want the next owner to feel.

He was perfect.

And she didn’t want to sell to him.

Because she wanted to keep the Holly Jolly.

The realization hit her right between her breasts, right in the center of her chest, making it hard to take a deep breath.

She wanted to keep the Holly Jolly.

She wanted to stay in North Pole.

She wanted to stay with Joe.

God, it was so fucking cold here. So out of her comfort zone in every way. So like nothing she had ever expected.

But she wanted it. She wanted all of it.

And yes, Joe was most of it. She would want him wherever he was. But she could honestly say that she also wanted North Pole and this crazy, wonderful, quirky, weird, amazing store.

“What’s wrong?” Frank looked legitimately concerned as he leaned in with a frown.

“What do you mean?”

“You look like you’re about to faint,” he said.

“Or throw up,” Todd added, also frowning.

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