Page 38 of Welcome Home for Christmas
Chapter 10
Troy had jogged to Allison’s home. This time he’d had his phone on him in case he saw something suspicious in the neighborhood. The thief must’ve taken the night off, though, which was lucky for Troy because that meant he could pay his pretend girlfriend a visit.
“I’m kind of sweaty,” he told Allison as he entered the front room.
She shrugged. “I work with sweaty men. I’m not turned off.” Her cheeks flushed. “Or turned on…Would you like something to drink?”
“That’d be great.” He followed her to the kitchen and sat on a stool at the counter.
“So, you’re patrolling Seaside on foot?” she asked, grabbing a glass and pouring filtered ice water into it. “Kind of inefficient, isn’t it?”
“I need exercise, and actually, going slower means I won’t miss details that you might when driving fifteen miles an hour down the street. I have the Seaside PD on speed dial if I see suspicious activity.” He held up his phone, then reached for the ice water. “So, what’s the favor?”
She leaned against the opposite side of the counter, holding her own glass, and met his gaze. “Well”—she shrugged—“I know how much you want to help the kids at Mercy’s Place.”
He nodded. “We didn’t raise enough for the toys?” he asked.
“Oh, we did. Julie and I bought them tonight. All except one that I couldn’t find anywhere.”
“Great. So is that the favor? You need help finding a toy?”
“Not exactly. You see, the Santa that usually delivers the toys to Mercy’s Place fell and broke his leg. And a Santa with a broken leg just won’t work. I mean, how do you haul around a big heavy bag of toys with a bum leg?”
Troy shrugged. “Get the elves to do it.”
“Or…” She hesitated, and his gut sounded the alarms.
“Oh, no. No, I’m not playing Santa if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“Just for an hour. Wear the suit. Hear the kids’ wishes. Sayho, ho, ho,and you’re out.”
Troy frowned. He was skipping Christmas this year,damn it.Except he was attending a Christmas Eve party full of Allison’s family in a few days, he’d had dinner at a Chinese food place that was decorated with holiday cheer tonight, and now his pretend girlfriend (who had red Christmas hair and mistletoe green eyes) was volunteering him up to be Santa to a bunch of orphans. It really was true: What you resist persists.
His eyes narrowed and a grin kicked up on one side of his mouth. “One condition.”
Allison lifted her brows. “Condition?”
“You’re my Mrs. Claus.”
“There is no Mrs. Claus.”
“Then there is no Santa.” He lifted the water back to his mouth and drank, enjoying how completely flustered she got when the tables were turned.
She set her glass down and folded her arms under her chest, reminding him of what was under that silk pajama top she was wearing. Not that he’d forgotten. As if reading his thoughts, she hugged her body tighter. “I guess that’s fair.”
He chuckled softly. “Fine. I’ll do it.” He took another drink, then stood. “Time to jog back and look for bad guys.” He winked. He also needed to get out of here before a repeat of the other night happened.
Bad idea.
“Be careful out there,” she said, walking him to the door.
He turned when he reached it and leveled her with a stare. “I can take care of myself.”
Her hair spilled against her cheek as she looked at him. Reflexively, he lifted his hand and brushed it away. His fingers scraped softly against her skin and she shivered under his touch. So reactive. He trailed his hand down the curve of her neck and watched the muscles there constrict as she swallowed. Her chest rose as her breaths quickened. Damn. He needed a hell of a good reason to keep his feet moving forward right now.
“Troy?”
“Yeah?” His voice came out gravelly.
