Page 61 of Santa Baby

“I’m not saying he is,” I amended, pulling him to a stop. I licked my lips, trying to find the words I needed to explain what I meant, but I was actively falling short. How could I possibly tell him he was everything I didn’t know I wanted, and more? “I just didn’t expect to like you.”

“I didn’t expect to like you either.”

“How did this happen?” I laughed.

“Christmas magic? Isn’t that what you believe in?”

I gave him a nudge in the ribs. “I’m on Santa’s good girl list, apparently. I’ve been asking for a billionaire to sweep me off my feet for years. I’ll probably find you wearing a shiny little bow under my Christmas tree on Christmas morning.”

“I don’t think I’ll fit. I barely fit in your apartment as it is.” He paused mid-step, looking around. “Do you want to grab a drink? I could use one after the week I’d had.”

I would have done anything to forestall going home right then, so I nodded, letting him lead me down the street and into an alley. At first, I hesitated and dug in my heels when we approached a service door leading into what I thought might have been a butcher shop, but Mason seemed confident that he knew where he was going. I was just along for the ride. It wasn’t a butcher shop, but it looked like one. We passed through hanging strips of fabric into a room made from plastic and metal, passed several people loading crates, and stopped in front of a scary-looking man that made Mason, who was taller than most of the men I knew, look like he should be working for Santa at the North Pole.

I looked up at the bald, tattoo-covered man and wondered if now was the time I should call my mom and tell her I loved her, but he smiled at Mason, clapping him hard on the shoulder.

“Been ages, O’Leary. Your usual table is ready.”

“Thanks, Mark. How’s the family?”

Mark rapped his knuckles on the huge metal door behind him three times, then a pause, then a fourth. “Better than ever, man. Sidney got into that prep school I was telling you about. She loves it, been playing on their basketball team the past few months. Davie’s still going to that Montessori academy downtown but he’ll be in kindergarten next year, and the wife is still deciding where we’re going to put him next.”

Then Mason was clapping Mark, the giant, on the arm, congratulating him. We walked through the door behind him and were met by red-velvet darkness, the smell of whiskey and cigars thick in the air.

“Do you have something you need to get off your chest?” I whispered, clutching Mason’s arm for dear life.

“This isn’t a sex club, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I wasn’t thinking that! But now I am!”

We turned a corner and I gasped. A beautiful, obviously very exclusive art-deco bar spread out before us. The bartender raised a glass to Mason as we walked past, and I realized he must come here often, which didn’t surprise me in the slightest. It screamed him.

We sat down at a private table surrounded by red curtains, mostly closed off from the rest of the space.

“It’s a speakeasy, technically. You have to know someone who knows someone to get in,” Mason said proudly, a bit smugly, actually.

“Do you take your dates here to stay out of the public eye?” I asked.

“I’ve never brought a date here. This place has always just been for me.”

Until now. The unsaid words spun into my heart as he looked into my eyes with a soft, easy smile. He ordered me a drink called the Santa Baby Manhattan, which I loved. It was much better than the themed drink I choked down at the first major event we went to together. He sipped scotch while we listened to a live jazz band, his hand resting on my thigh, warming my skin through my jeans.

“Are we still going to that charity event on Friday?” I asked, lost in the bliss of the moment.

“I’d like to, if you’re up for it. It might not be a great time based on what’s going on with my company. I’m sure I’ll be bombarded with questions the entire time.”

“We’ll make it fun. We always have.”

He nodded. “We have.”

I listened to the music again, but then I remembered something. Something that would have meant the world to me only a few weeks ago, something I would have been obsessing over had I been anywhere else and with anyone else. “Remember how you introduced me to Heather Schuyler?”

“Yeah. She’s great.”

I nodded. “She offered me a job.”

26

MASON