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He studied me, his eyes narrowing. “Are you asking me out on a date? I’ll warn you, we have a bowling alley back at the Workshop, and I’ve won a few championships.”
“Not a date.” I shook my head, realizing how easily my question could be misconstrued when I’d meant something different. Now a fire scaled my neck. “Just two people enjoying time away from responsibilities, from always looking after others. That sort of thing.”
“Sounds like a date to me.” His devilish smirk had me wavering on my feet, but I shook myself back to reality.
“Honestly, I wasn’t asking you out.” God, were my cheeks burning up? Because they felt like an inferno. What was he thinking? That I’d just kissed his friend, then turned around and asked him out? I didn’t date. That personal motto had ensured I hadn’t been hurt. Then why was I insanely attracted to these men?
I’d always believed attraction came in many forms, and who said there was only one perfect soulmate for everyone? Maybe my skewed view on relationships had come from one of my foster parents, who’d been happily married to her husband and also loved her secret boyfriend, who visited often. And the hubby had accepted the love triangle. To me, it had seemed natural. Unfortunately, someone from the foster system had found out, so Britta and I had been whisked away to another home. They had been one of the families where I’d felt safest.
Tatum took two steps and stood inches from me, laughing and taking my elbow before guiding me toward the tree with the sleigh. “Let’s worry about that type of thing once we get out of this.” He glanced up to where Jax sat in the driver’s seat on the sleigh, hunched over the controls, while Leven climbed off a branch, his arms filled with branches, and got into the rear compartment. The thing looked big enough to fit at least five people sitting comfortably.
Yet my thoughts revolved around Tatum thinking I’d asked him out, and how he’d never actually accepted.
“What’s the verdict?” Tatum called out, his voice growing stern.
Jax stared down from inside the sled, his long, dark hair fluttering in the breeze. “She’s in working order. I can’t see anything broken. Let’s give it a whirl. Both of you, come on up, as there’s no place to land if we do take off.” He winked and waved at me to join him.
At first, I simply shook my head. How in the world would this unit fly?It’s Santa’s; it has magic.I kept repeating that to myself, as insane as it sounded. But a damn carriage sat up in a tree and it had gotten there somehow, right?
Tatum threaded his fingers together, lowering them, and glanced my way. “Ready?”
“You sure about this?” I asked.
“Trust me.” Staring into his deep eyes, I had no reason to disbelieve him, so with a deep breath, I looked up. I held on to the bumpy trunk slick with snow and stepped one foot onto his cradled hands. He elevated me so fast, my stomach lurched, and I grappled to hold on to the nearest branch, then pulled myself up the rest of the way. Tatum jumped up to grab another bough and hauled himself up with no problem, so I kept going up, grasping every available branch, ducking and stepping upward in a seemingly circular motion across the multitude of branches until I reached the base of the sleigh’s runners.
“Take my hand.” Leven was half-hanging out of the back, his arm stretched down to me. I reached up, and he gripped my forearm, then hauled me up as if weighed no more than a sack of rice. I grappled with the edge of the carriage as I staggered inside. The floor and walls were covered in a red, plush velvet. Add a pillow and blanket, and I’d sleep here comfortably.
There was a small bench attached to the wall behind the driver’s seat, but anyone sitting there would have to travel backward as they faced the rear of the sleigh.
“This is fancy,” I said, unable to believe I stood in a golden sled.
“Only the best for Santa.” Jax straightened and glanced over his shoulder at me from the driver’s seat. The spot was large enough for one person only.
Leven’s arm curled around my lower back and he drew me to the tiny seat that must have been installed for small elves to accompany Santa on his toy delivery run. “You’ll stay back here.”
“Leven and I’ll get harnessed,” Tatum announced from somewhere in front of the carriage. I twisted my head to find him balancing on the thick borough in front of us.
“Not going to work,” Jax added. “All the cords have been cut, meaning Krampus took the elite team. Only one set of cords are intact, so we’ll have to do with one guide only. We’ll just move at a slower pace.”
Tatum nodded and already approached the front of us. “I’ll do it. Jax, get her ready to go, and Leven, keep Nickie safe in the back. We’re going to fly.”
Jax hooted while Leven smirked and nodded to himself. He glanced down at me and offered me the sexiest grin. “Want me to show you how to put thelayinsleigh?”
I burst out laughing at his dorky joke while Jax turned toward us. “Lamest pickup line ever!”
