Christmas With Kris Kringle

Chapter 9

I pulled into the parking garage of Kris’s high rise apartment. He’d texted me the address and told me to dress casual and warm. Heeding his instructions, I opted for jeans, an oversized sweater and instead of heels I wore flat ankle boots with good traction in case we had to walk in the slushy snow and ice.

When the elevator opened up to the lobby, I was immediately in awe. The lobby was spacious and modern and felt more like a hotel than a downtown apartment. I checked the text message thread from Kris, convinced I was in the wrong building. Making a beeline to the reception desk, I hoped to get directions. “Hi I think I may be lost. Is this 3720 Beverley Avenue?”

“Yes ma’am, how can I help you?” a pretty woman with a name tag that read Lisa responded.

I did a double take examining the chandeliers and seating area. How could an unemployed, temporary mall Santa afford a place like this? Sure he’d mentioned selling an app or two, but I doubted it was profitable enough to afford a condo in this high rise building. “I’m here to see Kris … Kristoff Kringle.” A blush overtook my cheeks, feeling silly saying his name. I wondered if he felt the same every time he introduced himself.

“Can I get your name, ma’am?” Lisa, the reception clerk asked.

“Belen Goodwin.”

“Just a moment, Ms. Goodwin.” Lisa pressed a touch screen and waited. The hospitable smile never left her face. “Hello Mr. Kringle, there is a Belen Goodwin here to see you.” She listened to Kris’s voice on the other end of her earpiece. “Yes, very well.” Disconnecting the call, her attention was once again drawn back to me. “Mr. Kringle is on his way down.”

“Thank you.” While I waited, I walked from one end of the lobby to the other. Noting signage for a pool, gym, movie theater, and virtual reality room. My eyes were drawn to the piano in the corner and although the only song I could play from start to finish was “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” I was compelled to tap a key or two. As the notes filled the empty lobby, I recoiled, offering up an apologetic smile in the receptionist’s direction.

When Kris exited the elevator, I released an audible gasp. Fortunately he was far enough away that he couldn’t hear me. He was wearing his dark forest green peacoat, jeans, and on his head was a burnt orange beanie adding a pop of color against his dark rich skin. It was always nice seeing him out of the red suit that did nothing but hide his physique.

Kris’s face contoured into a huge grin and we both crossed the lobby to meet one another. “Hi,” he said, leaning in at the same time I pushed myself upward onto my toes, which caused our heads to bump as he went in for a hug when I was anticipating a kiss.

“Oh I’m sorry, my bad. I thought you were going to kiss me.” I immediately regretted my admission.

“It’s cool.” Kris pulled me into a hug, squeezing me tight. His deep voice tickled my ear. “I’m glad we’re doing this.”

He pulled away far too soon for my liking. “You smell good.” I heard myself say. The last time I’d been on a proper date was months ago and apparently, I’d forgotten first date etiquette. Why was I so eager to compliment this man?

Kris slowly ran his hand down his chest, smoothing his shirt through his open coat. The corners of his mouth tugged into a naughty smirk. To my surprise, my fingers tingled and twitched with longing, taking all my willpower not to reach out and touch him. Truthfully, I should have expected nothing less. When I was around him, my body often had a mind of its own. Shivering, pulsating, and on the night he kissed me, dripping with desire.

“What’s that look for?” I managed to ask even though I was fairly certain I was returning an unusual look of my own.

“I was going to say something, but it’s cringey so let’s just not.”

I grabbed the arm of his coat. “Wait, now you have to say it.”

“No, I don’t think I should.”

“Come on, don’t make me beg.”

There it was again, that same naughty look. His eyes slightly hooded, his hands hidden in the pockets of his coat as if he was holding something back. Kris didn’t take the bait, instead he approached the receptionist desk. “Hey Lisa, can we get my guest an overnight pass for her car? She has a silver Acura. License number …” He turned to me, waiting for a response.

I feigned surprise. At no point did I agree to spend the night. He was assuming I was just going to sleep with him on the first date. It was the correct assumption because that was my intention, but still. “Five, four, zero, U for unicorn, W for whale and E for Elephant.”

Kris’s shoulders relaxed, maybe he wasn’t confident I’d want to stay and now that it was confirmed he could breathe easy.

With the agenda clearly defined, Kris grabbed my hand, gave it a quick squeeze and we were off to the elevators heading back to the underground parking structure. He opened the passenger door to his metallic dark green SUV and I climbed inside. During the drive, he refused to tell me where we were headed though he entertained my many guesses with an obligatory hot or cold confirmation.

Pulling into a parking space on a well-lit hill, we hopped out. Kris opened his trunk, pulling out supplies. “I brought some heavy gloves, and an extra scarf and earmuffs just in case you got cold.”

My face lit up. “So I was right we’re going ice fishing.”

“No, and I hate to say it but out of all your guesses, that was probably the worse.” He pulled a thermos from the back, giving it a shake. “We also have hot chocolate to keep us warm.”

I moved around the parking lot, looking for clues. The lot was half full with couples and families laughing and conversing loudly. One family was pulling circular tubes from their trunk. When I turned back around to face Kris, he was standing in front of two large inflatable tubes of his own.

“We’re going snow tubing,” I yelled with delight.

Kris tilted his head in a long arch. “I just wasn’t feeling dinner and the obligatory getting to know you type of interrogation that goes with it.”

“I think this is great. Plus if one more date asks me where I was born, I might off them and myself before the salad arrives.”

Kris collected our items and even though I offered to help him carry them he refused, opting to show off his strength by lugging everything in one trip. The tubes were hanging on his arms while he clutched the thermos, gloves and other random supplies in his hands. Being an event planner, I loved a man who paid attention to detail and was prepared for all potential outcomes.

We wasted no time taking several trips down the steep hill. During each slide I screamed at the top of my lungs, my voice was hoarse and my cheeks ached from laughing. I could barely feel my feet from the cold, but I was having way too much fun to care. The last time I’d gone snow tubing I was a kid. My father would haul all the tubes back up the hill only for Celeste and me to jump on and make our way down again. We probably went down the hill over twenty times, but my dad never complained.

The holidays always put me in a bad mood, so things like ice skating, snowball fights, and tubing I typically avoided. Which was weird because in the past, these were all the things I loved to do with my parents. But with both of them gone, I tried to stay away from activities we used to do together. I guess I thought if I didn’t partake I wouldn’t miss them so much. Although now as I slid down the hill, and was reminded of my father, a warmth enveloped me. Why had I been denying myself these precious memories for so long?

“One last slide, first to the bottom gets whatever they want. But you have to stake your claim now.” Kris’s eyes twinkled like the string lights hanging all around us. “What do you want, Belen?”

I huffed out a breath, the air lingered between us because it was as cold as Frosty the Snowman’s balls out here. I grappled for words, hearing myself say “a massage” before I’d fully formed my thoughts.

Kris took a step closer. “I can do that.” The sparkle in his obsidian eyes let me know that if I won, I’d be treated to the best massage of my life. “Where do you want it?”

A flush creeped over my skin. I was certain steam was emanating off my body because I was melting. He would have to carry me home in a bucket. “My back and shoulders, they’re very tense. What about you? What do you want if by some miracle you win?” Yes, that was my way of diverting the attention away from me. Especially since I was dangerously close to asking him to deck my walls.

Kris ignored my ribbing, touching his forehead to mine. “I’m going for a kiss.”

I shook my head with a smirk.

“What, too ambitious?”

“No … too safe,” I said, grabbing hold of my tube to make the hike back up the hill for the final slide.

Always up for some friendly competition, I readied myself in the tube, angling my body for maximum speed. On Kris’s count of three, we took down the steep hill, the wind rustling in my ears and the cold night air chilling my bones. I leaned all my weight forward, which immediately increased my velocity. At the bottom of the hill, I jumped from my tube and proceeded to perform a celebratory dance. Kris just laughed, ignoring my third-grade taunting. I was hoping for crushed and defeated, but he was giving me good sportsman vibes. “Did you let me win?”

“Of course not.”

“Cause if I found out you let me win, I will bop you in the nose.”

“I don’t want that. You won fair and square. You’re smaller, more aerodynamic.”

I graciously accepted my victory with one last leg kick for emphasis. “I cannot wait for your hands to be all over me,” I shouted. A nearby mother grabbed her child, pulling him in the opposite direction. “That came out wrong.” I tugged at my scarf, feeling a bit overheated.

“No I get it. Who doesn’t like a full body massage?”

I shot him a glance from the corner of my eye. “Neck, shoulders, and back,” I corrected him.

“Uh-huh,” he agreed. Or at least I think he did. “Are you hungry?”

“You mean for food?” With him, I could never tell if we were talking about the same thing. Every word out his mouth sounded like a euphemism for sex. There was also a strong possibility Kris was just making conversation and I was the one construing his every word into a double entendre. That is of course when I was able to focus on his words and not just stare absentmindedly at his thick lips or perfect ass.

“Yeah, what are you talking about?”

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing. You’re talking in riddles and rhymes to throw off my equilibrium and possibly wear down my defenses.”

“No, I just wanted to know if you were hungry. Pretty straight forward question. Going up and down like that can really work up an appetite. And whatever you’re craving, I’ve got you covered.” You’re seeing it too, right? It wasn’t so much the words but how he said them. They weren’t meaningless sentences he just strung together. It was like every syllable was leading toward something.

Coming into tonight, I was ninety percent sure I was going to sleep with him, but any lingering doubt had just gone bye bye. “I could eat,” I squeaked.

Kris leaned in to kiss me but I gave him the stiff arm to his chest. “Aht, aht, you didn’t win the race. Kisses are reserved for winners,” I teased, smacking my lips together.

“Noted.”