Santa' Wayward Elf

by Paige Tyler

  “Guess you like things sweet, huh?” Derek said.

  She blushed as she lifted the mug to her lips and took a sip. The sugar she’d added had made the coffee sweeter, but it certainly wasn’t too sweet for her. More importantly, it made the coffee taste better than before.

  “You know, if you can’t get hold of your friends, you’re welcome to spend Christmas here if you want.”

  Sosie blinked at him over the rim of the mug. “I am?”

  He picked up his toast. “Yeah. We all get together in the common area downstairs to have Christmas dinner and exchange gifts.”

  “We?”

  “The other people in the building. At least the ones who don’t go visit family.”

  “That sounds like fun. I’d love to have dinner with you. If you don’t think everyone else would mind.”

  “Of course they won’t mind. There’s always more food than everyone can eat. And even if there wasn’t, you’d still be welcome. No one should be alone on Christmas, especially in a strange city where they don’t know anyone.”

  It was official. She’d definitely lucked out meeting Derek. She bit into her second slice of bacon and chewed thoughtfully. “You don’t go visit your family on Christmas?”

  “Normally I do. But this year, my parents are spending Christmas at my sister’s place in Indiana, so I had dinner with them last night before they flew out. I couldn’t go because I have to work.”

  Sosie didn’t know where Indiana was—she didn’t even know where they were—but from what Derek said, it sounded as if it was far.

  “Do you work at the club every night then?”

  He shook his head. “Only a couple nights a week. If I’m off-duty.”

  “Off-duty from what?”

  “My real job. I’m a detective. I only moonlight at the club for some extra cash.”

  Sosie wondered why he only worked at the club when the moon was visible, but she’d have to remember to ask about that later. Right now, she wanted to know more about his other job.

  She nibbled on her toast. “What do you spend your days detecting?”

  Derek chuckled as if he found her question amusing. “Well, I spend my days detecting bad guys. Right now, however, I’m spending less time detecting and more of it trying to prove they are the bad guys. I work in the organized crime division, so that kind of goes with the territory.”

  Sosie frowned. The term “organized crime” didn’t make a lot of sense to her. Did that mean the bad guys he’d mentioned worked according to a schedule and committed crime in an orderly fashion? Was there such a thing as unorganized crime, too? But she didn’t ask him for details. She didn’t want to come off as completely clueless. It was bad enough she didn’t know what bacon and eggs looked like. So, as he told her about his job, she nodded and said things in reply she hoped sounded intelligent.

  While she enjoyed listening to him, she was nervous he was going to ask her questions about where she was from. Every time it seemed as if he might, she quickly turned the conversation back around so they were once again talking about him. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice.

  “I almost forgot,” he said as he pushed his empty plate out of the way. “I told one of my neighbors about your friends abandoning you at the club and she gave me some clothes for you to wear. She has a teenage daughter about your size, so they should fit okay.”

  She paused, the mug of coffee halfway to her lips. “You did? That was sweet of you.”

  “I figured you wouldn’t want to wear your Christmas costume all day. Why don’t you change while I clean up? The clothes are over there on the couch.”

  Derek thought her red and green clothes were a costume—like the bouncer at the club. Maybe she should tell him they weren’t. Then again, maybe not. From what she’d seen so far, BPs didn’t dress anything like elves.

  “Feel free to use the phone in the bedroom if you want to call your friends. I’m sure they’re worried about you,” Derek said as she picked up the clothes and started for the bedroom.

  Sosie nodded, but didn’t say anything. He’d think it was odd if she told him she still had no way to contact her friends. She would have to pretend she’d tried to call them, then tell him she hadn’t been able to get in touch with them again.

  Although she was still reluctant to take off Derek’s soft, comfortable T-shirt, she was eager to try on the clothes his neighbor had been kind enough to give her. The jeans fit her perfectly, even if they were snugger than she was used to. The shirt was a little tighter than the ones she usually wore, too, but it was still a great fit. She had no idea what an American Idol was, but the words splashed across the front of the shirt were cool anyway.

  Hoping she looked okay, Sosie went back out to the kitchen. Derek was putting the breakfast dishes in a small, square contraption underneath the counter when she walked in. He glanced up, then did a double-take.

  She frowned. “What’s wrong? I look okay, don’t I?”

  “You look great. Better than great, actually. It’s just that…”

  “Just what?”

  “I probably should have asked you before this,” he said. “How old are you?”

  Her frown deepened. She didn’t see what her age had to do with how great she looked in the borrowed jeans and T-shirt. “Eighty-nine.”

  Derek’s mouth quirked. “Very funny,” he said as he closed the door on the contraption he’d put the dishes in. “Seriously, how old are you? As young as you look in those clothes, my neighbors are going to think I’m some kind of pervert.”

  She’d never heard that word before. “Pervert?”

  “Yeah. You barely look eighteen in those clothes.”

  Oh. So, that’s what was going on here. Sosie had forgotten elves aged slower than BPs. She tried to remember what she knew concerning an appropriate age for a BP woman of her appearance. She had to be at least eighteen because that’d mean she finished school and could be out and about on her own. She studied Derek, trying to figure out how old he was. In his thirties, she’d say. Since she had nothing to use as a basis for comparison, it was impossible to guess, so she finally decided to take a random grab from Santa’s bag.

  “I’m thirty…” she began, but at the look on Derek’s face, she decided she must have guessed wrong and changed what she’d been going to say. “Twenty…five?”

  Derek arched a brow. “Are you asking me or telling me?”

  She nibbled on her lower lip as she tried to gauge his reaction. “Telling you. I’m twenty-five. I got confused for a minute. You know, converting from…”

  “From?” he prompted when she hesitated.

  Figgy, she’d almost said elf years. She was going to have to be more careful around him. “Well, it’s just that when you live as far north as I do, the year seems a lot longer, so sometimes we don’t think about them the way you do down here. We don’t ask each other our age very often where I come from, either.”

  He frowned. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  “You didn’t.” She grinned. “As long as you tell me how old you are in return.”

  He chuckled. “Fair enough. I’m thirty-two.”

  She’d guessed right. Maybe she knew more about BPs than she’d thought.

  He ran his gaze over her one more time, then cleared his throat. “Come on. Let’s go see if anyone is downstairs yet.”

  Although she was excited about meeting Derek’s neighbors and taking part in a real Christmas celebration, Sosie couldn’t help but be a little nervous as she followed him downstairs. Despite the fact no one had figured out she was an elf since getting stranded in the city, she was terrified she was going to do or say something that’d give it away. Once they reached the common area, however, she was so busy taking everything in she forgot all about being nervous.

  The place had looked beautiful last night, but today it was even more festive. In addition to the dozens of colorfully wrapped gifts underneath the Christmas tree waiting to be opened, the stair rails a
nd banister had been wrapped with lush garland and twinkling lights. The long tables that had been against the wall were now covered in red and green tablecloths and filled with delicious-smelling food. Figgy, this was about as big as the party they threw at the North Pole on Christmas.

  Derek took her hand. “Come on. I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

  His big, strong hand felt so good wrapped around hers that Sosie had a hard time concentrating on anything else, much less putting names with faces as they spent the next hour working their way around the common area. Besides Bob and Betty and their son, Jimmy, the nice family from the second floor, there was John, the heavyset, jovial man who lived in the apartment beside them. Next was Ben, the apartment building’s elderly superintendent and resident handyman, and his wife Mabel. Then there was Connie, the neighbor who had generously given Sosie new clothes to wear, and her teenage daughter Jane, as well as Linda and Tracee, two women who shared the apartment down the hall from Derek. That was just to name a few. By the time Derek was through, her head was swimming, but she tried to remember as many of their names as she could. Unlike some of the grouchy grinches she’d seen last night, Derek’s neighbors were as nice as he was. In fact, they were genuinely concerned when he told them Sosie was from out of town and had been abandoned by her friends at the club the night before.

  After hearing about it, Tracee said, “Well, don’t worry about them because you found new friends.”

  “That’s right,” Linda agreed. “And we won’t be abandoning you, either.”

  Sosie was touched by their words. That was certainly a sweet thing to say, especially to a woman—er, elf—they’d just met.

  “How did you and Derek run into each other?” Linda asked as soon as he went off to get Sosie something to drink.

  Almost a foot taller than Sosie, she had chin-length dark hair and a bright smile.

  “Some very nasty men were bothering me and he rescued me,” Sosie told her. “I think it was very brave of him, but he said he was doing his job.”

  Tracee shook her head. Not quite as tall as her friend Linda, she had curly, red hair and freckles. “That’s Derek for you. I have to admit I’m super jealous he asked you to stay with him, you know.”

  Linda nodded. “Me, too.”

  Sosie looked from one to the other. “Why?”

  “Because he’s totally hot, of course,” Tracee said.

  “Totally,” Linda agreed.

  Sosie blinked as understanding dawned on her. “Oh! Yes, he is very hot.” She nibbled on her lower lip, her gaze going from one woman to the other again. “Are either of you and Derek…” Figgy, what was the right word?

  “An item? I wish.” Tracee made a face. “Linda and I have been trying to get him to notice us ever since he moved in, but no luck. Unfortunately, he thinks of us more as sisters than girlfriend material.”

  “Either that, or he doesn’t want to fish off the apartment pier,” Linda said.

  The two women wanted to go fishing with Derek? Sosie would have asked, but Tracee continued.

  “Well, whatever it is, we’re not going to get a shot with him. Which means Linda and I will have to live vicariously through you.” She grinned at Sosie. “Did you and Derek hook up last night?”

  Sosie frowned. “Hook up to what?”

  “To each other, silly. You really aren’t from around here, are you?” Tracee asked, then clarified, “You know, did you two have sex?”

  “Oh!” Sosie blushed. “No. Derek was a complete gentleman.” At the crestfallen looks on both women’s faces, she added, “But I did see him without his shirt.

  Tracee and Linda looked at each other, then sighed in unison.

  “Well, don’t leave us hanging,” Tracee said. “We want details.”

  Linda nodded eagerly. “Does he look as good underneath his T-shirt as we think?”

  Sosie grinned. “Better. I had a hard time falling asleep after seeing that chest of his.”

  Both women let out another dramatic sigh.

  “Okay, you’ve made me jealous enough for today. Let’s talk about something else besides our hunky neighbor,” Tracee said. “Like how long you’ll be in the city.”

  Sosie hesitated. “I’m not sure. Probably a day or two.”

  Or however long it took for Elf Central to find her. Since they weren’t going to come looking for her in Derek’s apartment, she was probably going to have to go back to the building where the transport sled had landed. She doubted she would meet up with the search party, but she could at least leave a note telling them where she was. If she could find the building again.

  “Linda and I would be happy to show you the sights while you’re here, if you want.” Tracee grinned. “If Derek doesn’t want to play tour guide, that is.”

  Sosie looked over at Derek as she considered that. While she certainly wouldn’t mind spending more time with him, she didn’t think he’d be able to play tour guide—as Tracee had called it—since he did detective work during the day and his moonlighting job at night. She opened her mouth to tell the dark-haired woman as much, but Derek came over before she could say anything.

  “Sorry it took me so long.” He held out the plastic cup he was carrying. “I wasn’t sure whether to get you beer or soda, so I went with the soda.”

  Sosie had never had either, so whatever he picked was fine with her. Taking the cup, she lifted it to her mouth and was surprised when bubbles tickled her nose. She cautiously took a sip. It was different than anything she was used to drinking up at the North Pole, but it was good. Really good.

  “We’re going to mingle.” Tracee gave Sosie a wink. “We’ll see you later.”

  Sosie sipped her drink as she watched the two women make their way over to where John was standing talking to another man. She had a sneaking suspicion Tracee and Linda had left so she could be alone with Derek.

  “Tracee and Linda didn’t talk your ear off, did they?”

  Figgy, she hadn’t known such a thing was possible. Sosie quickly reached up to check that both ears were still firmly attached. “Still there.”

  “That’s a relief.”

  Sosie silently agreed. She was rather fond of her ears. It was only after she saw Derek’s mouth twitch that she realized he’d been teasing about the women actually being able to talk her ears off. Embarrassed, she took a sip of soda.

  “Tracee and Linda thought you might want to show me around the city while I’m here, but I figured you’d probably be too busy with your work.”

  He looked at her over the rim of the brown bottle in his hand as he lifted it to his mouth and took a swig of whatever was inside. “Actually, I’m not busy at all. I have off tomorrow anyway, so I’d be glad to show you around. If you haven’t already gotten hold of your friends by then, I mean.”

  She had no idea if Elf Central was coming to get her, much less when. And after Derek’s invitation, she was hoping they’d leave her stranded a little while longer.

  Sosie smiled up at him. “I’d like that.”

  His mouth curved. “Me, too.”

  Derek looked as if he was about to say more, but at that moment, a remote-control toy car zipped across the floor and smacked into his foot. Jimmy came running after it, controller in his small hands.

  “Sorry,” he called.

  “No problem, dude,” Derek said. “You’re lucky I’m off-duty, or I’d have to give you a ticket.”

  The little boy looked up at him with wide eyes. “Really?”

  Derek chuckled. “Nah. I’m teasing.” He reached out to tousle the boy’s light brown hair. “Go ahead and go crazy.”

  “All right!” Jimmy cheered. Grinning, he turned his remote-control car around and sent it speeding toward the other side of the room.

  Sosie smiled as the boy ran off after his toy. She’d made hundreds similar to it in Santa’s workshop over the years, but she’d never actually seen children play with any of them. It was heartwarming to see how much they enjoyed the things she and he
r fellow elves made.

  Still smiling, she turned back to Derek. “That was very sweet of you.”

  He shrugged, a lopsided grin curving his mouth. “What can I say? I’m a sweet guy.”

  Yes, he was. But she’d already known that.

  “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get something to eat.”

  Figgy, she’d been so busy meeting everyone, she’d completely forgotten about the food set out on the tables. Back home, there would have been plates of herring rolls, smoked salmon or tuna spread on tiny squares of crunchy toast, and spice bread filled with sweet, creamy cheese, as well as a variety of meat dishes. But here there were plates with little pieces of different color cheeses accompanied by a variety of crackers—all of which were quite delicious—and bowls of different dip to go along with the crispy discs she learned were called chips. Those were extremely tasty, too.

  Derek must have found her enthusiasm about the food amusing because he chuckled as she reached for another chip and popped it in her mouth.

  “You going to have room for dinner?” he asked.

  She looked at him in surprise. “I thought this was dinner.”

  “Chips and dip? You really aren’t from around here, are you?” He grinned. “It wouldn’t be Christmas dinner without turkey and all the fixings, not to mention dessert.”

  Sosie had heard of turkey, of course, but had no idea what kind of fixings came with it. She wanted to make sure she had room for all of them, so she resisted the urge to eat any more chips. Though they were rather addictive. Maybe she’d have some more later.

  While Sosie absolutely loved the turkey and all the side dishes that went along with it, she enjoyed talking and laughing with everyone even more. It was as if the people who lived in Derek’s building were one big, happy family. While she had friends back home, they hardly ever got together like this, and when they did, they didn’t tease or joke with each other as the BPs did. She couldn’t remember ever having so much fun. And they hadn’t even opened presents yet.

  That was another new experience for her. Although they celebrated Christmas, elves didn’t exchange gifts for the holiday. Which, now that she thought about it, was a bit odd, especially since they did nothing but make them all year long. As she watched first the children, then the adults open their gifts, she couldn’t get over how enjoyable the tradition was.