Santa Loves Curvy Girls

11. Nick

11

NICK

T he first time I put on this suit, it was great. Getting to be anonymous. Getting to be someone other than Nick St. James for once.

The guy everyone had figured out.

But now that I’d gotten close to Belle, the one thing I craved was leaving this suit behind so she could get to know the real me.

Even if I could, though, wouldn’t that complicate things?

I carefully put on my fake white eyebrows and placed the beard over my face.

I had no idea.

What if she didn’t like Nick St. James like she liked the guy behind this suit?

But I didn’t want to think about that now.

I pulled on my boots, already running late to meet her.

As I headed out the front door, I narrowly avoided running into Mom.

“Nick! Give me a hug before you leave. I won’t see you until tonight. Where did you say you were going after work?”

Already halfway down the hallway, there was no way I was going to be able to hide in time.

Thankfully, her cell phone rang at just the right moment. She turned around to go back and grab it. I heard her go into the kitchen, taking the call that had come in.

I took my chance and made a run for it.

Before I closed the back door behind me, I shouted a quick, “Bye, Mom! I’ll text you later. Love you!”

I dashed into the tree line just in case she had followed me, but it looked like I was in the clear.

This was a well-known path for me now. It would lead me out near Rudolph’s place. He was an odd fella, famous for his sleigh rides around town. And the perfect way for me to sneak into town.

By the time I made it to Santa’s Elves, Belle was already there.

She smiled when she saw me enter one of the large back rooms. “Hey, you. Did the reindeer hit traffic?” she teased.

I grinned at her joke. “Something like that.”

I wished this job came with a sweet ride, and I almost wondered out loud where I could submit that sort of feedback.

Clearly, Belle had already gotten a head start.

There were supplies at the ready and presents all around the room, from bright blue and pink bikes to pajamas, books, and all sorts of toys.

“Ms. Merriweather said she’ll be back later. She had to make a run to the bank and a couple of other places and told me to lock up if we finished before she got back,” Belle said.

I nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

We got to work wrapping presents. Pretty quickly, I realized I was nowhere near as good as Belle at wrapping.

She tried not to laugh at the oddly shaped gift in my hands.

“I know,” I responded. “It looks like a first grader wrapped it.”

She opened her mouth, closed it, then said, “I didn’t say that.”

She scooted closer to me and gave me some lessons.

I loved being this close to her, even if I didn’t love being in this suit right then and there. It sure didn’t make it easy to move around.

“Okay, I think I got it,” I said.

I gave it another try, this time with a puzzle. I held it up for Belle’s approval.

She nodded. “Better. Definitely better.”

I stuck to the easy stuff, anything that was square or rectangular in nature. And she took care of all the advanced stuff, like soccer balls and dinosaurs.

“You’re a whiz at this,” I pointed out.

She grinned. “Lots of practice.”

Her phone buzzed, and she checked it, setting down her scissors to text someone back. She glanced up at me when she was done. “My friend Holly.”

I knew Holly. Or at least I knew who she was.

“Hanging out with them this week?” I asked, picking up another board game.

She shook her head. “We’ve all been pretty busy. Probably not until Christmas Eve or after. What about you and your friends?”

“Also pretty busy,” I replied, although I had to be the busiest one this year. “I’m sure we’ll hang out for New Year’s. Should be fun.”

“Maybe by then, I’ll get to see you without that beard,” she teased.

I couldn’t help but smile. “Maybe.” There was always a big New Year’s Eve party at somebody’s house. The thought of inviting Belle and kissing her as we rang in the new year… I couldn’t think of anything better.

She finished wrapping a big art set. I watched her wrap and cut the tape just right, then put together a bow. Instead of grabbing one of the bows you just stuck on there, though, she pulled out a spool of Christmas ribbon. Mesmerized, I watched her maneuver the ribbon, wrap it round and round, snip a little here, snip a little there… and boom. She’d made one of those big fancy bows. “You really are an elf!” I said.

That made her laugh, which made me grin like a fool.

“It’s not that hard, I promise.” She scooted toward me again and gave me the ribbon. “Here.”

Her hands touched mine as she taught me how to wind up the ribbon and do the rest, but I was already lost. The only thing I could remotely pay attention to was her.

Her lips were perfect, and all I wanted to know was what they tasted like.

Probably vanilla like her perfume.

Just like that, she seemed to notice that I wasn’t paying attention at all.

Her eyes locked on mine, and just as I was tugging away my beard to finally kiss her, we heard Ms. Merriweather shout from the front.

“Belle? I’m back!” she called.

We pulled apart; the magic gone.