Page 45 of Run, Run Rudolph (Fairy Godmothers and Other Fiascos #2)

“You kept one of Santa’s elves locked in the trunk today for how many hours? Not to mention you mowed down Rudolph, and threatened to do the same to my brother.”

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but he continued on, imitating my earlier excuse. “My cat sneaks into my trunk.”

“Hey! I had to hide Snarky from you!” I gave him a playful shove and, to my delight, he caught my hand. I wasn’t sure how to encourage him to keep touching me, so I stepped into his space like I was truly captured, and he wrapped his arms around my waist like I belonged in his embrace.

“And, for the record,” I said, “it’s your fault he was in there so long. He was hiding from you.”

“So, let me get this straight. You’d rather freeze an elf than trust me?”

“There is no one in town that I’d trust more with this problem than you.”

His lips curved into a smile, his eyes dancing. “You know I’m just messing with you.”

I snorted in disgust and pushed him away. “You’re the worst.”

Much to my disappointment, he let me go. “Really? I’m the worst?” He gave me puppy eyes. “Because I thought there was no one else you’d trust the way you trust me?”

Grumbling to myself, I scanned the various displays. “Are you sure Justin has night vision goggles? And what do we do when he comes to work tomorrow, and we’ve cleaned him out?”

Oh, and how were we going to get these goggles back to the reindeer without getting ourselves killed in the process?

“I’ll leave him a note,” Haden said, “or shoot him a text in the morning.”

I fiddled with a toy bow and arrow with suction cups for tips in a nearby wire bin. An idea came to me as I causally suggested, “You should probably leave him a note now so you don’t forget. You know how snippy he gets if you forget.”

“One time. It was one time.”

“Mm.”

With a sigh, Haden turned. “Be right back.”

In high school, he’d let himself into the store one night to get a tow rope to haul a friend out of a muddy ditch.

He’d left a note for his uncle, Justin’s dad, who’d owned the shop at the time.

The note had gotten lost, and Justin had been blamed.

By the time Haden remembered to follow up with his uncle on how much he owed him, Justin had already served several days of extra chores.

It was a bit of a sore spot with Justin, although I think he enjoyed holding it over his cousin’s head.

Still. We didn’t want to give him a second thing to hold over Haden.

Carefully, I opened the bow and arrow package, knowing I shouldn’t. But having recently and, very narrowly, escaped death made messing with unpurchased products feel tame in comparison. And I had to do something with all this amped up fight-or-flight energy I had coursing through me.

I crouched behind a display case with the bow drawn back, arrow poised to get Haden when he returned.

I shifted, the backs of my knees starting to feel weird, as if I was cutting off the circulation to my lower legs.

Crab-crawling to a different spot, I stretched out, rolling onto a hip and elbow to peer around a shelf corner to watch for Haden.

This was boring. How did hunters sit in their blinds for hours?

I rolled onto my back and sighed. Using the bow, I poked at the items on the shelf beside me.

“Well, look what we have here,” I muttered. Night vision goggles. Toy ones, so probably not the high-end ones from the locked case that Haden was hoping to put on the reindeer, but still, they might be better than nothing if Haden couldn’t get at the others.

Convincing myself that I was merely testing out the product we planned to purchase, I opened the package, slipping a pair out of the box and over my head. I gasped as my vision changed. This was just as cool as in the movies.

Armed again with my bow and arrow, I got to my feet and crept forward, standing behind a rack of insulated camouflage jackets.

“Done,” Haden called out from somewhere deep inside the store. “And I scheduled a text to go out to him at six, too.” He still hadn’t turned on the harsh overhead lights, and I waited for a green blob—Haden—to appear in my vision.

And there he was. Barely able to hold in the giggle, I pulled back the bow’s string and struck.

The toy wasn’t very robust, and the suction cup feebly grazed Haden’s shoulder before falling to the floor.

“What the…?”

“Got you!” I called triumphantly, my fears and worries that had followed me all night dissolving.

“Where are you?”

I stepped out from behind the rack.

“Are you wearing night vision goggles?”

“Toy ones. I thought we should test them.”

He stooped, picking up the arrow. “And this?”

“Also testing,” I said seriously. “We don’t want Little Johnny getting a crappy gift this Christmas.”

“And who is Little Johnny?” he asked, amusement tingeing his voice as he set the arrow on top of the display case he was unlocking.

I leaned over the case filled with tech. “Think we should test these ones, too? After all, Christmas is on the line. If the holiday fails tonight, it might disappear forever.”

I shivered at the thought. Christmas with my Oma meant everything to me. Was it possible Christmas could disappear if we didn’t fix things? Could the implications be that massive?

I cleared my throat, trying to keep things light despite the sudden heavy foreboding weighing me down. “So, we’d better be careful about our selection.”

There were several different brands inside, and Haden stacked a couple of sets on the glass counter. “I don’t want to abuse my privileges.”

“Of course not,” I said as I watched him open a box, adjusting the strap before putting on the night vision goggles. His jaw softened as he let out a soft gasp.

I couldn’t help but smile at his sense of wonder.

“Cool, right?”

He cautiously moved his head from left to right, taking in the room. “We should turn off the security lights.”

“On it.” I hurried toward the back of the store, looking for the few lights that stayed on twenty-four-seven. “Where are the switches?”

“I got ‘em,” he called from my left, and we were immediately plunged into darkness. Ambient light from the streetlights outside filtered in, giving the goggles enough light to work with. Crisper forms than before emerged, letting me see the room.

“Nerf guns?” I dared.

“Definitely.”

“Good, ‘cause that bow and arrow definitely sucked. Little Johnny would’ve been very disappointed.”

“Then, for the sake of Christmas, we’d better test something else.”

“Speaking of Christmas, we should also give Mrs. Claus ample time to cool down before we head back,” I added.

“I like the way you think.”

We ditched our winter coats, and Haden pulled on my hand. “Nerf guns are over here.”

Giggling, I followed him to the toy section, loving that I could see everything. Within minutes, we were armed and ready for battle, hiding behind shelves on opposite sides of the store.

“Ready?” he called.

I was already moving. I crouched low, my thighs burning, heart pounding.

I heard the release of his Nerf gun’s spring and the plastic chunk sound as a foam bullet fired. It hit my calf, just above my winter boot, stinging with the impact.

How did he move so fast? He was a blur of green. I caught sight and began firing, hoping for a hit.

He opened fire in return. Foam darts nailed me, and I rolled to the floor, splaying onto my back like I’d been taken down.

Haden knelt beside me. “Tamara! Are you okay?”

I kept my eyes closed before realizing he couldn’t see them through the goggles.

“TM?” he whispered.

Oh, swoon. He was shortening my Trademark nickname again. I felt like I was falling, my heart singing, my spirit lighter than it had ever been in my life.

“I think I need CPR,” I whispered weakly, pushing up my goggles. I cracked an eye to quickly peer at him before shutting it again. I couldn’t see his eyes through his goggles, or really anything, after using mine.

He let out an amused huff, then swept me into his arms, and said in a dramatic voice as he brushed the hair from my face, “Don’t go towards the light!

” He rocked me in his arms like I was truly dying, and his act warmed my heart.

Honestly, I’d never had as much fun as I was having right now, faking my own death. “Stay with me.”

“Give me something to live for,” I whispered just as dramatically.

“It’s too soon,” he crooned.

I opened one eye and said feebly, “Haden? Is that you?”

He pulled off his own goggles, his lips lowering to mine.

And then we were kissing.

I could feel the press of his mouth against mine, his arms holding me against his broad chest. His warm hand slipped under the hem of my green Christmas sweatshirt with the faux cross-stitch of a horse, and then my T-shirt, gliding across my lower back and sending delicious shivers through my torso.

I fought the temptation to suck in my belly so that I felt like someone else under his touch.

Someone slimmer and fitter. Someone worthy of making it to the top of the pyramid-like food chain of women who’d been scrambling for his affections.

As his hand roamed across what I knew to be obvious love handles, a low growl of satisfaction rumbled through him, and his kiss grew more urgent.

I shoved my insecurities aside, determined to enjoy this sacred moment.

He smelled like snow and fresh straw, and in the darkness, I could release my fears and believe that he wanted me as much as I wanted him, and that come morning, we would be the couple I’d never allowed myself to dream we could be.