Page 3 of Baby It's Cold Outside

“Excuse me,” he finished coolly, and strode off toward the door.

…

Talk about a bossy English schoolmarm. Who did the Chief Elf think she was, judging him and finding him wanting?

Though Mitch was guiltily aware that she had a point. Had it been any other job, he would’ve been there early. He wasn’t sure what spooked him more: the fact that this was a hospice and these kids would most certainly not be having a happy Christmas, or the fact that he was being Santa and had the weight of their broken dreams on his shoulders.

It was the first time he could remember doubting himself since he’d come to Philly. Not good. So he was going to have to fake this, for the kids’ sake.

What did Santa actually do?

It had been years since Mitch had visited Santa’s Workshop. He’d been so young that he couldn’t remember what it was like. Though he definitely remembered the fight his parents had had afterward—his father yelling at his mother for wasting good money taking the kids to see some loser in a red suit pretending to be Santa.

That was when Mitch had learned that Father Christmas didn’t actually exist. Or the Tooth Fairy. Or the Easter Bunny.

Ironic that he spent his time nowadays at a PR agency, promoting dreams.

He pulled himself together, changed into the red suit, and stuck his beard in place, then checked the sack marked “supplies.” The bag contained neatly wrapped presents, all named—so they’d clearly been chosen personally. This was something that his boss definitely hadn’t delegated. The wrapping, maybe, but the attention to detail was C.J.’s hallmark.

Would his boss expect him to take over that role, too?

He forced himself to smile—even though the beard would hide his face, he knew from years of training that a smile always sounded in your voice—and strode through the door. “Merry Christmas, everyone!”

The kids all cheered and gathered around.

While he’d been changing into the Santa suit, someone—most

likely the Chief Elf, he guessed—had set out a chair for him. Mitch sat down, put the sack of presents down beside him, took out the first one and read the label. “Is Monica here?”

A little girl who looked about ten years old came over shyly.

“This one has your name on it.” He handed the present to her. “Merry Christmas.”

“Am I allowed to open it now?”

He had no idea. And with all the years he’d been in PR, he really should’ve known better. He should’ve checked his brief properly and asked for clarification on the finer points before he’d even started this. He glanced over at Chief Elf; being the bossy English schoolmarm type, no doubt she’d already asked the question and knew the answer.

To his surprise, she actually smiled, and gave him the tiniest of nods.

A smile that made him feel as if the whole room had just lit up. He really hadn’t expected her smile to be that gorgeous. Or to affect him this way. And this was totally ridiculous. He was here to do a job. Nothing more.

He forced himself to focus and smile. “Of course you can open it, Monica,” he told her.

The little girl looked thrilled when she took off the wrapping paper to reveal a book. “Thank you, Santa, this is just what I wanted! It’s the next in the series I’ve been reading.”

Yup. C.J. had done his homework. This was real attention to detail.

Mitch handed out the presents one by one. Each child seemed genuinely thrilled by his or her gift—even the teens he’d half-expected to be bored by the whole thing because they were more than old enough to know that Santa wasn’t real. Yet they were careful not to spoil it for the little ones. Or maybe they were just joining in the magic, relieved to leave their worries behind for just a little while.

It was humbling.

And he understood exactly why C.J. had asked him to do this. Exactly what his boss had wanted him to learn.

The next name Mitch called was Sam’s. The little boy looked about five years old, and his sulky expression warned Mitch that he’d have to be careful.

“Merry Christmas, Sam.” Mitch held the present out to him.

The little boy shook his head. “No, thank you.”

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