“As long as they pay, they can be as boring as they want.”
“Already got her credit card info, boss.”
“Good little elf.” His smile crinkled the skin around his eyes, and made the blue orbs sparkle. “Santa will make sure you have an extra bonus this year.”
Doubtful it would be the one Kim wanted. Naked Blake under the tree wearing nothing but one strategically placed bow...
You’re such a bad girl, Kim. I better give you a proper punishment. Bend over for your spanking...
“I don’t think I want to know what just passed through your mind.” Tossing the now empty deposit bag on the counter, he leaned down so they were eye-to-eye. “Surely it was naughty based on the rosy red cheeks you’re now sporting.”
More and more he was doing this with her, this thing that wasn’t flirting but could so easily be mistaken for it that it hurt her soul. Sure, Kim had long moved beyond her status as a one-night stand, and employee with him—hell, they were the only two who worked in the office—and had become a good friend. She knew his history, even if she didn’t know all the details after all this time. He hadn’t been in a serious relationship since his ex-wife walked out on him. She wasn’t fool enough to think that he’d be willing to risk their easy-going work relationship for something more. Shit, he was ten years older than her, they came from two different backgrounds, and it wasn’t as though they had been given an opportunity to make this work at any rate.
Even if she’d totally be up for trying.
After their night of kick-ass sex, Blake didn’t want to make her uncomfortable while she worked for him. He’d promised her on the day she’d signed her employment contract that from that point on they’d keep things friendly, but professional. Which had worked for the first while, until Kim realized she might actually have more than a passing attraction to him.
Blake cocked his eyebrow. “You okay?”
Kim’s face grew hot again. “Yeah. Sorry. My ADD mind has been all over the place today.” In your pants, checking out your cock... “Clearly, I need to be here.”
She turned around to the whiteboard and made a line on the naughty l
ist. In truth, she could add herself to that list daily when it came to Blake and the things she wanted to do to him. She hadn’t had a crush this hardcore since Chris Baker in the eighth grade, and that had turned into a humiliating failure. Oh you don’t like girls? Okay then, I’ll just go over here now.
“I find it hard to believe you’d end up on the naughty list.” Blake’s gaze shifted away from the board to quickly flick across her face. He paused for a moment on her lips, before looking into her eyes once more. “Unless you’ve been talking to strangers in bars again.”
“I’m wounded. You’re the only stranger in my life.” She pressed her hand to her chest and gasped. She was blushing again, dammit. “And I’ll have you know I’m a low-down, nasty, dirty elf. Santa’s hands would fall off from the spankings he’d need to administer.” I’ll bend over and wiggle my bum if it will help, Santa dear.
Blake rolled his eyes as he pushed away from the counter. “I’m going to hide here for the rest of the day. I need to get the payroll done and I don’t think I’ll manage it at the other site. Too many issues that people don’t want to handle on their own.”
Kim only had a vague understanding of Blake’s property management business, enough to recognize the stress he was under and how having his Naughty Nicks side project brought the spark back to his personality. She took great pride in being a part of that, loving how he relaxed around her, almost became a different person from the man who had to be on twenty-four, seven. He’d once told her that he looked forward to November now, because it meant he could once again put out the Open sign for Nicks.
She loved it because it meant she’d get that “Hey, little elf. Wanna play with my pole?” phone call from him.
Blake had gone into the tiny closet at the back of the room that served as his office and flicked on the computer screen, leaving Kim to stare out the front store window. Gone was the oppressive quiet, replaced with the soothing sounds of man at work. It shouldn’t be the comfort that it was, but Kim was long past being able to deny her attraction.
The little elf wanted a shot at the big guy. Too bad ex-Mrs. Claus had been such a righteous bitch and screwed things up for her.
Sounds from Yonge Street burst in, snapping Kim’s attention back to reality as a man came in from the cold. No, not a man. A walking god.
She could tell there wasn’t an inch of fat anywhere on his body, even without him taking his coat off. Dear God in heaven, she hadn’t seen a taller man before in her life. He had to be well over six and a half feet. And those eyes...
“Uh hi.” He waved. “Is this the naked Santa place?”
“It sure is.”
“Oh good.” His grin screamed puppy dog and Kim couldn’t help but want to reach out and pet him, or at least give him a good scratch behind the ears. “I heard you might be looking for models? To, uh, get naked.”
“Oh!” Kim jumped up from her stool and came around the front of the counter, hand outstretched. “Hi. Yes, we are. Did the temp agency send you over?”
“Yeah they did. Though I have to say, the woman was a bit weird when she wanted to know all my measurements. It’s okay I didn’t tell her how big my dick was, right? ’Cause she freaked me out a bit.”
Kim ignored Blake’s snort from the back room. “That’s fine. We don’t discriminate based on pole length, width or girth.”
The resume paper was damp from the snow, making the pages stick together. Not that it mattered what his job experience was as long as he could drive, was insurable and could fit into a Santa suit. Standing this close to him, it was hard not to feel every inch of her five foot three height. Sure, she wasn’t the tallest of women, but what she lacked in stature she made up for with enthusiasm and intelligence. It was the only thing that put her on a level playing field with some of these men.
That and she had the ability to crawl up their bodies like a sex-starved squirrel about to climb a tree. All those hours on the indoor climbing walls were great for the upper body strength.