Page 67 of Santa Has a Six-Pack
“Yeah, well, I was really hurt.”
“With good reason!”
“I know!” She peers over at Tagg, then looks away. “Believe me, when I think of him with what’s-her-name, I want to scream. But—” She throws her hands up. “He says he made a mistake. He says he broke it off with what’s-her-name. He wants to try again.”
“And is he? Trying?” I don’t think I do a great job of hiding the doubt in my voice. I’m not convinced at all that Tagg deserves a second chance after what he did.
“Yes?” she says rather unconvincingly.
“Keir…”
“I don’t want my kids growing up in a broken home, okay? That’s what I had with my parents, and it sucked!”
“I hear that,” I say softly. “I do.”
We watch Tagg and the kids head to the photo kiosks to look at their images.
“Are you open to another perspective, though?” I continue.
She takes a breath and gestures for me to go ahead.
“I grew up wishing my parents would get a divorce. The number of fights and tension and, gosh, disrespect I had to witness between them? I think it would have been better for all of us if they’d called it quits. And try to remember, there’s no one-size-fits-all situation for what a family is supposed to look like. Your kids can still have a beautiful childhood, no matter what you and Tagg decide.”
Keira nods and sniffs. “Thank you, Penny. You’re a good friend.”
“Last batch of kids before the break!” Dottie announces as she sidles up beside us, full of bubbly energy. This has been her overall vibe since she and Leo made things official. “What’s the scoop, ladies? What are we talking about?”
“Matt and Penny had sex in Santa’s House!” Keira blurts.
Where the hell did that come from?
“How did you know that?” I squeak. “I mean, that’s not what we were talking about! And no, we did not!”
I need to simmer down. Because at this moment, I am the epitome of “the lady doth protest too much.”
Dottie narrows her gaze on me. “You were all flushed when you came back to conference room two last Saturday, and then you hid upstairs the rest of the afternoon…”
“She sure did,” Keira says, suddenly full of energy. “And now, here we are again, and you can barely look at him without your eyelashes going fluttery and your breath getting all choppy!”
I tilt my head and study Keira. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this. I see you trying to matchmake with me and Matt. Cool it, okay?”
“I’m sorry! Your love life is just way more interesting and promising than mine.”
“I have no love life! Matt and I are just friends!” My shout startles a shopper walking by. I smile at her in silent apology.
“Ooooooh,” Keira coos. “When did you become friends?”
“Since my friend Keira became weirdly obsessed with me, and I figured it was time I found a new one.” I glare at her.
Matt chooses that exact moment to approach us. He’s dressed in his civilian clothes for lunch break, no trace of Santa on him.
“Hey, Penn,” he says.
“Hey, Matt. How’s, uh, how’s the lap sitting going today?”
I make a special point to keep my breath smooth and my eyelashes unfluttered in case Keira is taking notes on my reaction to him.
“Good, good. Nice to spend some out-of-school time with the Klaus crew.” He smiles at Keira.
