Page 17 of Christmas Wish

I paused as I was hooking my bustier back on. I wasn't sure how I had gotten this lucky. He looked like he had stepped out of the pages of a magazine. It didn't matter what he said. He was way out of my league. I quickly finished hooking my bustier when I heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs. I was just grabbing my coat to cover up my outfit when a little kid squealed.

"Santa, is that you?"

Tucker laughed and ducked down, hiding behind the couch.

"Tucker, don't you dare..."

"Santa?" The little boy ran over to me. His eyes bulged when he looked up at me. "You don't look like Santa."

Oh my God, what the hell am I supposed to do? I laughed awkwardly and pulled my coat on. "That's because I'm just one of Santa's helpers."

"What do you help with?"

"I tell him when it's safe to come down the chimney. You know, when all the children are asleep."

"Are you an elf, then? Aren't elves short?"

I heard Tucker laugh behind the couch. "Yup, I'm an elf." Why wasn't this kid going back to bed?

"Then what's your name?"

"Umm...Elfington?" I was so bad at thinking on my toes.

"Oh. That makes sense," the boy said.

"Now, you better go back upstairs. Or I'll have to radio the big man and tell him that he can't come down because someone's still awake."

"No! I'll go back to bed!"

"You better hurry."

"Thank you, Elfington!" The little boy threw his arms around my legs and then bolted toward the stairs. As soon as he feet his the stairs, Tucker stood up.

"Elfington the sexy elf? I like that."

I shoved his arm. "How could you leave me alone like that."

"If my nephew saw me talking to you, he'd be asking me questions all day. I was just trying to avoid having to lie to him."

"So you made me do it?"

"I think you pulled it off."

I laughed. "You're the worst, Tucker."

He wrapped his arms around me. "Do you really think I'm the worst?"

"No. I'm pretty sure this was actually the best night of my life."

He smiled. "When my family comes down, I'm going to tell them that you're my girlfriend. And I don't want to have to be pretending."

"Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?"

"Yes." He smiled at me. "My mom's probably going to mention wanting grandchildren, though, so don't let that freak you out."

I laughed. "I can't believe Tucker Mills is my boyfriend."

"I can't believe that Julia Wild is my girlfriend." He leaned down and kissed me again.

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