Page 17 of The Santa Rules
“This is a small town, you don’t think I’d notice when a hot new man moves to town and starts handling a big hose?”
“I’m gonna pretend like I didn’t hear that. And technicallyhe’s an EMT too,” I say. “Great, now I can’t get the image of him holding his firehose out of my head.”
“You’re welcome. Bella, you’re still young and you have plenty of life ahead of you. Go hump the hot firefighter.”
I laugh as I grab my bag and head for the door, and then I turn back to her. “Got any plans tonight?”
“Why, honey, the world’s my oyster, and I’m gonna pop that puppy open with my sword!” Delilah says.
“I don’t think that’s how the saying goes, and nobody should be giving you a sword,” I call over my shoulder as I head out of the office.
CHAPTER 6
HARDY
When I pick up Avery from school the next day, Bella waves us down in the carpool line.
“Hey! Do you wanna plan a time for us to get started on the PTO stuff?” she says, glancing at Avery.
I raise an eyebrow until it hits me that she’s talking in code so Avery doesn’t catch on.
“Sure, I have some time now. Will that work?”
“Oh? Oh! Yeah, sure. Isaac is at his dad’s this afternoon so we could do it at my place.”
“Sure, let me drop Avery at the house and have Maggie come over to watch her. What’s your address?” I ask as I open the maps app on my phone and hand it to her.
She types it in. “I’ll see you over there in a bit.”
“Are you going to Miss Carlisle’s house?” Avery asks from the back seat once we pull out of the parking lot. Avery doesn’t quite have all her L sounds yet, so it comes out “Car-while” instead of “Carlisle.”
“Yeah, we’re working together on a special project for the school.”
“I wanna help!” she whines.
“You would be bored, baby girl. We’re going to be talkingabout boring stuff and making lists. It’s not gonna be fun,” I assure her.
Twenty minutes later, I’m admiring all the inflatables decorating Bella’s yard.
When she opens the door, there’s a huge grin lighting up her face, and I can’t help but smile back. I gesture at the inflatable of an upside-down Santa in the chimney kicking its feet. “I like what you’ve done with the place.”
“That one’s my favorite. I kinda have a thing for Santa, but I love a good stuck-in-the-chimney gag.”
I scan the rest of the yard. “They’re all Santa-themed.”
“It wasn’t intentional. I want to get other ones, but I’m on a budget and stick with whatever I can find for half price after Christmas.” She steps back, ushering me inside.
“So, this is what the rest of your house looks like,” I say, looking around her space. It’s a cozy little house with simple furnishings yet has a modern feel. A small kitchen opens to the living room, giving it an open-concept design. There’s an office and a half bathroom, and I know the bedrooms are upstairs since I was here on that call a little over a week ago.
“Shit, I totally forgot you’ve been here. That was super embarrassing, by the way.”
“The guy that called it in, is he your boyfriend?” Super subtle.
“Who, Brenton? No, he was just a guy I met on DTF.”
I swallow my surprise and start coughing immediately, feeling like I’m choking. She’s on hookup apps?
“You okay there, big guy?”
