My heart nearly crashes through my chest when Eden rushes from the room. Oh, Jesus, please tell me I didn’t blow this. Scared shitless that I lost her, I want to bolt but I still have a few more presents to give out and I don’t want to disappoint the kids. Eden wouldn’t want me to either. I hurry through the gift giving, and half an hour later, I climb from my chair, quickly wish everyone a Merry Christmas as I dash to the door. I need to find Eden. Now.
Here I thought dressing up like this, and giving out gifts because I wanted to do nice things for her, wanted to show her how much I care about her, and the ones she loves, would help her see that I’m more than a douche who slept with her and kept it a secret. I never thought she’d run out, without so much as speaking to me. Fuck, if I ruined this with her…shit, I can’t think like that. She loves me. She told me that. Well, she told Santa that. Man, I really fucked up.
I step into the hall, look left then right, but she’s nowhere to be found. I curse under my breath and head to the elevator. Maybe I’ll catch her at the bus stop. When I finally make it outside, the bus stop is empty.
Shit.
“Santa?”
I turn and find Tina, Eden’s sister behind me. “Hi,” I say.
She angles her head, looks me over. “Is everything okay? You gave my sister a present and she bolted, then after you gave the gifts out, you took off fast too. What’s going on?”
“Where does your sister live?” I ask her quickly.
Her eyes go wide. “What?”
“Where does Eden live? I’m totally in love with her, but I think I ruined everything between us.”
She falters backward a bit. “I…uh…”
I remove my hat and beard. “It’s me Kellan Bites. Her boss.”
“Ohmigod. You’re in…love, with Eden?”
I rake a shaky hand though my hair and glance up and down the snow covered street. “Yes, but I messed things up big time.”
A smile comes over her face. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“I’m sure none of it was good.”
“It was all good.” She smiles and puts her hand on my arm. “I think my sister is in love with you too. Go find her.”
I suck in a quick breath and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Where does she live?” Tina quickly rambles off the address and I hurry to my car. Snow begins falling harder as I do a Google search and make my way across town. I scan the buildings until I come to her place. I take in the rows of town houses until I find her number. My heart thumps hard against my ribs as I park and dash to her door. I ring once, twice but no answer. The lights are on, so I know she’s home.
I start pounding. “Eden, I know you’re in there, open up we need to talk.”
“What do you want, Kellan?” she asks from behind the closed door.
Someone passes by on the street and gives me a quizzical look. “Please open up. I’m not leaving until you do.”
“I believe we said all we needed to say to each other last week in your office.”
“Eden please. I’m in love with you.” I stand there completely still, my breath turning to fog in front of my face, never so scared in my life.
A long while later, the sound of the lock opening fills me with hope, and when she opens the door, and stand before me in her flannel pajamas, looking so goddamn sweet she’d could give our candy store a run for it’s money, it’s all I can do not to carry her to her room and make love to her until Christmas day.
“What did you say?” she asks.
“I love you.”
She looks down, and blinks hard. “You deceived me. That’s not love, Kellan.”
I touch her cheek, brush her tear away, my throat so tight it’s hard to talk. “I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how. If I came right out with it, I knew you would hate me, maybe even quit, and I couldn’t handle either, Eden. So instead I wanted to show you that there was more to me, that I was a good guy, worthy of your love, and not just some douche bag who deceived you.”
“You’re not a douche bag,” she whispers quietly.
Fuck man, I hurt her, yet here she is still defending me. If I didn’t already love her, I sure as hell would have now. I reach out, put my hands on her shoulders. “You have to know I’d never do anything to purposely hurt you. I’d gotten off course when I first started at Sweet Bites, nearly lost the business. I was too scared for that to happen again, too scared the good people who work for me would lose their jobs, but more importantly I was too scared that you were good to be true.”
Her eyes soften, her body relaxing under my touch.
“You’ve proven over and over again, that you’re sweet, kind, the most generous woman I’ve ever known. I’m sorry I never told you the truth. Trust is important to you, it is to me too.”
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“I have a confession, Eden. I’ve been crazy about you since you started working for me. That night in the copier room, I wanted you. You wanted to be naughty. I thought I could give you what you want and get you out of my system, but it all blew up in my face. One taste of you and I wanted more. I wanted it all. Please tell me you want that too.”
She steps back, breaks from my hold, putting both physical and emotional distance between us.
“You paid Dylan’s bill, and bought all those expensive toys for the kids. Why?”
“You’re always giving, Eden, and I wanted to give to you.”
“The bonus—”
“You worked hard for it. Deserve every penny.”
She shakes her head, her long hair spilling over her shoulders. “You once told me that everyone wants you for what’s in your pocket, or your family name? Do you really think I’m like your ex, or the women from your social circle? That I want you because you can buy me things, take care of my bills? Is that what you thought would make me happy. I’m not like that.”
“I know that. You’re everything those women aren’t which is why I did what I did. I want to give you things. I want to make all your Christmas wishes come true. Don’t you see, I love you Eden.”
She blinks up at me, water pooling in her eyes. “You did those things from the goodness of your heart, not because you thought that’s what I wanted from you? That I was like all those other women?”
“Jesus Eden. I never stopped to think about how you might see it.”
A long pause and then she says, “I want you to know, I appreciate what you did for the kids, for Dylan. But I don’t love you because of your bank account or your status.”
She still loves me!
“That’s not what I need from you, Santa,” she says, and takes a step toward me.
My heart jumps in my throat, as she warms, a new understanding in her eyes. I open my coat, and drop my pants. I stand before her in nothing but my birthday suit, and a bow tie. “You once asked Santa for a man on Christmas Eve, in nothing but a bow.”
She covers her mouth to stifle a laugh. “Oh, my God, Kellan. You’re crazy.”
“Crazy about you. Santa is real, Eden. And you can ask him for anything you want.”
“All I want is his love, compassion, and for him to keep caring about his staff…keep caring about me.”
“You got it, but there is one other thing I’d like you to ask him.”
She arches a brow, her eyes curious, and so full of love and forgiveness as she looks up at me. How did I ever get so lucky? I have no idea, but what I do know is that for the rest of her life, I’ll give her love and compassion like she asked, plus all the other things that she would never dream of asking for.
“Oh. What’s that?”
Biting wind whips over my naked body, freezing my flesh. “Ask him if he wants to come inside because he’s currently freezing his jingle bells off out here.”
She laughs, drags me inside, and closes the door behind us. “I can’t believe you stripped naked on my doorsteps.”
My teeth are chattering when I say, “Isn’t that what you asked Santa for when you sat on his lap.”
“It is,” she says. “And so far Santa has made all my wishes come true.”
“There is actually one other big thing Santa would like to give you tonight.”
A small smile splits her mouth. “What might that be?”
I pick her up. “Point me to your bedroom, and I’ll I show you.”
She wraps her arms around me. “Merry Christmas Santa Claus.”
“Merry Christmas to you too, Mrs. Clause.”
Her brow pulls together. “Wait what?”
“I want to merry you, Eden. I want you to be my wife.”
Her eyes grow wide, and the corners of her mouth quirk. “And the no office fraternizing rule.”
“Oh, there’s going to be fraternizing. Lot’s and lots of fraternizing,” I say. “On my desk, up against my bookshelf, in the lunch room.”
She laughs and the sound warms my soul. “You’re not worried this will interfere with your bottom line?”
“No,” I say and set her on her bed. “And speaking of bottoms…”
“You’re kind of a bad boy, Santa.”
“And you’re just the right amount of naughty,” I stand back, and look at the woman I love, never more happy and content in my life. “Say yes.”
“Yes,” she whispers. “I’ll be your Mrs. Claus.” She crooks her finger. “Now get over here so I can see about warming up those jingle bells.”