Page 29 of The Friendship Pact

“The bandage. Am I cutting off circulation?”

“No,” he muttered.

“Good. We don’t want the pillow to fall out and scare the kids,” she said.

He couldn’t hold it in anymore. This entire situation, Kate’s head moving dangerously close to his crotch, his mother setting things in motion—the whole thing made him laugh out loud.

Kate straightened so fast the top of her head hit his chin, and he groaned for a completely new reason.

“Shit. I’m sorry!” she said.

“Nope, my fault.” He sobered and rubbed his jaw.

“What was so funny?”

Kate’s hands were on her hips now, and her forehead scrunched.

“Nothing, sweetheart. It’s all good,” he said.

Kate’s eyes went wide, and her mouth opened and slammed shut.

Damn. Did he just call her sweetheart? He needed to get his head in the game.

Startled by Nick’s endearment, Kate quickly got back to work. The ACE bandage was an old one, not the newer kind with Velcro. This one had a metal clasp that had dropped from her grasp to the floor when he burst out laughing. When she crouched down to retrieve it, she heard a soft knock, followed by a throat clearing behind her. “Is everything okay in here, you two?”

Kate’s cheeks heated when she realized her proximity to Nick’s crotch. Still on her hands and knees, she turned toward the voice. Of course his mother would come in while Kate was positioned in front of her son’s groin, reaching for the clip that had fallen between his legs and partway under the desk.

She bowed her head and contemplated crawling under the desk and not coming out.

“We’re fine, Mom.”

“Okay. Carry on,” Ruth cheerfully sang.

Kate’s cheeks flushed as she righted herself to a standing position. “Kill me now,” she grumbled under her breath.

Nick laughed. When he received her death stare, he held up his hands in surrender.

“That was embarrassing!” she said.

He gazed into her eyes, his voice husky. “It would have been more so if I were standing in my boxers with the red pants around my ankles. Good thing I put the belt on.”

Now it was her turn to laugh and shake her head. She pulled the bandage tight and secured the clasp. “Okay. All done. You can handle the rest. I’ll step out.”

When Kate entered the kitchen, Chloe had a huge grin on her face. “Sounds like you were having way too much fun in there.”

“I really hope this wasn’t your idea.”

“Who, me?”

Kate walked past her, picked up the last tray of sugar cookies, and carried them to the ballroom. Chloe’s laughter filled the kitchen.

Why did she ever think keeping Nick in the friend zone would be easy?

* * *

Santa entered the ballroom from the side door nearest his chair with a cheery “Ho Ho Ho” and a “Merry Christmas!”

Kate may have been irritated before, but now she couldn’t erase the smile on her face. The children were happy and waving to Santa. The chatter was almost deafening. There must have been over fifty kids lined up to see Nick—Ha! Nick playing St. Nick, how perfect. And maybe not only because of his name. He looked at ease with the children, smiling and laughing. He was taking the job seriously and making it look easy.