Christmas 911 by Lori Leger

Author:Lori Leger [Leger, Lori]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, Christmas, pregnancy
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2016-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

A Lick and a Promise

After the meal, Lee kept Chris busy in the back room while the men transferred hidden, wrapped packages from various cars and hiding spots to the neighbor Santa’s large, red velvet bag. Santa entered via the front door, his sack stuffed to the brim with gifts, thoroughly surprising Luke’s nephew.

Santa, with his jovial personality, made a good impression on Christopher, one factor that kept the kid from tugging on the fake white beard covering the man’s face. The boy sat on Santa’s lap while Lee and Dolores snapped pictures. Lee took her turn on Santa’s lap for a picture, as did Dolores. Once she’d vacated his knee, the over-stuffed Santa slapped it and sent the remaining three men looks laced with amusement.

“Who’s next?”

Luke exchanged a look of warning with Joe, before they declined in unison. He stared, shocked when his dad stood from his recliner and approached the Santa.

Arthur’s tone dropped to an ominous growl. “Santa, I’m telling you now. If you try anything funny with me,” he pointed to the empty bag hung over the fat man’s shoulder, “you’ll have more than one red sack to haul around.”

“Ho, Ho! Heck No, my friend! You are far too old for my tastes, grandpa.” Melissa snapped her picture and Arthur walked away. Santa rubbed his knee and pointed at Luke. “How about you, young man? Wouldn’t you like a prime photo opportunity with Santa?”

Chris tugged at his hand. “Do it, Uncle Luke! Sit on Santa’s lap…for me? Please? Mama can even take a picture.”

Lee waved her phone and snickered. “Yeah, mama’s dying to take a picture of that…and post it all over social media.”

Luke didn’t want to disappoint his nephew, but he wasn’t quite ready to relinquish his “man card” just yet. He glanced over at Joe. His brother-in-law had doubled over with laughter at the situation. “I will if your daddy goes first.”

Joe sobered immediately, frowned at Luke’s barely concealed dare. “That’s just wrong, man.”

“Daddy, please!”

Luke chuckled, thinking he’d found the perfect way of getting out from the humiliating situation. His stomach fell when Joe spoke up.

“I’ll do it for you, son.”

Joe sat on Santa’s knee and grinned for the camera.” After a quick whisper in Santa’s ear, he slipped something into the man’s palm before standing with arms crossed. “Your turn.”

His mouth twisted with regret, Luke approached the neighbor Santa, thinking his best course of action was to get it over.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle with you,” Santa purred.

Luke’s jaw tightened as he sat gingerly on the man’s knee.

Lee’s taunt of “Smile for the camera, sweetie!” had Luke growling under his breath.

“One, two, say cheese!” his mother chortled.

He pulled his cautious gaze from Santa and bared his teeth in a “cheesy” grin. With his attention focused on the two cameras aimed at him, Santa’s lick to his face caught him completely off guard.

Too shocked to move, other than a slow turn of his head to stare at the man, Luke’s eyes widened at the fifty-dollar bill Santa waved in front of his face.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.