Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Time freezes as we stare at each other. The joyful sounds of instrumental Christmas music filter through the speakers of the cabin that’s decorated to the nines, including a fake fireplace with a mantel covered in tinsel, stockings, and candy cane decor.
Christmas lights blink around us, casting multicolored shafts of light over his perfectly trimmed silver/gray beard and masculine features.
The last time I saw him was a year ago—on Christmas day actually.
After Holly and I had our annual Christmas brunch at our favorite diner, she’d convinced me to come over to his house for dessert.
I’ve never told Holly, but I think about that night often.
He’d fed us the best homemade gingerbread soufflé and made us spiked hot cocoa.
We played boardgames for hours, and Holly fell asleep before eight on the couch.
Cole and I ended up chatting until midnight about anything and everything.
I left later that night with a full belly and full heart—also with a massive crush. Not that it mattered.
Cole is Holly’s fifty-year-old dad, whom she loves very much.
He’s off limits. So I’ve done everything in my power to forget about him, including my failed attempts at dating and one night stands.
But I’m not going to lie and say I was always successful, that I haven’t thought about what it would be like to feel his mouth on mine, his coarse beard tickling my lips.
To scream his name while he took me hard and fast over any flat surface we could find.
My nipples tighten painfully, and arousal curls in my lower belly.
God, this was such a bad idea. I should have fought Holly harder about doing this.
I didn’t think seeing him again would have this much of an immediate effect on me, especially after so long and fighting so hard to keep his memory from my mind.
Moreover, I didn’t think seeing him in a full-blown Santa get-up would do it for me.
Boy was I wrong. Very wrong.
“Vixen?” Cole blinks at me as if he’s seen a ghost, his large body leaning forward in his massive ornate velvet green chair with arms. The kind with a quilted back and golden framing—a perfect throne for Santa Claus.
“Um…hi,” I say, holding my hands behind my back.
“What are you doing here?”
I look down at my black ankle boots and click the heels together.
They’re my favorite pair, perfect for the winter weather outside but also stylish and comfortable.
I click my heels together again like I’m Dorothy, and the action will teleport me to my warm bed in my apartment.
Truly, I was so dumb for coming here. Especially after Holly bolted.
“Vixen,” he says my name again, but this time he sounds worried. “Did something happen to Holly?”
My gaze snaps to meet his. He’s standing out of his chair, tall form tense with panic. I take a step toward him automatically with my hands up, shaking my head.“Oh, she’s fine! I promise she’s fine. She just left, actually. She got called in for a shift at the hospital.”
Cole’s shoulders relax and he exhales a long breath, rubbing a hand over his face and beard. “Thank god.”
He drops into the chair, his considerable shoulders leaning heavily against the back of it. His legs part open and his perfectly veined hands that I memorized as they gripped his hot cocoa mug last year fall to the carved golden arms, gripping the wood beneath his thick fingers.
“I’m sorry I worried you.”
His eyes find mine again. “I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions.”
We stare at each other for I don’t know how long, like two deer caught in headlights. Neither of us sure what to say next.
The change in song over the speakers from “Jingle Bells” to “Santa Baby” has Cole licking his lips. His brow furrows like he’s trying to fight himself on something, before his gaze begins to lazily peruse down my body.
He stares at my breasts that strain against the tight V-neck of my dress, his bowed lips parting and breath quickening before he trails further down to my soft belly and expansive hips, ending on my stocking covered legs.
My pulse picks up and all the moisture in my mouth drains to my pussy.
Did Santa Claus just check me out?
Cole’s intense gaze veers to mine, and by the wide flare of his nostrils and whites of his eyes, I’m guessing he’s registering what he allowed himself to do. That he very much checked out his daughter’s best friend in the middle of a mall in Santa’s cabin on Christmas Eve.
He clears his throat. “Why are you here, Vixen?”
My spine straightens, and some of the arousal zaps out of me by the cool tone that’s appeared in his voice. It’s a reminder that I shouldn’t be here.
“No reason,” I reply. “I’ll go now.”
I take two steps toward the exit sign I see at the back of the cabin, doing everything in my power not to cry.
There’s no reason I should be crying. It’s not like I should be disappointed he’s acting cold, when a moment ago he was checking me out, or the fact I won’t get to do what I came here for.
I didn’t even want to sit on his lap in the first place.
Did I?
“Vixen,” Cole barks. It reminds me of how a parent would scold their child.
I stop in my tracks and look at him. I’m closer to his chair now, off to the side of it and only a foot away from him.
“Come here.”
My body moves like there’s an invisible string attached. I step in between his legs, the velvet pant legs of his lavish Santa suit brushing against my knee-length dress.
He leans forward just enough that the heat of his body warms me, and our eyes become level with each other.
“Didn’t you know that Santa doesn’t like liars, Vixen?”My throat tightens and the arousal that started to dissipate comes back in full force. Why was that so fucking hot? I don’t think he meant it to be hot, but…
I swallow hard before answering. “I didn’t lie.”
“Really? Because I think you did.”
Despite the situation, annoyance kicks up in my gut. The man is attractive, but he’s not a mind reader. “And you would know that how?”
“Because I’m Santa Claus. I know when you’ve been bad or good.”
A smile curls at my lips, and soon I’m laughing. A full body laugh that radiates from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head.
“Atta girl,” Cole chuckles with me. “I didn’t like to see you upset.”
Fire curls deep inside me from his praise, but I’m not going to lie. It felt good to laugh with him, and I do feel better now.
Our laughter dies down and Cole shifts in his chair, adjusting the traditional Santa hat on his head and stroking his beard. One that isn’t fake in the slightest. The perfect mix of silver and gray is more attractive than it has any right to be.
“Vixen,” his voice is softer now. “Would you please tell me why you’re here? It’s Christmas Eve, shouldn’t you be with someone you care for?”
I sigh, wringing my hands. I told him about my family situation last year, so I don’t need to repeat that part of my life. “The only one I care for is Holly, but she’s at work now.”
“No boyfriend?” I shake my head. “Girlfriend?” I shake my head again. “Partner?”
“No,” I frown. “That’s actually why I’m here.”
His eyebrows shoot up in surprise, and I realize how that must’ve sounded. I place my hand on his velvet covered forearm.
“Oh no! I didn’t mean, well, that’s not why…Oh, god! This is so embarrassing.” Before I can pull back my hand he places his over mine and squeezes, trapping it there.
“Vixen,” he soothes. “Whatever it is, you don’t have to be embarrassed. You can tell me.”
Call it stupidity. Or maybe it’s Cole's soothing touch, and his ability to make me feel safe enough to answer his question, but I finally do.
“There’s something I want,” I admit. When he doesn’t speak, I add, “There’s something I want for Christmas, and Holly told me to ask Santa. Maybe he has a Christmas miracle left to give me.”
“I see,” he mutters.
For a moment I think he’s going to tell me to leave, that this is inappropriate like I first thought it to be, but then he leans back in his chair and pats his hand over his tree-trunk thigh, holding out his other hand.
I stare at the offering, unable to be sure if this is really happening.
But I know it is. I woke up this morning, had a nice day at home baking cookies before I came to the mall with Holly to walk around and look at lights.
She was the one who told me to do this, that it was a good idea, and now it’s coming to fruition.
“Well, Vixen?” Cole asks. “What are you waiting for?” He pats his thigh again. “Sit on Santa’s lap and tell me what it is that you want.”