Page 17 of Santa Daddies

“Where did the V come from?” Kayla asked, as I picked up a pink-and-gray flannel shirt and held it up for her to see. She shook her head. “Not for a fancy ski chalet weekend.”

“Don’t worry the V was fresh from the package. He had a bunch of unopened ones in a box.”

Kayla stopped and put her hand on her hip. The other arm would have gone to her other hip if it wasn’t too busy holding the items of clothing she wanted me to try on.

“Relax, Kayla, he doesn’t keep them there for his conquests, those are the gifts they put in the presents Santa gives out for the Sexy Santa Inc show.”

Her brow curves up. “Are you sure he just didn’t order an extra box for himself?”

I barked a laugh and an elderly lady beside me shot me a dirty look from the sale bin she was rifling through.

“Even if that were the case, why would I care? It was one night, and it was amazing and even if he got that good by screwing a different woman every night for the last twenty years,I’m not complaining. In fact, I’d like to send every one of them a Christmas card.”

This time Kayla barked the laugh. The elderly woman huffed, tossed the sweater she’d been looking at, and walked away. “Merry Christmas!” Kayla yelled.

“So no names, no identifying anything?” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Did you happen to peek at the delivery name on the box?”

I looked away.

“You did!” She grabbed me, gripping my arm tightly until I looked at her.

“It just said Sexy Santa Inc and the condo address.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“If I did some sleuthing, I could probably find out something. We were at his company condo and I’m sure if I dug a little, I could find out who played Santa that night for Sexy Santa Inc Madeline hired them, so she might know a bit more than I do too.”

“Well do it! Don’t let this man go.”

“The whole plan was to let him go.” I sigh. “That’s why it was so hot.” I paused, wondering if that was true. Did the mystery make it hotter? “We could be who we wanted, say what we wanted, do what we wanted without worrying about waking up the next morning face to face in the light of day and being embarrassed. Besides, I’m looking to settle down. And a guy that plays a sexy Santa Daddy for randy women, even if it’s just for charity, isn’t the marrying kind.”

“I guess." She held up a sweater. “How about this?”

I scrunched my nose. “It looks itchy.”

“Ugh. You’re so picky.” She tossed it back on the table and I picked it up and folded it.

“Can we try on what we’ve got now?” I begged, looking longingly at the change rooms. “There’s a lull there now.”

She beelined for the bank of doors at the back of the store and snagged me a change room before I’d even caught up. The woman was built for shopping. Probably because she had one of those bodies where she could pluck a size six off the rack and it fit as if it were made for her.

I tried on the one item I’d picked first. A dove-gray sweater with a pair of black winter lined tights. I admired the outfit in the mirror and popped my feet back in my black boots. I liked it, so I stepped out to show my best friend.

“That’s nice for a casual day,” she said and smiled, handing me something. “It’s also predictable. See, I got you one in maroon.”

“Oh, I like it!”

She laughed. “Of course you do. That’s what makes you so predictable.” She tossed it to me, and I put it on the keep pile with the wool socks and new warm pajamas I’d grabbed.

“You can’t have any more than those two though!” Kayla called through the change room door after I shut it. “But they both work with the black tights. So you have two outfits for when you’re being cozy, drinking hot chocolate in front of the fireplace and daydreaming about eating Santa Daddy’s candy cane.”

“Kayla!” I whispered harshly and she laughed.

“I’m so excited about this trip. I hate that we rarely get snow here, and nothing significant when we do. Growing up out East, we always had lots. I miss it.”

“Well, you’re going to get plenty of snow in Lake Lucille. Do you know it’s Canada’s highest elevated town?”

“You’ve done some research,” I said, pulling on another outfit.