A Christmas Kiss With Her Ex-Army Doc / Second Chance With The Surgeon. Tina Beckett
miss out on at least two of the Saturdays at the hospital, and who knew if her schedule after she got back would leave time to pop in? Besides, she’d been called on to be an elf before. It was no big deal. Or at least it shouldn’t be.
But she’d not played elf to this particular Santa before. And wasn’t sure she wanted to now.
Especially since Santa’s lips were curved up in a smile that was full of mischief. And those lips were…
What? What exactly were they? A thread of irritation ran through her. She kept circling back around to the same issue.
That stupid kiss should have only been a tiny blip on the radar.
But it was a blip that seemed to keep coming back to haunt her. And now she was one of his elves.
The only thing she could do was to play along. This was for these kids. Not for her.
She headed for the stage, meeting Kristen halfway. She forced a smile. “Can you believe we got sucked into this?”
The brunette, probably five years younger than she was, laughed. “And yet we keep coming back for more.”
“Yes, we do.”
Kristen bumped shoulders with her. “You have to admit it’s fun to get to see the kids’ faces up close and personal. And this week’s Santa is pretty dreamy.”
Her stomach plummeted. Of course Kristen had noticed. How could anyone in their right mind not see past the costume to the man himself? It was a good reminder of all the reasons Clancy was out of her league. He always had been. She’d just been too young to recognize it ten years ago.
Neil was talking about the logistics as they got onto the stage. She was glad she’d worn her Christmas ornaments scrubs in honor of today’s festivities. Afterward there would be refreshments. She was off duty for the rest of the afternoon, which was why she could even be here today in the first place.
And she was glad. Glad that she’d get to watch Clancy’s reaction as kids came up and told him what they wanted for Christmas and then received a gift in return. Photos would be taken that would later be mailed home to the families, so they’d have a keepsake of the day. It was great for the hospital’s image, but she was relieved that that’s not what drove the event.
Neil’s daughter had been a patient here at the hospital many years ago. The Christmas event had been the bright spot of her stay. The administrator had vowed he’d keep the tradition alive so that no child felt left out. He’d wanted to show there was a little bit of magic to be had during this season, even in a hospital.
Soon the parade of children started, and while Kristen was on the far side, handing gifts to each child after they finished their chat with Santa, Hollee had been stationed at Santa’s right, making sure that each person got their turn. She ushered the next child, a boy of about five, to Santa and lifted him onto Clancy’s lap. “Ho, ho, ho, what is it you want from Santa?” The words were aimed at the child, but they sent a shiver over her. Because what she wanted from this particular Santa wasn’t a toy. Or a present of any type.
Her Christmases after she’d married had been fun and happy at first, but by their fourth anniversary the luster had faded. And then, once Jacob had died, she’d spent almost every Christmas at her folks’ house. Their enthusiasm for the season had rubbed off on her, and Hollee had found herself welcoming Santa back into her life once again.
And this particular Santa?
The young boy who was currently with Clancy rattled off about twenty toys he wanted, making the man in the suit smile. “That’s quite a list you have memorized. You’re lucky Santa has a good memory too. I’ll see what I can do.”
Hollee directed them both to look at the camera. “Smile.”
Smile. Something she was doing more and more of. Not because she had to but because she wanted to. She was getting into the spirit of the event, just like she always did. Despite her initial reservations about being up here with Clancy.
Two hours later, the last child had given Santa his wish list, and Hollee was getting ready to slip away when Neil interrupted. “Let’s get a picture of Santa with his helpers for the newsletter.”
What? She’d forgotten about that part of it.
She swallowed. Kristen was already on Clancy’s left, and he motioned her up. Trudging back up the steps, she stood like a statue, giving the most fake smile she’d ever drummed up.
The photographer looked through his lens. “Person on the right, can you get in a little closer? And maybe look a little bit happier about being with Santa Claus?”
Happier. This had nothing to do with happiness. She managed to sidle over about an inch, only to have the photographer make another gesture, bigger this time. Suddenly a hand was on her hip, dragging her close to Santa’s side. Eyes wide, she looked down at Clancy just as he glanced up at her, his grin dark and wicked, making her mouth go dry as she instinctively leaned into him. The world seemed to fade away.
It was then that a couple of blinding flashes reminded her that someone was taking photographs. She hurriedly turned her face back toward the photographer and forced herself to smile again. Except he was already gathering his equipment.
What? That was it? Her face had to have been the craziest of crazies. She looked at Kristen to see her laughing at something Clancy was saying, and her smile suddenly deserted her.
It was like being at the dog park all over again. Was there a woman on this earth who was immune to his charm?
Evidently not, judging by the way Hollee herself had stared at the man just moments earlier, her gaze dropping to his lips.
And then her mind shifted to the music that was currently playing, and she rolled her eyes. Seriously? Well, some kid’s mom might have been caught kissing Santa, but she was not about to join that particular club. Especially not now.
So before she could somehow incriminate herself even further, she decided to hang up her Santa’s helper costume and leave Clancy in Kristen’s more than capable hands. She cringed at the image that thought evoked.
Because if he started actively flirting with her, Hollee was afraid she might scratch the other woman’s eyes out. Despite the fact that it should mean nothing to her. And it looked like she had her answer after all.
This Santa had no place in her life. Not now. And probably not ever.
WHAT THE HELL had possessed him to pull Hollee toward him like that the other day? The thought had rolled round and round his thoughts until he was dizzy.
He’d been trying to help the photographer, he reasoned.
Sure he had. What he’d really tried to do was get his hands on her, like he’d been itching to do all afternoon. Watching her help those kids, her warm smile as each one of them passed by, had worn away at him. Chipping away like a lumberjack preparing to fell a tree.
And sure enough, the second his fingers had cupped the curve of her hip, he could hear the distant shout of Timber! as he’d come crashing to the ground.
He wanted her. Wanted to toss her onto the nearest bed and do what he hadn’t gotten to do ten years ago. He wondered if maybe he should sleep with her to get it out of his system, but that was not going to happen. The last thing he needed was to make a messy history even messier. No one, except he and Hollee, knew what had happened that night, although he sometimes wondered if Ava had somehow guessed, since she was the one who’d pointed out the mistletoe.
He’d been hard-pressed to hide his emotions after telling her the kiss had been a mistake. But, at the time, he’d felt Jacob