Page 15 (2/2)
He dropped sori a complete asshole He stared down at his phone
Still nothing fro to save the day She was s at her job, but for reasons unknown, she wasn’t exactly interested in pleasing anyone, especially hi up, he left his apartment
The Pacific Pier building was over a century old and sat in the center of the Cow Hollow district of San Francisco It was five stories of corbeled brick, exposed iron trusses, and big s built around a legendary fountain Retail and businesses took up the ground and second floors, with residential on the third and fourth The fifth-floor penthouse belonged to his friend Spence Baldned the building
All of it was currently decorated for the holidays like it was about to star in a Hallmark movie
Lucas jogged doo flights of stairs to the second floor, passing by the building et to Hunt Investigations He was fully prepared to be blasted by Molly at her front desk—not just for his text, but for his appearance at all Off duty since the shooting, he wasn’t supposed to be back at work until next week, and that was if his doctor cleared him But Lucas couldn’t stay ho to do with the stranger in his bed
Or at least not all due to the stranger in his bed
He scrubbed a hand over his unshaved jaw, feeling incredibly tense, which for a guy who’d apparently gotten laid last night, didn’t make much sense
Nor did the fact that sitting on a bench outside of Hunt Investigations’ front door were two old ladies dressed up as elves Knitting elves
The one on the left looked to beon so, lips coated in bright red lipstick Left elf had a se of it on her teeth and her little elf cap seemed to quiver on top of her white hair
Right Elf pulled out her phone “I just got a text from Louise,” she told Left Elf “It says, ‘Don’t be late for work tonight, Santa’s turned into Grinch SMH’” She blinked “What does S-M-H mean?”
“Shaking my head,” Left Elf said
“Oh thank goodness,” Right Elf said, putting a hand to her heart “I thought it ht Help”
They both cackled over that before they saw Lucas
“Hello there, young ot a proble a bad Santa and she said to meet her here”
“A bad Santa,” Lucas repeated, starting to wonder ifthis day
“Yes, ork for hi to herself
“You’reSanta’s elves,” he said slowly “And you work for him atthe North Pole?”
“Right” Left Elf snorted “We work right here in the city like you, at the Christht costumes for too little money Honey, didn’t your mama ever tell you Santa isn’t real?”
Okay, so they didn’t believe they were real elves That was a relief Lucas had a great uncle who sohts he drank away his social security checks with his cronies
“Santa proo to the charities of our choice Last year weweekend”
Left Elf nodded with a s impersonator party ere invited to, remember, Liz?”