Chapter 9 #2
The second thing on our plan was the tree-decorating contest. We joined a small team, shy of two, that had already chosen one of the trees in the town square.
It turned out to be a husband, wife and their two adult children.
We had an hour to complete the challenge, and all the decorations could be chosen from the big bins outside the post office.
The various trees would be judged by festival goers, each placing their vote in a mailbox in the town square.
The winning team would be announced later in the evening.
The group that won would each receive a box of chocolates from a local vendor, a voucher for a free pie at the local bakery, and free lift passes for the ski mountain.
“We might be outnumbered here,” Kristoffer whispered to me as we listened to our team consulting with each other as the announcer called out the names of the sponsors of the contest. “Our ideas might be ignored.”
“Don’t be so pessimistic, Santa Daddy; You’re supposed to be a jolly fat man full of Christmas spirit and magic.”
“Minus the man and Christmas spirit part, I’m none of those things.”
I laughed.
“I have an idea,” I announced after I browsed the bins of decorations.
The family looked at me and then at Kristoffer as if they’d forgotten we existed.
“Why don’t we decorate ours like Santa Claus?
” I grabbed a red-velvet fur-trimmed tree skirt out of the box.
We can rope the red lights tightly around the top and add the white light star as the pompom and use the tree skirt as a coat.
The smaller red balls for the nose and mouth, and the bigger ones for the cheeks.
The silver balls for the eyes and all the white ones for the beard.
We can even use the string lights to outline so they really stand out. ”
“Oh!” The couple’s daughter held up some white tinsel. “This would also work for the beard.”
The son added, “No one will be doing this, which means our tree will stand out!”
“These stockings can be used as his boots,” the mother suggested and everyone was on board.
Kristoffer winked at me and whispered, “I might need to hire you for future negotiations.”
We worked together until our creation was perfect and when we lit it up there were oohs and ahs from passersby. Kristoffer took my hand and tugged me behind the tree under the guise of looking at it from the back. And when we were hidden from our team and the crowd, he pulled me against him.
“Kiss me, Little Red,” he demanded, but didn’t wait until I complied. Instead, he leaned down, wrapped his strong arm around me and kissed me hard on the mouth.
“What was that for?”
“You deserved it because we’re going to win this, thanks to you. And the bakery has stopped taking Christmas pie orders for weeks now and I really wanted a cherry.”
The dad popped his head around the corner, and I jumped back from Kristoffer.
“We’ll meet up later at the post office for the results. But I already know we’re going to win. Great idea, Emily.”
“Thanks!”
“Sure thing, Jim,’ Kristoffer replied, and the man dashed off with his family.
After that, we strolled through the square to the cookie-decorating station at the bakery and decorated gingerbread men.
Three men of the dozen we bought didn’t make it into our takeaway box, and two of those were eaten by me with no remorse.
Next, we stopped to feed the reindeer at the little petting zoo the town had set up for the kids.
“Did you know all of Santa’s reindeer are actually female?” I asked as I held my hand out flat for the deer to nibble the pellets they sold for us to feed them.
Kristoffer ho-ho-hoed in my ear and whispered, “Of course I do, I’m Santa and I’m all-knowing, but why?”
I giggled. “Male reindeer shed their antlers in the winter. Female reindeer shed theirs in May, so all of your reindeer are female, including Rudolph, Santa.”
“Is that so?”
We skipped the hot chocolate booth and the poutine truck since our bellies were warm with Gl?gg, Glüwein, traditional German Christmas food, and gingerbread cookies.
But we did stop and have maple syrup on popsicle sticks in the snow because it didn’t get more Canadian than that and neither of us had done it since we were kids.
“Come on, this is a shortcut,” Kristoffer said, ducking down a path between a couple of shops that weren’t open for the festival.
As soon as we were alone, Kristoffer tugged me around against one of the brick buildings and planted a kiss on my lips.
I was taken aback again, but it wasn’t an unwelcome kiss, especially once he cupped his gloved hands on my face, looked at me tenderly and kissed me again, deeper this time.
My heart kicked up and my middle warmed even more than it already was.
“I enjoy spending time with you, Emily.”
When he pulled back, my eyes shuttered. He rarely called me Emily and this time it changed something in me.
Little Red was fun and flirty. It fit my narrative that we were just having a casual good time.
But we’d just spent the evening decorating Christmas trees and gingerbread men and feeding and petting reindeer and kissing and that sounded nothing like two people only together for sexual gratification.
My gaze scanned his face in the dim light, and I suddenly didn’t care if this was just about sex to him. I had loved every second of the night and kissing the gorgeous man between the buildings of the picture-perfect little town was the perfect complement to that.
Reaching up and grabbing the lapels of his wool coat in my mittened hands, I tugged him back toward me, rose onto my tippy-toes and kissed him. Our kisses were deep, meandering, and sweet, flavored with the spiced wine, gingerbread and the headiness of whatever was budding between us.
As our kisses ended and we came back to the moment, we both noticed the snow had started back up suddenly and those big fluffy flakes were floating gently around us again. A woman sang Last Christmas from the karaoke booth and the notes fluttered around us with the snow.
It was perfect. Hallmark movie perfect.
“That was nice,” Kristoffer said as he set me back slowly onto my feet. I hadn’t even noticed he’d released my face with one of his hands to wrap his arm around me and boost me up. It was such a great kiss I thought I’d imagined floating off my feet.
“Mm, it was.”
He took off his glove and ran his thumb across my cheek. “I liked it very much.” And then before I knew what was happening, he dipped me to the side. “And I like you very much, too.” And then he leaned to my lips and kissed me again.
It was a dizzying kiss, or maybe it was his words that were so potent they made my head spin. Either way I felt myself falling for this man.
“You’re glowing,” he said as he set me back upright. “And so beautiful.”
“I am standing underneath a lit-up Christmas wreath, Kristoffer,” I replied. “It would be odd if I weren’t glowing.”
He chuckled, took my hand again and we started walking back toward the market. “Don’t get saucy, Little Red. You know how much your Santa Daddy likes to tame your sass.”
The comment made me grin and instantly feel sexy flutters low in my abdomen.
“And you know how much I love when Santa Daddy spanks my a—”
David and Charlotte came around the corner, grinning ear to ear at each other and almost collided right into us. “Oh!”
“We were ducking down here for some privacy,” David said, his eyes still on his bride and full of love.
Then his gaze zeroed in on Kristoffer. “What are you two doing down here?” He looked down at our hands, but they were hanging loosely at our sides because Kristoffer dropped my hand while the bride and groom were giving each other goo-goo eyes.
“Taking a shortcut from the bakery to the ornament shop,” Kristoffer offered without a beat.
“You don’t have to hang out with this old guy,” David said with a laugh. “You can hang out with us.”
“Sorry, but no one wants to be a third wheel with the bride and groom,” I replied. “Besides Kristoffer’s nice and a perfect gentleman.”
“He better be being a perfect gentleman,” David warned.
Charlotte scolded him. “Stop with your caveman baloney and leave them alone.” She looked at me. “You’d never be a third wheel, Em.”
“What about Madeline and Blake?” David suggested, looking around. “We saw them a few minutes ago.”
“Stop worrying about me, David. Kristoffer is showing me all the best things here.” I looked at Charlotte. “And we’re totally going to win the tree-decorating contest. Ours is for sure the best tree.”
“Thanks to you,” Kristoffer added, looking proudly down at me.
“We’re heading over to watch as they announce the winner. We already looked at them all,” Charlotte said as she leaned closer to me. “I bet I know which one’s yours.”
“I was hoping I’d have one sister on my side once you and David got married. David and Madeline tease me enough.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. But am I right? Is it the Santa?”
I bite my lip, refusing to answer but she laughs.
“I knew it!”
Searching for a reason to change the subject, I noticed the small bag in Charlotte’s hand. “Did you get an ornament?”
“Yes! Look at what I found.” She pulled out a cupcake box.
Opening it carefully and unwrapping, she held up a beautiful glass ball.
Inside was a miniature 3D scene of a couple skating on the glassy lake, while snowflakes fell.
Written on the bottom was the date and the words, Our First Christmas as Mr. would you mind if I headed back after the tree-contest announcement?”
“I wouldn’t mind at all, but I hope it wasn’t me that made you want to leave.” He gave me a small smile. “I didn’t mean to be grumpy.”
“No, you’ve been nothing but perfect all night. I think the gr?gg and Glüwein made me a little sleepy.”
“Okay then, right after we get our prize, I’ll take you back.”
“Oh no, that’s not necessary. I’ll just hop on one of the shuttles.”
“Emily, I’m not letting you go back on your own. I’m taking you, so I know you’re safe. Keep arguing and see where it gets you.”
I shivered. It was the first time he’d been so dominant since our night together and as heavy-handed as my strong independent inner feminist was, the other part of me, the one that already had it bad for him, was swooning.
“Maybe you could demonstrate, Santa Daddy,” I said bravely. Kristoffer’s eyes slammed into mine and he held my gaze as if he was assessing whether I was teasing.
I knew exactly the moment he realized I was asking him to come back to the chalet with me because his eyes flared heat and his mouth curved into a sexy half smile.