Page 71 of Clause & Effect
He has me in his arms while I’m trying to kick at him to make my way through the door. It’s not just a normal person’s pantry. It’s the size of a bedroom, at least two thousand square feet and row and rows of candies and treats. “Stetson, baby, you have it alphabetized.”
“I like order!” He releases me with a pout.
“And cookies, you really like cookies, do you need them in every color and flavor? Asking for a friend.” I snatch a pack of Nutter Butters. “Guess you don’t have any nut allergies.”
“Put those back. They have a spot. Everything has a spot.”
I wave them above my head. “So, you have a minor addiction to sugar and what? A mild little issue with OCD?”
He flinches.
I grin and open the bag.
He gasps. “You opened the bag from the back you always open it from the front.”
“I’m a rule breaker. I break rules.” I tease and pop the cookie in my mouth. “You know how much better it tastes when you know you’re doing something wrong? Mmmmm,” I lick my lips. “Delicious.”
“Do that again.” He rasps. “I dare you.”
I lick my lips. He grabs me with one arm and tosses me onto the table in the middle. “I can only assume this is where you label and categorize your cookies, sir?”
“Shut up.” He devours me, not the cookie, in another kiss and tosses the bag to the ground. “Maybe I found another addiction. Another obsession?”
I giggle against his mouth. “I’ll be your sugar high any day.”
He groans. “If I kiss you again, I’ll never leave this pantry and we really do have things to get done, Christmas can’t survive without me you know.”
“You’re not Santa yet.” I point out.
“Hey, still a job, still have a role to play.” He pulls me off the table. “I can’t believe you opened it from the back of the package, it’s the lack of decency you know? The lack of respect for the Nutter Butter.”
I shake my head. “You’re cute when you’re mad. Don’t worry I wont tell anyone about the secret cookie pantry.”
“Good, because then I’d have to kill you. Don’t think Santa doesn’t have a dark side. We have dungeons.”
I feel my eyes light up. “Ooohhh tell me more, do you have chains, rope, Christmas tinsel?”
He groans. “Charlie, really, I can’t just get you naked again, and now I’m thinking about chains when I should be thinking about Christmas and showing you around and the contr—” he stops.
“The contract?”
“It’s not important.” He shrugs. “Are you happy now that you’ve established I have a sweet tooth?”
“I think it’s more than a sweet tooth and yes, thrilled.”
“What can I say?” He laughs. “It must be in our DNA.”
I smile, then a thought hits.
“Does your dad have portraits of the seventeen Santa’s that came before him?” I ask.
“He does,” Stetson doesn’t disappoint he also doesn’t elaborate.
“Are they here in the village?” I start to get excited. I would love to see them, I mean when would I ever get the opportunity again? Gah, there I am again with the dark thoughts.
“Yes, actually,” he admits. “I was going to take you today to the Claus-eum.”
Excuse me? I almost choke. He didn’t. Did he?
