I threw my head back and laughed, harder than I had in a long time. The idea of Noah pulling one over on his sister the way he was, coming out ahead on all ends, was hilarious. When Noah grasped the side of his dark red velvet pants and hitched them up, I asked, “So, what’s up with the Santa suit?”
Shaking his head again, Noah glowered at me this time. “Same little sister. She has two weddings today. First one, the couple getting married works with children in a hospital near here, so I get to play jolly ole Saint Nick. We are handing out gifts at the reception to the kids.”
“I take it you aren’t as happy about this one?”
Noah shrugged. “It’s not that I mind doing it, but I have a lot of things I need to get done here at the shop.”
Which reminded me about the real reason I was there. “What did you find out about our bus?”
“Your driver was right. It’s a fuel line. It’s going to be a few days before I can get one in. Sorry, man. I’m sure you want to get on your way.”
“No problem.” And it wasn’t. Even though I’d originally wanted to go and hide in the city, I found myself looking forward to some downtime in the small town I was stranded in. I frowned, my gaze roaming around the building. “Do we need to get it out of here so you can work on something else?” There was only room for one more vehicle, and just barely.
“Naw. I pulled it in to try to give you some time before everyone realizes we have someone famous in our midst.”
Holding out my hand to Noah, I thanked him. He had no idea how much it meant to me that he would give me the reprieve he had.
Saying my goodbyes, I left him to finish getting ready for the wedding reception. Making my way down the sidewalk, my gaze was on the scenery around me, and I missed the small tornado heading my way until she smacked into me. I grabbed her just before she fell to the ground, holding her by her upper arms, and it felt as if the whole world turned on its axis when our eyes met. Her beautiful golden-brown ones widened in shock, then seemed to go even wider as recognition filled them.
Her lips parted, her mouth opening slightly in surprise, as she breathed, “Xander Scott.” My gaze went to those lush, light pink lips. The bottom one was slightly fuller than the top, and I found myself wanting to lean in and taste them to see if they were as soft as they look.
“Alex,” I said quietly, raising a hand to slide a wayward piece of honey blonde hair back from her face.
Her face clouded over in confusion, and then a small smile tilted up the corners of that captivating mouth. “Alex.”
I let my gaze wander down her small body that had curves in all the right places, and I couldn’t hold back my laughter. The tiny tornado was dressed as an elf, and it didn’t take me long to put two and two together, realizing who she had to be. “Evie Chase, I take it?”
Her cheeks blushed a pretty pink, and she ducked her head shyly before meeting my gaze again. “Everly, but you can call me Evie or Ev.” She tilted her head to the side, her eyes narrowing on me. “How did you know who I was?”
“I just left your brother at his shop, dressed up like Santa. He said you were handing out presents to children today, so it would only make sense that you were an elf.”
“True,” she said softly, her eyes leaving mine to look toward her brother’s shop a couple of blocks away, before coming back to me. “So, what are you doing in Santa Claus, Indiana, Xander…” she paused, “I mean Alex?”
I trailed my fingers lightly down her cheek before taking a step back. “Right now? Trying to figure out a way to ask the cutest little elf I’ve ever seen out to dinner.”
Everly’s cheeks darkened even more as she said, “I have to work.”
I nodded, my gaze once again raking over her body. “Well, seems like I am going to be around for a while, so we have time.”
Everly’s lips turned up into a wide, beautiful smile, her eyes bright with excitement, as she whispered, “Yes, we do.”
Then, she turned and was off, the bells on her elf shoes jingling loudly. I chuckled as I watched her go, only realizing once she was out of sight that I had forgotten to ask her how I would find her later. There was no way in hell I was giving up the chance to take that little elf out on a date, so I turned and headed back to Noah’s shop, ready to do whatever it took to get her number.
The second I entered the shop and saw Noah leaning over the car in his dark red pants, an idea sprang to mind. “Hey, Noah!” He looked over at me, his eyebrows raised. “You think that Santa suit would fit me?”
4
Everly
“Noah Chase, you better be on your way. It’s almost time to hand out the gifts.” I hung up the phone, frustrated that my brother was running late. I knew he was busy running his business, but he promised me he’d be a part of this wedding reception months ago. I even penciled it in on his calendar in the garage office.
I was just about to call him again when I saw Santa walking through the door. “Thank God.” The wedding would be ending any minute and the guests would start filling the hall. Matt and Loraine requested that their patients each leave with a Christmas gift and Santa pictures. It was the most unique request I’d ever gotten from a couple, but I absolutely loved it.
The reception hall looked like the North Pole, complete with a gingerbread house groom’s cake and a winter wonderland mountain of snow-white frosting on the bride’s cake. It was perfect for the couple and completely spoke of who they were and how they met.
“You’re late, jerk face. What took so long?” I called out when he was halfway to me. Dani, the photographer, laughed and snapped a picture of me sticking my tongue out at him.
He seemed taller from across the room, but I figured the boots were probably adding to his height. Plus, I was on a platform, so it was probably a trick of my mind. I’d been having a lot of those today, because not only did I run into Xander freaking Scott on the sidewalk in town, but he flirted with me!