His long, white beard blew in the wind, and the velvet red suit was, much like my costume, way too big on him. We were both going to have shove a bunch of pillows beneath these before we hugged any children.
“Aren’t you warm, though?” I laughed, using his same argument to me against him.
He squeezed my hand, and from behind the beard, I could have sworn I saw him smile. “It was a stupid argument when I used it and it’s no better coming from your pretty little mouth, either.”
We held hands and skated in circles around the pond. “You’re pretty good at this,” I said, surprised at how steady Chris was on his rental skates. Even though he wasn’t doing any fancy tricks, we hadn’t fallen once in the twenty minutes we’d been outside.
“I had a Christmas-obsessed family, remember? No winter activity was too much for the Pohles.”
“I can see that.”
He tugged me closer, pulling me tightly against his body. “I wish I could kiss you,” he whispered. Heat coiled down my spine, and I shivered despite the fact that I was warm within the costume. “But I don’t want to scar these kids watching.”
I chuckled and nuzzled closer into his warm body. Our skates sliced the ice below us in gliding strokes. “What do you say we head back inside to do that?” I whispered, hoping he’d get my meaning.
He blinked, his footing faltering as my innuendo became more apparent. He caught himself before he went down, and from within the Santa suit, I could see his shoulders bouncing with his laugh. “That was a close one.”
“Chris?”
A lilting voice came from somewhere in front of us, and Chris came to a dead stop in the middle of the ice. From what little I could see of his face, he turned a ghostly shade of white, the color draining from the apples of his cheeks peeking out over the fake white beard. “Helena.” His voice was icy.
I glanced between him and the woman. It took a moment, but then I remembered her… the supermodel. The one he had a very loud break up with at last year’s Christmas party.
I wished I could see his full face. If I could see the expression that was hiding behind the Santa beard, I could have some idea what he was thinking right now. Yes, she had cheated on him… everyone at that party last year knew that. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t still in love with her. Just because you’re angry and your brain is saying no, your heart can still say yes. There was a knot at the base of my ribcage growing larger by the second. What does your heart say, Chris?
Around me, children chattered, their little impressionable eyes watching every move Chris and I—or rather Mr. and Mrs. Claus—made. “Chris Kringle,” I said, giving his elbow a tug and reminding them both we were still in costume. Chris snapped out of his trance and blinked down at me as I tried to gesture subtly around us at the kids. “You should probably head back to the North Pole soon. And I need to prepare for the Story Corner.”
My heart fractured the tiniest bit as I let go of Chris and turned to face the kids and parents around us. “Don’t forget! In thirty minutes, I’ll be reading some of your favorite Christmas classics over at StoryBook Christmas. Come join us!”
Chris’s palm found the small of my back and he ushered us quickly off the ice, towards the store.
But I could feel her following behind us with every step.
Chapter 16
Chris
As soon as we unlocked the front door of the shop, Kringle rushed over to greet the new visitor, jumping up on Helena and attempting to give her exuberant kisses.
“Ah! I’m allergic. How can you have a dog in a store? What if kids have allergies?”
Yep, that was Helena. Not a proper hello or introduction to Avery… just launching into her complaints.
I snorted and shook my head as I tugged the Santa hat and beard off my face. “Avery, this is Helena. Helena, this is Avery, my—”
“You look good… even as Santa,” Helena said, cutting me off and completely ignoring Avery.
My stomach roiled at the thought of being with Helena again. Catching her in the bathroom with my cousin had been painful as hell… but it had also shown me how much better off I was without her.
“It’s Mrs. Claus who makes me look good.” I met Avery’s gaze briefly, giving her what I hoped was a reassuring smile. Apprehension tightened her expression with the downward curve of her mouth and the concerned wrinkle of her brow. Her mouth twitched… almost like she was trying to smile back, but didn’t quite succeed. Then, she snagged Kringle’s collar and tugged him gently away from Helena. “I’ll give you two a few minutes.”
“Avery, you don’t have to go—”
“It’s okay.” She turned, pausing on the bottom step to face me. “Really. Just make sure you’re out of the Santa costume and that it’s hidden before any kids come up to the window.”
“Of course,” I said. What the hell was it about Helena that ruined almost every holiday? Avery returned my smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Come on, buddy,” she and turned to head up the stairs with Kringle trotting beside her.
I waited until she was out of view, before I spun to face Helena. “What the hell are you doing here?”
She blinked those overly gunked up lashes, flaking mascara down onto her cheek. “The board meeting is tonight.”
“I know. But you are not on the board.”
Her gray eyes narrowed in my direction and her mouth puckered into an angry frown. “Well, if you had answered any of my messages, you would have known I was coming. And that I’ve wanted to talk to you.”
I rolled my eyes and slid my arms out of the Santa coat. “I blocked you, Helena. Believe it or not, most people don’t want to talk to their exes who cheated on them.”
“I know,” she whined, following me around to behind the register where I snapped the suspenders off my shoulders and stepped out of the red velvet pants. They were baggy enough that I had kept my dress pants on beneath them. “But I’ve missed you. This year has been the worst year of my life.”
I snorted, grabbing my dress shirt off the hanger and slipping my arms into it. “Great. I’ll be sure to tell Tristan you said so.”
“I’m serious, babe.” She grabbed my tie off the hanger and slid it over my head, tying it as I buttoned my shirt. It was such a familiar action… one we had done morning after morning before I left for work. And yet now? It was foreign. Uncomfortable. Her long, red painted fingernails scraped across my neck as she tied my tie, and I jerked away from her, fixing the tie myself. I grabbed the red sweater off the hanger, smiling as I remembered how excited Avery had been when she’d seen it hanging in my closet. Something Christmasy! She had screamed and practically begged me to wear it today.
I felt immediately better as I slipped the sweater over my head and pulled it down so the top of my Windsor knot peeked out at the v-neck. Like somehow, this sweater she picked out was a shield of armor keeping me safe from Helena.
“I’m serious, too. Stop texting me. We’re not getting back together.”
She glanced up between us where the mistletoe dangled from the garland, and a sly smile curved on her mouth as she pointed up. “How about a goodbye kiss?”