Kissing Santa, A Clover Park Novella (Clover Park, Book 4) Contemporary Romance (The Clover Park Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

each kid tell you what they want; then I’ll take the picture and bring them over here.” He gestured to the side where he had set a large basket. “I’ll give them a coloring book, crayons, and a coupon to The Dancing Cow.”
    “Awesome.” Rico shoved a hand under the wig and scratched. “How many kids show up for this thing anyway?”
    “This is my first rodeo, so I don’t know. We’ll be ready for anything, right, Santa?”
    “Right. Do we get a break? You know, to feed the reindeer or something?”
    “Let’s do a fifteen-minute break halfway through.”
    He wiped some sweat off his brow and readjusted the Santa hat. “Yeah, okay. Oh, I see some kids. Get ready.”
    He settled himself on the throne and tried to look jolly. Should he smile? Nah, he’d better save it for the cameras, or he’d be smiling for three hours straight. He waited. The kids came running in all at once, followed by parents pushing strollers with little ones dressed in red dresses and little suits for their holiday pictures.
    The first kid ran over to him and climbed up on his lap. It was a boy, probably about four.
    “Ho-ho-ho, what’s your name?”
    “Tenny.”
    “Okay, Tenny, what would you like for Christmas?”
    “Not Tenny! Tenny!”
    “Okay, um, what would—”
    “It’s Tenny! Tenny!” The boy was working up a good shade of red.
    Rico looked to the boy’s parents. His mother rushed forward. “It’s Kenny. He has trouble with his Ks.”
    “Okay, Kenny, what would you like for Christmas?” He smiled encouragingly.
    “I want wego staw waws pace tip commandaw, wego staw waws, blah, blah, blah …” The kid went on and on. Rico had no idea what he was saying. Santa lost his smile, and his eyes started to droop.
    “How about a picture?” Barry asked, giving Rico a little shake.
    Rico nodded. Barry raced over to the camera he’d set up on a tripod. He held up a squeaky cow toy above the camera. “Moo-ry Christmas!”
    Rico smiled into the camera. The boy scampered off with Barry elf. Rico’s eyes widened at the line that had formed in the meantime. Was three hours enough to get through all these kids?
    The next family approached. He got one preschooler on each knee, and the mother placed the baby in the crook of his arm. The baby burst into tears. Rico sighed. This job sucked.
    Many, many crying babies and kids pulling his fake beard later, he went for his fifteen-minute break. He had to tell Barry to stop saying Moo-ry Christmas. It was wearing on his last nerve. And was it just him or was “Jingle Bell Rock” on repeat on that playlist? He feared he’d never get it out of his head. He wanted The Boss back.
    “How’s Mrs. Claus?” Ryan O’Hare, Trav’s older brother, asked when Rico passed him on the way to the locker room.
    Rico scratched his beard with his middle finger and kept going. He heard Ryan chuckle in the distance.
    He ripped off the hat and wig in the locker room and scratched his head like crazy. Harold owed him big time for this. Ficus tree or not. He couldn’t believe Harold volunteered to sit in an itchy wig and sweltering suit every year. If he had to hear one more request for a pony, he’d puke. No one was getting a freaking pony! He stripped down to his boxers and fanned himself with the Santa hat. His fifteen minutes passed way too quick, and he reluctantly put the suit back on and returned to his throne. First thing, a toddler with a full diaper that could’ve wiped out a herd of ponies was placed on his lap. Could this gig get any worse?
    Trav O’Hare, his best friend from way back (way, way back, they met in kindergarten in New Jersey, making him more like a brother), stepped up with his one-year-old son, Bryce. Rico tensed. He was sure Bryce would recognize him, and Trav would never let him live this down. Trav’s wife, Daisy, stopped Trav and adjusted a little Santa hat on Bryce’s head. Trav placed Bryce on his lap. His friend did a double take when he recognized Rico under