less of a chance of this being a meaningless one-or-several-night-stand. If it wasn’t just a quickie fling to let off sexual tension, then that meant it was something more . Which would mean they were building a relationship.
Which was crazy. Wasn’t it?
Nick would be gone after the holidays, and Phoebe would transfer to a situation that was less…combustible. Their paths would never cross again.
Phoebe rubbed her palm over her heart, which ached at the thought.
Maybe Nick Kringle would never be nice , but that something about him couldn’t be ignored. A night in his bed had convinced Phoebe of that. No man could touch a woman as possessively and reverently as he had if his heart were as icy as everyone said it was. She had no idea if Jack Frost’s son could even fall in love, but she knew she could, and if Nick kept revealing those tiny glimpses of humanity and compassion toward her fellow elf, along with the delightful naughtiness of his passionate side, she’d be well on her way. And then she’d have nothing to show for it but a broken heart and some bittersweet memories come January.
Sleeping with Nick Kringle again was a bad idea, decided Phoebe as she paid the cabbie and smoothed her suit on her way back into the factory. One night was forgivable – who could resist? Anything more than that would surely be a terrible, terrible disaster in the making.
Even if it would feel so, so good.
Squelching the urge to seek Nick out immediately, Phoebe went to check in with Spokes. Christmas was just over a week away, and candy production was moving into overdrive. On top of the regular chaos of holiday orders, the factory was gearing up for the last big shipment of magical candy to North Pole Village, to help fuel Santa’s elves through the last hectic week before the big night. If all went well, they’d be ready to ship tonight.
Nerves bounced in Phoebe’s stomach – the factory and customer relations with the humans were important, of course, but this was the real test. They were the only candy factory in the world tasked with this mission, and failure wasn’t an option. With that in mind, Phoebe grabbed a clipboard and got to work.
NICK KRINGLE WAS HAVING THE best day of his life. His body hummed with satisfaction as he fixed the faulty thermometer on the fudge boiler, consulted with the floor manager about the output from the gumdrop machine, and sampled three new varieties of truffles, settling on ginger because it reminded him of Phoebe. He found himself humming under his breath, even smiling at the elves’ stupid holiday jokes. They turned wide eyes on him, and then erupted in delighted peals of laughter. One of them actually hugged him.
It was idiotic.
It was all Phoebe’s fault. Somewhere between sating the hard-driving lust that had been torturing him for the last few days and bundling her up into his coat this morning, something had changed.
Just endorphin overload , Nick reassured himself, unsure if he even had such things as a quasi-human.
Whatever it was, he was having distinctly odd feelings about the sexy little half-elf. Thinking about her got him heated up, which was to be expected, but he was unprepared for the surge of tenderness that accompanied the lust. He wanted to cuddle her by the fireplace and listen to the sweetness of her voice. He wanted to see admiration and pride shining in her big blue eyes after a hard day’s work in the factory. He wanted to talk to her for hours on end, for Pete’s sake.
She’d called him a surprise. If he was a surprise, Phoebe Winters was a fucking revelation. It was still hard to wrap his brain around the idea that in bed with a lover, Phoebe could let go of her controlled, no-nonsense, severe manner, and have a little down and dirty fun. Nick frowned at the idea that other men would have enjoyed his elf goddess, and suppressed the urge to track them down and turn them into icy red spots on the pavement. He’d settle for keeping Phoebe so
Which was crazy. Wasn’t it?
Nick would be gone after the holidays, and Phoebe would transfer to a situation that was less…combustible. Their paths would never cross again.
Phoebe rubbed her palm over her heart, which ached at the thought.
Maybe Nick Kringle would never be nice , but that something about him couldn’t be ignored. A night in his bed had convinced Phoebe of that. No man could touch a woman as possessively and reverently as he had if his heart were as icy as everyone said it was. She had no idea if Jack Frost’s son could even fall in love, but she knew she could, and if Nick kept revealing those tiny glimpses of humanity and compassion toward her fellow elf, along with the delightful naughtiness of his passionate side, she’d be well on her way. And then she’d have nothing to show for it but a broken heart and some bittersweet memories come January.
Sleeping with Nick Kringle again was a bad idea, decided Phoebe as she paid the cabbie and smoothed her suit on her way back into the factory. One night was forgivable – who could resist? Anything more than that would surely be a terrible, terrible disaster in the making.
Even if it would feel so, so good.
Squelching the urge to seek Nick out immediately, Phoebe went to check in with Spokes. Christmas was just over a week away, and candy production was moving into overdrive. On top of the regular chaos of holiday orders, the factory was gearing up for the last big shipment of magical candy to North Pole Village, to help fuel Santa’s elves through the last hectic week before the big night. If all went well, they’d be ready to ship tonight.
Nerves bounced in Phoebe’s stomach – the factory and customer relations with the humans were important, of course, but this was the real test. They were the only candy factory in the world tasked with this mission, and failure wasn’t an option. With that in mind, Phoebe grabbed a clipboard and got to work.
NICK KRINGLE WAS HAVING THE best day of his life. His body hummed with satisfaction as he fixed the faulty thermometer on the fudge boiler, consulted with the floor manager about the output from the gumdrop machine, and sampled three new varieties of truffles, settling on ginger because it reminded him of Phoebe. He found himself humming under his breath, even smiling at the elves’ stupid holiday jokes. They turned wide eyes on him, and then erupted in delighted peals of laughter. One of them actually hugged him.
It was idiotic.
It was all Phoebe’s fault. Somewhere between sating the hard-driving lust that had been torturing him for the last few days and bundling her up into his coat this morning, something had changed.
Just endorphin overload , Nick reassured himself, unsure if he even had such things as a quasi-human.
Whatever it was, he was having distinctly odd feelings about the sexy little half-elf. Thinking about her got him heated up, which was to be expected, but he was unprepared for the surge of tenderness that accompanied the lust. He wanted to cuddle her by the fireplace and listen to the sweetness of her voice. He wanted to see admiration and pride shining in her big blue eyes after a hard day’s work in the factory. He wanted to talk to her for hours on end, for Pete’s sake.
She’d called him a surprise. If he was a surprise, Phoebe Winters was a fucking revelation. It was still hard to wrap his brain around the idea that in bed with a lover, Phoebe could let go of her controlled, no-nonsense, severe manner, and have a little down and dirty fun. Nick frowned at the idea that other men would have enjoyed his elf goddess, and suppressed the urge to track them down and turn them into icy red spots on the pavement. He’d settle for keeping Phoebe so
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