Page 9 of Temporary Santa's Knotty Workshop
Willy
I should’ve been in my room sleeping like a normal person, but instead, I was investigating an alarm that had gone off in the middle of the night. I didn’t know if it was a false positive, nor did I know if accidental tripping of the alarm was typical, since checking on things wasn’t in my list of normal duties. But in any case, it wasn’t exactly something that could wait until morning, so here I was, dealing with the second alarm in the last twelve hours. It was like once Nick left, everything decided to fall apart.
With Nick and Percy gone, it fell to me. I didn’t mind that part of it. Taking the worry from them so they could enjoy this time away was important, and I was happy to be the one they trusted to do so.
I used my phone as a flashlight as I navigated to the workshop. The alarm had tripped in the Lube Lagoon. Sugar plums, I hoped it wasn’t a spill. I hated cleaning up lube spills. They were the absolute worst.
Why didn’t Santa work on making lube that was easier to clean up and didn’t stain? I would submit that as an idea for next year. It wasn’t as if lube was a new invention we were still working the kinks out of.
And just like that, my mind wandered back to his brother and how he had a similar feeling about lube, but more about the taste than the clean-up. Although, to be fair, he’d never dealt with a leak at Lube Lagoon. Anyone who ever had would agree with me about how cleaning it up was worse than tepid hot cocoa.
I expected to find… well, I guess I really didn’t know what I expected to find, but finding Campbell in Lube Lagoon, checking out the different scents was not in the list. Of course he was in the middle of this. Why didn’t Nick tell me he’d need a babysitter.
“What are you doing?” I didn’t hide my frustration. Why bother? He needed to know so he didn’t mess with the alarms in another department and have me out of bed once again.
He jumped and bottles of lube fell onto the floor. Luckily, none spilled. If they had, he would be in charge of cleaning them up, not me. And because I was feeling petty, I’d be watching the entire time. And obviously, I’d be watching to see him suffer and not at all because of the way I could see his shoulder muscles through his form-fitting shirt.
“Hey,” he said, leaning casually against the shelf. “I was just taking a look at things.”
I took a deep breath, forcing myself to relax. “In the middle of the night?”
He shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep. I’m used to sleeping in my cabin in the woods, not in this town. There are so many lights.”
“It’s Christmas,” I said. What had he expected from the North Pole?
“But like, you could turn some of the lights off? They’re gorgeous, but very bright.”
“Santa has blackout curtains installed throughout his house. Did you try using those?” I would not snap at him. I refused. “That’s how the rest of us were sleeping when the alarm went off.”
His mouth formed a perfect O as if he’d just realized what he’d done. Please let that be the case.
“I didn’t do that.” He wasn’t clear on whether he didn’t know about the curtains or the alarm. But he moved right along tohis signature flirting. “Can you show me where I can get some of those curtains, handsome? We didn’t get to finish our tour today.”
I rolled my eyes. “You shouldn’t be flirting with all the elves.”
Especially Chester. Not that I’d say that part out loud. Being jealous of the jerk of an elf wasn’t my shining moment.
“I don’t flirt with all the elves. I flirt with you. You’re special.”
“Yes, I’m sure that’s what you tell everyone. Did you forget that I was there with—” I slapped my mouth shut. I wasn’t going there. I refused. “I don’t have time for this, Campbell, you shouldn’t be in the workshop after work hours.”
“You really want to know why I’m down here?”
Hadn’t that been obvious?
“Yes, I want to know why you’re interrupting my sleep with whatever the sugar plums it is you’re doing. If you really need a sample pack, you can take one.”
“Actually, I was more curious about how the scents and flavors were made.”
I narrowed my eyes. “We’re not introducing new products right now.”
“Well, this wouldn’t be a new product available for everyone. This would be a new product for me.”
I crossed my arms. “Okay. I’ll bite. What sort of new product are you making for you?”
“I want a lube that tastes like my cum.”
I blinked once, twice. “You what?”
