In the gym, she wasn’t surprised to find Caleb going at a hanging bag, beating the shit out of it with a combination of punches and kicks. And given the look of him, drenched in sweat, face grim, he’d been at it a while.
She didn’t disturb him. Instead she warmed up with stretches and then hit the weights. She was at the bench press when two hands caught the bar and adjusted her arms, pushing it up a little higher.
Caleb.
He watched her, nodding in approval as she finished her set.
“Thanks,” she said. “You done beating up whoever ruined your day?”
He held her gaze, arms crossed over his chest. “I could ask you the same thing.”
She sighed.
“Work?” he asked. “Love life?”
“Both.” She gave him a look. “And you?”
He lifted a broad shoulder. “Same.”
“So we’re both screwed up?”
A very small smile curved his lips. “No doubt.”
She went by her place for a shower, her body humming from the workout. She was feeling pretty good, though she wasn’t sure it was from the exercise or how she’d spent last night. She glanced at the time. She never took a long lunch. But she wanted to today. She told herself she could take another thirty minutes or so if she wanted.
And oh, she wanted. She reached for her phone to send a text.
Molly: I have some research I could use an assist on. Are you anywhere near my place?
Lucas: Please tell me that “research” is a euphemism.
Molly: Of course not.
It totally was a euphemism.
He got there in ten minutes. She was still in just her towel from her shower. “Oh,” she murmured. “I didn’t realize you could get here so quickly. I haven’t had time to get dressed.”
He walked over to her and pulled her up into his arms. His mouth descended on hers, hot and persistent and she felt her nipples bore through the towel into his chest.
He dropped his hands to cup her butt, slipping them beneath the towel to grip bare skin. “Liar,” he said with naughty accusation in his voice. “You’re lying in wait for me. Hoping to seduce me by wearing only this easy access towel.”
She slid her arms around his neck and rocked into his erection with a purr. “Is it working?”
“Molly,” he said on a rough laugh. “All you have to do is look at me.”
She raised her gaze to his and studied him. “I’m glad you were close by.”
“I wasn’t. I broke five laws getting here.”
She snorted and his hold tightened on her. “You have a power over me,” he said. “Use it wisely.”
“I intend to.” She laid her head on his chest. “Are you going to give me what you came here for?”
Eyes dark, he raised an eyebrow and she tried not to blush as she stared back at him. Nothing in the world was sexier than his eyes when they got like that. Except for maybe his abs when he sat up first thing in the morning. Or his shoulders when he reached above his head to stretch. Or his—
They made it as far as the couch. She felt frantic, dragging him down on top of her, reaching for his zipper. “Condom?” she panted.
Swearing, he dug it out of a pocket and ripped it open. He jammed himself into it and reached for her.
It was the best, more erotic lunch break of her entire life.
It was nearly quitting time when her phone vibrated across her desk. A text from Louise saying her elf services weren’t needed tonight. She was still looking at it wondering what that meant when a FaceTime call came in from Mrs. Berkowitz.
Molly swiped to answer and then stared at a pair of crinkled lips painted in matte red.
“Molly?” the lips asked. “Molly, is that you, dear?”
“Yes, it’s me. You don’t have to hold the phone quite so close to your face,” she said. “In fact, I can see you better if you don’t.”
The screen pulled back a little tiny bit, enough that Mrs. Berkowitz’s entire face filled the screen now, not just her lips. She smiled. “There you are, dear. Listen, there’s something rotten in Denmark.” She paused. “Do young people read anymore? That’s a Shakespeare reference, you see, and—”
“I get it,” Molly said. “I’ve read Hamlet. You mentioned something was going down last night. I was there, and I agree, the renovation seems off—”
“Santa just put out the word that since it’s a weeknight and it’ll be slow traffic at the crafts booths, he’s sending us elves to Reno, on him. There’s some sort of Santa convention up there and he’s rented a luxury bus to take us.”
“I thought Santa was a cheap bastard.”
Mrs. Berkowitz smiled. “I knew you were a smart cookie. He’s way too cheap to spend this much money on us. And plus”—she lowered her voice—“I overheard him on the phone telling someone that he was taking care of things tonight and not to worry. That’s bad, right?”
Well, it didn’t sound like anything good.
“Do you think he’s going to have the bus run off the narrow curvy summit on the way to Reno?” Mrs. Berkowitz asked. “So he can be rid of us pests once and for all?”
She actually didn’t. That would be a lot of counts of murder. But just in case, she asked, “When are you all due to leave?”
“In an hour.”
“I’m on my way,” Molly said. “Don’t let that bus leave before I get there. Stall, distract him, whatever you have to do.”
“Wear your elf costume, dear. He still thinks you’re just a green-capped elf. He hasn’t yet placed you as an investigator.”
Molly blinked, a bad feeling going through her. “No one should be able to place me,” she said. “I didn’t tell anyone from the village that I was there for anything other than work.”
“That was very smart of you.”
Molly sighed. “Did you?”
“Did I what?”
“Tell anyone I was there for something other than work?” she said, trying to be patient.
“Oh. Well, you know how people talk . . .”
Molly rubbed her temples where she was getting a stress headache. “People like you and Mrs. White?”
The picture on the screen suddenly went sideways and then upside down.
“Sorry!” Mrs. Berkowitz yelled. “Dropped you!” The screen straightened out and Mrs. Berkowitz blinked owlishly at Molly. “There you are again. And your hottie boyfriend’s there too.”
“What? I don’t have a—” Molly turned and found Lucas leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed over his chest. His biceps and chest strained the material of his black T-shirt. His cargo pants fit him like they’d been made for him and it didn’t escape her attention that he was loaded for bear.
And not looking very pleased.
She turned her attention back to her phone. Mrs. Berkowitz had shifted, holding the phone farther away, which allowed Molly to see more of the elf’s surroundings for the first time. They were near the offices in Santa’s Village. The office trailer was maybe twenty feet back, but the setting sun was just at the right angle to allow Molly a clear view inside the office window.
A woman stood inside, smiling as someone came up behind her. He bent close and kissed her on the neck.
Santa.
Molly tried to focus in on the woman. It wasn’t Louise. It was . . . Janet, who closed her eyes in what appeared to be bliss before turning to face Santa, who pushed her up against the desk and kissed her. Arms locked around each other, they sank out of view, presumably to the floor to finish what they’d started.
Santa and Janet? But the elf was supposedly on Mrs. Berkowitz and Mrs. White’s team, trying to catch Santa at being a criminal. “Janet?” she murmured, shocked.
“Janet’s not here,” Mrs. Berkowitz said. “She left me a text that she’s not going with us to Reno. She got a better offer, whatever that means. At our age, we don’t get better offers than a free to trip to Reno.”
Molly didn’t want to have this conversation until she was on the premises to protect her neighbor. “Just don’t get on that bus,” she said. “Stall if you can. I’ll be there as soon as I can get across town.” She disconnected.
Lucas held out her jacket for her to slip her arms into. His was already on and he had his keys in his hand. “What’s going to be your reason for going in?” he asked.
“I’ll say I didn’t get the text canceling me for tonight. Did you see inside the office window?” she asked. “Janet and Santa are doing it.”
“Doing what?”
“It.”
He grimaced.