Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
“For a fifty-thousand-dollar fee.”
I’m about to tell Peter to shut the fuck up, but before I can, Kelsey murmurs, “Fifty thousand?”
Peter nods. “I thought it was worth it when you called to say I could have my mother’s ring back. It’s valued in the millions. But then I realized how much I miss you. How much I miss us.”
“Peter—”
He disrespects Noelle in a way he will never disrespect Kelsey again by shoving his hand into her face before stepping closer to Kelsey and me. “I made a mistake, Kels. I was scared, and I got cold feet. But the worst thing I ever did was hire him to build your confidence to the point that you believe you no longer need me in your life.”
I’m glad Kelsey’s trust in him is so low that she doesn’t seek the truth from him, but I really wish she wouldn’t look at me how she is. “He hired you to help me move on?”
She knows the words Peter is speaking are fraudulent, but she still needs me to spell it out for her. “No.”
“He’s lying. I transferred his requested fee into his bank account Wednesday night at—”
“5:57 p.m.,” Kelsey answers, her confidence disintegrating before my eyes.
Peter acts oblivious, though. “Yep. See.” He twists his phone screen to show her the wire transfer he made to my company, Single All The Way, the afternoon he confronted Kelsey outside the department store.
I can’t tell if Kelsey is confused or steaming mad when she questions in a hushed tone, “Did you sleep with me because you were paid to?”
My denial is too swift to be cordial. “No. I’ve never slept with a client. I was their friend and confidant. They became better women because of me.”
My I’m-so-great rant is silenced by Kelsey swinging her handbag at me. “Better because they wouldn’t fight for a share of what’s rightfully theirs?!” She hits me another two times before she spits out in disgust, “So much for offering your services for free.”
For how hard she’s shaking, her push shouldn’t wind me when it sends me crashing into the outside wall of my hotel, but it does. And her steps to force distance between us are unhindered and robust.
“Kelsey…”
My endeavor to catch her again is thwarted when my arm is suddenly grabbed by a leather-covered hand.
When I shove back the person stealing my ultimate Christmas wish, I’m glared at from all sides. I didn’t push Peter out of a situation he no longer belongs in. I shoved the Santa who’s been stalking me all over Ravenshoe.
“Santa,” I murmur when he sways like a leaf on a hot summer’s day.
“Ho. Ho… ho.”
When he collapses at my feet while clutching his heart, I shout, “Call 9-1-1.”
CHAPTER 15
Zane
When the click of designer heels sounds through my ears, I raise my eyes from the phone screen, which displays all the messages I’ve sent to Kelsey over the past three hours that have gone unread, and drift them to the noise.
Dr. Jae, the head surgeon at Ravenshoe Private, hands her clipboard to a nurse at the nurses’ station before joining me in the waiting room of the ICU. She looks as drained as I feel, but I doubt her exhaustion is because a charity Santa wouldn’t let go of her hand while he was loaded into the back of an ambulance and driven to the hospital in peak hour traffic.
It took Jae prying my hand from Santa’s before I could begin explaining to Kelsey that things weren’t as they seemed.
I have proof I never accepted Peter's request to hire me. It just took him exposing the proprietary limited name he used while I was performing CPR on Santa to realize who I refunded this morning on Emma’s behalf.
Peter was the client who wouldn’t quit harassing Emma this week—the douche who wanted me to break the rules for him. But I was clueless because every inquiry he made was under a company name, and he paid under the same guise.
Between reviving Santa and waiting on news of his prognosis, I haven’t had time to work out all the details, but I am assuming when Peter saw me with Kelsey, he believed I had accepted his proposal, so he forwarded the fifty thousand fee to show good faith.
When Jae’s exhaustive sigh tickles my cheek, I ask, “How is he?”
“He’s doing okay.” Her giggle is unexpected. She was always the strait-laced one at our study sessions at university. “His recovery is occurring remarkably fast. It’s almost a miracle.” Her eyes pop. “A Christmas miracle.”
Confident there’s no such thing after the day I’ve had, I ask, “Are his family on their way?”
I feel like a dick seeking a way to skip out on my obligations, but the quicker I get Santa’s collapse off my conscience, the faster I can return to Kelsey’s apartment to grovel.