Considering that each and every time tested the seams of his beyond-snug elf costume, she’d also stifled a lot of laughter.
Once the boys moved on, Julie patted Gavin’s shoulder. Then she froze, double checking it was his good shoulder—she needed to be careful about that. “I’ve got to run to the bathroom. Will you be okay holding down the fort?”
“I think I can manage. If you hurry.”
The oddest urge to tip onto her toes and kiss his cheek hit her, and so she wouldn’t give in and do something that would make him wonder about her mental state, she rushed in the direction of the bathroom.
On her way back to the table, she spotted Kory in the crowd.
While she didn’t always feel cute and rarely felt sexy, as she’d washed her hands and studied her reflection, she’d thought she simply needed to wear an elf costume more often. Not that it made her feel sexy per se, but she was a damn cute Santa’s helper if she did say so herself.
Which meant she should go over and say hello to Kory.
Julie darted between two booths so she could make a game plan.
But then her attention tugged in the direction of the toy booth, her thoughts on the ripped elf there instead. The fact that she kept eyeing her best friend and experiencing butterflies meant she needed to get back to her fling objective.
Then again, she had signed up—well, her parents had volun-told her—for the booth. And Gavin had asked her to hurry. If anything, it would be irresponsible to talk to Kory now.
Happy for the excuse to put off working at flirting till later, she skipped over to the booth, the bells on her shoes jingling all the way.
Good thing, too, since the line was growing by the second. Julie rushed around the table and asked the first three kids in line which toy they wanted, pointing out the options.
“Baby doll,” a little girl with two red pigtails said.
“Hold up,” she heard Gavin say, and then he was directly behind her, his hand on her hip. “Your skirt is tucked into your tights. And when you bend over, your entire striped butt is on display.”
Heat crawled up her neck and settled in her cheeks. She quickly tugged, but the tulle skirt seemed to be caught.
“I’m gonna shield you with my body and fix it, okay?” His warm breath hit her ear, and goose bumps skated across her skin.
After pausing a beat for him to do just that, she realized he was waiting for her permission. “Okay.”
He yanked at the fabric and swore. “Hold on. I think it’s caught on the zipper.”
A moment later, she heard a rip. She squeezed her eyes closed, terrified to look and terrified not to. Finally, she whirled around, her problematic skirt flaring.
Gavin was frozen in a hunched over position, his mouth hanging open in horror. The front of his shirt gaped open, providing a peek of the same firm pec muscles she’d massaged out last night. One of the golden buttons that’d ripped off spun in a noisy circle on the floor, the light glinting off it as it wobbled and settled in place next to the other one.
“Mommy, that elf reached up the other elf’s skirt,” Julie heard. “And then she tore off his shirt.”
Both Julie and Gavin’s eyes flew wide, the panic bubbling inside of her reflected in his irises. On instinct, she hauled Gavin up, gripped both sides of his obnoxiously green shirt, and did her best to fasten it together.
“Um, we’ll be with you in a sec, hon. I’m just gonna see if there’s a safety pin somewhere around here—”
“What’s all this?” Mrs. Trombone stormed over, as loud and blunt as her nickname suggested, and Julie glanced in her direction while maintaining her grip on Gavin’s shirt. The damn thing was trying to break free again. In fact, if it weren’t for his shoulder brace, it would’ve probably exposed his entire torso. It was all she could do to hold it together as it was. “Seriously? You two couldn’t keep your hands off each other for another twenty minutes?”
“It’s not what you think,” Julie said.
The amount of skepticism in Mrs. Trombone’s features made it clear that no matter what Julie said next, she wouldn’t be believed anyway.
“You two go on. I’ll handle this until your replacements show up.”
Replacements. Ouch.
They quickly gathered their stuff. Gavin shed what was left of the elf shirt, and Julie did her best not to drool as he tugged on his T-shirt. Then he slipped his jeans over the top, counteracting the graphic nature of the tights with a layer of denim that still highlighted his muscular thighs and, um, other assets.
As they passed by the line, Gavin told the kids that he’d be around till the end of the bazaar if any of them wanted things signed or to talk football.
Affection softened the sting of being foisted from the toy drive.
As soon as they were out of sight of the booth, Gavin snorted a laugh. Then she got the giggles, too. “Do you think this happens in the North Pole?” she asked.
“Elves in trouble for getting frisky?” Gavin asked, and he gave her a sidelong glance. “If any of them look like you, then I guarantee it.”
Julie stumbled, tripping over her giant shoes. Did he mean…? Don’t be silly. He’s just trying to boost your self-esteem. For the mission.
The one I should get back to.
“You okay?” Gavin asked, and she propped the corners of her mouth into a smile.
“Totally,” she said, but in her head, alarm bells rang out, much louder than the ching-ching of jingle bells on her costume. Because, for one glorious instant, she’d let herself believe she wasn’t the only one experiencing the magnetic pull that’d started…who even knew when?
What she did know was that if she wasn’t careful, she’d ruin her friendship with Gavin, which wasn’t just one of her favorite things.
It was the best thing besides work that she had going in her life.
…
“What’s this I hear about you two making out at the toy booth?” Peggy asked as he and Julie approached their parents’ goody display.
As usual, Mom and Dad were wearing their matching outfits—jeans and red Christmas sweaters with Frosty the Snowman—although he knew that only because he’d crossed paths with Dad earlier. Currently, the dads were nowhere in sight, which meant they were likely challenging each other in an endless game of Christmas Skee-Ball that involved tossing plastic ornaments in wreaths.
“Don’t get us wrong,” Mom said, placing her hands on her hips—a move that didn’t come across as very stern, since her expression was light on the chastening and heavy on the joy. “We’re thrilled, but the time and the place was a bit disconcerting. We got quite an earful from Mrs. Trabanino.”