Page 29 of Sinful Santa
“We believe as his constituents, we have the right to stay up,” Maddy said primly. “A vest interest.”
Kaiden nodded quick in agreement. “Constituments and vests,” he repeated seriously.
Tahlia pressed her mouth into a tight line to keep herself from breaking; the two had definitely picked up some business lingo from their dad, albeit mispronounced. It was clear she was going to have to do some creative improvising.
“Um, while you make a good point, Maddy, you must not know about the contract.”
The twins’ eyes widened.
“Contract?” Maddy asked. “What contract?”
“Well, it’s an implied contract to protect Santa’s interests and kiddos all over the world agree to it when they send in their wishlists. You know how important contracts are for your daddy. They are just as important to Santa.”
Tahlia wondered if Matt would approve of the intricate lies she was telling his kids but figured he could ruin their childhood later; it was a track he was already halfway down anyway. Right now, Tahlia wanted them to have the best Christmas possible and if she needed to say Santa had a legal department, then she would. Fortunately, it seemed Tahlia’s little fib worked. After a brief, whispered exchange, the twins slid off the couch.
“We agree to the contract, too,” Kaiden announced. Tahlia held out her hand.
“Shake on it?” The twins nodded and each took Tahlia’s hand in turn. After, Tahlia stood up, hands on her hips, and gave them a serious look. “Now scoot!” The sound of small feet sprinting for the hallway was followed by the click of their bedroom door. Only then did Tahlia let herself giggle; making a handshake contract with twin eight-year-olds was not on her Christmas bingo list but that was part of the joy of living with the Nelsons.
“Are they in bed?”
Tahlia turned to face the father, who had appeared from his bedroom after yet another long phone call. He’d missed Christmas Eve entirely.
“According the contract, they should be fast asleep. Or at least pretending to be asleep.” He gave her a quizzical look and Tahlia waved a hand. “Never mind.”
“Okay. Present time, I guess.” He disappeared back down the hall. Tahlia blew out a heavy breath before she followed.
The kids’ gifts were all hidden in her room and she let him inside to help her pull them together. Combined with what Jed and Ophelia had brought, there was a ridiculous number of packages but Tahlia wasn’t about to get too judgmental about itwhen Maddy and Kaiden weren’t even going to have their dad for Christmas. By his choice.
She managed to bite her tongue on their way back to the living room but the more gifts they put under the tree, the more his decision whittled away at her self-control.
“Why do you have to go?” She blurted out.
Matt froze for a few seconds then turned a scowl on her. Perhaps it would have been more intimidating were they not both on their knees in front of a crooked, tinsel saturated fir tree surrounded by gaudily wrapped boxes.
“Excuse me?”
“Why do you have to go?” she repeated. “You promised them you would be here for Christmas.”
“What I do with my kids or my time is none of your business.”
Tahlia bit her tongue. She knew that was a warning and she was treading close to the line but she couldn’t stop. Those kids deserved a dad who was present.
“What is working at Christmas going to do for you or the company? Your kids miss you, Matt. You’re missing the best moments with them because you’re drowning your anger in work and Maddy and Kaiden are paying the price!”
“That’s enough!” he snapped and stood. Tahlia’s heart pounded away in her chest; yep, she’d definitely crossed that invisible line. When she rose to her feet, she met his gaze and it was furious. “You have overstepped for the last time. You have gotten far too comfortable-”
“Too comfortable? Who was too comfortable with who last night?” she hissed, furious now in her own right and deciding she may as well address all the issues. “You kissed me, Matt.”
Fear flashed across his face before he replaced it with a stoic, blank mask. “I apologize. I should not have done that and if you need-”
“What I need is for you to admit you feel this too! That you feel anything!” She exclaimed then covered her mouth and held her breath. Matt went silent, too, probably doing the same as she and straining his ears to hear for any sign the kids were up. After a few tense seconds Tahlia released her breath. “Damn it.”
Matt’s shoulders dropped and he rubbed his hands over his face. “I can’t do this,” he rasped when their eyes met again. His were red and watery.
Her stomach dropped and she knew the next thing he said would be that she was fired. She couldn’t bear to hear the words come out of his mouth, so she did it for him. “I applied for an engineering job a few days ago.”
After what she thought was a stunned silence, he asked, stiffly, as if he had to force the question out. “Are you giving notice?”
