Page 48 of Evergreen Christmas

Jordyn winced at the sorrow in Holly’s voice. She touched Holly’s arm. “I’m sorry. Would you like to talk about it?” Hesitating, she smiled. “After being fortunate enough to meet the four of you, I’ve learned it helps to talk things through with a friend.”

Holly shook her head. “Sometime, maybe. But not tonight.” Her grin returned. “Tonight is all about you and this trendy Raunchy Red, darling!” Holly lifted the lipstick closer to Jordyn. “Why not just give it a shot? It’ll give your mouth a little pop. I’ll even put it on for you.”

“Can’t do that, Holly,” Carol Belle said, frowning. “That’s cross-conspiring.”

“Oh, no, it’s not.” Holly dismissed Carol Belle’s chastisement with a careless wave. “And if it is, then I won’t put it on for her, I’ll just strongly suggest she utilize it to enhance her appearance.”

“Besides, Carol Belle,” Eve said, “if you think no one else in this competition has ever cross-conspired, you’re a bit naïve, don’t you think? I can assure you that many people have done so. We simply haven’t caught them in the act.”

Carol Belle scowled. “Well, they ought not to. Ain’t no fun in breaking the rules. It’s not a true win, in my opinion, if it’s not achieved fair and square.”

Jordyn smiled. “That’s why I need your help, Carol Belle. Speaking of playing fair, would you please give me a rundown on tonight’s contest again? How is this thing supposed to work?”

Carol Belle’s frown melted away, an excited expression taking its place. “You’re going to have the time of your life, Jordyn! The contest is held in Drake Stone’s bar in downtown Noel—right across from the town square. This event happens behind closed doors with no children allowed. The first half of the contest is the Sexy Santa competition.”

“That’s when you make your grand entrance,” Kandy said with a shimmy. “The men will be on one side of the bar and the women will gather on the other side. The men are going to be dressed in their sexiest outfits, too, and they’ll be the ones who get to choose a Mrs. Claus for the Eggnog Nod part of the competition.”

“That’s right,” Eve said. “Ladies chose first last year.”

“Anyway,” Kandy continued. “Whichever lady a man chooses is who he’ll end up competing against in the Eggnog Nod.”

“And that’s when the real competition begins,” Eve said, nudging her glasses up higher on the bridge of her nose. “There’s a stage in Drake’s bar, and after the couples are paired off, you and your Sexy Santa partner have to strut your stuff across it for the crowd’s approval.”

“Whichever one of you earns the loudest applause from the audience,” Kandy said, “wins the points for the Sexy Santa portion of the contest.”

“After which,” Carol Belle said, “comes the Eggnog Nod portion of the contest. You and your Santa partner will be pitted against each other at the bar, and whoever drinks the most eggnog without giving in”—she made a face—“either physically or mentally, wins the second half the contest.”

“And that’s where you’ve got to be careful,” Holly said, leaning closer. “Very careful. Drake puts rye whiskeyandJamaican rum in his eggnog—lots of it! I’ve seen more than one person fall off a barstool after overindulging in that stuff.”

Despite the churn of her stomach at the mention of liquor, Jordyn laughed. “If there’s one contest I should be able to excel at, it’s holding my liquor.” She grinned. “I had to learn real quick when touring the circuit how to put away my liquor and drink the guys under the table. It’s hard keeping up with the boys sometimes, but I did it occasionally on the circuit to hustle up a few extra dollars when I was running short after a loss in the arena. Not my proudest moment—but it beat going hungry.” She frowned. “Only, back then I was basically living in my truck and all I had to do was walk to the parking lot and crawl in the back of the extended cab to sleep it off. How am I supposed to get back home to Chestnut Ridge after all that drinking?”

“No worries,” Holly said. “Those who come to watch the contest draw numbers on the way into the bar and certain numbers are assigned designated driver responsibilities for the contestants. Knowing that, you still think you can handle your liquor well enough to place?”

Jordyn smiled. “Believe me when I say that I’m well prepared for that part of the contest.”

Holly grinned. “Which is why I think you should put on the Raunchy Red lipstick. That’ll add to your sexy outfit and ensure that you win the Sexy Santa part of the contest, too. If you want to win the Christmas Crown, you need all the winning points you can get.”

“Who do you think will choose her?” Kandy asked, a wistful note in her voice. “I bet all the men will be clamoring to have Jordyn as their partner.”

“Oh, you know who’ll choose her.” Carol Belle crossed her arms over her chest and waggled her eyebrows. “In that outfit, Mason Walker will make a beeline for her before I have a chance to say go.”

“Oh, but what about Nate?” Eve blushed as everyone’s attention turned to her. “I mean, he’s bound to choose Jordyn as his partner.”

Carol Belle frowned. “That’s only if he competes—which, sadly, he never does.” She sighed. “Nate can be such a stick-in-the-mud.”

“But this year is different,” Kandy said quietly. “He might change his mind. Don’t you think so, Jordyn?”

Face heating, Jordyn looked down at her shiny, black boots. “I wouldn’t really know since this is my first year competing. But I hope Nate decides to compete tonight.”

“And there’s a good chance of that,” Holly said. “You did tell us that he said he’d reconsidered.”

“Yes,” Carol Belle said. “But did he say exactly what he had reconsidered? Spending time with you? Dating? Cross-conspiring with you by helping you bake gingerbread?”

Jordyn winced. She really shouldn’t have shared Nate’s comment with the Nanas this morning, but ever since he’d smiled at her across the island in his kitchen over perfectly baked, sweetly aromatic Christmas cookies and revealed that he’d reconsidered his answer, she’d been fit to burst to tell someone.

But even she had to admit that she wasn’t sure exactly what Nate had meant by the comment. All she knew was that his soft words and the warm looks he’d tossed her way during the Christmas Cookie Crumble contest had given her hope. Hope that he might reciprocate her feelings. After all, he had to feel some sort of strong attraction to her to be able to cheer her on as she forgot good manners and stuffed her face yesterday in an eating contest against his brother.

“I don’t know,” Jordyn said. “But I’ll take his comment as encouragement.” She looked up then, smiling at the Nanas and thinking of all the romantic possibilities, then held out her hand to Holly. “You know what? I think I’ll take you up on that Raunchy Red lipstick.”

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