Page 7 of A Candy Cane Christmas
“Daddy, the show is over. I think I need to speak to Mrs. Coleman tomorrow.”
Great, just great. That meant the next parent-teacher night was going to be awkward. Again.
Swallowing a groan, I turned around and went back up the stairs. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”
Hazel was waiting for me in the doorway, her arms crossed in front of her. “Mrs. Coleman wasn’t very thorough today. There’s sooo much about lions she didn’t tell us. Did you know…”
I ruffled her hair with a smile while listening to her ramble on about lions, but my mind was still fixed on my adorable, sexy neighbor downstairs. Luci. What an interesting, yet oddly fitting name for him.
Chapter 3
Luci
“You want me to stay after hours to do what exactly?” Ben asked, crossing his arms in front of his massive chest. The extra padding on his stomach might fool the children, but it was obvious to any adult that Ben wasn’t really an extra cuddly Santa, but more of a muscle bear. He still had a bit of cushioning around the middle, but not nearly enough to be Santa.
“To meet my neighbor’s daughter?” I said, giving him my widest, most pleading smile.
Ben sighed. “Is there a reason they can’t, you know, visit Santa when everyone else does? During our actual business hours?”
“They could. But we’re gonna have hot chocolate afterward, and I didn’t want them to have to wait in line or for me for hours. Please, do it for me?” Batting my lashes at him was a bit overkill, but it worked.
Ben let out another heavy sigh, but nodded. “Fine. Under one condition.”
I raised my brows at him. “What do you want?”
“I want you to tell me exactly what your intentions are regarding your neighbor and his daughter.”
I snorted. “Deal. I would’ve told you all about him during our lunch break anyway.”
At five fifty-five, the line to visit Santa was almost empty. We’d closed it almost an hour ago to make sure every kid got to actually see Santa. During our first year, we’d often had to work overtime or disappoint kids and send them away. Needless to say, we’d worked a lot of overtime that year. But in the four years since, we’d learned a lot. How to keep the line going, how many kids Santa could see in an hour. We’d perfected our routine every year. This year, we were working like a well-oiled machine. Even the new elves on board fit in like they’d been working this North Pole for ages.
Christmas music was blaring through the speakers, and I stood on my tiptoes again, trying—to no avail—to look over the crowd. Theo and Hazel should be here any minute. Unfortunately, there were still so many people, and I wasn’t the tallest guy in the world. Quite the contrary. I was what most people in the community called a twink.
Small, slim, with a rather boyish look. The perfect candidate to put on an itchy costume and play Santa’s good little helper.
“I’m sorry, Sir. The line’s closed for the day. You’ll have to come back tomorrow,” I heard Mary say for probably the hundredth time in the past fifteen minutes. Internally, I braced for the rude comments that, more often than not, followed.
“Oh, uhm… I’m actually here to see…” I recognized that voice immediately. Whirling around, I searched for Mary and Theo.
“Mr. Elf!” Hazel stood in front of the candy-cane striped velvet cord that worked as the barrier between the North Pole and the rest of the mall, waving with both arms. “Mr. Elf, we’re here!”
I couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm, and my body filled with a weird, fuzzy feeling I really liked.
“Hello, Hazel,” I said and skipped over to them, making all the bells that were attached to my costume jingle loudly. “Are you ready to meet Santa?”
It’d take another five minutes, as I saw the last family disappear inside the North Pole to meet Santa, but hyping her up a little couldn’t hurt.
“Yes, yes, I am,” she answered seriously, her lips pursed. “I have a whole list of questions for Santa.”
Behind Hazel, I heard Theo let out a small groan.
“Sweetie, we talked about this,” he said, his voice patient.
Hazel nodded. “I know, Daddy. No talking Santa’s ear off. But I made a list of questions so I only ask the important things.”
I could swear Theo was mouthing asorryat me while placing a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “And I’m sure Santa would love to answer your questions, but do you remember what our plan for this evening is?”
For a moment, Hazel pursed her lips, then they stretched into a wide smile that lit up her whole face. “We’re gonna have hot chocolate!”
