Chapter 5
T ravis couldn't stop the big smile from spreading across his face. Keely was standing by the hotel ballroom entrance, looking beautiful, and sexy, and slightly uncertain, just like when he'd seen her in the coffee shop.
Somehow he'd remained cool and collected during their coffee meet-up, hiding how his heart was speeding along like when he was in his kickboxing class. Talking and laughing with her had felt so natural. There wasn't a chance he could let that be the only time he saw her. She had seemed reluctant to let things end there, too.
Luckily their regular Santa had come down with food poisoning or the flu. Whatever it was, Travis was counting it as a Christmas miracle with his name on it.
Because it gave him a chance to ask Keely to be Santa's helper. Even if she made Santa think all kinds of naughty things.
Damn. He'd better steer clear of those before it was time to don the Santa suit. Last year's Christmas party was one for the books. He didn't want to eclipse it all because Santa was out of control.
Still, a little mischief couldn't hurt.
He grinned as he walked up to Keely and whispered, "Want a candy cane, little girl?"
She gasped and then started to laugh. "You better work on your lines, Santa. You could cause a lot of trouble."
"I was hoping we both could."
Her eyes sparkled with interest, but she nibbled on her bottom lip, as if deciding which path to take. She was an intriguing blend of bold yet shy. Sassy one minute, a bit unsure the next. He wanted to reassure her somehow, let her know he was figuring all of this out, too.
"I haven't done this for a long time," she said, as if she'd read his thoughts.
"Being a Santa's helper? You're so perfect for it."
He took her hand in his, letting his gaze sweep over her. There was so much to admire. She was wearing a sparkly dress that was short, which drew absolutely no complaints from him. Her legs were worth showing off. And the heels were black and barely there, a series of thin straps existing mainly to showcase her Christmas red toenails. Her hair was tucked up in a demure way but there were stray tendrils that drew his gaze, right down to her...devilish grin.
Busted .
"I've never been Santa before. I've got a big learning curve ahead of me tonight."
"As handsome as you look," Keely said, returning her own appreciative gaze, "I'm almost wishing you didn’t have to put on your Santa suit."
"I won't have to for a little while yet. How about I get you something to drink?"
She didn't have a chance to answer because his brother Wyatt showed up, carrying two flutes of champagne, one of which he promptly handed to Keely.
"I'm Wyatt. Travis' handsome brother," he said with a broad grin.
She laughed before taking a sip. "That must have been hard to fit on the birth certificate."
Travis grinned. "That's why we had to leave off 'devoted to mirrors worldwide'."
Wyatt chuckled, pretending to throw a punch at his brother's midsection. "It's also why you get to be Santa. Nobody would believe anyone as handsome as me could be roly-poly."
Keely tilted her head and studied him. "Don't sell yourself short, Wyatt. You seem to have a lot of potential."
He gasped and looked at Travis with his jaw dropped. "I like her! Where did you—Ahh, she's the sexy funny one, right?"
Her head snapped to look at Travis. If the champagne flute were bigger he would have dunked his head in it to cool the heat rising in his face. How did he explain this one? And then how did he hide Wyatt's body after pummeling him for causing this embarrassment?
"Did you really put sexy first in the description?" Keely's lips curved up in a satisfied smile. "I can help you with your answer, if you like."
"No need," he said, relieved. "Sexy and funny are my two favorite qualities. They tend to go hand in hand."
"I agree."
Wyatt gave Travis a look, which he ignored, because all he wanted to look at was Keely. And banter with her. Sexy and funny were definitely his favorites, and nobody had more of those than she did.
"Well," Wyatt said expansively. "I can tell when I'm not wanted—"
Travis pointed behind him without looking. "Yeah, there's a whole bunch of them over there."
Keely laughed, giving Wyatt a faux look of sympathy. "My best friend and I do the same to each other."
"A best friend? Is she as sexy and funny as you?"
She winked. "Depends on who you ask first."
He cackled and then headed off in the direction Travis had pointed to.
"Finally," Travis said. "I thought he'd stay forever."
"I'm glad he was here. I was nervous, but now I'm not."
"Yeah, busting his balls always takes away my nervousness too."
She laughed, her hand resting on his arm. "Wait. You're nervous? About being Santa?"
"No," he said softly. "About you."
Keely seemed genuinely surprised by his confession. "I make you nervous?"
He shrugged. "A little bit. I was really looking forward to seeing you, and then I told myself not to be so presumptuous, that it was just a company party."
"Presumptuous how?"
"Hoping there would be another da—er, day and time after this."
"It's okay," she said, her lips twitching. "You can say date."
He laughed. "That's just it. I don't really know how to date. I haven't had time for it. But now it's all I want to do. Even if I'm a complete rookie."
Her face flushed, as if she was pleased by his words. "Well, if you want to talk about presumptuous..." Keely opened her clutch purse and extracted a little piece of mistletoe. "I thought maybe we could give this a workout later."
His heart thudded. "I'm definitely on board with that."
Still, he couldn't let himself think about kissing her very kissable lips, not just then. Later, after his Santa stint was done, and there was some dancing...
No, he couldn't think about holding her close, either. He was close to breaking out in a sweat here. Maybe he could bribe Wyatt into being Santa for the night.
Keely put the mistletoe back into her purse, and then tucked her arm in his. "Come on, Santa-to-be. Looks like you could use a refreshing glass of something cold."
***
T RAVIS WAS THE MOST adorable Santa Keely had ever seen.
He patiently listened to every child's rambling list of wishes, then asked questions that made the child bob their head up and down, clearly pleased that Santa knew what was what in the toy world. He made Keely's heart melt every time he gently set each child back onto the floor, reminding them to be good until next year, and he'd be sure to get a report from their parents.
He was also the sexiest Santa she'd ever seen. His voice had that wonderful quality she'd been dazzled by during their first phone conversation—but now it was attached to other sexy aspects she was discovering about him.
He managed to wink at her on occasion, as if silently promising her he was eager to get back to her, but also relaying how much he enjoyed the anticipation while they played their roles. Or maybe he was enjoying inciting a response she found hard to hide. Surprisingly, she didn't really want to hide it. Not now, not from Santa.
She bit back a smile, not realizing that her duties were done until Santa was standing in front of her. His eyes were twinkling, but with something that was a little more than just holiday merriment.
A DJ started playing some dance music, and Travis held his hand out, as if to lead her towards the dance floor.
"I'm tempted. But we should probably wait until you're not Santa anymore. It could permanently scar these children if they see you dancing with someone who isn't Mrs. Claus."
He laughed. "You're right. I'll be back in a flash." He glanced around, as if expecting Wyatt to swoop in from somewhere.
"Don't worry. I'll wait right here." She grinned. "Working on my wish list."
He rubbed his thumb across his bottom lip before adding playfully, "I could keep the suit on. So you can sit on my lap and tell me what you want for Christmas."
She could barely halt the shiver. "That could take all night. It's a pretty long list, Santa."
Travis gave her an appreciative grin. "I'll be checking it twice."
"I hope so!"
He spun around and sprinted to change his clothes. A good thing, because she needed a minute.
Santa was making her hot.
Way too hot.
***
T RAVIS SILENTLY GAVE thanks for the slow dance that started to play just as he returned. He might have to slip a little extra to the DJ, to make sure there were plenty of chances to have Keely in his arms like this.
She fit like she'd been made for him. He had his arm around her waist, and his hand kept one of hers close to his chest. Each movement made their bodies brush against each other in such a tantalizing fashion. He might have felt guilty if she hadn't moved just a little bit closer to him.
Still, he didn't want her to think he wasn't enjoying her in other ways, because he was.
And he wanted to know even more about her.
"What's your favorite Christmas song?" he asked.
"O Holy Night," she answered without hesitation. "You can't fake your way through that one. You have to have an actual voice." She grimaced. "Which is why I can only hum along to it."
Travis pulled her a little closer, and began singing softly in her ear. "O holy night, the stars are brightly shining..."
She leaned back and gave him a mock scowl. "You sing, too? I should have known. After all, you have that sexy voice that must keep your customer satisfaction ratings sky-high."
He grinned. "I don't think of it as sexy. It's just how I sound."
"Which is sexy. I'll bet women call just to hear you answer. No, that's not fair. Women and men probably call."
This time he laughed. "I did have one woman say I should be working a phone sex line, not a customer service one."
"If I find out Grandma has been calling..."
"She'd do something like that?" He tried to keep from smiling, but it was impossible right then, with Keely in his arms, pressed against his body as if there wasn't anywhere else she wanted to be.
"In a heartbeat."
"Would you ?"
She inhaled quickly, and then he noticed a blush appearing on her cheeks. He was tempted to place a light kiss there but he held back.
"Maybeeee..."
His grin broadened.
"Except I already had a valid reason for calling you, since my order wasn't quite right, even after you fixed it." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I was secretly glad it wasn't fixed, so I could talk to you again. I was so disappointed when somebody else answered."
His heart thundered at her sweet confession, prompting his own. "I probably shouldn't admit how excited I was when our regular Santa came down with a horrible stomach bug and couldn't be here tonight. I did warn him the onion dip in the breakroom fridge seemed a little bit off. Or at least I meant to."
She giggled. "Santa, Santa, Santa. You've got a wicked streak, don't you?"
"How will I know who's naughty unless I'm the same way?"
***
S HE COULDN'T POSSIBLY be falling for someone she'd only met twice. But she was. And she still knew so little about him.
"What's your favorite Christmas song?" Keely asked.
"'All I Want for Christmas is You'."
"Of course you do. But what's your favorite song?"
Travis laughed, tightening his arms around her. There shouldn't be any room left between them, not after all the slow songs they'd danced together, but every time she could feel a little more of his...appreciation.
"You want me to sing it for you?" His eyes had a mischievous glint in them.
"And have you cause a stampede? Let's wait on that." She grinned. "What's your favorite Christmas cookie?"
"Hmm, it's changed as I've gotten older."
Keely leaned back to study his face. "You used to love the sugar cookies that had two inches of frosting—"
"And those red hots, even though I never ate them at any other time."
"Because they're gross. What about those silver ball things?"
He shook his head. "I kept expecting them to taste like money or something. Wyatt must have tried to convince me of that."
She chuckled. "My poor mom tried to persuade me to use fewer decorations, knowing I'd insist on her eating one of my masterpieces later."
"Yeah, my mom always kept a big glass of milk nearby, and she'd take the tiniest bites. My dad hovered like he was prepared to perform the Heimlich on her."
She couldn't hold back her laughter. "Ah, Santa, you are such a delight. Thank you for inviting me tonight. I'm having such a great time."
"Me, too, Keely. The best in a long time."
Keely shivered with excitement. She could only hope there was more to look forward to with Travis. He was fun and funny, and his sexy banter spurred her to new heights of sassiness. Yet he was also sweet, melting her heart at a rapid pace, like when he'd confessed to being a rookie at dating. The same way she felt.
The music stopped, and then it switched to a fast song, but Keely didn't have the energy for that at the moment. Her legs could barely move as it was, the way Travis was gazing at her, almost wistfully. As if he couldn't believe he'd gotten the gift he'd been hoping for. She was probably looking at him the same way.
There was one thing she needed to do before her caution tried to muscle its way to the front of the line.
"We can't forget this," Keely said, opening her purse.