Page 16 of Naughty Elf: Shimmersnap

He looked shocked for a moment. Then he shook his head and went to his desk. Had he expected me to quit? Maybe I should have fought harder. Luckily, I didn’t have to worry too much about that, because we did need to get started with our day.

I picked up the stack of paperwork set aside for me on his desk. “We’re still on for the hot chocolate bar tonight, right? I’ll get to work on this file, and I’ll make sure to confirm the details with the festival committee.”

“Right, of course. I’ll see you there.”

I giggled. “We’ll probably see each other throughout the day, Walter. I still work for you.”

“Of course,” he said. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” I gave him my brightest smile and turned and walked away. If I sashayed my hips a little extra, well, that was probably by accident.

Chapter 10

Walter

I didn’t enjoy having to tell Shimmersnap that we couldn’t explore a relationship between us. As amazing as the night had been, and as much as I wished things could be different, I was still me—grumpy, reclusive, loner, alpha Walter—and he was still too amazing of an omega to be tied to the likes of me. It shouldn’t have been a surprise to him, though—hell, the surprise had been when we landed in bed. Still, the look of regret on his face definitely mirrored exactly how I felt in my heart.

Maybe it was time for me to let Shimmersnap go as an assistant. If he worked for a different division, then we could be together. I shook that thought away. Even if we were together, it would only be a matter of time before he found someone better, or until my loner ways drove him away. It was better this way. One amazing night, rather than months of a slowly dying relationship. I could think of what could have been instead of being sad about what was.

The rest of the day went smoothly, it always did with Shimmersnap as my assistant. I hadn’t realized just how much help I needed until he came along. I would be lost without him. I only hoped that he hadn’t wiggled his way so deep into my heart that I’d be lost without him in my personal life too.

I was afraid I already knew the answer to that conundrum.

I met Shimmersnap at the festival. I found the booth where we would be working easily enough. Shimmersnap took one look at the hot chocolate and the cups set up on the simple table and shook his head.

“Well, this just won’t do,” he said. He tapped his finger to his cheek as he inspected the table.

I looked down at the area that had been set up for the company. One table, two chairs, a white tablecloth (bad idea when hot chocolate was involved), a banner with our company name, andof course, all of the hot chocolate. “It’s a hot chocolate bar,” I said.

He shot me an incredulous look that had me questioning my own sanity. “There’s no candy canes, no chocolate spoons, no sprinkles, no whipped cream, no marshmallows! There is no warmth or cheer or spirit! This… this… this is a crime against hot chocolate, really. If the elves of the North Pole could see this they’d laugh in our faces. I’ll be right back,” he said.

“Shimmersnap, we only have thirty minutes before the festival starts. You won’t have time to gather all of that stuff. This is fine. I’ve seen this before. This is what we do every year.”

His face contorted in horror. “You’ve served this to the jolly participants of the festival? The people who came here to seek out Christmas spirit and holiday joy? No, this won’t do at all.”

He disappeared. I was left there, just me manning the booth. I didn’t see anything wrong with what we were doing. We had hot chocolate. We had cups. Done. The cups even had our logo on them. That was all we needed. We even had stir sticks.

I had to smile at his enthusiasm, though. I never knew Shimmersnap could feel so strongly about hot chocolate. Or Christmas.

It didn’t surprise me, it only made me curious. What other passions did he have? Were they all holiday-focused or were there others?

Gosh, I wished I could get to know him better. As more than my assistant.

I let myself smile as I replayed his indignant argument in my mind.The elves of the North Pole.I laughed to myself. I bet he’d fit in well with the elves of the North Pole. He had the Christmas spirit for it.

Shimmersnap came back within twenty minutes, his hands full of plastic bags which were straining under the pressure of whatever they held. Where he went with so little time, I would never know, but he returned loaded with supplies. He started unpacking them.

“Okay, so we’ve got three kinds of sprinkles, candy canes you can use as stirring sticks, peppermint flavoring, and marshmallows in three different kinds.”

Marshmallows came in different kinds?

“Oh, and I also got these cute decorative bowls to hold the sprinkles and marshmallows. They sparkle, Walter!” He held it up and showed it to me, holding the bowl like it was a prized trophy. It did indeed sparkle

“I love it,” I said without a hint of sarcasm. I loved it because he loved it.

We had five minutes until the start of the event, when people would begin walking through requesting their free cup of hot chocolate.

“Shimmersnap, this is awesome but a little extreme. How are we going to—”

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