Santa Soldier Bear - Meg Ripley Page 0,2

if he was going to make Roman act like a fool in front of these strangers, then he’d have to do the same. He patted his knee, right next to where Lucas’s warm little hand still rested. “Come on, Amar. Perhaps you’ve done some good that my elves aren’t aware of. Why don’t you tell me about it? Santa is always ready to listen.”

To the rousing cheers of the rest of the party, Amar sat. “I’m going to get you for this.”

“You already did,” Roman reminded him.

Amar leaned in close, concern wrinkling his brow. “Have you talked to Elizabeth at all?”

Roman let out a low growl, just quiet enough that no one besides Amar could hear it. He was already embarrassed enough. His relationship with Elizabeth hadn’t been all that long ago, but it wasn’t something he wanted to talk about. If he had it his way, he’d never speak about that time in his life again.

Amar raised a brow. “Point taken.”

A blonde woman came through the crowd with her camera held out for pictures. “Smile, Amar! This one’s getting framed and put on the wall.”

Amar smiled broadly and put his arm around Roman’s shoulders for the first shot. In another, Roman shook his gloved finger while Amar pouted. Though he’d felt strange about doing this little Santa gig, Roman quickly forgot how ridiculous he felt and started enjoying himself. It was a little easier to have all eyes on him when he was disguised with a hat and beard.

“Okay, okay,” Amar finally said, getting up and gesturing toward the big bag. “I think it’s someone else’s turn. Katalin, my love, Santa told me he has something for you.”

“Is that so?” A striking woman appeared at his side, smiling up at her mate. Her dark hair and eyes were a steep contrast to her porcelain skin and ruby lips. Amar had explained to Roman that his mate was a vampire, but seeing her in the flesh was entirely different than hearing about her. Katalin didn’t look like a blood-sucking creature of the night in the slightest.

Roman fished through the bag, finding a slender box wrapped in gold paper. He handed it over, and though the gift said it was from Santa, Katalin only had eyes for Amar as she removed the glittering diamond tennis bracelet.

“I guess this means I’ve been good this year, too,” she commented with a little smile as Amar fastened the bauble around her wrist.

Amar pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. “Very.”

Roman turned away from the scene that somehow reminded him of Gomez and Morticia. He pulled out a gift for someone named Gabe, who’d been helping Lucas open his toy train. The man took his present, but he only posed next to Santa for a quick photo before he returned to his son. When Raul and Penny stepped up, Roman could sense how close their mated bond was. He shoved down the bubble of raw envy in his gut and smiled while they stood on either side of him for their photo. Next came Jude. Roman never thought he’d meet someone even more solemn than Amar, but Jude chose not to do a photo at all—even when his mate, Annie, tried to pressure him into it. Reid practically launched himself into Roman’s lap and pulled Mali along with him, the two of them squealing and laughing like kids as they made faces for the camera. Next came Kent and Alessia, who held hands even while accepting their presents.

As Roman passed out the gifts and became an entertainment source for the adults more than the child in the room, he felt far more in the Christmas spirit than he’d expected to be. He’d doubted his decision to come to L.A. for the holidays more than once, but at that moment, it felt right. He had no doubt that the group Amar had adopted himself into was a good one. They were all sorts of shifters, yet it was clear they had a close sense of family. Roman felt a small pang of jealousy as he pulled the last gift from the bag and read the tag. “This one is for Melody.”

His world stopped as that gorgeous redhead glided across the room. Her cheeks turned pink as she accepted the package. “Thank you,” she said as her eyes lifted to meet Roman’s.

The Christmas tree could’ve caught on fire at that moment and Roman wouldn’t have noticed. He felt his inner polar bear stirring, restless, and