Santa' Wayward Elf (6 page)

Of course, she had no idea what she was going to do tonight,
or the nights after that. But for right now at least, she had a place to stay.
That was enough. She would worry about figuring out how to contact Elf Central
after she had some of the delicious-smelling food Derek had made for breakfast.

Throwing back the blanket, she hopped out of bed and hurried
for the door. Halfway there, she stopped, her gaze going to the colorful
clothes neatly folded on the dresser. She should put her skirt and jacket back
on, but the shirt Derek had given her to wear was so soft and comfortable that
she didn’t want to take it off yet. Hoping he wouldn’t mind if she borrowed it
a little longer, she reached up to make sure her hair covered the tips of her
elfin ears, then skipped off to the kitchen.

Derek was standing at the small stove stirring something in
a frying pan and looking as gorgeous as he had last night. Though she was
slightly disappointed to see he was dressed. She wouldn’t have minded if he’d
still been wearing that sheet. He turned and flashed her a grin.

“Hey there. I was wondering when you were going to get up.
Merry Christmas.”

Sosie smiled and returned the greeting. Christmas was a
joyous time for elves, too, but for a different reason. For her kind, it meant
the busiest time of the year was over with and they could finally take a
breather.

“What’s that delightful smell?” she asked, peeking around
him to look into the frying pan.

He glanced at her as he stirred the yellow mixture. “Nothing
special. Just your basic bacon and eggs.”

“Those are bacon and eggs?” She’d heard of bacon and eggs,
of course, but had never seen them. They looked light and fluffy and she had to
resist the urge to pick some up with her fingers and pop them into her mouth to
see if they tasted as delicious as they smelled.

“Actually, these are the eggs. The bacon’s in the oven
staying warm.” He frowned. “Wait a minute. You’ve never had bacon and eggs
before?”

She shook her head.

“What do you eat for breakfast then?”

“Porridge.”

She watched as he stirred the eggs a few more times. Finally
unable to control herself any longer, she reached out to nab some of the
fluffy, yellow stuff, but he pulled the pan out of the way before she could get
her fingers on it.

“Porridge, huh? Like oatmeal, you mean?” He grinned as he spooned
the eggs onto plates. “Well, then you’re in for a real treat because this is
way better than porridge. You have to wait until I get it on plates, though.
Sit down at the table and I’ll bring it over.”

Sosie gave the scrambled eggs a longing look, but did as he
suggested. She hadn’t known how hungry she was, but after seeing how tasty
breakfast looked, she realized she was starving. To keep from getting too
impatient, she distracted herself by watching Derek work. He was wearing what
the big people called jeans and a T-shirt, and as he moved around the kitchen,
she couldn’t help but notice his backside. He had quite a nice ass. She bet it
was very muscular.

She was so busy admiring his butt, she almost didn’t realize
he’d turned around and was carrying the plates over to the table until he set
one of them in front of her. Blushing, she quickly picked up the glass of
orange-colored drink at her place setting and took a big swallow. It was
tangier than she’d expected and she had to fight to keep her mouth from
puckering.

“Coffee?” Derek asked, a glass pitcher poised above the
empty mug in front of her.

She nodded. She’d never had coffee either, but she was eager
to try it. Along with everything else the BP city had to offer. Like eggs and
bacon. Picking up her fork, she piled it high with the fluffy stuff and put it
in her mouth.

“Mmm,” she breathed. “These are delicious.”

Across from her, Derek picked up his fork and dug into his
own eggs. “Better than porridge?”

She picked up the bacon and took a bite. “Much. We don’t
have anything like this back home.”

He took a swallow of coffee. “Where is home? You didn’t say
last night.”

“Where?”

He nodded. “Yeah. You said you were visiting friends.”

“Oh. Right.” She had said that, hadn’t she? “Um, up north.”

“Canada, you mean?”

She looked down at her plate. “A little farther north than
that.”

“What’s the name of the place?”

He wasn’t going to let it go until she told him, was he?
“Snow City. But you’ve probably never heard of it.”

“You’re right. I’ve never heard of it. And it’s north of
Canada, you said?”

She nodded.

“I didn’t think there was anything north of Canada except
the Arctic Ocean and the North Pole.”

She gave him a small smile. “And Snow City.”

“And Snow City.” He grinned. “Which I now know if there’s
ever a Trivial Pursuit question about it.”

Sosie laughed, familiar with Trivial Pursuit from her time
spent in the game department back in Santa’s workshop. Relieved Derek didn’t
seem inclined to press her for more details, she picked up the coffee he’d
poured for her and took a sip. She made a face at the bitter taste.

Derek chuckled. “Let me guess. You’ve never had coffee
before, either?”

She shook her head. “Does it always taste like this?”

“Only when you don’t put cream and sugar in it. Hang on.
I’ll get you some.”

Getting up, he crossed the kitchen to get something out of
one of the cabinets, then did the same with the enormous refrigerator. A moment
later, he came back to the table with a carton and several yellow packets.
Picking up two of the packets, she tore off the tops and dumped the white
powder in her coffee, then added the contents of two more before filling the
mug to the brim with cream.

“Guess you like things sweet, huh?” Derek said.

She blushed as she lifted the mug to her lips and took a
sip. The sugar she’d added had made the coffee sweeter, but it certainly wasn’t
too sweet for her. More importantly, it made the coffee taste better than
before.

“You know, if you can’t get hold of your friends, you’re
welcome to spend Christmas here if you want.”

Sosie blinked at him over the rim of the mug. “I am?”

He picked up his toast. “Yeah. We all get together in the
common area downstairs to have Christmas dinner and exchange gifts.”

“We?”

“The other people in the building. At least the ones who
don’t go visit family.”

“That sounds like fun. I’d love to have dinner with you. If
you don’t think everyone else would mind.”

“Of course they won’t mind. There’s always more food than
everyone can eat. And even if there wasn’t, you’d still be welcome. No one
should be alone on Christmas, especially in a strange city where they don’t
know anyone.”

It was official. She’d definitely lucked out meeting Derek.
She bit into her second slice of bacon and chewed thoughtfully. “You don’t go
visit your family on Christmas?”

“Normally I do. But this year, my parents are spending
Christmas at my sister’s place in Indiana, so I had dinner with them last night
before they flew out. I couldn’t go because I have to work.”

Sosie didn’t know where Indiana was—she didn’t even know
where they were—but from what Derek said, it sounded as if it was far.

“Do you work at the club every night then?”

He shook his head. “Only a couple nights a week. If I’m
off-duty.”

“Off-duty from what?”

“My real job. I’m a detective. I only moonlight at the club
for some extra cash.”

Sosie wondered why he only worked at the club when the moon
was visible, but she’d have to remember to ask about that later. Right now, she
wanted to know more about his other job.

She nibbled on her toast. “What do you spend your days
detecting?”

Derek chuckled as if he found her question amusing. “Well, I
spend my days detecting bad guys. Right now, however, I’m spending less time
detecting and more of it trying to prove they are the bad guys. I work in the organized
crime division, so that kind of goes with the territory.”

Sosie frowned. The term “organized crime” didn’t make a lot
of sense to her. Did that mean the bad guys he’d mentioned worked according to
a schedule and committed crime in an orderly fashion? Was there such a thing as
unorganized crime, too? But she didn’t ask him for details. She didn’t want to
come off as completely clueless. It was bad enough she didn’t know what bacon
and eggs looked like. So, as he told her about his job, she nodded and said
things in reply she hoped sounded intelligent.

While she enjoyed listening to him, she was nervous he was
going to ask her questions about where she was from. Every time it seemed as if
he might, she quickly turned the conversation back around so they were once
again talking about him. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice.

“I almost forgot,” he said as he pushed his empty plate out
of the way. “I told one of my neighbors about your friends abandoning you at
the club and she gave me some clothes for you to wear. She has a teenage
daughter about your size, so they should fit okay.”

She paused, the mug of coffee halfway to her lips. “You did?
That was sweet of you.”

“I figured you wouldn’t want to wear your Christmas costume
all day. Why don’t you change while I clean up? The clothes are over there on
the couch.”

Derek thought her red and green clothes were a costume—like
the bouncer at the club. Maybe she should tell him they weren’t. Then again,
maybe not. From what she’d seen so far, BPs didn’t dress anything like elves.

“Feel free to use the phone in the bedroom if you want to
call your friends. I’m sure they’re worried about you,” Derek said as she
picked up the clothes and started for the bedroom.

Sosie nodded, but didn’t say anything. He’d think it was odd
if she told him she still had no way to contact her friends. She would have to
pretend she’d tried to call them, then tell him she hadn’t been able to get in
touch with them again.

Although she was still reluctant to take off Derek’s soft,
comfortable T-shirt, she was eager to try on the clothes his neighbor had been
kind enough to give her. The jeans fit her perfectly, even if they were snugger
than she was used to. The shirt was a little tighter than the ones she usually
wore, too, but it was still a great fit. She had no idea what an
American
Idol
was, but the words splashed across the front of the shirt were cool
anyway.

Hoping she looked okay, Sosie went back out to the kitchen.
Derek was putting the breakfast dishes in a small, square contraption
underneath the counter when she walked in. He glanced up, then did a
double-take.

She frowned. “What’s wrong? I look okay, don’t I?”

“You look great. Better than great, actually. It’s just
that…”

“Just what?”

“I probably should have asked you before this,” he said.
“How old are you?”

Her frown deepened. She didn’t see what her age had to do
with how great she looked in the borrowed jeans and T-shirt. “Eighty-nine.”

Derek’s mouth quirked. “Very funny,” he said as he closed
the door on the contraption he’d put the dishes in. “Seriously, how old are
you? As young as you look in those clothes, my neighbors are going to think I’m
some kind of pervert.”

She’d never heard that word before. “Pervert?”

“Yeah. You barely look eighteen in those clothes.”

Oh. So, that’s what was going on here. Sosie had forgotten
elves aged slower than BPs. She tried to remember what she knew concerning an
appropriate age for a BP woman of her appearance. She had to be at least
eighteen because that’d mean she finished school and could be out and about on
her own. She studied Derek, trying to figure out how old he was. In his
thirties, she’d say. Since she had nothing to use as a basis for comparison, it
was impossible to guess, so she finally decided to take a random grab from
Santa’s bag.

“I’m thirty…” she began, but at the look on Derek’s face,
she decided she must have guessed wrong and changed what she’d been going to
say. “Twenty…five?”

Derek arched a brow. “Are you asking me or telling me?”

She nibbled on her lower lip as she tried to gauge his reaction.
“Telling you. I’m twenty-five. I got confused for a minute. You know,
converting from…”

“From?” he prompted when she hesitated.

Figgy, she’d almost said elf years. She was going to have to
be more careful around him. “Well, it’s just that when you live as far north as
I do, the year seems a lot longer, so sometimes we don’t think about them the
way you do down here. We don’t ask each other our age very often where I come
from, either.”

He frowned. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“You didn’t.” She grinned. “As long as you tell me how old
you are in return.”

He chuckled. “Fair enough. I’m thirty-two.”

She’d guessed right. Maybe she knew more about BPs than
she’d thought.

He ran his gaze over her one more time, then cleared his
throat. “Come on. Let’s go see if anyone is downstairs yet.”

Although she was excited about meeting Derek’s neighbors and
taking part in a real Christmas celebration, Sosie couldn’t help but be a
little nervous as she followed him downstairs. Despite the fact no one had
figured out she was an elf since getting stranded in the city, she was
terrified she was going to do or say something that’d give it away. Once they
reached the common area, however, she was so busy taking everything in she
forgot all about being nervous.

The place had looked beautiful last night, but today it was
even more festive. In addition to the dozens of colorfully wrapped gifts
underneath the Christmas tree waiting to be opened, the stair rails and
banister had been wrapped with lush garland and twinkling lights. The long
tables that had been against the wall were now covered in red and green
tablecloths and filled with delicious-smelling food. Figgy, this was about as
big as the party they threw at the North Pole on Christmas.