She beamed at him. “Merry Christmas, Santa!” With a quick hug, she skipped off to her awaiting parents.
Cole stood as well, waving to passing shoppers. Their curious looks had been unnerving when he’d first arrived a few hours before, but he was used to them now. Of course he didn’t look the part of a normal Santa. Fortunately, children were easy to please.
Clint closed off the low gate, rushing to tuck away the fliers he’d been distributing in the counter below the iPad they’d been using to charge customers for the pictures. The bells on his pointed shoes jingled with each of his steps.
Cole turned toward the barn’s secret entrance, where he could change his clothes and leave the suit for the other elves to return. He was growing far too warm in the stuff between him and the suit, and he couldn’t wait to get out of it. The beard especially.
A woman in a black and white checkered dress with yellow leggings hurdled over the fence beside him, stopping him in his tracks. She gained her bearings after such an abrupt, almost clumsy entrance, and then, without a word, she snagged him by the arm.
“Hello,” Cole said. He was taken aback until he got a full view of the woman’s face.
She was beautiful, with a thin nose, pleasantly plump mouth, bright chocolate brown eyes, and hair the shade of buttercream. Her cheeks were flushed. She panted as if she’d been running. Then again, she did just leap over the fence.
She ignored the curious glances from onlookers and met his gaze.
Something flickered in her eyes. They analyzed every inch of him in moments, from the beard on his chin, to the puffy stuffing, to the shiny black boots complete with gold buckles. He recognized the same surprise he’d received all evening when people—parents, mostly—realized he wasn’t their typical stand-in for the jolly man in red.
Cole was twenty-eight. He worked out regularly at a CrossFit gym, and his face was tanned even in winter from working outside.
The woman brushed off her surprise and leaned in. Cole took in the sweet scent of berries and lime wafting from her hair.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “I know this is crazy, but my son wants to talk to you. Can you just tell him you won’t forget to stop by the cabin he’s at? Santa, I mean. You. As Santa. Ahem.”
Cole found himself watching the shape of her lips as she spoke, her wide, vulnerable eyes, and the length of her eyelashes with each blink. Not only that, but she was standing close enough to him he could sense every breath she took.
He didn’t know many women who would leap a fence just to talk to Santa on Christmas Eve. He couldn’t help but wonder why she was here, apparently alone, and not with her son at this cabin instead.
He forced away all the wandering, questions circling in his brain. This woman was a mother. She was married. She was off limits.
Cole ignored Clint’s mad gestures toward the barn where he knew he needed to head to change. “You bet,” he said, adjusting his hat so the fluffy ball at the point was visible on his shoulder.
The woman lifted her phone to display the image of a small boy with blond hair and freckles sprayed across his nose and cheeks. Cole’s smile naturally lifted, as it had done at the sight of kids all evening.
“He’s right here,” she told the boy. Then she leaned in again, tightening Cole’s awareness of her. “His name is Parker.”
Cole got another whiff of her berry perfume. His interest piqued, but he pushed it back down. She’s probably married, he told himself again. And you’re playing Santa Claus. Keep it together.
She tilted toward him, holding the phone until their image popped up in the little square in the corner of the screen. Pieces of his beard tickled the woman’s cheek, but she didn’t pull away. Instead, she splashed on her own smile. Something told Cole the gesture was much harder for her than it was for him.
Parker’s face lit up. “Oh my gosh, Mom. You’re with Santa!”
“Hey, Parker,” said the fake. He took the woman’s phone from her with a white-gloved hand. “I hear you’re heading to a cabin tonight.”
Parker nodded enthusiastically. “In Orfinario. Are you coming?”
Again, Cole wondered why the boy’s mother wasn’t with him. He hid his curiosity with as genuine a grin as he could manage. Not hard, considering how cute it sounded when the boy tried to pronounce Orofino. Cole had gone camping there a few times—it wasn’t a bad place for a cabin.
“You bet I’ll be there,” he said, his voice low and welcoming. “Just make sure you go to sleep in time. I can’t come until you’re asleep.”
“I will.”” Parker grinned from ear to ear, displaying what appeared to be a recent gap in his teeth. “And don’t forget to bring the tooth fairy. Bye, Santa!”
The woman took her phone back, ending the call and hugging the device to her chest. Several blinks later, she glanced over.
Cole smirked at her. A small crowd of people peered at them from outside the low, white fence blocking off the fake trees and snow. Cole watched as the reality of what she’d done hit at once.
“Oh—”
She straightened her skirt and raked around the confined space, a striking blush painting her cheeks.
“Cute kid,” Cole said.
“Thank you so much," she said, retreating, her foot smashing a pile of snow. "I think you just made his night. Not many kids get to talk to Santa on the phone.”
“Happy to help.” Though he didn’t push the issue, the question hovered between them: Why aren’t you with him?
“He’s with his dad for Christmas this year,” she said as if sensing the inquiry.
“And you’re overjoyed.”
“Bouncing off the walls.” Her voice was bone dry. “How’d you guess?”
He gestured to the suit, which clearly drowned him. The padding puffing out his chest and stomach wasn’t going to last much longer. It was beginning
