I pushed out a heavy sigh. “Oh,nowI understand. I know why you’re alone.”
He blinked. “You do?”
“Of course. It’s obvious. If you chose a woman to share your life, you’d have to bring her into this realm. She’d have to leave her mortal world behind, to live with you in immortality.” My heart went out to him. “And you would hate doing that, knowing she’d be leaving all her family. She could never explain what was happening.”
Santa was truly selfless.
He bit his lip. “Well… you’re half right.”
I stared at him. “Which half?”
“You’re right that I could never ask someone to give up their mortal existence to be with me. Everyonesaysthey’d love to be immortal, but if they stopped to think what that means, they wouldn’t, not really. A life of endless days, stretching toward infinity? A person could go mad contemplating such an existence.”
I gazed at our surroundings. “It’s a beautiful place to go mad in,” I murmured.
“And it would take an exceptional person to be able to cope with it. But if I’m honest, that part about infinity? That would never happen.”
“What do you mean?”
His expression grew serious. “The day will come—and it will probably be sooner than anyone thinks—when I will be redundant.” I gaped at him, and he nodded. “I was created for a purpose, after all. If the purpose no longer exists, if my role is no longer required, then maybe I too will die, or else be trapped in this realm forever more.” He sighed again. “I don’t know if that’s true, but I have to acknowledge the possibility.” He cleared his throat. “And the reason I never chose a wife is simply because…” Brown eyes met mine. “I’d rather have a husband.”
When I was at a loss for words
I swear, my heart almost stopped with the shock. “Husband?”
Wait just one goddamn minute. Santa is freakinggay?
Please, please, tell me I heard right. Tell me this isn’t all a part of my imagination. Tell me I didn’t just hear that because that was what Iwantedto hear.
God, he was still looking at me.
“Husband, boyfriend—although the latter sounds weird coming from someone my age.” Then he smiled. “Not that there’s everbeenanyone my age, so I suppose I can say whatever I want. What it boils down to is, I didn’t want a woman—I wanted a man.”
“So…” I had to ask, because that voice in my head wasdemandingI did, so loudly that it buzzed and I was trembling. “Has there ever been… I mean, there had to have beensomeonethat…”
“I have never told a single soul. Until now.”
And he was tellingme. That had to meansomething, right?
“Have you ever brought any—”
“No. Just you.”
“But youmusthave been interes—”
“No.”
Oh my God, was he telling me what Ithoughthe was telling me?
Then everything clicked into place. I was in a realm where time stood still, where a moment could last forever, and I didn’t want this particular moment to end.
Well, not before I did something with the knowledge I’d just acquired, provided I could summon up enough nerve.
I took a breath, but what came from my lips surprised the hell out of me. “You know, considering you’re Santa, I couldn’t tell it was Christmas by the look of this place.”
What the fuck?Santa had finally revealed the secret he’d kept from theuniverse, and I was complaining about thedecor?
He blinked. “Oh. Well… I’d better do something about that.” He snapped his fingers, and the roomexplodedinto Christmas. A tall tree festooned with color, tinsel, and lights stood in one corner. There were candles everywhere. The ceilings were draped with yet more color and lights.