He dropped the smirk and stood with a preternatural
speed. I blinked, and the next thing I knew Nick was in
front of me with his hands clamped around my arms. His
expression was dark—more Krampus than Saint Nicholas.
When he spoke again, his voice was completely without mirth.
All joking aside, literally.
\"Gillian, your mouth is going to get you in trouble.\"
I squirmed beneath his strong grip, which only caused him
to pull me in tighter. My heart pounded so hard that my
pulse thrummed in my ears, blocking out all other sound.
With a great deal of apprehension, I looked up into his face
expecting to see anger, but instead read something else in
the hard set of his jaw and the icy blue gaze: a kind of
neediness that seemed untouchable. Or at least Nick thought
it was.
I looked away. He may have had magical insight to my
desires, but I felt invasive reading the emotions he thought
he had so locked down off his face. They were private things
I didn\'t want to concern myself with.
When I looked up again his face was softer, giving less
away. He really was handsome, especially when he wasn\'t
acting like he knew it. I cleared my throat and averted my
gaze to his chest. \"If you dislike my mouth so much, fire
me.\"
\"You don\'t want that.\"
\"It\'s just a job, Nick.\"
\"You\'re lying. You know and I know there\'s something
going on here.\"
I finally shrugged off his arms and backed up a few
paces...or I should say, Nick let me. Nick didn\'t let
anything happen he didn\'t want. \"I\'m in a North Pole
dormitory and being hit on by a six–foot elf.\"
He scoffed, that smarmy demeanor of his having returned,
and jammed his hands into the pockets of his slacks. \"You
think this is mere flirting?\"
\"Isn\'t it?\" I knew better. My body knew better.
His did
too, obviously, judging by how happy he was about having me
pressed against him moments before.
\"No. There\'s a lot at play you don\'t understand.\"
\"So explain it to me.\"
Nick shook his head and turned his back to me as he
walked out of the kitchen and toward the outer door. \"Get
some sleep. I\'m sure the girls won\'t bother you on the
sofa.
There should be some spare blankets around somewhere.\"
\"I\'m—\"
\"Goodnight, Gilly,\" he said without meeting my gaze
again. The moment he shut the door, the elves came out.