“How… I mean… but…” I stared at him. “I’ve seen this place from the air. How…?”
“I know,” he said with obvious pride. “It’s bigger on the inside.”
My jaw dropped. “Oh my God. I’m in Santa’s equivalent of the TARDIS, aren’t I?”
He grinned. “That’s one of my favorite shows.”
“You watch TV?”
He waved his hand. “I’m more a DVD kind of guy. But I’ve always wanted to talk to him. Never found the nerve.”
“Talk… talk to who?”
Santa nodded happily. “Yes, that’s him. Dr. Who.”
He’d just reduced me to a gibbering wreck.
“But… he’s a fictional character. He isn’t real. Thereareno Time Lords.”
Santa’s eyes gleamed. “Then what am I, if not a Time Lord?”
I froze. Rewound. Stared. “So I’m not just dating Santa, I’m dating a Time Lord?”
Then Santa laughed, a bright, happy sound that filled the room and made me feel energized and joyful. “Your face,” he managed to push out.
Wait…
“You lied? He’snotreal?”
He hugged his middle, his face creased with laughter. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist. And you wouldn’t deny me my joke, not if you knew the truth.”
“And what’s that?”
He got himself under control. “That’s the first one I ever told. Because who has there been for me to do this with?”
His words sank in.
He’s been so alone.
But he wasn’t alone anymore. And I had a lifetime of human pleasures to share with him.
I knew exactly what his first lesson would be.
I glanced around the office, noting the absence of any furniture apart from the desk and chair. “We need a couch,” I muttered.
That found its mark. “We do? What for?”
I raised my eyebrows. “Find us a couch, and I’ll show you.”
A heartbeat later, a brown leather couch stood against the wall.
I shook my head. “Bigger.”
He blinked, and it winked out of sight, to be replaced by a wider version, with deep seats, and huge cushions.
“Better,” I said with a smile. I sauntered over to him and gave him a gentle push backward. “Time to see what’s under the suit, Santa. Well…” I lowered my gaze to his crotch. “Under part of it, at least.”
“Oh my,” he croaked.