Page 59 of The Naughty List Agreement

“What?”

“Ana liked to make anatomically correct gingerbread women.”

Cora pressed close to the counter next to him and chuckled. “Sounds like she was a lot of fun.”

“She was.”

“Was?”

“She died a few years ago,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion before he shook his head. “Everyone gets so intense in December, but she was a big one for dashing outside and making snow angels. Or dropping to the workshop floor and leading the elv—the workers in a rousing rendition of ‘Jingle Bells.’”

“Snow angels? I haven’t made one since elementary school,” Cora admitted.

The frosting would come later but the candy needed to be added before the bake so it would sink into the dough. They sat side by side on the stools at her counter decorating the cookies, and trying to outdo each other with how outrageous the anatomical designs were.

He put the cookie sheets in the oven to bake then sat back to watch Cora move about her kitchen. There was such freedom and grace in her movements, and Nick knew he would never forget this evening, no matter what happened in the future. There was something soft about her that called to him in a way he hadn’t expected.

The soft amber bulbs in her lights cast the room in a cozy glow and the scents of nutmeg and ginger filled the air. It felt so good, and not as familiar as it should. Had he also lost touch with the magic of Christmas?

That took him aback. He’d been complaining about Cora commercializing the holiday, but he’d also turned it into nonstop work for himself and the elves of Hearthvale. They used to have cookie competitions, an annual hockey tournament with teams from different departments and, most importantly, one resident would be crowned Christmas Spirit.

How had he let these things slip? As much as the mortal world fed the Magic Coffers, Hearthvale played a part as well.

His obsession with making Christmas better—read different from his dad’s—had driven him. He pushed for more innovation and the elves who loved a challenge had risen to it. But Nick had lost sight of what the season should be about. Making gingerbread with Cora gave him a glimpse of what he truly wanted for Hearthvale.

“Want to lick the beaters?” she asked.

“My mom used to let me,” he said.

“Sarah used to let me,” she admitted.

“Tell me more about Sarah.”

“She was my neighbor when I was growing up. Mom worked all the time and she sort of realized I was alone a lot. Probably because she was too. I started eating dinner with her when my mom worked late. She taught me to cook… I’m rambling, but she meant the world to me.”

“She’s passed?”

“The first year I started running the festival. She’s the one who inspired me to take on the job. I created the Winter Wonderland for her from stories she used to tell me about her childhood.”

Wow. There was so much more to Cora than he’d thought.

And then she bent over to take a sheet of gingerbread people out of the oven and the short hem of her skirt rode up her thigh … and he was lost.

“Oy, perv! Eyes up!” she teased. “We can lick the beaters and there’s also a bit extra we can eat from the bowl.”

He blushed to have been caught staring, but he wanted to lick more than the beater and the bowl. Being with Cora was on big turn-on. From the moment he glimpsed her in the Yuleglass his hormones had started humming. There was no fighting the pull she had on him.

Winking at him, she handed him one of the beaters before setting the bowl between them. There wasn’t much dough left but it was enough.

Cora closed her eyes as she licked the beater and Nick had to hastily adjust his stance to give his dick room to grow.

There was pure mischief in her eyes as she opened them. “What are you waiting for?” She knew exactly what she was doing.

Cora was playing with him. Joy sparkled in him and in the room. He walked to her side of the counter and leaned against it next to her, noting the moment she clocked his hard-on.

“Wanted to make sure it was safe,” he said, before licking the batter off his own beater.

“I’m not sure it’s totally safe for you,” she teased.