Page 36 of The Naughty List Agreement

Her words made him pause. She wasn’t a bad person, but naughty didn’t mean bad. Not really. “Naughty doesn’t necessarily mean evil.”

“I’ve been on a few dates with naughty guys,” she admitted. “Makes for some fun times.”

Nick didn’t like the way his gut tightened at the thought of her other dates. “What kind of naughty?”

“Nothing too kinky,” she said, laughing. “Just fooling around in public, that sort of thing. Sexy talk in the boardroom.”

“Your boardroom?”

“Uh … maybe? Are we really going there? I think you’re probably too nice for me. You want to get married and be cozy by the fire whereas I want to blackmail you into bed,” she said, and winked at him before hurrying to join Elsa.

Nick wanted to show Cora just how naughty he could be, but he was wrenched from his thoughts by Jack, who draped his arm around Nick’s shoulders. “How’s it going?”

Irritated with his best friend who could clearly see how things were going, he shrugged away from him. “Good. I’m gathering a lot of intel.”

“Oh, is that what you were doing? I’m not an expert on human relationships, but it sort of looked like flirting…”

Nick flipped Jack the finger. “How’d you convince Martha to come with you today?”

“What makes you think I had to do anything?”

“You know I can tell when you’re lying.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “It’s personal. Things with Martha aren’t up for discussion.”

“But you can rib me about Cora?”

“The fate of the Yearweave doesn’t hang on me and Martha,” Jack said gently.

Fuck.

“Fair enough.” She’s made some good points about why she shouldn’t even be on the list, and now that I’ve got to know her a bit, I’m not sure either. What if the list is out of whack because I’m not married and Mrs. Claus isn’t monitoring it? But he was grasping at straws, trying to come up with all the reasons that meant he could just be with Cora without the pressure of the Naughty List and his needing a spouse.

But that wasn’t happening. Everyone in his world was waiting and watching him. They needed a solution that would ensure they wouldn’t descend into the Dreamfall. The Dreamfall was the final fading—a state of suspended existence where a Legendary lingered unseen and unremembered, sustained by neither belief nor purpose, unable to return. If the Yearweave was powered solely by Black Lumen, the Dreamfall would be inevitable. There was so much at stake.

“I’m not going to fail.”

“I never thought you would,” Jack said. “I like you and her together. Who says you can’t find a way to make that work for you?”

Could he? Could he change her mind about more than just the magic of Christmas?

That warm, fuzzy feeling was back and it made her uncomfortable.

This was just one afternoon, she warned herself, not a family for life. But her inner child didn’t care. That girl enjoyed the freshly baked cakes and cookies that were in baskets and bowls on every surface of the kitchen and living room. The main meal was just as delicious.

Cora admitted she’d never thought turkey could taste this good. She had two helpings along with more starch than she’d eaten in the last year combined. But the mashed potatoes were so buttery and so creamy, they were to-die-for.

Nick laughed as she sneaked another small scoop of cranberry sauce onto her plate.

“Football made you hungry?”

“Yeah,” she said, not feeling at all self-conscious about her plate. That joy that he’d talked about, was this it? Nick’s plate had been piled even higher, and he was on his second serving too. “I’m definitely going to need my evening workout. Sometimes I skip it.”

“I always skip it in the evening. If I don’t workout in the morning, I’m not doing it,” Nick said.

“You strike me as more disciplined than that.”

“Oh, I am, but the day gets away from me once I’m in my workshop.”