Mistletoe Magic Read Online Free Page B

threw your way last month? Do me this favor and we’re square.”
    With a deep sigh, knowing his tenacious friend wouldn’t give up until he did, Rafe agreed, smiling to himself as he remembered Melissa’s charms. “All right. I know when to say uncle.”
    Hux took the print back out of Rafe’s hand and smiled wolfishly, showing perfect white teeth as he studied it. “Look at that expression! This little pink sugarplum fairy’s got something all right. And I want you to get it for me.” He winked one green eye. “In photographs, that is.”
    Rafe looked forward to seeing Melissa Ryan in spite of his reservations. When he got her alone in his studio—well, a little flirtation couldn’t hurt anything, could it?
     
    “How come you’re not excited about this photo session?” Arlene asked Melissa as they changed into their costumes. “Our picture might be in The New York Times !”
    “Maybe I’m coming down with the flu,” Melissa told the black woman, sniffling for effect as she slid her feet into pink satin slippers.
    “’Tis the season.”
    Actually, she was in a funky mood this morning, but it had nothing to do with her health. She’d spent another restless night wondering how long it would be before she’d get to sleep. What in the world was wrong with her?
    “I’m ready to go down to the Workshop. Are you coming?” she asked Arlene.
    “You kidding? Does this face look like it’s ready? If I’m gonna be in pictures, I gotta prepare, honey.”
    Melissa shook her head at Arlene’s dramatics as she left the women’s dressing room.
    “Ho-ho-ho!” The booming voice was followed by a jolly red-clothed body. “If it isn’t my favorite sugarplum fairy. And what do you want for Christmas, little one?”
    “Why, Santa!” Melissa looked up past the white beard to Clarence’s rosy cheeks and nose. She hoped the color was merely makeup. “Umm, how about…financial stability and romance?”
    “Granted!” he said in character, then switched to his real self. “I’d do anything I could to make your wishes come true, Melissa. It’s not often someone comes to the aid of an old reprobate.”
    “Oh, Clarence, I didn’t do anything but give you some advice.”
    “That in itself is precious, my dear girl. I need this job desperately, and you convinced the others to give me a second chance before ratting on me. Terry told me,” he said, referring to Melissa’s neighbor and their mutual friend who played the green elf. “You’re a ray of sunshine in a cold, cruel city. A jewel amidst paste. A rose among the thorns.” Bowing sharply from the waist, he took her hand and kissed it, reminding Melissa of Terry’s claim that Clarence fancied himself a leading man. “Consider me in your debt.”
    Embarrassed by his effusive thanks, Melissa blushed. Had a few sincere words meant so much to the man? She’d always thought Clarence’s antics were a humorous facade, anyway—a bid for attention from a lonely old man—but she’d never taken him seriously.
    “Don’t be silly. A simple thank you will do.”
    “Hardly, my girl, hardly. Hmm. You yearn for financial stability? With your looks, you should be able to get ads, perhaps commercials.”
    “I’m not a model or an actress. I’m a teacher.”
    “Don’t worry. I can help you find an agent who won’t hold that against you.”
    “An agent? Where?” asked Terry, catching up to them just as they stepped on the escalator that would take them down to Santa’s Workshop. He leaned over and used a loud stage whisper to inform Melissa, “No self-respecting agent would let Clarence in his office these days.”
    “Bah humbug!”
    Melissa snorted at Clarence’s out-of-character line and at the resulting bickering. Those two were always picking on each other, but she wasn’t worried that the verbal battle would erupt into a physical one. She knew Terry and Clarence had been good friends for a couple of years, ever since they were extras in a