Page 30 of The Thief Who Saved Christmas

“Did you see my friend go past? A gorgeous brunette with long, wavy hair and big brown eyes? About yay tall?” I say, lifting my hand up.

A throat is cleared.

Anabelle steps out from behind one of the large bushes.

The attendant points to her. “I think I found her.”

“Yeah, thanks,” I say, my gaze stuck on Anabelle. “I’ll be sure to share the reward money.”

“I need to go back to the B&Bnow,” Anabelle tells me in a small voice.

I grab the keys from my pocket and give them to her, giving her small hand a squeeze before I release it. This is me being restrained. What I’d really like to do is lift her off her feet and carry her to the car. See, Jake, I can act like a grown up. “I’m not gonna let you leave without your real Santa.”

“Thank you,” she says.

I pay for the things with a cash app and then head to the car. Anabelle’s father doesn’t come out; I don’t go in looking for him.

I halfway expect the car will be gone, and I wouldn’t be too sore about it if Anabelle had left after the scene inside. But she’s waiting in the passenger side, her eyes closed, rocking slightly in her seat. Alarm pounds through me, and I open the driver’s side door so quickly I nearly slam it into my body.

“What do you need?” I say, ditching the bag on the driver’s seat. Then I reconsider and pull out the real Santa, handing it to her. “Come on, Anabelle, give his belly a rub. You know you want to.”

Thank all that’s above and below, she laughs and takes it from me, her finger rubbing small circles over the worn spot. “You know, it really works.”

“Christmas witch.”

She gives me a soft smile, her eyes a little less glassy. “Thank you, Ryan. I didn’t know he’d be there.”

“You don’t need to thank me.” I put the bag in the back and then lower into the driver’s seat and shut the door. “I’m damn sorry. At times like this, I figure I’m lucky that I never knew who my father was.”

“You don’t know?” she asks, looking up from the figure.

I grin at her. “Our mother used to say our father was Santa. I think she was hoping we’d stop asking questions, but that obviously led to more questions.”

She smiles again. “So I’m in the presence of greatness?”

“You didn’t already know that?”

Her gaze holds mine for a few seconds, and awareness zips through me, filling every cell in my body with a buzzing sensation. “Yeah,” she finally says. “I knew.”

A heavy pause hangs between us, and my gaze falls to her pink lips, which I’m not supposed to notice. They tilt into a mischievous grin.

“You put in aremarkableperformance inThe Proposal.”

Surprised laughter bursts from me. “I fucking did, didn’t I?”

Grinning, she leans toward me a little, her seatbelt biting into her. I hadn’t even noticed her putting it on, not that I’m surprised—it’s a reminder of how differently we approach life. Anabelle, cautious and careful; me, as if it’ll all catch up with me if I don’t move fast enough.

“Why’d you come to the B&B under an alias?” she asks.

I can’t tell her yet.

I can’t tell her ever, probably.

Her lips are parted, and they’re glistening slightly, from the moment she licked them approximately thirty-five seconds ago—and if you’re wondering whether I watched her do it, then you’re damn straight I did.

I clear my throat. “I already told you my father’s Santa. I can’t share all my secrets.”

She looks down at the Santa in her hands. “My father was right. I should be doing a better job at the B&B. And I have to talk to Weston. That wasn’t a good way to end things.”

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