Merry Ever After

“Bryce.”

“Pfft.” I rolled my eyes. “Bryce. Figures.”

Bryce’s brows dipped together. “What’s wrong with my name?”

I waved my hand around at him. “It just goes with the whole package.”

“The whole…package…”

“Yes, you know…handsome with a fancy name. You probably come from money, too. It’s what gives you that sense of entitlement you so obviously have.”

He looked at me incredulously. “You know, I appreciate women like you.”

My hands went to my hips. “Oh really?”

Bryce shrugged. “Yeah, normally I meet a pretty woman, and she doesn’t show me how nuts she is until after she knows where I live. It’s nice of you to wear your insanity around your neck like a Christmas wreath. So all of us handsome, rich, fancy-named guys can keep our distance.”

I scowled at him.

The poor security guard’s head was bouncing back and forth between us like he was watching a ping-pong game. He took a deep breath and sighed.

“It’s almost Christmas,” he said. “Do you think one of you might find it in your heart to let the other have the toy? Maybe it will make you feel good on the inside.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Not me.”

Good-looking Bryce mimicked my stance. “Not me, either.”

The guard scratched his head. “I’ll tell you what…can I have that box, sir?”

“Are you going to give it to her?”

“I’m going to bring it to the manager, and see if she can settle this dispute. I’m really not trained for this type of thing.” He held his hands out, and Bryce reluctantly handed over the robot.

“Thank you. Why don’t you two follow me?”

The three of us walked to the customer service desk, where a woman who looked as frayed as I felt listened to the security guard tell our story. She looked between us and sighed.

“So here are my choices. I can keep this thing behind the counter and no one gets it, or I can give it to whoever has the best Christmas spirit.”

I pointed to my red sweater and cart full of toys. “Well, clearly that’s me. I mean, look at him, he either just had a spray tan, or got off a plane from the Bahamas.”

Bryce shook his head. “This is my natural skin color.”

“Sure, it is.”

The manager leaned both her elbows on the counter. “Listen, I don’t have time for this. And Christmas spirit isn’t about who buys more toys or looks more festive. It’s about being kind to others and helping those in need. So I’ll tell you what I’m going to do.” She pointed to an empty folding table near the door. “We usually have a free wrapping service on Christmas Eve, but the two volunteers who were supposed to man the table came down with the flu, and I don’t have any employees to spare. The volunteers wrap for tips, and all the money collected is donated to the local Toys for Tots. You two can work that table for the next few hours until we close at six, and whoever has more money in their tip jar to donate at the end of the day gets the robot.”

I blinked a few times. “You can’t be serious?”

She pointed to her stoic face. “Do I look like I have any sense of humor left?”

Bryce looked at his watch and frowned. “I’ll do it.”

The manager turned to me. “If only one of you wraps, that person is the default winner.”

I glanced over at the table. “Can I at least get my own table so I don’t have to sit with a thief?”

She shook her head. “Nope. That’s what I got. One table. Take it or leave it.”

I thought about what Mason’s face would look like if he didn’t get that robot tomorrow morning under the Christmas tree and sighed. “Fine. But he can’t start without me, and I need ten minutes to make a call and get some coffee.”

“Get something to eat while you’re at it. You’re gonna need all the energy you can get to wrap your way to the finish line.” He winked.

I rolled my eyes, then walked away for a bit to call my sister, letting her know I was going to be late for Christmas Eve dinner at her house. Thankfully, Mason was already with her. She’d kept him after waiting in the two-hour line to see Santa early this morning so I could finish my shopping.

I grabbed a coffee just in the nick of time before the café closed early. On my way back to the department store, I was stewing. I’d earned that darn robot. I’d come here every day after work to see if they’d gotten any in. And finally today, smack dab in the middle of the shelf was a new one in the box. My eyes had landed on it first. Before his. I’d felt it was truly meant for me—until Blue Eyes snatched it.