Page 13 of Sinful Santa
“I guess if Tahlia likes it, it must be the one,” he said, not taking his eyes off her. A smile slowly spread across her face; no more ‘Miss Jameson’.
“Alright, kids,” Jed lifted the axe provided to them by a nearby farm employee, “I got this!”
“Jed, don’t you dare! You’ll throw your back out again!” Ophelia protested.
“Dad, why don’t I do that?” Nelson quickly took the axe from his now grumpy father. “Everybody stand back!”
Tahlia and the other Nelson’s returned to the middle of the path so that he could move freely. Once he made sure everyone was safe, Nelson removed his big overcoat and gripped the axe.
If Tahlia focused a little too much on the way she could see his back muscles move through his sweater as he swung the axe at the tree, that was her secret. Watching him, Tahlia warmed, her brain having supplied a certain fantasy of a certain man as a plaid-clad lumberjack, before she shut it down. No good would come of that.
After a minute or so he straightened up. “Kids,” he called. “Want to help?”
The twins scrambled over and together, Nelson, Maddy, and Kaiden shoved at the tree until it cracked and fell to its side.
“Timber!” Nelson called with a laugh that was echoed by his children. His eyes found Tahlia’s and his smile turned just a mite roguish. Tahlia found herself grinning right back, one fondly-thought word popping into her head.
Scoundrel.
11
After hauling the tree back to the cabin, the family ate lunch at the lodge then proceeded to the ski slopes. Decorating the tree was saved for later.
“Big day today,” Ophelia clapped her hands together as the group walked through the lodge toward the ski lifts. “You kids will be all tuckered out!”
“No, we won’t!” Kaiden protested.
“Grandpa will be asleep before we will!” Maddy stated with a toss of her curls.
“Not true!” Jed snorted. “I can stay up all night with the best of ‘em.”
Kaiden gave his grandfather a chastising look. “You snored all the way back from getting the tree, Grandpa.”
Ophelia erupted into bright peals of laughter that Jed tried to speak over while the kids argued with him. They walked ahead of Tahlia and Nelson, whose phone happened to ring just as they reached the doors. The others were already outside and didn’t notice when he stopped short to answer. Tahlia, however, was right beside him. At first, she was resigned to let him miss out on more time with his kids, but as he turned back into the lodge andthe automatic doors opened to a blast of cold air and the sound of the kids laughter, she paused.
“Nelson.” His tone was curt, the father disappearing beneath the businessman’s mask.
No, she decided. The kids expected him to be around today. Tahlia spun on her heel and stalked to where Nelson was standing. He was glaring at the lodge’s giant Christmas tree, apparently displeased with whatever he was hearing. Undaunted, Tahlia stepped in front of him and met that glare head on when it landed on her.
“What are you doing?” he mouthed. Tahlia pointed forcefully at his phone and then at the door out. His eyes narrowed and his shook his head. Tahlia was not to be deterred, however, and she repeated her points, more emphatically if that was possible. Nelson’s nostrils flared. “Go away,” he hissed.
“No,” she said at a normal decibel, not at all caring if she irritated whoever was on the other side of the phone as well as her boss. Nelson clenched his jaw and turned his head away.
“Reuben, something’s come up. Get the lawyers on the contract immediately.” He ended the call and redirected his attention to Tahlia. “That was entirely unnecessary and completely unprofessional, Miss Jameson.”
Ignoring his regression on her name, Tahlia lifted her chin. “You’re on vacation with your children. We’ve just had a lovely morning picking a tree and now we’re going to ski.” With a surge of boldness, she took his arm and guided him back to the door.
For some reason he didn’t resist, even though he could have easily pulled out of her grasp. “You’re being annoying.”
“You can’t use my name all of a sudden, but you can say I’m annoying?” She threw him a pointed look over her shoulder. Nelson rolled his eyes.
“I was on a work call,Tahlia.”
“That was not terribly important because you got off it,” she pointed out smugly. Her boss opened his mouth to retort but his face fell into a perturbed scowl instead. Tahlia snorted and, uninterrupted, continued on her merry way to the doors.
“Where have you two been?” Ophelia called, already fitted into skis and looking quite posh in her white faux fur hat and coat. A stark contrast to Jed’s worn brown coat, visible in the distance at the rental kiosk where he was helping the kids pick snowboards.
“Warming up a little,” Tahlia answered easily. “Are the kids ready?”
