Page 25 of Naughty Elf: Merry

I gave them a quick rundown of what needed to be done and my pricing, then headed over to the snow globe station. Someone was already there, talking to Merry about his break. I’d been hoping we had the same one, but with so many people, the odds hadn’t been on our sides. My guess was that odds had nothing to do with it and Merry scheduled it that way.

When he saw me, his face lit up with a smile, and he ran around the table to hug me. “I made so many snow globes!” He then listed off all the elves he’d made them for. It reminded me howhard this must’ve been for him, being so far from his friends and family.

“I’m sure they’ll love them.” I intertwined our fingers as we started to walk around the festival.

We stopped at different booths, picking up some nice felt hats to keep us warm. They looked a little elfish, which made us both smile. We also stocked up on cookies, which were nearly sold out. They’d started with double the amount we had the year before, so it was great to see how well they’d been received. And of course, we got handmade cat toys for Holly. The little fur ball deserved to be spoiled, even if she was starting to get a bit more rambunctious.

“Hungry?” I gave his hand a squeeze.

“Very.”

We grabbed some lunch—the “North Pole Special.” It was really just a sandwich cut out to look like a snow globe, because themes matter, and a fruit salad where the fruit was cut using tiny Christmas cookie cutters. The food itself was boring, but the presentation made it well worth it, and besides, the proceeds of lunch all went to the community center. It was worth triple the price, given all the good it was going to do.

“Tell me about your day so far. I want to hear about all the snow globes.”

There was nothing quite as wonderful as listening to Merry’s excitement, especially over something like the snow globes. He told me about the different themes people used, the designs, and how much they touched people’s hearts.

I’d like to think my work would touch hearts on Christmas morning, and they probably would, but Merry got to see so much of the joy of his projects in real-time, even before the creations reached their rightful owners.

“We’re so lucky you’re here this year.” As the words left my mouth, I flinched, realizing they might have sounded colder than I intended. “I mean—I’m so lucky.” I reached across the table and placed my hand over his.

“I’m the lucky one.”

“I heard it’s snowing outside. Want to run out and catch snowflakes on our tongues?”

“Yeah!” he said.

We brought our tray to the counter and ran out hand in hand like little kids, not even bothering to grab our coats. It didn’t matter, we weren’t going to be out long. Sure enough, there were huge snowflakes falling, and we caught them on our tongues, twirling around in the snow.

Of course, his tasted better than mine, obviously, so I had to sample it for myself—with a kiss. Flirting and kissing in the snow, I couldn’t help but wish the Santa at the festival was one of therealSantas. If he were, I’d ask him to keep Merry here forever.

Because as much as I knew we were meant to stay together—I felt it in my gut—having Santa in control of things I couldn’t, made me a little wary. If he decided to take Merry back, I didn’t know how I’d get back to him... but I would. There would be no stopping me. He was mine.

Chapter 19

Merry

Hernan said he was late to decorate his tree this year.

I was helping him, but my heart wasn’t in it. Standing beside his huge box of Christmas decorations, I handed him whatever was on top. I oohed and ahhed when he wanted my opinion, and I flung tinsel at the tree at intervals. Instead of decorating, I made hot chocolate and used a mix to make a batch of cookies. Hernan didn’t pick up on my lack of enthusiasm.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be here, but we’d been together a while and I didn’t bear the shifter’s mark, signifying we were mated.

Stupidly, I’d assumed us declaring we were mates and having sex sealed the deal. I was wrong.

“Yum, marshmallows in the hot chocolate.” Hernan took a sip and gave himself a chocolatey mustache.

He looked so cute. I licked it before sticking my tongue in his mouth.

“Is that a Christmas tradition at the North Pole?”

Ewww! I couldn’t imagine Santa #1’s reaction if I licked the remains of hot chocolate from his beard. That would have gotten me fired.

“Nope. We elves are more restrained with our friends.” I hoped they were all doing okay in the lead-up to Christmas and not missing me too much.

“What about the Santas? Care to share any naughty Santa antics?”

I drew in a sharp breath and almost spilled my drink. “No.”