Page 126 of The One I Hate
I smile and wave. “Did you all get to see Santa?”
The host of children eagerly nod their heads.
“Well, if you want him to come to your houses tonight and bring you all those presents he promised, then what do we need to make sure we have?”
They all yell in unison. “Cookies!”
“That’s right. Now, how about I go back in the kitchen and see if we have any that you all can take home? Santa? Want to help me?”
“I’d love to! Ho, ho ho!”
I laugh under my breath as Simon waves to the kids before following me back into the kitchen. “Mellie, do we have some extra cookies I can send home with kids for Santa?”
“Of course! Oh! I should make some fresh sugar cookies. They can be in the shape of Santa.”
“That sounds delicious,” Simon says.
I look over to him with a raised brow. “You know you’re actually not going to be the one eating these cookies, right?”
He looks disappointed.
I shake my head at the ridiculousness of Simon. “Can you take them to the kids?”
“Of course.” Mellie claps her hands as she gets back to baking. “This is my favorite holiday.”
I heard through the grapevine that a famous actress known for holiday movies lives in Rolling Hills. Maybe she can come into the diner and base a character off Mellie, who I swear would be the perfect Mrs. Clause if she was thirty-three, bubbly, and lived for baking Christmas cookies.
I signal for Simon to follow me back to the office, where I shut the door and double check that the blinds are closed.
“Oh my,” he says in his Santa voice. “Does someone have a present for Santa?”
Simon’s eyebrows start waggling but I shake my head. “Not that kind of present.”
“Dammit.”
I laugh as I take the small gift I got for him out of my desk drawer. I didn’t plan on giving this to him here, but it feels right.
“What’s this?”
“A present.”
“We said no gifts.”
“I know,” I shrug. “But I knew you weren’t going to stick to that rule, so I didn’t either.”
He pulls me in by my waist and gives me a firm kiss. “You know me so well.”
Shopping for Simon Banks might be the hardest thing to do on Earth. The man has everything. Or if he doesn’t, he has the money to buy it.
And I think I nailed it. But that doesn’t mean I’m not nervous for him to open it.
I expected Simon to be a rip the paper open with his teeth kind of guy. But surprisingly, he’s not. He’s taking his time, making sure not to rip the paper. Almost as if it’s part of the present.
The man is a conundrum, to say the least…
I watch his face as he opens the present. It goes from curiosity, to shock, to awe, back to a look of utter surprise. Who knew that my present would be getting to watch him unwrap his?
“Bug…When? Was this?—”
