Page 7 of Naughty Christmas Wishes

"Get back inside. Saint said she lives down the mountain. This is going to be a long ride home with you two wasted and don't throw up in my baby." He pats the door shaking his head and looks right at me. Those eyes are so blue and chilly like frozen water.

"It's Joyful Lord to you." I have no idea why I just said that or where the confidence came from. Ruby roars with laughter and the man just growls at me. "I'm going to be sick." He curses again but I don't get sick and instead, I just pass out.

Chapter 2 - That Wasn’t A Dream

Joy

There's a pounding sound coming from somewhere.No, I'm not getting up to check it out.The knocking continues and it gets louder with intense banging. I pull the covers over my head, praying for death. My mouth tastes like sandpaper and there's this tremendous pressure behind my eyes. The thumping I hear inside my head doesn't make me want to dance either. I groan in real pain from the horrible hangover and roll over.

When I hear the rattling of a door handle in the next room I fall out of bed onto the floor. By the sound of it the whole door must be shaking in its frame. I'm crawling on the floor for about five feet until I realize it hurts more down here. My knees aren't what they used to be and this was not a well thought out plan.

I use the dresser to pull myself up to a standing position. The lopsided walk to the door is very interesting and when I get there I want to celebrate but the extreme pounding in my head starts again. I aggressively grab the handle prepared to open the door. At the last second I think twice about that idea and just lift the curtain to peek out the glass window in the door instead.

My eyes blink several times and when that doesn't work, I wipe them in utter confusion.

Am I still sleeping?

"We need to talk, open up." His irritated tone doesn't intimidate me at all.

I look up towards the sky, and nope, no pigs flying today. My eyes meet his not impressed with the current situation.

"Come on, I don't have all day to wait out here." He glances around, probably at one of my noisy neighbors and sighs. "Joyful, please."

That makes me frown because this dude knows my real name but I wasn't born yesterday. "Go away. Christmas isn't for twelve days." I rub my forehead hoping to help with the pain. "Santa, I've had a shitty year and I can't afford donations. Please go bother someone else. Good luck and season greetings. Now I'm going back to bed." I drop the curtain and head back to my room.

Once in my room I flop back on the bed face down. I whine from the jarring movements that make my headache ten times worse. My eyes drop closed and I'm praying I can sleep it away.

I scream bloody murder when something touches my leg. Then I fall out of bed for the second time this morning. I'm tangled in the covers with my arms going wild trying to find a way out.

Dang, it's cold in here.

His deep rumble of a laugh vibrates all the way downtown. I finally manage to get the blanket off my head and my eyes go wide as I spot the stranger in my room.

"Get out of my house, you lunatic." I stand up furious then glance down in a panic.That’s why I’m so cold.I grab the blanket from the floor to cover my body. "I just told you, I don't have any money. Go rob someone else."

His eyebrows go up, but he's still staring so I jump back in bed. He watches me closely and I wait for him to leave pointing at the door.

"You've been sleeping for hours actually. I stayed to make sure you were okay." His high-and-mighty attitude makes me sober up.

Okay, it could've been the sleep.

My eyes narrow while inspecting his attire. He has something in his hand, but he quickly hides the book behind his back, embarrassed to be caught with it

"Great, thanks for staying. I'm fine now so you can get out." Why is he acting like it's normal for him to be in a random woman's house?

"We need to discuss this." He flashes me something in his hand.

I frown because for some reason I know exactly what that is even though I can't see from here. It's like magic. I sit up straighter, clearly upset by the new information. "How did you get that? You know messing with the mail is a federal offense, bucko."

"Yeah yeah, I'm shaking in my boots." He flicks my Christmas list with his finger. "I wanted you to know that instead of starting with day one we'll be counting down." He's condescending and speaking slowly like I'm a child. Just because there's a slight gray around his temples doesn't mean he's that much older than me.

"Listen here Santa, I get all this.” I wave my hand at his whole costume. “Ruby felt bad for me and set this little thing up. Just tell her I kicked you out okay." I get up bundled in the blanket and motion him towards the door. Unfortunately, my phone starts ringing on the nightstand and I walk over to pick it up, sighing at all the activity I’ve done without coffee.

The lack of caffeine is probably the only reason why I would make the huge mistake of answering the call without checking the screen. "Hello?" I gesture for the man in the red suit to get out but he just stands there staring at me. My apartment feels tiny with this larger than life man in my space.

"Joyce, what are you doing with that man in your house?"The Cheater!Heactually thinks he can question me? I always hate it when he calls me that. That’s not my name.

I wince at the stress headache forming and desperately wish I never picked up the line. I hit my hand on my head, then instantly regret the action and whine at the pain shooting through my skull. The stranger in my room curses and I glance at him confused. I'm assuming he’s the man Ram is referring to. My eyes narrow at the very handsome Santa watching me.

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