Page 53 of Here Comes Santa Paws

How did he always see through my bullshit? Anisha was one of the few others with that particularly frustrating talent.

“Looks like this is where we wait.” Elias rocked on his heels and turned toward the house closest to us. “Wow.” Twinkly white lights reflected in his eyes the color of hot cocoa.

The man had me so spun out of sorts that I was making festive comparisons to his attractive features. Good god.

I moved until I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him to see what had him transfixed. “Wow,” I echoed.

The home had to have thousands of white lights lining every surface. Roof line, windows, front door, tree trunk, and even the branches. Lit candy canes lined the yard’s edge and walkway to the front yard, giant ornaments hung from tree branches, and a lit outline of Santa’s bottom half rested on the chimney.

“Can you imagine the electric bill?”

“LED lights, you sweet summer child. They’re significantly cheaper.” He patted my shoulder condescendingly.

Little shit.I bit back a grin, but I must not have hidden it well because Elias aimed his own shit-eating grin at me. Before I could come up with some biting remark about how much I hated Christmas, I heard hooves clicking on the street.

Two reindeer with twinkle lights wrapped around their antlers approached, pulling a red sleigh with fir wreaths, glittery bows hanging from each side, and blinking white lights around the sizable wheels. A woman in a Mrs. Claus costume withumber skin, a red coat, wire-rimmed glasses, and a white wig pulled in a bun smiled at us.

“Merry Christmas! Would you like a ride?”

“Yes, please!” Elias grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the sleigh. Mrs. Claus sat on a narrow seat at the front. A single bench behind her had a thick blanket draped across it.

We’d need to squeeze together on that thing. Elias moved the blanket and sat, then patted the bench next to him. My broad shoulders ate up any extra space, so I wrapped my arm around the back of the seat to give Elias more room. He spread the blanket across our laps.

Mrs. Claus glanced at us over her shoulder. “Ready?”

“Hit it, Dasher and Dancer!” Elias beamed at me.

I shook my head. Elias was so unapologetically himself, and I was growingsmitten. God, so smitten. Dammit.

A chill racked Elias’s body and he shook next to me. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. He snuggled in close and smiled wryly—any evidence of a chill gone.

Mrs. Claus had a speaker next to her playing upbeat, instrumental Christmas music. Generally, one of my least favorite genres, but with Elias under my arm, being transported by reindeer, and watching dozens of people admiring bright-ass lights like the ones I had to look at every time I pulled into my garage—I supposed it wasn’tthatbad.

People in warm coats and hats strolled along the sidewalks in pairs and small groups while some cars played festive tunes. We passed a group of wandering carolers in Dickensian garb. Christmas Falls went all out for the season. I knew it, it was in the name, but I kept finding myself surprised by it.

I pulled my phone from my pocket to snap a picture of the reindeer. Mom would get a kick out of it. After taking it, I meant to swipe to clear the app, but I accidentally tapped the selfie mode button. The image of Elias tucked under my other arm,with no space between us and a smile of childlike wonder as he admired the homes, would be burned into my memory forever. I brushed my finger across the shutter button.

“Ooh, selfie!” Elias dropped his head onto my shoulder and glowed.

I smiled—how could I not?—and snapped a picture. I watched Elias’s eyes widen as he turned toward me, and I snapped another. He placed a brief kiss on my jaw.

“What?”

“Your smile.” He shook his head and frowned like he was trying to find the right words. “It’s like pumpkin pie.”

My lips twitched as I tried to follow his logic. “Do I want to know?”

“I don’t get to eat it very often, so I always appreciate it more when I do. Same with your full-toothed smiles. Don’t get me wrong, I’d happily eat pumpkin pie every day, but I’m not upset that I don’t get to enjoy it all the time. It’s a special treat.” Elias returned his attention to the houses as the sleigh took us around the corner.

He didn’t need me to respond. He didn’t need an answer as to why smiles didn’t come as naturally for me as they did him. He didn’t need me to be anyone other than myself.

I wasn’t sure why Elias had entered my life when he did. I certainly hadn’t been on the hunt for a Christmas elf who wormed his way under my skin and made me feel settled, seen, but he’d forced his way in anyway.

And just as I’m interviewing for a job fifteen hundred miles away.

“You’re looking particularly pensive. Is all the merriment getting under your skin? Have we filled your quota?” Elias’s tone was teasing.

I was tempted to tell him about the job interview because I would like to talk it through with someone other than myparents who would automatically encourage me to move. Their motto was the unexplored always beat the known. A motto I’d lived by my entire life but was beginning to rethink. If I talked to Anisha, she’d encourage me to stay.

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