'Tis the Season for Love: A Charity Box Set

by Maggie Dallen

His eyes sparked with mischief. “Yeah? What do you want to do about it?”

  I made a show of thinking this over. “Oh, I don’t know. Your lips, my lips. Maybe they could meet.”

  He wasted no more time. He leaned in, his lips cool from the outside chill. All I wanted to do was warm them. I pressed in, sending my warmth and feeling heat spread through me. He ran a hand up my back, a gentle pressure, bringing me close.

  Finally, I pulled back. “I still can’t believe you’re here.”

  “I’m here.” His eyes searched mine, pleading, waiting for something.

  I knew what he needed to hear. “I’m falling for you, too.”

  He looked at me fully, taking in my words. Taking in me. Every thread of my being wove hope inside me. Hope for what was to come.

  Nick kept me close. “I like this arrangement. Let’s fall together.”

  Stephanie Scott writes young adult and romance about characters who put their passions first. Her debut ALTERATIONS about a fashion-obsessed loner who reinvents herself was a Romance Writers of America RITA® award finalist. She enjoys dance fitness, everything cats, and has a slight obsession with Instagram. A Midwest girl at heart, she resides outside of Chicago with her tech-of-all-trades husband and fuzzy furbabies.

  My author newsletter: http://eepurl.com/celT19

  Keep scrolling! Four Days of Christmas by Emma St Clair is up next!

  She’s lost the magic of Christmas-- can the mall Santa bring romance back?

  Natalie isn't looking for love after getting dumped by the guy she thought was The One. But when she takes a job as an elf in Santa's Workshop Photo Center, sparks fly... with the man in the red suit himself.

  Will the mystery man help Natalie find romance and rediscover the wonder of Christmas in only four days?

  Chapter 1

  Day 1 - Tuesday, December 21

  Natalie took a last look at her ridiculous outfit in the rearview mirror. “It’s not so bad,” she said, not for a moment believing her words. She adjusted a velvety Santa hat over the molded rubber elf ears. A few strands of her dark blonde hair had escaped from her ponytail. She sighed and said, “Only four days.”

  Four days. She could make it through these last few days before Christmas as Santa’s elf, even if it meant wearing a short skirt and rubber ears. This job would not be included on her resume when she applied for summer internships at law firms. Typically, when she came home for Christmas, Natalie had four or five families who hired her to dog-sit. But none of her normal clients were traveling this year, leaving her desperate. Santa’s Workshop was desperate too—the last elf quit, apparently.

  Probably over the wardrobe. The cold bit into her legs as Natalie stepped out of the car. The white tights did nothing to keep her warm. Natalie tugged at the red skirt with white fluffy trim. It was still shorter than her coat, making it look like she was only wearing the coat, a Santa hat, elf ears, and red heels. If she had seen the “uniform” beforehand, with its short skirt and deep V-neck sweater, she would have had second thoughts about taking the job. The red heels were already pinching her feet. Standing on her feet all day helping children on and off Santa’s lap would probably be excruciating.

  Not to mention humiliating. This wasn’t remotely close to something she would choose to wear. It didn’t give off the vibes of someone graduating near the top of her class and starting law school in the fall. And it definitely didn’t look like what anyone would expect a pastor’s daughter to wear.

  Natalie wrapped her arms around herself and walked quickly through the parking lot. Before leaving the house, she had waited until she knew her parents were in their room before she ran out the front door. She definitely didn’t want to have a conversation with them about it. The outfit wasn’t completely inappropriate, but eye-catching for all the wrong reasons. Christmas shoppers were already staring.

  Natalie marched toward the mall entrance, ignoring the not-so-discreet jostling of a group of middle school boys who looked her up and down. A little girl whose mother held her mittened hand turned around as they passed. “Mommy, why doesn’t that elf have any pants?”

  Natalie laughed, but like most of her laughter these days, it had a bitter edge to it. She tucked her purse close and gritted her teeth. This job was like the cherry on top of a terrible fall semester. It started when Seth broke up with her just before school started up again. Three years of a relationship, just over. Completely out of nowhere.

  Seth didn’t even have a good reason. He had pulled one of those it’s not you, it’s me lines on her, which always felt like it really meant: it’s totally YOU. “I’m working through some stuff,” he had said.

  He had been her best friend. They’d been inseparable since they met freshman year of college. What “stuff” did Natalie not know about? She was too blindsided and hurt to ask, and he didn’t offer an explanation. At first, she was certain he’d come running back, but the days turned to weeks and now months. She needed to face the fact that it was over. It was embarrassing to admit how long she had kept her life in a sort of holding pattern.

  She had just started to not feel wrecked all the time. It had been a struggle to keep her grades up this fall. Finding the motivation to study was hard when she was living in a deep hole of self-pity. She and Seth had plans: attend the same law school, get married after the first year, and then share their first apartment together after that. They would both practice law for a few years and then start a family. It made sense. The plans were logical, just like Seth, who was the kind of guy Natalie knew she could trust with her future.

  Seth had been hinting at a Christmas or New Year’s engagement. As the holidays drew near, a heaviness hung over Natalie. Christmas had always held a sense of romance for her. But now, thinking about Seth and an engagement ring that she wouldn’t be getting, Natalie had fallen back into the despair she felt right after the breakup. The weather seemed to reflect her mood: bare trees against the gray winter sky, sun hidden behind the clouds, a constant chill in the air.

  She had gone through the motions as she decorated the tree with her mother, wrapped gifts, and did Advent readings around the dinner table with her parents and younger brother Jimmy. But she couldn’t seem to shake the cold around her heart. She had lost the bright joy of Christmas.

  The sliding doors to the mall opened, heat blasting in her face. Natalie sucked in her breath. If people had been staring at her outside, inside they gawked as she walked by the stores. She had to pass through half the mall and down an escalator to get to Santa’s Workshop. It felt oddly like walking toward a gangplank or a sentencing.

  Her cheeks flamed as the families already lined up for their turn with Santa eyed her. Moms gave her a once-over followed by a stink-eye. Take it up with the management, she wanted to say.

  Maybe she could try to talk her boss into letting her tone it down. Leggings under the skirt or even just wearing boots would make this outfit look more appropriate for the job. As she stepped onto the plastic grass of Santa’s Workshop with its fluffy snow drifts, that hope shattered.

  “You look perfect,” Jeb said.

  “Great,” Natalie said, but her boss missed the sarcasm. “I was actually going to ask you if I could wear—”

  “Except…Maybe I was wrong about the elf ears. How about just the hat? And no ponytail. Hair down.”

  “Um…”

  Natalie didn’t mind losing the elf ears, but it was over the top that Jeb cared about her hair. He must be one of those type-A people who cared about every single detail. She stuffed the elf ears into her purse and realized just how much they had softened the chaotic noise of the mall. Now it was deafening. Christmas pop songs blared over the sound of children crying and conversations from the food court. The photo area was framed on either side by the escalators, making every sound echo.

  Welcome to your Christmas prison. She wanted to laugh at the thought, but cleared her throat instead, nodding as Jeb talked her through her job.

  Jeb showed her th
e layout. After parents paid at the kiosk, Natalie would walk the children to Santa’s lap. Parents stayed on the outside, moving to wait by the exit. When the photo was over, Natalie would walk the children back with a slip of paper that had a tracking number they could use to look up the finished photos and order online. Easy.

  “We keep them behind the barrier to keep them from taking pictures with their phones,” Jeb explained. “Unless it’s a baby or younger child who can’t wait, parents have to stay back. If you see people pulling out their phones, remind them they can’t take pictures. It’s right there on the sign.”

  Back when Natalie and Jimmy got their pictures taken with Santa, their parents would get the photo printed right then and there. No choices and no previews. One year they had gotten there almost at closing time and Santa had been a little cranky. Natalie remembered his fingers digging into her ribs as he lifted her onto his lap. Jimmy wouldn’t stop crying.

  Santa had said, “Smile, kid. It’s Christmas.”

  His voice had sounded so un-Santa-like that Natalie had looked at him right when the photographer snapped the picture. In the little white cardboard frame, Jimmy was crying, and Natalie faced Santa with a look of horror. It was one of her favorite pictures. Every year she placed it on the mantel along with her mother’s pine garlands and fake candles. She smiled just thinking of it.

  “Natalie, you’ll be working with Alex—he’s our photographer.” A guy in a red flannel shirt waved to her from behind a tripod.

  “Hey,” he said. “Alex. Glad to have you here, Natalie.” He had closely cropped blond hair and deep brown eyes.

  Jeb looked to be in his early thirties, but Alex looked just a few years older than she was, maybe late twenties. She felt self-conscious in front of them in her uniform, unsure how to stand or where to put her hands. If she crossed her arms, it emphasized the V-neck a little too much. At her sides, her hands felt useless. She took off her coat and crossed her arms, holding it like a shield over the front of the outfit. Better, even if marginally.

  Jeb answered pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “Hang on, I’ve got to take this.”

  Natalie tried to ignore the stares from moms waiting with their kids just on the other side of the rope. They were opening in ten minutes and they already looked tired of waiting. The first two kids in line, girls in matching red velvet dresses, both had runny noses and were crying.

  “What kind of camera is that?” Natalie asked Alex.

  “It’s a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV,” he said, looking surprised. “You know cameras?”

  “Not really. Sounds fancy though.”

  She sounded like an airhead. In addition to making her uncomfortable, this outfit felt like it was killing her brain cells. Or, at least her ability to carry on an intelligent conversation.

  “Fancy, yes. And expensive. This one belongs to the company. Hoping one day to leave this company and go out on my own. I’ll have to save up for equipment, but it’s nice to get to use this for now.”

  “You don’t just do Christmas photos?”

  “Nah. Jeb’s company does other work—mostly all with kids. School photos, Easter bunny pictures, that kind of thing. It’s not glamorous, but sometimes there are extra perks,” Alex said. He gave her a wink and looked pointedly at Natalie’s legs.

  Natalie fought off a shudder. “When are you changing into your sleazy elf outfit?”

  Alex stared at her. “Uh, I don’t have to wear an outfit.”

  “Must be nice,” she said, starting to walk away.

  Jeb appeared suddenly. “Okay, we should get this show on the road. Camera and lighting good to go?”

  “Full battery, empty memory card,” Alex said. “I’m connected to the Wi-Fi so I can load the pictures to the site immediately. Lighting is great. We just need Santa.”

  “Where is Santa?” Natalie asked, realizing for the first time that the star of the show was nowhere to be seen.

  “He’s waiting in the back room until...” Jeb looked at his phone. “Yikes. Now. Let’s go get him. You can leave your coat and purse back in the break room as well.”

  Natalie followed Jeb away from the workshop and toward one of the mall entrances. His legs were longer than hers and it was killing her feet to keep his pace.

  “Part of your job every day will be bringing Santa out. That may be the hardest part of the day: getting Santa safely through the crowds. Children tend to grab at him, pull his beard and clothes. You’re kind of like his handler.”

  Natalie fought back a giggle. She tried to imagine answering questions when she got back to school in the spring.

  “What did you do over winter break?”

  “Oh, I was a questionably-dressed elf and Santa’s handler.”

  That would look great on a business card. Too bad she had already done her law school applications, because this would totally get her in.

  Maybe the absurdity of this job was just what Natalie needed to help her recapture some joy in the season. It was ridiculous—all of it. She couldn’t wait to gripe to Emily about it later. They were meeting for dinner tomorrow after work.

  Jeb went through a door marked Employees Only. They moved into a narrow hallway with concrete floors and harsh lighting that she assumed was behind the mall stores. Jeb opened one of the first doors on the left.

  Santa was in full costume already. He sat in a cheap folding chair by a long table, reading a book. It was odd to see Santa outside his natural habitat. With the fake beard, gold-rimmed glasses, and a white-trimmed red cap pulled down low, it was impossible for Natalie to see what he really looked like underneath. Santa closed the book and left it on the table. The Brothers Karamazov. She’d read that in one of her lit classes sophomore year.

  “Santa reads Dostoyevsky,” Natalie said. “Nice. I had no idea Santa was into Russian lit. I guess it makes sense, though. Cold weather and all.”

  Santa winked and put one finger to his nose. Already in character. Natalie laughed. Not much of his face was visible, but he had electric blue eyes that drew her in immediately. Based on the way he carried himself and the little she could see of his face, she guessed he was somewhere in his twenties, but it was hard to tell with the bulky suit and beard.

  Jeb pointed to a set of metal lockers in the corner. “You can put your purse and coat in there, Natalie. Nobody but us will be in this room this week. We’ll shut down every day at noon for an hour so you guys can have a break, eat, whatever. Probably at 12:45 things need to be ready to go again. And every morning at 8:55 you’ll need to pick up Santa. Which is…now. Ready?”

  Before putting her purse in the locker, she checked her phone for messages one last time. A part of her still secretly hoped for one from Seth saying Merry Christmas. Saying he was sorry. Saying anything at all.

  No messages. Of course.

  Natalie took a breath and hung her coat in the locker, pulling up on the sweater as much as she could without exposing her stomach. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to deal with Santa checking her out the way Alex had. That would be wrong on so many levels.

  But Santa was staring at the floor when she turned back around. You’re going to be a lawyer, she reminded herself. This is just an outfit. And just a quick job to buy books for next semester. You’ll survive. Natalie had a feeling she was going to need a lot of pep talks this week. Four days! Four days! Four days! That would be her mantra.

  “One more thing,” Jeb said. He pulled out a set of papers that had been on the table. “I need you to sign these releases, Natalie.” He held out the papers and a pen.

  “Me? For what?”

  He waved his hand. “It’s just standard stuff. You’ll be in the background of the photos. It’s a standard release form.”

  “Now isn’t the best time to spring this on me. Legal documents are kind of my thing. I really don’t like signing paperwork without reading it first,” Natalie said.

  Jeb looked at his watch as she began flipping through the document. There were six pages of tiny p
rint before the last page with a few blank spots for her to sign and date. She scanned the headings and various stipulations. Looked like a standard photo release allowing them to use her likeness in commercial photos for sale through Santa’s Workshop.

  Jeb waved his hand. “Natalie? In or out. We need to move.”

  “I signed it,” Santa said. “Looked okay to me.”

  Natalie looked up at him. There was something trustworthy about his eyes and the timbre of his voice. Though she had to hold back a laugh when she noticed that his stick-on white eyebrows were slightly crooked, making him look surprised.

  Jeb stood in the open doorway, waiting. She scribbled her name on the line and handed him the papers. “I’ll put a copy in your locker later,” he said.

  “Thanks. Ready to be escorted, Santa?” she asked, holding out her arm. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe. I know Kung Fu.”

  Santa chuckled as he looped his arm through hers. They made their way out into the crowded mall, following Jeb. Natalie leaned closer to Santa. “What’s your name?” she whispered, hoping Jeb wouldn’t notice.

  Santa shook a finger at her, then put it to his lips.

  “Staying in character. Got it. We’ll keep it professional, Santa.”

  By the end of the first day, Natalie was questioning if she still wanted to have children. Not just because she saw her fair share of whiny, crying kids (plus the one that tried to punch Santa below the belt), but because of the moms. A lot of the moms were impatient with her, but many were impatient with their kids too. They all seemed stressed out and unhappy.

  Every time Natalie walked a child back over to his or her mother, she faced a firing squad of questions, most punctuated with narrow looks of disapproval at Natalie’s outfit.

  “When can we see the proofs?”

  “What if we need retakes?”

  “Do you do Photoshop?”